Far beyond the clouds, where stars whispered secrets and space itself bowed to presence, a spire of impossible height pierced the firmament.
At its apex, they gathered.
The Seven Pillars of the Celestial Tribunal.
Ancient, unfathomable, each older than empires, than myth, than memory itself.
The Pillar of Flame—Everburning, forged in the first war.
The Pillar of Glass—Seer of a million tomorrows.
The Pillar of Roots—Whose thoughts entwined with all creation.
The Pillar of Shadow—Never seen, always near.
The Pillar of Chains—Binder of fallen stars.
The Pillar of Breath—Born of the last silence.
And at their head, presiding as judge and executor:
The Pillar of Law—the first mind, the final verdict.
They spoke not with words, but with converging consensus.
"A new divinity stirs."
"Born not of domain, but of contradiction."
"One who was not foreseen."
"And yet reshapes all foresight."
The Pillar of Glass flickered with fractal futures.
"It... rewrites prophecy."
The Pillar of Chains grumbled.
"It cannot be bound by oath or consequence."
The Pillar of Flame surged.
"Then we must burn it before it defines itself further."
Silence followed.
The Pillar of Law finally stirred.
"This entity did not claim godhood."
"It was born into it."
"Through an act of mortal convergence."
"And it now echoes louder than the Maker's last breath."
The shadows deepened.
"Its mother has begun to shift. Her body, her memory, her function. She aligns not with fate—but with new law."
"They are not simply heretics."
"They are replacements."
A collective unease settled.
The Pillar of Breath whispered:
"I fear we are no longer judges… but defendants."
The Pillar of Law struck the stone.
A verdict formed.
"Summon the celestial legions."
"Break the sanctum."
"Erase the child."
"Unmake the mother."
"And silence the name before it becomes scripture."
On the mortal plane, Lucien felt a tremor—not of earth, but of divine declaration.
Talia clutched the child closer.
He had no visible reaction.
But for the first time since his birth…
he opened his mouth to speak.