Xavier pushed open the colossal double doors to his soul manor, and the darkness inside greeted him like an ancient, relentless adversary. White mist swirled along the endless floor, curling around his boots, whispering secrets he didn't want to hear. Each step he took felt heavy, as if the air itself resisted him, dense with the pulse of magic older than the world. Pain clawed through his chest, sharp, insistent, almost unbearable.
The poison Alicia carried—the venom he had absorbed to save her—had dug its claws deep into his spirit, igniting every nerve and tendon with fire.
His breaths came ragged, uneven, torn between life and the edges of unconsciousness, as he navigated the shadow-strewn abyss. In the distance, a faint violet glow shimmered like a heartbeat, steady and rhythmic—a light that throbbed with his very essence.
The heart of his power.
