Celia's Perspective:
Date: 4/11/2008 - 9:18 PM
Elfina ran past me like I was a piece of stone, not even sparing me a glance except for a heartbeat of pure, terrifying possessiveness in her sharp pink eyes.
"Elfie!" Kai muttered, surprised, as she rushed him, wrapping her small arms tightly around his neck in a fierce, absolute hug that left me staring.
"Kaiii! You dummy!" she squealed, her voice muffled against his tunic. She pulled back just enough to look at him, her eyes wide and glistening. "How did you come here??"
"You left the portal open by the field," Kai said calmly, his hands resting lightly on her back to steady her. "I figured you wanted another flower. I did wait a bit, but you didn't return, so I just came here to search for you."
"You came just for me?" She beamed, hugging him tighter, squeezing him as if trying to merge with him. She turned her head slightly, her pink eyes finding mine over his shoulder—a cold, triumphant smirk that said.
See? He belongs to me.
"I found the flower!" she announced, pulling back to show him the blue bloom she had tucked in her pocket. "So we can go now! Let's return home, Kai. Right now."
Kai blinked, his gaze shifting past her to look at me standing frozen in the dirt. He opened his mouth to say something, but Elfina instantly stepped sideways, putting her small body directly between us, blocking my view of him.
"C'mon, Kai. Enough for today. Let's go."
The fear in my chest twisted into something sharp and frantic. They were leaving. He was leaving.
"K-Kai..." I stuttered, my voice barely working. "Can you... can you wait a moment?"
Elfina's head snapped toward me, her neck moving with a bird-like sharpness.
"Yes, Lia?" she asked, her voice sugary sweet, but her eyes dead.
I looked past her, desperate to catch his blue eyes. "If... if you come to my village right now, I can make you a scarf! Like I promised last time! Remember? I'll be quick, it won't take much time!" I took a step forward, my hands trembling.
"I can show you around there too! I know the best spots for—"
"He doesn't need a scarf," Elfina cut me off, her voice dropping an octave. She tightened her grip on his sleeve. "My magic can keep him warm. Better than some itchy cloth."
"But... but I can cook!" I tried again, desperation making my voice shrill. "I can make him berry soup! He likes the berries, he said so!"
"I have a chef at the orphanage," Elfina said coldly. "He doesn't need your soup."
"I... I can show him the sea!"
"I can make a portal to the ocean whenever I want."
I was running out of things. I was running out of me.
"But..." I whispered, tears pricking my eyes again. "I just... I want him to stay."
The air around us dropped in temperature. It wasn't the wind this time. It was her. A low, vibrating hum began to emanate from Elfina, and the grass near her feet began to wither, turning brown.
She looked up at Kaiser, her lower lip trembling, her eyes filling with tears that looked real but felt terrifying.
"Kai..." she whispered, her voice shaking. "I didn't know you made a friend that wants you to stay so bad."
She gripped his shirt, her knuckles white.
"I thought I was your only friend, Kai. Don't do this to me."
The atmosphere grew heavy, suffocating. It felt like the air itself was angry at me.
Kaiser looked down at her, then at me. He didn't look scared. He just looked... factual. He shook his head.
"Her and I are not friends."
The world stopped.
"W-What?" I stuttered.
"I only met her twice," Kai said calmly, shrugging his shoulders as if stating the weather. "And I spoke to her for a bit while walking. That doesn't make us friends or anything."
Elfina let out a small, happy chirp, rubbing her cheek against his arm.
My heart shattered. It didn't break—it disintegrated.
Not friends?
My mind reeled, replaying the last hour in a frantic, painful loop.
But... you touched my hair. You wiped the juice from my chin. You held my hand. You interlocked fingers with me! You told me I was smart! You called me cute!
You put a flower behind my ear!
Was that... was that nothing? Was I just imagining the happiness? Did the 'Angel' mask trick me too?
I stood there, swaying slightly, feeling smaller than the dust under his boots. He had been so kind. He seemed to know me.
But to him... I was just a girl he met twice.
I barely kept myself together, my legs shaking so hard I thought I would fall. I placed a trembling hand on my chest, trying to hold the pieces of my heart in.
"Then..." I whispered, my voice breaking into a sob. "Then what are we?"
Kai looked at me, his blue eyes calm, unbothered, and completely distant.
"Strangers."
The word hit me harder than the monster ever could.
Elfina didn't wait. She reached down and grabbed his hand—the hand I had just been holding—and interlocked her fingers with his, squeezing tight to show me how it was supposed to look.
