The chamber's door remained open, humming softly with magic, like a mouth ready to swallow them whole. Beyond it lay the truth, the Vault, and Kael.
But they didn't move.
Instead, the trio found themselves seated outside the ruins of the Eastern Archive, where morning light streamed through broken stone and smoke-streaked air. The world was quiet, unnervingly so—as if even time paused to listen.
They needed this stillness.
And yet, it wasn't peace that hung between them.
It was truth—the kind that couldn't be unsaid.
Cassian poked at the campfire with a stick, flame dancing in his eyes. "So... past lives," he said dryly. "Always thought I was a simple bastard with a sword. Turns out I was a complicated one."
Liara sat across from him, arms wrapped around her knees. "We were bound to each other long before we knew it. And yet, we still chose chaos."
Cassian smirked faintly. "Chaos tends to follow beautiful things."
Aeron sat silently to the side, his jaw clenched, gaze locked on the stone horizon. "He'll use what we remember against us. Twist it. Make us doubt what's real now."
Liara turned to him, quietly. "Do you doubt me?"
Aeron's eyes flickered. "No. But I doubt what I am to you now. And what he was—what he might still be."
Cassian stood, pacing. "Let's not pretend we're untangled, Liara. You loved him. You chose him once. Do you know what that means for us now?"
She rose too, face unreadable. "Do you think I don't question it every night? That I don't feel him in my dreams, pulling at something I can't name?"
Aeron stepped in between them, voice low. "He's trying to divide us. Don't let him."
Cassian's eyes burned. "I'm not afraid of Kael. I'm afraid of being second again."
Liara's voice broke slightly. "You're not."
Aeron looked between them, emotion shadowing his usually steady features. "If this bond means anything, we can't fall apart now."
And just like that, the tension cracked.
Cassian exhaled, stepping forward. His fingers brushed Liara's wrist, a small but loaded gesture.
"I'll protect both of you," he said, eyes meeting Aeron's for the briefest of heartbeats. "Even if I have to flirt my way through the apocalypse."
Aeron actually smirked. "You? Flirting is your battle strategy."
Liara smiled faintly, the first genuine softness in days.
As the sun reached its zenith, casting long shadows across the Archive ruins, the Vault called again.
No more time. No more pretending.
Only forward.