Aurelia's POV
I'm floating in darkness, my body no longer my own.
Seraphine's consciousness is invading my mind like poison, pushing me out, taking over. I can feel myself fading my memories, my thoughts, my very existence being erased to make room for her.
Stop fighting, Seraphine's voice echoes in my head. This will hurt less if you just let go.
But I'm not going to let go. I didn't survive ten years of curses and seventeen cycles of heartbreak just to give up now.
I have Caspian's memories. All seventeen times he fell in love with me. All seventeen times he fought for us.
If he could fight for me seventeen times, I can fight for him once.
I push back against Seraphine's invasion, using every ounce of my memory-keeper abilities. She wants to take my body? Fine. But she'll have to take all my memories too including the ones from Caspian.
And those memories are full of love.
Love is powerful. Seraphine never understood that. She thinks power comes from control and domination. But real power comes from connection. From sacrifice. From choosing someone else over yourself.
I channel every memory of Caspian loving me seventeen lifetimes of devotion and I throw them at Seraphine like weapons.
She screams inside my mind.
What are you doing? She shrieks.
Fighting back, I say.
Outside my body, I can hear Caspian shouting. Even paralyzed, even without memories of me, he's still trying to break free. Still trying to save me.
That's when I understand something crucial.
The curse Caspian cast ten years ago wasn't a mistake. It was a protection spell that backfired, yes. But it was also proof of how much he loved me. He was willing to risk everything to keep me safe from Thorne and Seraphine.
And that love that pure, selfless love is exactly what I need to defeat my mother.
I gather all the love from Caspian's memories and use it to create a barrier inside my mind. Seraphine slams against it, trying to break through, but love is stronger than her darkness.
Impossible! Seraphine rages. Love is weakness! It can't stop me!
That's where you're wrong, I say. Love is the strongest magic that exists. And you've never understood that. That's why you'll always lose.
I push harder, forcing Seraphine's consciousness out of my body. She fights viciously, but I have something she doesn't: seventeen lifetimes of love backing me up.
Outside, I hear Thorne's chanting falter.
Mother? He calls out, confused. What's happening?
She's fighting back! Seraphine screams. Increase the power!
Thorne chants louder, and the dark energy around me intensifies. It's crushing me, suffocating me.
But then I hear another voice.
Caspian.
He's broken free from the paralysis somehow. I can hear him fighting, hear Riven and Dr. Isla joining the battle.
Hold on, Aurelia! Caspian shouts. I'm coming!
His voice gives me strength. I push one final time, putting everything I have into expelling Seraphine from my mind.
There's a blinding flash of light.
A scream Seraphine's scream.
And suddenly I'm falling.
Strong arms catch me before I hit the ground. Caspian's arms.
I've got you, he says, holding me tight. I've got you.
I open my eyes and see chaos around us. Riven and his team are fighting Thorne. Dr. Isla is dismantling Seraphine's ritual circle. And Seraphine herself is on the ground, clutching her head and screaming.
What did you do to me? She shrieks at me.
I gave you what you wanted, I say, my voice weak but steady. Memories. All of them. Every memory of love that Caspian and I shared. Every moment of joy and sacrifice and devotion. You wanted to steal my power? Well, now you have it. And it's destroying you because you don't know how to process love. You never have.
Seraphine's screams become more desperate. Her body starts to glow, then flicker, like she's losing her physical form.
You can't do this! She shouts. I'm your mother!
You were never my mother, I say coldly. A real mother wouldn't torture her own daughter. Wouldn't fake her death. Wouldn't try to steal her child's body. You're just a monster wearing my mother's face.
Seraphine's form flickers faster. She's destabilizing, the love-memories I forced on her tearing her apart from the inside.
Help me! She begs Thorne.
But Thorne is losing his own fight. Riven has him pinned, magical restraints locked around his wrists.
Sorry, Mother, Thorne says bitterly. Looks like we both underestimated her.
Seraphine makes one last desperate lunge for me, but Caspian steps between us.
You'll never touch her again, he says.
Dr. Isla finishes destroying the ritual circle, and the remaining dark energy dissipates. Without it, Seraphine has nothing left to sustain her stolen body.
