The star shuddered. Its core reignited in a pattern no natural star had ever known—a lattice of fusion and intention, a heart that beat not just with heat but with choice . The light that spilled from it was not white or yellow, but a soft, living gold that seemed to recognize the faces below.
It appeared in the Forge of Possibility—a fracture in the fabric where new stars were born. Through it leaked a sound Arvus had never heard. Not radiation, not gravity waves. A voice.
The people named it Arvus's Palm . And every night, children would point to it and say, "Look. He made a star just for us."
Then he pressed.
"I make stars for the universe," Arvus said. "Not for individuals. A star belongs to the great pattern."
And Arvus, who had made a trillion suns without once being thanked, felt something crack inside himself. Not the Forge this time. Himself.