"C'mon, Kai! Let's go!" she cheered, pulling him toward the trees where the air rippled with magic. "Don't waste time! I'll feed you once we get back, okiee?"
Kai sighed, a small, resigned sound. "Alright, Elfie. Sure."
She turned him around. They began to walk away.
I stood there, alone in the darkening forest, the white flower still tucked behind my ear, watching the only person who ever saw me walk away without looking back.
My hands shook violently at my sides, watching the distance between us grow. Every step he took away from me felt like he was physically tearing a piece of my chest out with him.
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the hot, blurring tears.
Don't go. Please don't go.
"Stella!"
A voice shouted from behind me—Ronan. He came crashing through the underbrush, breathless and frantic. "Stella! I found you! Are you okay?"
I couldn't look at him. I couldn't focus on his face, or his worry, or the safety he offered.
My eyes were glued to Kai's back.
How can you walk away?
The memory washed over me, agonizing and sweet.
I remembered the weight of my body on his back when he carried me down the mountain, his hands secure under my knees. I remembered the way he had just fixed my messy hair, tucking the strands behind my ear with such gentle fingers.
You wiped the juice from my lips. You held my hand when I was scared. You listened to me talk about the stars, the moon and the berries.
You called me cute.
You told me my real smile was pretty.
How could you do all that… and then leave? How could you call me a stranger?
A dark, cold shadow fell over my heart. It wasn't sadness anymore. It was a refusal to accept it.
No.
My teeth clenched together so hard my jaw ached.
You can't leave me now. You can't. I found you. I claimed you. You made me feel loved.
She can't have you. She doesn't need you like I do.
She's perfect. She has magic. She can get anything she wants.
I have nothing but you.
"Wait!" I rasped, taking a desperate step forward. "Kai—!"
Suddenly, the grass beneath my foot moved. It twisted unnaturally, knotting itself around my ankle in a tight, magical snare.
I didn't even have time to scream.
Thud!
I fell hard, hitting the ground face-flat. The dirt scraped my cheek, the impact knocking the wind out of me.
Pain shot through my body, but I ignored it. I scrambled to push myself up, spitting dirt, looking frantically ahead.
Kai?
He hadn't stopped. He hadn't turned around. He hadn't flinched.
He kept walking, his head turned toward Elfina, listening to her chatter.
He didn't hear me fall.
I looked at the shimmering air behind them. She had done it. She had blocked the sound. She made sure he couldn't hear me hurting.
I tried to get up, but my hand brushed against something soft in the dirt.
The white flower.
It had fallen from my hair when I hit the ground. The beautiful, delicate white flower he had picked just for me.
My hand trembled as I reached for it, tears dripping off my chin.
It's okay. I still have this. I still have proof that he cared about me.
My fingers were inches away from the petals when a spark of celestial light ignited on the stem.
Fwoosh.
A tiny, precise flame consumed it. I watched, paralyzed, as the white petals curled, blackened, and turned to ash in the mud.
Burnt.
Mama burnt the blue one. Elfina burnt the white one.
Everything he gave me… they destroyed.
Something inside me snapped. A hot, blood rage flooded my vision, turning the edges of the world red. My breathing turned jagged, shallow.
Thief.
The word screamed in my head.
You thief. You stole his hand. You stole his attention. You stole his smile. And now you burnt his gift.
Die.
My fingers clawed into the dirt, ripping up the grass roots.
Die. Die. Die.
He belongs to me. It's not fair. You have everything else! Why do you have to take him too?
I hate you. I want you gone. I want you to disappear so he can only look at me.
"Die…" I muttered into the dirt, my voice a broken, hateful croak.
Suddenly, the forest erupted.
Three massive shadows lunged from the dense treeline ahead of them.
Wolf-Spiders—monsters with too many legs and dripping, venomous fangs. They screeched, terrified and hungry, leaping straight for Kai and the pink-haired girl.
Yes.... Get her.
Kill her.
Elfina didn't break her stride. She simply flicked her wrist without looking.
CRACK!
Massive, jagged spikes of translucent blue ice erupted from the ground, skewering the first two monsters instantly. They didn't even have time to scream.
SWISH!
A blade of invisible wind sliced through the air, cutting the third monster cleanly in half before it could touch Kai.
It was over in a second.
She had killed them like they were nothing. She was strong. She was capable and terrifying.
She was everything I wasn't.
