Silence crushed the corridor.
Lina felt the world tilt sideways, her heartbeat hammering in her ears.
"I…killed her…?"
Her voice was barely audible.
Kai jerked toward Arienne, fury ripping through his fragile composure.
"No.NO.Arienne, that is NOT true."
Arienne tilted her head, expression unreadably soft.
"Isn't it? She was there, Kai."
Lina flinched.
"I've never met you— I didn't even KNOW you—"
Arienne's eyes flickered — a dead, dark shimmer.
"Oh, but you did."
Lina staggered back.
Kai moved immediately, shielding her with his body.
"No.You're being manipulated.That thing beneath the academy — it's twisting your memories."
Arienne's voice sharpened.
"Twisting? Or revealing?"
Reyon stepped between them, trembling.
"Hold on — time out — Lina killing your sister?! Impossible. Physically impossible. Logically impossible. SENSIBLY impossible!"
Seren's breath hitched as she stared at Arienne's wrists.
"The runes on her… they aren't just containment."She swallowed."They're Memory Echo Runes. Someone tampered with what she remembers."
Arienne smiled slightly.
"Seren, little empath… You hear echoes.But you don't hear MINE."
Seren staggered back like she'd been slapped.
Kai glared.
"Stop talking to them.Talk to ME.Tell me what you think Lina did."
Arienne's eyes softened with something painful.
"You brought her into the ward."
Kai froze.
Lina's heart stopped.
"The ward…?" she whispered.
Kai shook his head slowly.
"No. I never brought Lina anywhere. She'd never even been near that place—"
Arienne cut him off:
"Do you remember the night I died?"
Shadowsteel flared from Kai's shoulders.
"DON'T."
Arienne kept talking.
"You ran for help.You left me bleeding.And when you returned…she was there."
Lina's breath faltered.
"Wh—what? No— I would remember—"
Arienne whispered:
"But your flame wasn't gold that night, Lina."Her eyes darkened."It was black."
Lina felt something inside her collapse.
Her knees nearly buckled.
Kai grabbed her immediately.
"Don't listen to her— she's not whole— she's controlled— Arienne, STOP—"
Arienne stepped closer, shadows dragging behind her like chains.
"You touched the seal that night.You triggered the collapse.You were the reason the roof gave way."
Lina whispered, shaking, horrified:
"The… roof…? The one that—"
Arienne nodded.
"The one that killed me."
Lina stumbled backward, hand over her mouth.
"No—NO—I didn't— I couldn't have— I wasn't even—"
Kai pulled Lina back into his arms.
"None of this is real. She's corrupted. She's echoing what the entity wants her to say."
But Arienne's voice cracked:
"I saw you, Kai.I saw her flame swallow the ward.She never even looked at me."
Lina's vision blurred.
A memory — blurry, broken — flickered.
Black flame.Cold stone.A scream.
Her own?
Lina forced herself to breathe.
"I don't remember any of that."
Arienne smiled, sad and hollow.
"That's because the academy erased it."
The corridor fell silent.
Kai shook violently.
"No…No, they wouldn't—No—"
But Arienne's voice was so gentle it hurt.
"Brother…this is why you were cursed."
Kai froze.
Lina stared at him.
"Kai…?"
Arienne lifted a trembling hand toward him.
"You vowed to protect me…but when she triggered the collapse—you shielded HER instead."
Lina felt every thought freeze.
Kai's breath stopped.
Reyon's illusions shattered with the emotional whiplash.
Seren whispered, horrified:
"Kai… you saved Lina? Back then?"
Kai didn't answer.
He shook, eyes wide.
Arienne whispered:
"You chose her over me.That was your betrayal."
Lina covered her mouth, tears streaming.
"Kai… is that true…?"
Kai trembled — torn between worlds, memories, guilt, and truth.
"I—I don't—I don't know—"
Arienne stepped forward, voice cold now.
"And that's why the seal hates her.Why the Shadowsteel tries to kill her."
She pointed at Lina again.
"Because Kai chose her once.And the seal will not let him choose her again."
Lina staggered.
Kai reached for her.
She stepped back.
Not in fear of him.
In fear of the truth.
"Kai… did we… did we meet before? Did something happen… between us… that I can't remember?"
Kai opened his mouth.
No words came out.
Arienne whispered:
"She was always your weakness."
Shadowsteel pulsed violently at the accusation.
Lina reached out — desperate, heartbroken.
"Kai… tell me it's not true.Tell me I didn't kill her.Tell me you didn't choose me over your own sister—"
Kai finally broke.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
His voice echoed through the corridor, raw and shattering.
Shadowsteel burst outward — a violent shockwave.
Lina covered her face.
Reyon stumbled back.
Seren cried out.
Arienne stood perfectly still.
Then she whispered:
"And that… is why the seal chose me."
The shadows behind her rose like a tide.
Lina screamed, "KAI—STOP IT—YOU'LL KILL HER—"
Kai fell to his knees, gripping his head.
"I can't… control… the curse—"
Arienne's face softened.
"It's all right, brother."A sad smile."It already killed me once."
And then—
Her body dissolved into shadow.
Not disappearing.
Not fleeing.
But returning inward toward the Forbidden Wing.
Lina reached for her, horrified.
"No— WAIT—!"
Arienne's last whisper echoed:
"Find the truth.Before the truth finds you."
The shadows swallowed her completely.
Kai collapsed.
His voice broke against the floor:
"…I'm sorry… Arienne…"
Lina knelt beside him, tears falling.
"Kai… we'll find the truth. Together."
He looked up at her with devastated eyes.
"Lina…What if the truth is that I already betrayed you once?"
Her heart cracked.
Reyon and Seren stood silent behind them.
The Forbidden Wing door groaned open—
Inviting them in.
And the darkness inside whispered Lina's name.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.