Ritual of Emotion and the Final Covenant
Three days after Heaven's threat arrived, Raventhorn was cloaked in a silence more chilling than a thousand screams from Hell. In the deepest chamber of the Blood Palace—a room untouched since the death of King Kael—Seraphine and Rai'el stood facing each other, illuminated only by the light of bloodstones hanging from the ceiling.
"Are you sure you want to do this now?" Rai'el asked, his voice hoarse, nearly breaking.
Seraphine nodded. "If this love is a war, then let us bind our vow before any sword is drawn."
In the center of the room, a circle of blood-red magic began to glow. Inscribed around its edges were the names of ancient demons, cursed gods, and queens who had died for love. This was no ordinary vow, but a soulbinding ritual—a merging of spirits that defied even the laws of Heaven.
Kaelion was present as a witness. The child was no longer just an heir, but the keyholder of royal blood—and the inheritor of a combined power from both Heaven and Hell.
Seraphine extended her hand, palm open.
Rai'el placed his hand atop hers.
The seal ignited. The bones in the walls trembled. The bloodstones screamed. Blood from their fingers dripped, falling into the center of the circle.
> "With this blood, I bind my heart to yours."
"With this soul, I renounce Heaven and Hell for a single name: you."
A blinding light burst forth. And in that moment, Seraphine's body shuddered—not from pain, but because an ancient seal in her blood shattered.
Something long buried within the bloodline of the Raventhorn royals awakened.
From her back, a pair of wings slowly unfurled—black and crimson.
Not angelic. Not demonic.
But something unnamed in any sacred scripture.
> "The Wings of the Bloodstained Simurgh…" Rai'el whispered. "You… are the Balancer."
---
That very day, all the great demons who had gathered at the earlier banquet now signed the final covenant.
"If Seraphine falls, the world will lose its axis," said the Shadow Queen.
"If Rai'el is defeated, Hell will descend into wild chaos," added the Titan from Vetramoor.
The covenant was named: The Cursed Conclave.
It was agreed that any being who touched Seraphine's blood without consent would be eternally cursed—cast into a distorted dimension of time.
And so, they prepared for the divine catastrophe to come.
---
On the night after the soulbinding, Seraphine sat in the palace's inner garden, now filled with black flowers—blooms that only grew from the queen's tears.
Kaelion sat on her lap. For the first time since his father's death, he looked at peace.
"Mother," he whispered, "if we lose… will I still remember your face?"
Seraphine kissed his forehead.
"If we lose, time itself will turn backward just so you can hold me again."
Behind the garden walls, Rai'el watched them quietly. His body may have been half-demon, but his heart now belonged to two souls: a woman who inherited death… and a child who carried hope.
He turned to the sky and murmured:
> "Come, Aetherion. My love is not a blade, but if you touch it—I will sever your destiny."
---
The Heavens move: seven archangels descend, and Aetherion lifts the veil of the First Sky.
Yet beyond the horizon, a female angel with a face strikingly similar to Seraphine's opens her eyes inside a celestial crystal seal.
> "My time is near... Little sister, I will bring you back, even if I must drown this world."
Who is she?
And why does she call Seraphine "little sister"?
Above the sky of Raventhorn, now tinted bluish-red from the pressure between the upper and lower realms, a glowing white rift opened. The light wasn't one of salvation—it radiated a cold nostalgia and wrath buried for thousands of years.
Inside the heavenly crystal seal suspended in the sky of the Seventh Dimension, the eyes of a celestial woman opened slowly. Her face resembled Seraphine—but purer, almost flawless. Her silver wings folded neatly, and her golden hair flowed like a frozen sea.
> "Seraphine… You're still alive..."
The angel was Selencia, the Watcher of Fate, Seraphine's blood sister from the celestial world—long buried in sacred secrecy.
---
Meanwhile, in Seraphine's private chamber, Kaelion began experiencing strange dreams. In them, he saw his mother speaking with a golden-winged angel. He saw her bleeding—not from war, but from a heavenly curse.
"Kaelion?" Seraphine called, sitting at his bedside.
The child looked at her, confused.
"Mother… who is the woman with golden wings watching you from the sky?"
Seraphine's face turned pale.
---
In the Raventhorn Strategy Hall, the Sworn Conclave convened. Rai'el read a message from the Guardian of the Seventh Dimensional Gate:
The sky has opened.
"She has awakened," he murmured. "Selencia."
Seraphine was silent for a long time before finally rising.
"I must face her. Alone."
The great demons objected, but Seraphine was unmoved.
"This isn't about Hell. This is about the past—stolen and rewritten by Heaven."
---
That night, Seraphine summoned her blood power and opened the gate to the Seventh Sky. She walked alone, carrying only a crown of thorns and Kael's heirloom sword. In the sky, she stood before Selencia.
"Sister," Selencia said, "do you deserve to call yourself a queen when your blood is tainted by demons?"
Seraphine stared straight into her eyes.
"I am queen not because of my blood—but because of the pain I've endured."
Selencia raised her hand. Heavenly lightning struck Seraphine—but it didn't harm her. Instead, the lightning danced around her body.
> "You... are the cursed child stolen from Heaven. You are... a part of me."
It was revealed that Seraphine was not merely a royal descendant—but a being born of angelic and human essence. She had been taken from Heaven and implanted into the womb of the Queen of Raventhorn by the Time Gods, as part of an ancient prophecy.
> "You were destined to destroy Heaven—not rule Hell."
No battle followed. Only tears.
Tears from Selencia, who still loved her sister.
Tears from Seraphine, who had only just learned that she had been forsaken by every place—except the one she built herself: Raventhorn.
Before departing, Selencia whispered:
> "I will wait for you on the final battlefield. If you can make me cry once more—then I will surrender."
---
Back in the palace, Seraphine collapsed into Rai'el's embrace. For the first time since their fateful meeting, her body trembled violently.
"I am not human. Not a demon. Not an angel. I'm just—"
"You are Seraphine," Rai'el whispered, kissing her forehead.
"And that alone is enough for me to burn both Heaven and Hell."
Kaelion appeared with a painting he had made: Seraphine standing between sky and hell, yet her smile was soft—like a true mother.
"You'll always be my mom, even if you came from fire or light."
Seraphine hugged the boy, and Rai'el joined them.
For a moment, the world was calm.
But the shadow of the final war loomed near.
> In the distance, the heavenly trumpet had sounded.