Elfina slowed down, just for a second. She squeezed Kai's hand, pulling him gently along. Then, slowly, she turned her head back.
She looked right at me, lying in the dirt with my scraped cheek and my ash-covered hand.
She smiled—a cruel, childish victory.
And then, she stuck her tongue out at me.
It was a mockery. A final, playful sign that said…
I Win. You Lose.
He's mine.
I could only watch, my body shaking with powerless rage and heartbreak, as she turned back to him, pulling him into the portal's light.
Her pink hair swayed. As they both disappeared.
She took him away from me.
"Stella!" Ronan shouted, finally reaching me.
He dropped to his knees in the dirt beside me, his breath ragged. He looked terrified. "What happened? You're bleeding! How did you fall to the ground!? Did that monster get you?"
He reached out, his hand hovering over my scraped cheek.
But his touch was wrong. His worry felt loud and intrusive. It wasn't the calm, knowing touch of Kai.
I broke. A wretched, agonizing sob tore out of my throat, forcing more tears to stream down my face.
"Don't touch me!" I choked out, slapping his hand away.
Ronan recoiled, his face stricken. "Stella… what is it? Just tell me what's wrong!"
I couldn't form the words.
I lost him. The only person who I liked left me for another girl.
All I could do was press my forehead against the cold, damp ground and let the broken pieces of my heart spill out in raw, desperate wails. The sound was ugly, uncontrolled, completely unlike the perfect, silent tears of the Angel.
Ronan knelt next to me, utterly lost. He put a tentative arm around my shoulder, but I just shook my head violently, pushing him away until I was curled in a tight ball, shuddering in the dirt.
The moon had long gone dark when Ronan finally managed to convince me to stand. He walked me all the way back to the village, supporting my weight the entire time. The path felt cold.
The distant Moon was now a stark, indifferent light in the sky, reminding me of Kai's logic—it's just a broken piece of the earth.
Ronan, always loyal, took the brunt of the story when we got home.
"She was so worried, Uncle," Ronan explained to my father, his voice nervous but firm. "We were playing near the Eastern Ridge, and she wandered too far looking for a flower, and she slipped down the slope. She just got a little hurt."
My parents just stood rigid, judging... They didn't rush to me.
My mother's face was sharp, her lips thin. She didn't look at my scrape; she looked at the mud on my dress.
"Celestara." Her voice was chillingly low. "Look at you. Covered in filth. You know better than to run off like a common child."
My father stepped forward, his eyes burning with disappointment. "We told you, our children do not play near the ridge. You are supposed to be graceful. You are supposed to be an example."
Ronan stepped in quickly. "It was my fault, Uncle. I should have watched her better—"
"No," my mother cut him off, her gaze resting briefly, dismissively on Ronan. "You're innocent, Ronan. You're her friend so don't take the blame. She is supposed to be capable of knowing what is right and wrong."
"Yo let the curiosity override your behavior, and now look at the state of you."
"And where is the flower?" my father demanded.
"You risked yourself for a common flower?"
My voice was a raw whisper. "It… it's gone. I lost it."
"Unacceptable!" My mother threw her hands up in exasperation. "A pointless disaster. You disgrace the Angel's name. You are supposed to be poised and serene. We are having guests tomorrow morning, and you look like you crawled out of a sewer!"
"Go clean yourself, immediately!"
Just then, Lyla, my sister, hurried in from the kitchen, her eyes wide with worry. She looked at my tear-stained face and the raw despair in my eyes, completely ignoring the mud and the anger.
"Oh, Lia," she said softly, stepping past our parents. She didn't hug me, knowing our mother was watching. "You must be starving. Come. I'll make you something to eat."
Unacceptable. Disgrace. Filth.
I didn't defend myself. I didn't cry. I didn't even feel ashamed anymore.
I just felt… soulless. The hole Kai had briefly filled had been torn wider, and now I was hollowed out. I simply stared at my parents' angry, disappointed faces, my mind replaying Kai's calm, factual voice: Strangers.
When the scolding was finally over, and I had been sufficiently reminded that the only value I held was my forced perfection, I trudged to my room.
The instant the door clicked shut, I twisted the key in the lock.
I didn't bother with the bed. I slid down the smooth wooden surface of the door, landing with a soft thud on the floor. I hugged my knees to my chest, burying my face in the rough fabric of my soiled dress.
I let go.
