THREE MONTHS LATER
Yevana stood at the edge of the barrier field that protected the house, her hood drawn low, her eyes sharp beneath the fold of fabric. Time had changed her or perhaps sharpened her into who she had always been. Her steps were slower like before, but not weak. Each step dripping with regality.
She reached up and placed her palm against the invisible shimmer of the perimeter shield.
The air hummed.
Seconds passed.
Then the gate opened and Yevana entered.
Behind her, two cloaked figures remained in the distance. Not her guards or allies. Just... watchers.
At the top of the stone path, Beatrice waited, arms crossed.
"Took you long enough" she muttered.
Yevana smirked faintly. "I had a funeral to dig up. Turns out someone was still breathing."
Beatrice didn't smile. "You sure about this?." Beatrice jaw tightened. "You sure you're here for her? Not just to finish what you started?"
Yevana's voice dropped to a whisper. "She's my granddaughter. That makes her mine to protect."
"Come on" she finally said. "She's been asking for you."
Allison sat propped against the soft pillows, her body fatter but her gaze fiercer than ever. Her hand rested protectively over her round stomach. Beside her, Tianlei sketched humans and dragons, humming under his breath. She noticed he was really good at drawing, one might think it was sketched by a pro.
The room smelled faintly of burnt herbs and healing balm.
When the door opened, Allison looked up.
And froze.
Yevana stood in the threshold.
A thousand emotions surged through her— confusion, recognition, fury, grief.
"Hello, Allison," Yevana said simply.
"Everyone said you drown but we knew you weren't. You never told us you were leaving it's been 3 months now." Allison replied, voice tight.
"I was. In a way." Yevana entered slowly. "But I clawed my way back for him. For my family."
Allison placed a hand on her belly. "You left us."
"I left Elarian a long time and I didn't want to get close to him so I went on a vacation" Yevana said, eyes shining. "I never left Lucian or Alexa. Not my blood."
Silence stretched between them like a chasm.
Then softly Allison said, "He's different now. He's… gentler. Since you vanished, something inside him broke."
Yevana exhaled slowly. "It needed to. He was always too perfect at hiding his scars.The best parts of us are often the cracks." She sank into a chair, her regality giving way to something almost human.
They sat in silence for a long time. Two women scarred by war, bound by the man they loved — in different ways.
Then Yevana spoke. "The prophecy isn't just about you, girl. It names four: the Mother, the Flame, the Protector… and the Betrayer."
Allison looked at her.
Lucian stood alone in the vault underground.
Here, the original Heartstone pulsed, the source of the protective field, and the ancient magic that had kept their enemies at bay since they came. But now… it flickered.
The stone was dimming.
And worse, there were cracks.
A voice echoed behind him. "They've already found a way to pass once. They'll find it again."
Yevana stepped beside him.
He looked at her. " Mother". He was devastated when his men couldn't find his mother anywhere.
"I swore to protect them" he whispered. "But even the stone is breaking."
"Don't overwork yourself, Lucian." She said gently.
Lucian said quietly, "You don't know what I've done. I was inhumane in the past."
"I do," Yevana said. "But I also know what she sees when she looks at you."
He didn't answer. He just stared at the cracks, at the quiet death of old magic.
---
Li Anya stood barefoot on cracked floor.
The parasite inside her had calmed… for now.
Beside her, Aliah paced like a panther, twin blades strapped to her back.
"They're reinforcing again" Aliah reported. "Whatever time we had, it's shrinking."
Li Anya didn't look at her.
She placed a hand over her own stomach.
There was nothing inside.
She whispered to whispered to no one in particular. "I was supposed to be chosen. Chosen by Lucian."
Then she looked up.
"The baby is near full term. The Flame is almost whole. That means…" she paused, eyes flashing with sudden clarity, "we don't have to kill the child."
Aliah frowned. "I thought that was the plan."
Li Anya smiled wickedly, serene and terrifying. "No. I have a better one."
Aliah narrowed her eyes. "What?"
Li Anya whispered, "We take the child."
