Lumis Sphereward's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Lumis Sphereward pressed their light against the crack, searching for the flaw that should not exist. The repair was routine—a fracture no different from a thousand others—but the orb's core had split deeper than expected. Inside, where only smooth crystal should exist, a mark caught their glow. They rotated the orb on their workbench, angling it beneath the studio window where better light spilled across the shelves of waiting repairs. The mark wasn't a flaw. It was deliberate—a symbol etched into the innermost layer, invisible until the damage exposed it. Lumis had repaired thousands of orbs in this small workspace, their tools arranged with the precision of endless repetition. They had never seen this before. The orb went into the display case by the door, separated from the others. Lumis didn't know what the symbol meant, only that someone had put it there. Someone who knew how orbs were made from the inside out. Outside, the weathered banner that marked their studio flapped in the wind, its faded symbols counting seasons Lumis had stopped tracking long ago. The search had a direction now. Not a name, not a location—just proof that intention existed where Lumis had found only silence. They pressed their light against the case's glass, studying the mark one more time before returning to the other damaged orbs. The routine repairs could wait. This one changed everything.