The cries that came were no longer the frantic, heartbroken whimpers of the forest. They were deep, racking sobs that shook my entire small frame. The tears flowed without restraint, thick and hot and ugly, streaming down my cheeks and soaking my dress.
It was the cry of a child who had finally understood that the one single person who made her happy, who accepted her flaws, was gone. And worse, he had never even liked her at all.
I pressed my hands against my ears, trying to drown out the silence where his voice should be.
He's gone. He's gone. He's gone.
The small room was pitch black, lit only by the faint, indifferent moonlight filtering through the gap in the curtains. The tears kept coming, warm and endless, tracing paths through the dirt on my face.
My chest was collapsing. It wasn't just sadness; it was a physical ache, a terrible, gaping hole where the warmth of his hand had been.
Seeing him walk away, knowing he thought of me as a stranger while he held her hand... It was the ultimate, cold betrayal.
He was the one piece of evidence that my messy, real self had value. And now that evidence had been cancelled, erased, walked away with someone else.
He was the reason I was happy.
And she took him.
The grief curdled into a vicious, burning hatred—a terrifying feeling I'd never known before. It wasn't just hate for Elfina. It spread.
It was hatred for this village, where everyone forced me to wear the Angel mask. It was hatred for my parents, who cared more about a clean dress than my broken heart.
And it was hatred for Celestara.
My mother worshiped her. Celestara—the pure, divine Angel. The ideal.
Celestara smiles perfectly all the time.
Celestara is eternally happy and serene.
Celestara helps everyone and is loved by the world.
And Celestara had gifts. She had supreme Celestial magic. She could do anything and everything. Anything she could want, she could have.
I curled tighter, the cold hatred making me shiver.
Just like Elfina.
That was why Kai left. That was the terrible, simple truth.
He likes her because she probably adores him like I do. She wants to care for him and be by his side. She gives him joy... like he made me feel...
But the comparison was cruel, a knife twisting in the wound.
Elfie can make him fly.
She can open portals and take him to the ends of the world right now.
She can create ice spikes and wind blades to protect him from anything he faces.
What could I do? I could climb a tree. I could sew a crooked seam. I could tell him about things I read. I couldn't even summon a spark. I couldn't even stop a monster from attacking.
I couldn't do anything.
The sobs returned, louder and more desperate.
"I'm nothing like her," I cried into my knees. "Who would choose me? Even I wouldn't choose myself."
I was ugly. I was useless.
I was just the girl who fell in the dirt and cried.
But then, amidst the crushing darkness, his voice cut through the noise, clear and strong, just like when he stood up to my parents last time.
"Well, I disagree."
The words echoed in the small room, contradicting everything I felt.
"You aren't supposed to blend in, Lia. You think you're plain because you aren't perfect like an angel? That's boring."
"I like your eyes the way they are. They are honest. And I like that about you, too. The way you are."
"Don't let anyone else's words or opinions change that. Because I certainly won't change my opinion."
He didn't want the angel. He didn't want me to be perfect.
He wanted me.
Fresh tears streamed down my face, but these were different. They were angry, confused tears.
He liked the real me. While I was this useless, broken thing… how?
He said he liked my honesty. He said he liked the way I was.
He chose and accepted the real me.
The wave of overwhelming sadness gave way entirely to a chilling, furious clarity.
Kai was not at fault.
Kai liked me.
Kai was kind.
Kai wouldn't hurt me.
She stole him.
She used her light, perfect magic—the same Celestial perfection they wanted from me—to trap him. She made him forget me. She made him call me a stranger. She burnt his gift. She made me fall.
She is the one who hurt me.
My eyes snapped open, my pale brown irises flickering red in the dark room—the true color of my growing Curse. The tears stopped, replaced by a cold, frightening calm.
She took what was mine.
She will pay.
The cold, raw ache in my chest was slowly giving way to something hard and sharp. The tears still fell, but I swiped them away with the back of my hand, angry at them for showing weakness.
I dragged myself off the floor, my muscles aching from the fall and the tension. I crawled to the small wooden shelf where my mother kept the 'approved' reading material for future
Angels—books on history, civility, and Celestial doctrine.
I didn't care about history like Kiel did, full of dates and boring names. I needed the truth.
I needed power.
I reached out and grabbed the thick, heavy volume of The True Histories of Aethel. The pages smelled of old paper and dust. I flipped through the first few chapters until I found the cold, practical sections, ignoring the romanticized wars.
