The world didn't explode.
It ripped.
Flame and shadow spiraled upward like twin storms, colliding in a blinding vortex that swallowed Lina whole.
She screamed.
Not from pain —but from the feeling that something was tearing her soul in two.
Kai lunged forward.
"LINA—!!"
Shadowsteel burst from his hands as he threw himself into the storm, fighting against the force that slammed him back again and again.
Reyon shielded Seren as illusions flickered out like dying fireflies.
"Someone PLEASE unplug this supernatural nightmare before it blows up the school—!"
Seren collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest, sobbing.
"It's happening— the Ninth Tear— it's writing itself— it's inside her— I can hear it carving her fate—!"
Kai fought against the spiraling storm, eyes wild.
"MOVE— LET ME THROUGH— I don't care what prophecy— she's not enduring this alone!"
He forced Shadowsteel into a protective spiral around him, using it like armor.
The backlash hit him instantly.
His seal cracked again.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
"KAI— STOP— YOU'LL DIE—!!" Lina cried from inside the storm, voice breaking.
"TOO BAD," Kai roared back."I'M COMING ANYWAY—!"
The shadows retaliated, slamming him into the ground.
"KAI!" Reyon yelled, grabbing his shoulders. "You can't brute-force the fate tornado! You're going to become Kai-flavored dust!"
Kai shoved him away.
"I don't care!"
And he dove back into the storm.
The flame reacted — gold spark fighting against black tendrils — as if Lina herself was resisting.
Inside the vortex, she sobbed, shaking violently.
"I can't— it's choosing— it's choosing YOU—!"
Kai reached her this time.
Barely.
He wrapped his arms around her.
Her flame surged, trying to reject him—trying to spare him—trying to protect him by pushing him away.
But Kai only held tighter.
"I'm not letting go."
The Ninth Tear carved itself into Lina's chest like liquid fire.
A luminous sigil formed over her heart — jagged and unfinished.
Seren screamed as the prophecy echoed through her:
"When the Ninth Tear seals,the Seventh Flame becomesthe Harbinger."
Reyon paled."That sounds like a VERY bad job title—"
Seren shook her head, crying harder.
"No… no, you don't understand—A Harbinger isn't someone who ends the world—It's someone who chooses which world ends."
Lina choked on a sob.
"Kai… I don't want this— I don't want to choose you— or the academy— or ANYTHING—"
Kai cupped her face, forcing her to look at him.
"Then don't."
She stared at him, trembling.
"I don't get to decide— prophecy does—"
"No," he whispered."You decide who you are. Not prophecy. Not flame. Not fate."
Something shifted inside the storm.
A vision flickered before Lina.
A girl.
Older.Stronger.Terrifying.
Her.
Her future self.
With a crown of black flame.
With Kai's shadow crumbling at her feet.
Lina screamed and stumbled back.
"No— no no no— that's not— that CAN'T be me— I wouldn't— I WOULD NEVER—"
The entity's voice echoed around them:
"All flames consume.All shadows die.This is what you become."
Kai grabbed Lina's hand.
"Don't look at it. That's not you. That's what IT wants you to fear."
"But what if it's true?" Lina whispered, tears falling."What if I DO kill you?"
Kai's expression softened in a way that broke her heart.
"Then I'll trust you not to."
Her breath hitched.
"Why… why do you trust me so much?"
"Because I know who you are."
The vortex pulsed violently.
A tendril of black flame shot toward Kai's chest —the prophecy reacting to the name he carries.
Lina shrieked:
"KAI!!"
He didn't flinch.
He stepped in front of her —taking the blast head-on.
His seal tore open like a wound.
He collapsed to one knee.
"KAI—!!" Lina screamed, reaching for him.
He smiled faintly.
"See? I'm still here."
Her flame flared gold, fighting back the black at last.
The vortex weakened.
The entity's voice growled:
"The Harbinger is weakening.She fears her choice."
Lina glared up through tears.
"I'm not choosing ANYTHING."
A flicker of approval — or amusement — passed through the shadows.
"Yet the flame has chosen already.It chose the one you love."
Lina froze.
Kai froze.
Reyon choked on his own breath.
Seren's eyes widened as she whispered:
"Oh no… oh no… the prophecy is binding because she— she—"
Lina cut her off, voice trembling.
"Don't say it."
But the prophecy completed itself inside her chest —the Ninth Tear sealing with a burning rush.
A final line seared itself into her mind:
THE FLAME LOCKS WHERE THE HEART POINTS.
Lina sobbed.
Kai whispered her name in fear.
And Lina finally asked the question she's been running from:
"Kai…if my flame kills what I love…what happens if I love you?"
The prophecy circle exploded into blinding gold—
And the Forbidden Wing began to collapse.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.