Standing in the shattered doorway, framed by haze and flames, was Sydney. Her black hair was wild and matted with soot, her face streaked with ash and sweat, yet her blue eyes burned. The ethereal aura that surrounded her shimmered like liquid light — brilliant azure waves radiating from her body in rhythmic pulses that made the air itself vibrate.
"Sydney!" Daisy screamed from the staircase, voice trembling with joy and pure relief. For a fleeting moment, she forgot about the monsters, the fire, and the crumbling house — because Sydney stood there like a heroine from another world, her aura casting shadows back against the inferno behind her.
