The Protectors of Paris

First part: An evening in Paris

The sky of Paris was no longer the same. For several days, a light crack floated in the heights, visible only to those who had what some called "the Celestial View". For others, it was just a mirage of urban pollution or a strange reflection of the sun on the roofs. But Lyra saw her. She felt it.

Sitting on the edge of a building, her legs hanging in the void, she kept her eyes riveted towards this fragment of the sky. His heart was beating too fast, as if an ancient force was drumming from inside to get out. Something was approaching. She knew it. She felt it.

-Do you plan to stay there all night, Lyra?

The familiar voice echoed behind her, tinged with sarcasm, like a shadow sliding between the stars. She didn't need to turn around to know it was him.

-"Always so discreet, Noctis," she replied calmly, without looking away.

He approached, his long black coat floating in the night air. The mask covering half of her face hid her emotions, but Lyra knew. She knew that he doubted, that he was wary... and that he was right to do so.

-"You felt it too, didn't you?" She asked in a low voice.

-"The flaw opens. The stars are agitating. Someone - or something - is approaching," he replied.

A shiver ran through his back. It wasn't fear. It was instinct. The instinct of a heroine who carried on her the weight of a forgotten destiny.

-"It's not a simple thunderstorm this time," she whispered.

-"No," replied Noctis. "It's not a game anymore."

A purple flash zebras the sky. The fault was growing.

And in a cosmic breath, the war began.

Part Two: Astral Fusion

The wind was blowing stronger on the roofs of the city. The purple flashes of the fault zebrated the sky like veins of corrupted light, rumbling above the silent streets. Below, the streetlights sizzled, the air vibrated. Something was going down, slowly, precisely, with the intention of hitting. Lyra straightened up, her eyes fixed on the moving shadow that grew in the center of the deserted square.

-"It's now," she whispered.

At his side, Noctis cracked his fingers, the shadow of his smile hidden by his mask. He was ready. Their silence was worth a thousand speeches. No need to talk to each other: they both knew that what was happening had never been seen before. Suddenly, the light intensed. The ground shook.

-"Transformation..." breathed Lyra, her eyes closed.

A splinter of gold exploded around her, filaments of cosmic energy wrapping around her body. Constellations twinkled for a moment in the air, then plunged into his skin like living tattoos.

"Cosmic Eclipse - ACTIVATED!"

His outfit changed in an instant: white jumpsuit with metallic reflections, studded with moving stars. A light cape floated in his back, like a galaxy veil. His mask lit up, his eyes took on a heavenly hue. In his hands, an astral thread formed, a weapon that was both flexible and sharp, forged in the radiance of the dead stars.

She had become Starlight, guardian of heavenly light.

Next to her, Noctis took a step back, then closed his eyes in turn. A black mist escaped from his arms, swirling around him, absorbing the light.

-"Let go of the chains... that the shadow consumes me," he breathed.

"Shadow Armor - ACTIVATED!"

A silent explosion of black ink split the air, plunging it into almost total darkness. When it dissipated, Noctis had disappeared or rather, he had melted into his other self.

A dark armor now covered his body, marked with shadow symbols. His eyes shone with a feline amber glow. His claws, long and sharp, throbbed with nebulous energy. In his back, traces of spectral wings appeared briefly before blending into the night.

He had become Shadow Claw, the living weapon of controlled darkness.

They looked at each other briefly. Not to reassure yourself. But to confirm: they were ready.

-"You take the shadow," said Starlight.

-"You take the light," replied Shadow Claw.

And they jumped into the void - two living meteors ready to face the unknown.

The night wind crashed brutally against the walls as the two heroes plunged into the shadows, their feet touching the ground at the same time, in a silent impact. Starlight and Shadow Claw stood side by side, the air vibrating around them.

And suddenly...

The silence broke.

The sky split one last time, slowly, like a fabric that is torn with your fingertips. A cold, blinding light cascaded from the celestial fault. Then she folded in on herself. And something came down.

A man.