She collapses, her form finally giving out.
This isn't over, she gasps. I'll find another way. I'll
Her words cut off as her body turns to ash.
Just like that, my mother is gone. For real this time.
I should feel relieved. Victorious. But all I feel is exhausted.
Caspian helps me sit down. Are you okay?
I don't know, I admit. I just killed my mother. Again. Except this time, I actually did it.
She wasn't your mother, Caspian says gently. Not really. Your real mother died ten years ago. This was just... something else wearing her skin.
I nod, knowing he's right but still feeling the weight of it.
Riven drags Thorne over to us. What do we do with this one?
Turn him over to the magical council, Dr. Isla says. They'll deal with him.
Thorne glares at me with pure hatred. You think you've won? You think this is over? There are others people more powerful than Mother and me combined. They know about you now. They know what you can do. And they'll come for you.
Let them come, I say tiredly. I'll be ready.
Riven hauls Thorne away, and Dr. Isla starts checking my vital signs.
The secondary curse is gone, she announces after a moment. Completely destroyed when you expelled Seraphine. You're free, Aurelia.
Free. The word sounds foreign.
I look at Caspian. We did it. We actually broke the curse.
You did it, Caspian corrects. I was just here for moral support. And to catch you when you fell.
I laugh weakly. You've been catching me for seventeen times. What's one more?
Eighteen, he says with a smile. This is the eighteenth time.
We sit there in the ruins of Seraphine's ritual chamber, exhausted but alive. Victorious but damaged.
Dr. Isla clears her throat. I hate to ruin the moment, but we should get you both back to the hospital. You've been through severe magical trauma.
We agree, and Riven helps us to our feet.
As we're leaving, I notice something strange. There's a vial on the ground one of my memory vials that must have fallen during the fight.
I pick it up, and it glows in my hand.
What's in it? Caspian asks.
I focus my abilities, reading the memory inside. My eyes widen.
It's from before, I breathe. Before everything. Before the curse. It's a memory of us the real first time we met. Not from the cycles. The actual beginning.
I thought all those memories were lost, Dr. Isla says.
So did I, I say. But this one survived. It must have been protected somehow.
Caspian looks at the vial with longing. Can we see it?
Are you sure? It might hurt, knowing what we had before everything went wrong.
I want to know, Caspian says. I want to understand who I was. Who we were.
I nod and activate the vial.
The memory projects into the air around us like a hologram.
We see two teenagers Caspian at twenty-two, me at sixteen. We're at the Midnight Market, both reaching for the same rare magical book at the same time.
Sorry, young-me says, pulling my hand back.
No, you take it, young-Caspian says with a shy smile. I can come back another time.
We could share it, young-me suggests. If you're interested in curse-breaking history?
I am, young-Caspian says. His eyes light up. Are you a curse-breaker too?
No, I'm a memory keeper. But I think the two fields are connected. Curses affect memories, and memories can strengthen or weaken curses.
That's exactly what I think! Young-Caspian says excitedly. I've been researching the connection for months. Do you want to get coffee? I'd love to hear your theories.
Young-me smiles a genuine, happy smile I haven't seen on my face in the memories from the cycles. I'd like that.
They walk off together, talking animatedly about magic and memories.
The memory fades.
I'm crying. Caspian is too.
We were so young, he whispers. So innocent. We had no idea what was coming.
We were happy, I say. Before Thorne. Before Seraphine. Before the curse. We were just two people who loved magic and found each other.
We can have that again, Caspian says, taking my hand. Maybe not the innocence. But the happiness. The connection. We can build something new.
I want to believe him. But before I can respond, Riven's phone rings.
He answers, his expression darkening with each word.
What is it? Dr. Isla asks when he hangs up.
Riven looks at me, his face grim. That was my contact at the magical council. They just received a message. From someone claiming to be Aurelia's father.
My heart stops. My father is dead. He died with my mother ten years ago.
Apparently not, Riven says. The message says: 'Tell my daughter I'm alive. Tell her I'm coming for her. And tell her the curse was just the beginning. The real test starts now.'