The word seemed to freeze the air itself.
Lina Veris.The traitor.
All sound vanished.
Kai's arms tightened instinctively around her — protective, fierce — as if shielding her from the word alone.
Reyon staggered back two steps. Seren's hand flew to her mouth.
Lina couldn't breathe.
"No," she whispered. "No… no, that isn't true."
The mask pulsed again, its crack glowing.
"The flame betrays.By birth.By purpose.By prophecy."
Lina gasped as pain tore through her chest — her flame convulsing like something inside her was fighting to break free.
Kai cupped her face immediately.
"Lina — look at me. You are NOT their traitor. Do you hear me? Not now, not ever."
But Lina stepped away from him.
For the first time.
"Kai… what if they're right?"
He froze.
Reyon moved between them cautiously, hands raised."Lina, don't do this. You're panicking, and your flame is panicking with you."
Seren stepped forward slowly, her eyes glowing with Soul Echo sensitivity — and then she gasped.
"Lina… there's something on you."
Lina's heart stopped.
"What do you mean 'on me'?!"
Seren shook her head, horrified.
"Not physical — not like Kai's mimic.It's… an echo.A death echo."
Kai's expression hardened instantly."Take that back."
Seren flinched, but her voice remained steady.
"I can't. I'm sorry. Something is clinging to Lina — a shadow, a trace, like she's been touched by the entity."
Reyon's illusions flickered violently.
A distorted image of Lina appeared behind her — darker, cracked flame, hollow eyes.
Lina staggered back.
"STOP—PLEASE—STOP SHOWING ME THAT—!"
Reyon slapped both hands to his temples."SORRY! I'm not doing it on purpose! My illusions react to lies — and I don't know whose lie it is!"
Kai stepped between the illusions and Lina, blade drawn, protective terror radiating from him.
"Nobody touches her.Nobody accuses her.Not unless they go through me."
But even as he said it, Lina's flame pulsed again — not warningly…
But guiltily.
She clutched her chest, trembling."Kai… something is wrong with me."
He grabbed her hands."You're shaken. You're scared. It's normal—"
"No," she whispered. "I'm missing something."
They all froze.
"What?" Reyon whispered.
Lina swallowed, eyes brimming with dread."I'm missing… time."
Kai's posture changed.
Reyon looked between them. "Missing time as in—?"
Lina squeezed her eyes shut.
"There's a moment — before the Archives activated — I can't remember."
Seren's face went white.
"A memory gap."
Reyon cursed softly."The Veilbound planted something."
Kai held Lina's hands tightly.
"When did this gap happen, Lina?"
She looked up at him — terrified.
"The night before the sabotage accusation."
Kai's eyes widened.
"That's when you disappeared for ten minutes," he whispered.
Reyon spun. "Wait — WHAT? She disappeared?!"
Kai nodded slowly.
"I thought she just needed space. She said she was heading to her dorm. I turned around… and she was gone."
Lina cried out, gripping his sleeves.
"Kai, I don't REMEMBER that. I don't remember going anywhere!"
Seren stepped closer.
"This is how they make a traitor.They take someone pure, someone powerful…and they carve out a space inside them."
The chamber lights flickered, responding to something unseen.
Lina hugged herself, shaking.
"What if they used me? What if I did something and I don't know? What if—"
Kai grabbed her fiercely, pulling her against him.
"STOP."His voice broke."You didn't betray anyone. They're manipulating you."
The mask pulsed again.
"The flame obeyed when called.She walked willingly.She offered her resonance."
Lina dropped to her knees.
"No.NO.I would NEVER—"
Kai knelt with her, holding her shoulders.
"Lina, breathe. That thing LIES. It lies to make you lose control."
Reyon stared at her flame-hand trembling in terror.
Seren's voice shook.
"What if…Lina didn't go willingly?What if she was walked there?"
Lina stared up at her, horrified.
"Walked? You mean—"
Seren nodded."Possession. Partial control. Through resonance drain."
Kai's grip tightened painfully.
"They touched her flame."
Reyon whispered, "That's why her flame warned her about Kai — it wasn't him. It was the parasite trying to finish copying him."
"And," Seren added, "someone else may have been copying Lina."
The words sank in slowly.
Lina clutched Kai's hand.
"Kai… what if I really did something? What if they used me to—"
Kai shook his head violently.
"No. Listen to me. Look at me."
She did.
"I trust you.Do you understand that?I trust you more than prophecy, more than magic, more than anything they throw at us."
Her breath trembled.
His thumb brushed her cheek.
"You are not their weapon."
But the mask shimmered — and spoke once more.
"The flame will betray.Not by choice.But by design."
Lina felt her heart shatter.
Seren gasped, clutching her chest as another echo hit her.
"The next tear comes from truth.The truth she fears most."
Reyon whispered:
"What truth?"
But the mask answered instead.
"She has already betrayed once."
Lina's breath caught.
Kai froze.
Reyon's illusions exploded.
Seren's face drained of color.
And Lina whispered—
"…What did I do?"
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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