The hall feels like a memory refusing to fade.
Shadows cling to the marble like bruises, and every candle flame tilts toward me—as if the room is breathing in my presence. I stand frozen before the obsidian throne, trying to swallow the tremor in my breath. My skin still tingles where he touched me. Too familiar. Too right.
But the truth he whispered…
The truth I just remembered…
It burns more than any mark.
I fell from godhood.
I chose mortality.
And I did it for him.
Yet he calls me the betrayer.
The ground trembles—not violently, but like something massive shifts beneath it. The scent of smoke and winter fills the air. My pulse spikes. The voices in my mind murmur:
The second opening… is desire.
Then: silence.
I turn away from the throne… and nearly scream.
Kael stands in the doorway.
His eyes—soft, human, desperate—lock onto mine. His chest rises unevenly, breath ragged like he's sprinted through hell to reach me.
"Seraphine," he gasps, stepping closer.
"Kael?" My voice cracks. "How—? You died. The temple—"
"I know," he whispers. "I saw the light take me. But I fought. I refused to leave you. Something—someone—sent me back."
He reaches for my hand.
Warm. Alive.
My heart stumbles.
"You shouldn't be here," I whisper.
"And you shouldn't be alone."
His lips brush my knuckles—soft, begging. I close my eyes only a moment… and pain flares through my wrist. The mark turns cold.
Kael jerks back. His eyes widen in horror.
"It burns when I touch you…" he says. "Like it hates me."
"It's not you," I whisper.
It's the gods inside me. It's the power I used to be.
He grabs my shoulders, desperate.
"You're losing yourself here."
"I already lost myself," I respond bitterly. "Long before these temples."
He shakes his head. "Then let me help you find the pieces."
I want to believe him. Want to lean into his warmth.
But trust is poison in this place.
Before I can speak, the candles flicker… then die.
Only the silver moonlight remains—pouring down like a blade.
The air vibrates.
He appears again—materializing from the darkness like it bows to him.
The Fallen God.
His presence steals breath from the room. Power coils around him like serpents—beautiful, terrifying. His eyes burn with a light older than creation.
And when he looks at Kael… the world turns colder.
"You shouldn't be here," he says—same words, but a threat behind them.
Kael steps in front of me. "Stay away from her."
The god laughs once—low, haunting. "Protecting her? Sweet. Futile."
He moves faster than thought. One moment across the hall—next, inches from me. Kael stumbles forward, trying to reach me, but invisible force slams him to his knees.
"Mortals break so easily," the god murmurs. "Even the ones she grows attached to."
"Stop," I say through gritted teeth.
"You command me now?" His breath ghosts my neck as he leans in. "You forfeited that right when you forgot us."
"I didn't choose to forget—"
"You chose to fall," he interrupts. "To love a mortal. To abandon eternity for something… temporary."
His fingers brush my jaw. Sparks race down my spine—not pain, but something dangerously close to longing.
Kael fights the pressure, teeth clenched. "Let her go!"
"Who are you," the god asks, not looking away from me, "to speak her name like it belongs to you?"
Kael's voice breaks. "Someone who loves her."
Silence falls. Thick. Brutal.
The god smiles without joy. "Love. Such a fragile word."
He turns his eyes on Kael—like a flame chooses what to burn.
"I could unmake you with a thought."
"That's why you won't," Kael growls, trembling. "Because she'd hate you for it."
Something shifts in the god's expression. A flicker of emotion—pain? Regret? It dies quickly.
He steps away from me… but not far. Always within reach.
"Seraphine," he says quietly, "the third key is not a relic."
My heart thunders. "Then what—?"
"It is a life tied to yours."
His gaze cuts to Kael.
"His life."
The floor tilts beneath me.
"No…"
"To open the final gate," he continues, voice like prophecy, "you must choose. Your past or your present. Your power or your heart."
Kael's eyes widen in horror. "Seraphine… don't listen—"
But I can't breathe. The air is choking me with truth.
Kael…
He wasn't just a man I found in the ruins.
He wasn't coincidence.
He was the anchor holding me to humanity.
The last piece keeping me mortal.
The god steps closer, his voice a velvet blade.
"You loved him to escape me."
A tear slides down my cheek.
"And now… you must kill him to return."
Kael shakes his head violently. "I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of what it will make you."
I stagger back—caught between two worlds.
Between who I was
and who I could become.
The god extends his hand.
Power ripples through the hall.
"Come back to eternity," he whispers. "Come back to me."
Kael's voice cracks.
"Stay with me. Choose yourself. Not the gods."
The choice slams into my spine like a dagger.
Past vs. present.
Eternity vs. love.
Godhood vs. humanity.
My wrist burns—mark glowing like a star about to explode.
My heart screams one name.
My power screams another.
I lift my hand—shaking—caught between them.
The god smiles.
Kael closes his eyes.
The candles ignite all at once—blinding white.
My power erupts—
And the chapter ends.