Scorpio Pluto's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Scorpio Pluto stood in the empty room the healing center had offered, testing the floor with one boot. The space was free. Too free. No one gave away good space to someone building a sanctuary for the bottomed-out without a reason buried somewhere in the walls. They found it behind the plaster in the service alley — a black diamond wedged into a ventilation shaft, catching no light. The stone sat perfectly centered in a crack that shouldn't exist. Someone had cut the shaft clean through, then sealed it over. Scorpio held the diamond up to the dim alley light. It absorbed everything, gave nothing back. A marker or a trigger, they couldn't tell which. But someone had put it there knowing exactly where the building would break. Outside, near the loading entrance, a stone angel stood where no statue had been yesterday. Its wings spread wide, covered in painted eyes that seemed to track movement. Scorpio circled it twice. The base was fresh-planted, still damp. Someone wanted them to know they were being watched. Someone wanted them to feel seen before the work even started. Scorpio went back inside and hung their sigil above the doorway anyway — a circular seal worked in gold and blue, showing the descent that leads to rising. The healing center had structural flaws and a watcher in the shadows. But the bottomed-out didn't need perfect buildings. They needed a place that acknowledged the cracks and did the work anyway. The sanctuary would open here, flaws and all.