12. Axel

Axel guides Tessa, Theon, Luka, and Katya through claustrophobic tunnels, with Tessa struggling against panic. At a small Underground outpost, a hidden vendor tempts them, exposing the favors-as-currency rule; Theon pays with a knife to settle Tessa’s unintended question. A messenger then leads them deeper to Cienna.

In Cienna’s cavern, the Witch allows one question per person. Tension spikes as Tessa probes and Theon tries to control the exchange. Luka asks first: Cienna reveals the Everlasting War predates Devram, paused then resumed when Fate was altered. Theon asks what Tessa could be if not Fae or Legacy; Cienna stays guarded, citing countless bloodlines and warning against tempting Fate.

Axel presses how Tessa’s nature stayed hidden for decades. Cienna implies someone knew, explaining priestesses wield witch-like skills—potions, Marks, glamours—strong enough to mask truth until Emerging; Theon’s follow-up about Lilura-level glamours costs another question. Tessa proves she can defy the Source bond by speaking Theon’s name, then asks if others like her exist. Cienna confirms there are others and that they are searching for Tessa, urging caution.

Cienna ends the meeting, telling them to return in three days. In private, she confronts Axel about edging toward Arius’s blood-curse, gives him a spell-cooled flask of Fae blood, and says Fate has not decided his path. Departing the tunnels, Axel asks Katya what she would have asked; she admits she wants to know how her fire gifts were hidden when all assessments pointed to water. Axel promises to help her uncover the truth.