I read, muttering the lines out loud to cement them in my mind, my voice raw from crying:
"...The world is not ruled by goodness, but by authority and superiority. Those with the strength to enforce their will define the rules. Those who rely on the mercy of others are merely resources to be consumed."
I stopped there, the word consumed vibrating in my head.
I flipped to the section on magic wars, my fingers skimming over the horrifying diagrams of destruction.
"...The Queen of Curses, though feared by the Celestials, was contained not by divine intervention, but by the combined might of armies and the strategic sacrifice of entire regions. Her power, though vast, required collective weakness to be truly absolute. Only when the lesser beings were slaughtered could the few stand against her."
Slaughter.Collective weakness.
I flipped further back, reading about the ancient Elves, the perfect, beautiful creatures.
"...In the Age of Whispering Roots, the Elves briefly held the Demons as slaves, utilizing the near-absolute erasure power of their Avatar magic. But before that, the Demons, in their raw state of pure destruction, had turned the Elves into simple servants, valuing only what they could shatter."
It was all the same.
Eat, or be eaten.
I looked at the window, where the dark woods began. The books mentioned the other races too.
"...The Beastkin rules the Wilds because they physically dominate the forest floor; the Dwarves survive in the mountains by focusing solely on their technology and reducing all weaknesses; the Sylaris use deception to manipulate what they cannot overpower."
I slammed the heavy book shut. The conclusion was simple, terrifying, and utterly practical:
You must become… The Apex Predator.
I reached for the one book I truly hated—the one Mama had given me, Celestara's Pure Teachings. I forced myself to open the chapter dedicated to the Celestial Avatar.
"...Celestara, even with her purity and all-encompassing love, was ultimately butchered by the Queen of Curses, who seized control of the world's magical currents. Celestara's love proved meaningless when faced with ultimate authority. No one could disobey the Queen because she possessed the Ultimate Power of Ascension."
My eyes widened. The tears that still clung to my lashes dried instantly, replaced by a cold, burning heat.
My pale brown irises fluttered, a terrifying flicker of violent, crimson red seizing the light in the dark room.
Ultimate Authority.
My hands tightened into fists, trembling with murderous intent.
I won't be butchered.
I won't be weak like Celestara.
I won't be discarded like a flower.
He was not at fault. He liked me. He had chosen me. She was the one who used her flawless magic to steal him away. She used her perfection to enforce her will and make him lie.
She is the collective weakness I must shatter.
"I won't let you," I muttered, my voice barely a hiss in the dark.
"You can't just make me feel loved, make me feel real, and then leave. That's not how it works, Kai. I am not some temporary person that you discard for the perfect, Celestial girl."
My eyes, now blazing red, snapped to the small, dark window. I thought of his final words to me—the true, honest ones before the lie.
You're quite adaptable, Lia.
A terrifying calm settled over the rage. I didn't have magic now. I didn't have strength. I was small, covered in dirt, and heartbroken.
But I was a learner.
I was adaptable.
I forced myself to stand, my legs shaking but holding firm. I walked to the window, staring out at the woods where Elfina and Kai had vanished.
"I may be useless now," I whispered, staring into the impenetrable darkness, a promise hardening in my throat. "I may be weak and plain, and I may have to wear the Angel mask until I choke on it."
I put my hand, steady and cold, against the glass.
"But I will learn everything they know. I will steal every power they possess. I will adapt."
I stared out at the night, vowing the darkest promise of my life.
"You said you wouldn't change your opinion of me, Kai. Good. Because I'm changing everything else about myself. And one day, I'll adapt, and one day...:"
"I will make you mine, I swear."
Over the next few weeks, the old me—the me who cried, who threw tantrums, who got caught—was shattered and locked away. I kept up the Angel Pretend, but it was cleaner now.
I showed much more gratitude to my 'parents,' thanking them sweetly for my lessons and my nice room. I even hung out with Lyla and the other village kids, smiling perfectly.
But I was no Angel.
The real growth only happens alone.
I learned the way the world worked. The books taught me facts; the village taught me emotions.
I started to analyze everyone—my mother's pursed lips meant she was trying to hide a secret; Ronan's quick, nervous movements meant he was lying; Lyla's gentle eyes were easily distracted by the kindness of others.
I realized that emotional intelligence was just another weapon. I could act much more realistically now.
My smiles didn't need to be forced; they just needed to be lifted more upwards. Nobody doubted my tears or my laughter anymore. They were convinced I had simply learned my lesson and was finally becoming the Perfect Lia.
Good. Let them think I'm happy.
