"What did I do?"
The words barely left Lina's lips before the room seemed to shrink around them.
Reyon stopped breathing.Seren pressed a hand to her chest.Kai's entire body went still, as if he wished he could shield her from her own past.
The mask floated silently, waiting.
Lina gripped her head, the same sharp pain stabbing behind her eyes — the pain of a memory clawing its way back.
"Kai…"Her voice cracked."Tell me what happened that night."
Kai didn't answer.
"Kai."She stepped closer."Please."
His jaw tightened — not with anger, but with unbearable guilt.
"You were… different," he said softly."You didn't look like yourself."
Lina's breath hitched.
Reyon whispered, "Different how?"
Kai closed his eyes painfully.
"Your flame wasn't gold. It was black."
Silence crashed over them.
Seren gasped.
Reyon swore under his breath.
Lina staggered back a step."Black…? That's impossible. My flame has never—"
Kai shook his head."It wasn't like corruption. It was like… someone else was inside your magic. Like your flame wasn't yours."
Lina's knees weakened.
"And… what was I doing?"
Kai hesitated.
"Kai," she begged. "I need to know."
"…You were walking toward the power core chamber."
Reyon's eyes snapped open. "The SAME chamber she was framed for?"
Kai nodded.
"And you wouldn't listen when I called you."
Lina felt nauseous.
Seren whispered the truth gently:
"You weren't conscious."
Lina trembled violently.Her flame flickered in distress.
"I… betrayed the academy that night."
Kai grabbed her shoulders immediately."No — you were USED. That's not betrayal."
But his touch triggered a new memory flash.
A hallway.Cold floor beneath her feet.A mask floating behind her.A whisper:"Walk."Her own voice answering:"Yes."
She gasped, pulling back from Kai as if burned.
Kai froze."Lina?"
"I heard myself."Her voice trembled."In the memory… I obeyed."
Seren shook her head. "No — you were controlled. A resonance override. A forced command."
Lina shook violently."No, Ser— I answered. I said yes."
Reyon swallowed hard."Maybe the command was too strong. Maybe—"
"No."Lina squeezed her head, tears forming."I wasn't fighting back. I… I followed it willingly."
Kai grabbed her wrist gently.
"Look at me. Please."
She did — eyes broken.
"You weren't awake. You weren't choosing."
But she whispered the truth:
"Kai… what if a part of me wanted to obey?"
The idea alone made her sick.
Seren stepped closer.
"Lina — there's only one way to know. I can read the echo. Let me see it."
Lina hesitated, terrified.
Kai looked pained but nodded."We need the truth."
Seren placed a glowing hand over Lina's flame-wrist.
Lina gasped as a cold wave washed through her —and suddenly she was standing in her own memory.
The Forgotten Night
The academy corridors were dark.
Lina walked slowly, dreamlike.Her eyes empty.Her flame dim.
A mask hovered behind her.
Black. Veilbound.Whispering.
"Walk."
Lina's voice — hollow — replied:
"Yes."
Seren cried out, seeing it with her.
Reyon cursed as the illusion projected it.
Kai watched, devastated.
Lina trembled in the vision, but her body kept moving.
She reached the power core door.
A hand touched her shoulder.
Kai.
But not the Kai she knew.
Younger.Scared.Confused.
"Lina? Stop—what are you doing? Lina, answer me!"
Her hollow voice replied:
"He is waiting."
Kai in the memory recoiled.
"Who? Who's waiting?! Who are you talking about?!"
Lina turned her head slowly — eyes dark, flame extinguished.
And whispered:
"The one beneath us."
The present Kai looked like someone had torn him open.
Reyon whispered hoarsely, "Lina… you said that?"
Seren sobbed softly. "She wasn't herself."
Present-day Lina watched in horror as her past self placed her hand on the power core seal.Dark fire leaked from her fingers.
Crack.
A small fracture formed in the seal.
Kai grabbed her hand in the memory, trying desperately to stop her.
"Lina, DON'T — you're hurting yourself! Lina, please—WAKE UP!"
Her voice was lifeless.
"I obey."
The chamber around them shattered.
Back to Reality
Lina fell to the ground, sobbing.
Kai dropped beside her instantly.
"Lina—Lina, breathe— look at me—"
"I BROKE THE SEAL—" she cried out."I betrayed the academy— I let the entity out— I did what they wanted—"
Kai grabbed her face with both hands, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"You.Were.Not.In.Control."
She trembled violently.
"But I still did it—"
Reyon knelt beside them, voice shaking."Lina… betrayal doesn't mean intent. It means outcome. The Veilbound used you."
Seren whispered:
"This is why the prophecy calls her a traitor.Not because she chooses wrong—but because she was built to be used."
Lina's flame dimmed in her chest.
Dead quiet.
Kai pulled her against him, holding her as she cried into his shoulder.
"You are NOT their traitor. You hear me? Not then, not now, not EVER."
She clung to him.
But then—
A final memory fragment surfaced.
A face.
Someone she spoke to that night.
Someone she trusted.
Someone who led her toward the seal.
Lina froze.
Her breath vanished.
"Kai…"
He pulled back to look at her.
"There was someone else there.Someone who guided me."
Kai's jaw tightened.
"Who?"
Lina whispered the name—
—and the entire corridor went silent.
Because the person she remembered…
Was someone they ALL trusted.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.