Laws of astron:judment of Joshua.

Twenty-two hours before the town of Moreno became a graveyard of ash, the girl responsible for the tragedy was still smiling with arrogance"...

The town's air was filled with a sweet smell of chamomile that could be felt blocks away. The gardens were cared for with love, but it was those white and yellow flowers that truly made the place special, swaying gently under the sunlight. Lucía had always hated it; to her, it felt like a weak smell, too delicate for a world that, according to her, had nothing magical about it. She preferred to ignore the fantasies that everyone else tried to make look perfect.

From the kitchen, Josefina watched her daughter eat in a hurry. Her hands were covered in flour and her face had those wrinkles that only worrying about a stubborn daughter can create. Josefina was considered the most beautiful woman in town; if her husband hadn't died of cancer, maybe they would have lived a long and peaceful life together. Though, truth be told, she was never very good at cooking.

Lucía ate quickly, poking her fork into her food. She chewed the steak, feeling the tough meat between her teeth, ignoring—or choosing to ignore—the quiet cries of the animals that seemed to echo in that strange food. She didn't care much. She had no way of knowing that this would be the last warm meal of her life, nor that the world outside, the world of giants and the Laws of Astron, was about to crush them.

"Chew," her mother told her gently.

Lucía didn't answer. She poked her fork into the meat and took another bite. The silence between them was nothing new.

"You're going out again," her mother said.

"Yes."

"Don't cross the barrier."

Lucía closed her eyes in annoyance.

"Not that again."

Josefina put her hands on the table.

"It's not a fairy tale."

"It's exactly that. A fairy tale."

"Alright," her mother replied with a tired smile. "Be careful."

"I know, mom," Lucía answered sharply. "Leave me alone."

"And watch out for... the second law... you know, about that curse..." Josefina came closer to her daughter, looking very nervous.

The sound of something cutting through the air cut her off. A glass flew right past Josefina's face and smashed against the wall. Lucía had thrown it with fury.

"How many times have I told you that doesn't exist?" she screamed. "They are fairy tales! You're always bothering me with the same thing."

Josefina looked at her, surprised and hurt.

"They do exist," she answered firmly. "Why do you think Jennifer talks to Valiria? It's the first law of Astron. Awareness is not just for humans."

"What do I care about my neighbor and her stupid dog!"

"I'm warning you, sweetheart..."

"You are unbearable," Lucía spat out.

"Think about it," her mother insisted. "Why would humans be the only ones with awareness?"

Lucía shook her head, full of the anger of her fifteen years.

"It's obvious the world doesn't have all the answers, but that doesn't mean those fantasies are real. If humans have awareness, why wouldn't animals have that same gift? There are no laws, no titans, no monsters."

She walked to the door, but before leaving, she turned around one last time. She looked at her mother and, after a long and cold pause, said:

"And if those laws made by that stupid wizard really exist... I hope they kill me."

She paused again, looking at her with poison in her eyes, and continued:

"Or I hope they kill you."

She slammed the door shut.

Outside, the afternoon sun hung in the sky like a shield of polished gold, shining so brightly that it made you believe nothing bad could happen under its watch. At the edge of town, where the grass grows tall and wild, the group met up. The clock had already started ticking.

Outside, the afternoon sun hung in the sky like a shield of polished gold, shining so brightly that it made you believe nothing bad could happen under its watch. At the edge of town, where the grass grows tall and wild, the group met up.

"You came, Lucía," Chris said, with a smile that tried to be welcoming but hid other intentions.

"My mother finally let me," she answered, pushing a lock of hair away in annoyance. "She's crazy, she sees shadows in every corner of the house."

One of the boys, wanting to show off, opened the palm of his hand. A small, gray, ordinary stone rose from the ground. It wasn't an elegant movement; the stone shook in the air, held up by an invisible power that made the boy sweat.

"Look," the boy said, his chest puffed out with silly pride. "I don't need to break my head anymore to keep it floating."

"Fascinating," another whispered. "They say it was a gift from beings that walked with us when the world was young. The strongest one was called Astron. The old folks said they were monsters."

Lucía let out a dry laugh, a sound that broke the magical feeling of the moment.

"There you go again with the bedtime stories. Monsters don't exist, magic doesn't exist, and neither does that Astron guy. They're just stories to keep kids from walking away from their mothers."

"Is it true that you came out of your mother a month early?" one of the boys teased.

Chris jumped right in, giggling:

"Maybe that's why you're a bit slow, because you were born too early."

The others burst out laughing. Lucía looked at them, her eyes burning with anger.

"Stop saying stupid things, idiots!" Lucía shouted at them as she arrived. "The supposed magical barrier is near here... let's go there."

They walked for a few minutes until they stood right in front of it. The air there didn't feel like air anymore; it was a heavy vibration that made the view look blurry, like the heat that rises from hot iron. It was a wall of ancient power that kept the town inside a safe, artificial bubble.

While the other kids pushed each other and made rude jokes further back, Julio walked up to Lucía. He was always the quietest one, the one who stayed in the back watching the others shine.

"Lucía..." Julio whispered, looking into her eyes so intensely it almost burned. "I know you don't believe in any of this. But if the barrier is real... what would you do if someone turned it off for you? If someone showed you that the world is bigger?"

Lucía didn't even look at him. She was too busy watching the blurry air, waving it away with a cold wave of her hand.

"I guess I'd stop being bored in this town full of old people," she answered without really caring, not taking her own words seriously. "But whatever. This is all just stories to scare drunks. There are no laws, no titans, no monsters."

Julio stayed silent. His jaw tightened and he took a step back, sinking again into the shadow of the group while the others burst into loud, vulgar laughter. Lucía looked at them all with deep disgust, thinking about how foolish they were. She had a feeling that wasting time with them was a mistake, but the real danger wasn't coming from the outside.

Crossing the magical barrier was the first mistake. The second was believing that just because she couldn't see the monster, the monster wasn't there waiting for someone to wake it up. But what Lucía didn't know, and what history would forget to tell... is that the Second Law wasn't awakened by her curiosity... but by the betrayal of the person walking right beside her.