Chapter 122: What the Ash Forgot to Burn III
[Aria]
The door creaked softly as Aria pushed it open, stepping into the dimly lit hallway of the apartment building. It smelled faintly of mildew and forgotten memories, but the scent only made the sense of being trapped in this world feel more real. The building felt like a skeleton — empty, waiting for something to return. The moment the door shut behind her, the weight of the air pressed down harder, as if the room had been holding its breath until she made her decision.
Aria didn't look back. She couldn't. The thread inside her was tugging at her with a force that had nothing to do with physical desire. It was an essence, a compulsion, something old and untamable.
It had only been days since the ash had touched her fingers, since the words had slipped from her mouth, forming glyphs that burned the edges of her skin. But it felt like lifetimes had passed, as if the memories of her former life — of everything — had been condensed into those few moments. Aria had only just begun to realize how much had been awakened in her, how deep the roots of this ancient force went.
The floor beneath her feet felt alive now. The wood groaned, as if the very bones of the building were awakening alongside her. Her heart drummed loudly in her chest, matching the pulse of the unseen force inside her. It was more than power — it was memory. And it was bleeding through her skin.
There were fragments of forgotten voices now. The faintest whispers. A language she didn't understand, yet it reverberated in her soul. She didn't know why it called to her, but she could feel the distance shrinking, the boundary between herself and whatever was reaching out to her.
The building's dim corridors stretched ahead, narrow and empty, but she felt it. A pull. A pull that had always been there but was only now felt.
Aria pressed forward, each step heavier than the last. She didn't know what would happen once she left this place. She didn't know where she was meant to go or what was waiting on the other side of this unknown force. But the thread inside her, the one tied to her very soul, guided her. And for the first time in a long time, Aria wasn't afraid of it.
[Selene]
Selene's gaze lingered on Aria's retreating form, the crack of the door closing with a finality that made her chest tighten. It felt wrong. No, not wrong — more like a missing piece had just slipped from her grasp, like the tether between them was being stretched beyond its breaking point.
But there was no stopping her. Aria had already made the choice.
Selene stood motionless for a moment longer, breathing in the stale air. The silence in the apartment pressed against her, too thick to be ignored. The tension, the uncertainty — it was everywhere. But beyond that, there was something else. Something dark, almost predatory.
She could feel it.
In the pit of her stomach, a knot of dread was tightening. The sensation wasn't unfamiliar. It was a warning, a premonition. The same feeling she had experienced on the nights when she would track down the shadows of their past, when she would hunt down the pieces of their broken world. But this… this felt different. It felt deeper. Older.
She should go after her. She should grab Aria's hand and pull her back. But deep down, Selene knew that she couldn't. Not without pushing Aria farther away. This wasn't just about Aria's awakening. This was something far greater than either of them.
And for the first time in a long time, Selene felt something she couldn't explain. A quiet acceptance.
She had always known that there would come a time when the path would diverge — when Aria's journey would take her to places Selene couldn't follow. And yet, it still stung to watch her walk away.
Selene grabbed her coat, her fingers brushing against the old fabric as she buttoned it up. It was an instinct, an immediate reaction. If Aria was going, so was she. She wasn't going to let her face whatever was out there alone, no matter how much it scared her. If Aria was going to step into the unknown, Selene was going to be the one to pull her back from the brink — if she could.
Selene reached for the door handle, hesitated for a moment, and then turned it.
The hallway outside was empty. The door at the end of it had already swung open, the faint outline of Aria's figure fading into the gloom of the building. The echo of her footsteps, too soft to catch, made the world feel quiet in a way that unsettled Selene. But she didn't stop. She couldn't. There was a thread pulling her forward too, pulling her into the same unknown.
She followed Aria's footsteps into the cold, forgotten hall.
[Aria]
The world outside the apartment was like a dream — distorted, blurry around the edges, but sharp in the center. The streets felt alive with sounds that didn't belong. There was a hum beneath the asphalt, the sound of something waiting, something ancient, barely contained beneath the surface.
Aria's breath caught in her throat as she walked, every step in sync with the pull of the thread inside her. It was overwhelming, and yet it was all she had. Every other sense seemed drowned out by this presence, this thing reaching toward her, calling her.
The world around her began to shift. Buildings distorted. The skyline wavered like a mirage. And still, she moved forward, her feet carrying her with an unshakable certainty.
She could hear the wind now. Not just the wind, but the voice it carried. A voice she had never heard before, yet felt deep within her bones.
Her vision blurred again, and she stumbled, but only for a moment. The thread was tightening, pulling her faster.
And then she was standing at the edge of the city. The skyline behind her, the quiet streets ahead. The pull was stronger than ever now.
She was here.
Her hand touched the stone of an old building, and in that instant, she knew. The glyphs she had touched, the words she had spoken, had opened something. A door, a path — she wasn't sure what. But the presence, the force, was awake. It was calling her, and now she understood.
It wasn't a curse.
It wasn't a gift.
It was a choice.
Aria wasn't alone. Not in this. She would face whatever came next, but she was ready. She had to be.
[Selene]
Selene caught up with Aria as she stopped in front of an old building, her back to Selene as though she had known all along that Selene would follow. The tension in the air was thick — heavier than before.
"You're not alone," Selene said quietly, stepping beside Aria.
Aria didn't answer at first. She didn't need to. Selene could see it in her eyes. She understood.
The words of the thread whispered in the air again, louder now, clearer. And for the first time, Selene felt herself drawn into it. There was something more here than either of them could grasp, but Selene would stay. She would stand with Aria, no matter what came next.
Whatever the world had to offer, they would face it together.