LUMEN: Rebirth

Beneath the earth, the sun is only a memory - and its light is no longer free.

The powerful have bottled it, priced it, and called it holy. Every flicker, every breath, must be paid for in Lumen.

Lucy Farrow was born in the Gloom, where the air tastes of rust and hope is a dangerous thing. Her mother taught her to 'keep her glow low'- to survive unseen.

But when the light inside her begins to stir, Lucy's secret could unravel the order that keeps their divided city alive.

Above her gleams the Halo - a paradise of marble and lies.
Between them rises the Veil: a wall of soot-black stone and blinding searchlights, dividing the blessed from the broken.

As rebellion brews in the dark, a child's awakening may ignite the prophecy that could burn the world clean - or save it.

A Radiant who will bring back the dawn.

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Lucy approached the marble stairs of the Distribution Point, feeling smaller with every step. Even after so many visits, its splendour still swallowed her whole.

Inside, chandeliers of bottled light bathed clerks and soldiers in scarlet. Behind the wooden barrier, white-gloved hands counted Credits and passed bottles of gold to the waiting poor.

A cry tore through the hush.

"No, I swear, these Credits are real -"

The clerk's reply was colder than stone. "One is counterfeit. Guards!"

Boots thundered. The woman screamed as Veil Guards dragged her away, her voice fading into the city's endless hum.

The line moved.

"Next."

Lucy stepped forward, clutching her satchel. The Credits inside jingled - Mother had checked them twice, but still her hands shook.

⸻ ✧ ⸻