-----------
The morning sun spilled golden rays across the marble floors of house, soft and quiet, brushing warmth onto the quiet corners where time seemed to slow down.
Tianlei raced down the hallway in his pajama pants, socks slipping slightly on the polished floor, a toy dragon dangling from one hand. He stopped at the door to the private lounge, where Allison sat cross-legged on a velvet couch, one hand lazily stroking her rounded belly.
"Is she awake yet?" He asked, eyes wide with hope.
Allison smiled gently. Her long hair had been swept back in a messy braid, tendrils escaping around her cheeks. She looked softer these days. Like a wildfire that had found peace in its own glow.
"She kicks when you talk," she said, reaching out her hand.
Tianlei bolted across the room and pressed both palms against her stomach, his cheek following. "Heyyy, little flame. It's me. Your awesome big brother." He giggled when something fluttered beneath the skin. "That's her. That's her!"
Allison laughed, her other hand brushing through his hair. "She recognizes your voice."
He beamed with pride, but then his eyes flickered to the hallway. "Can we name her Thunder 2?"
"Absolutely not."
He groaned. "But she needs a cool name! Like… Thunderstorm Princess."
"We'll work on it" Allison said diplomatically as she let out a chuckle.
---
In the kitchen, Beatrice leaned over the counter with her mug of warm ginger tea, staring at the calendar as if it had betrayed her.
Missed cycle.
Nausea.
Fatigue.
Suspicious cravings.
She looked down at her own flat stomach and frowned. "Don't you dare," she whispered to herself.
But when Ren walked in with tousled hair and a quiet smile, setting a hand on her lower back, she didn't brush him off like usual when she was pissed off.
"You okay?" he asked, voice low.
Beatrice hesitated. Her fingers clutched the ceramic mug just a little tighter. "I might be pregnant, Ren."
Ren blinked once. Then again.
"I haven't taken a test yet," she added quickly, "and I don't need a whole speech, or a weird look, or your weird sciencey analysis—"
He cupped her face in both hands and kissed her forehead. Just like that. No judgment or panic. Only quiet understanding.
"Then we'll find out together," he murmured. "And if she's a girl… Tianlei's going to think he's king of a girl army."
Beatrice let out a choked laugh and shoved him gently. "I swear if this one's anything like him—"
"You'll cry from joy."
"Or kill you in your sleep." She said as she chuckled.
---
That afternoon, Allison stood in the garden under the shade of plum trees. The petals floated lazily down around her, and her hands rested protectively over her bump.
Aaron had stopped working, but the tension at work had only shifted. Lucian was watching her more closely than ever. She could feel his presence even now, standing silently behind her as if drawn to her.
She turned.
Lucian was in black today, a simple button-down, sleeves rolled up, silver cufflinks glinting in the light. His silver eyes swept over her with such aching softness that it made her throat close.
"She kicked again," Allison said.
He took one step forward. "May I…?"
She nodded, and he closed the distance, kneeling down, gently pressing his ear to her belly like a boy hearing a heartbeat for the first time.
"Your father is an idiot" he whispered to her stomach. "But he'll burn the world for you."
Allison blinked back her tears.
Later that night, Tianlei sat between them on the bed, Allison on one side, Lucian on the other. He was drawing a comic book about three superhero sisters: Flame Baby, Thunder Baby, and Beatrice Maybe Baby, whose powers were still undecided.
"She might just cry a lot," Tianlei theorized, referring to Beatrice child. He coloured in bold streaks of red and gold. "Or punch people when they lie."
Beatrice passed by the open door and muttered as she took a peak at his work "Sounds about right."
Far across the city, behind a veil of illusion and burning incense, Li Anya stared into a blood mirror.
"She's not alone anymore," said the silver-eyed man behind her, his voice like ice. "She's becoming a queen."
Li Anya's gaze narrowed. "Then I'll cut out the crown from her womb before she wears it. As her mother couldn't survive after giving birth to her, she won't also survive." Her eyes were burning with hatred.