I spent most of my evenings curled up on my bed, the heavy history books propped open. The drawing of me and Kai holding hands—still a bit wrinkled and damaged from the rain—was pinned to the wall, a sacred promise.
It didn't matter that he called me a stranger; he liked the real me, and that was proof enough for my heart.
I read everything I could get my hands on. History, political treatises, even the boring engineering texts the Dwarfs used. Soon, I ran out of books. The old sage of our village, who rarely spoke, politely informed me he had nothing left that I hadn't already read and dissected.
My mind, starved for knowledge, found a new obsession.
I sat by the window one night, spreading out a worn map of the known world on my lap. The map was beautiful, messy, and full of secrets.
I realized what I wanted the most in my life: I wanted to explore the entire world and see all the mysteries. I wanted to discover the secrets that even the smart-alec books hadn't recorded.
Look at this:
The Celestine Lands are mainly themed with magic, but even they have terrifying secrets. They say the Dark Tide 3,000 years ago wasn't just a storm. It was a failed ritual by dark mages that tore the ocean floor apart. The sea split in half, and you could see the bottom for an entire hour—the earth's core exposed, raw and screaming. Celestials rebuilt the world with light, but the scar is still there.
How could one spell break the ocean? And is that power still hidden somewhere?
I want that power.
Then there's the Asura Empire. I remembered reading a scrap of history, something tucked between two boring treaties, that gave me a true chill. It claimed that Asura was preparing for a war that was not currently happening, a future catastrophe they alone anticipated.
The Emperor, Noctis. People say his soul reincarnated from another world, his knowledge and understanding far surpassed our systems. The thing that really gets me, though, is the Shadow Legion. They're the ones everyone fears—the endless army of knights and sorcerers of the Asura Empire.
How can I have an army like that? Emperor Noctis currently rules because of his powers…?
I want that authority to rule.
And the Valerion Kingdom... they say their royals can never lie. Their hearts are magically bound, so their true feelings show on their hands as faint colors—shame is black, love is gold. They are masters of diplomacy because their hands are always honest, forcing them to be excellent at word games.
I need to learn how to lie with my whole body, not just my smile, so my hands can show whatever I want.
Finally, Elysium, the dwarf lands. It isn't just mountains; it's an entire world built under the skies. They all rely on the 'L.I.F.E System,' which is a massive, mechanical heart that powers their entire civilization. But if it ever stops, the world of dwarfs will collapse and crush them all.
I want to see the Great System.
I closed the map, my eyes shining with excitement and a terrifying new purpose.
"The world is so big," I whispered, looking out the window, where the sky met the horizon.
"There are so many ways to become strong. So many people to learn from. So many secrets to collect."
And I need them all.
I walked to the drawing, touching Kai's stick figure with a soft, possessive finger.
"You can't just leave me and call me a stranger, Kai," I whispered, the red gleam flickering briefly in my eyes. "That's not how I live. You made me feel loved."
"Now I'm going to get strong enough to find you. Strong enough to match her power. Strong enough to keep you."
"The whole world is full of ways to become absolute," I vowed, my voice ringing with cold, final certainty. "I'll take them all. I will explore every inch of this map, and one day... I will make you mine, I swear."
BACK TO THE PRESENT
11:42 PM - 1/1/2018
The blizzard was slowly fading outside the tent, I demand you to continue it. A familiar, furious sound again began, this time much harsher.
His voice, low and careful, telling me to leave him, was just a deeper form of that storm.
You want me to leave?
My blood turned to grinding ice in my veins. The old, familiar ache—the one that started in the dirt of that wet forest—seized my chest. It wasn't heartbreak anymore.
It was resolve. It was the reason I woke up every single morning in the past eight years.
The world already took you once.
They tried to erase every single sign of our connection. My mother burned the first flower, the symbol of your gift. Elfina burned the second, the symbol of your care.
They used their authority over me, they used fear. They tried to prove that the gentle, honest parts of me were useless, that they would always lose to power.
I listened to them. I accepted the terms of the fight.
I became cruel. I became heartless. I mastered the Angel mask until it was sharp enough to fool anyone. I broke every rule of this rotten world so that I could climb high enough to create my own.
And the only reason I bothered to live—the only reason I endured the coldness, the hatred, the soul-crushing existence of my life—was to get strong enough to stand here, now, and tell you that no one can ever take you from me again.
I stared into his blue eyes, ready to strip away the last of the Angel.
You want to know what I truly want?
It begins with you.