The wind had changed.
It wasn't just a breeze—it was a whisper carrying broken promises and forgotten oaths.
Cassian and Valeria moved in silence along a barely visible path. The branches seemed to close in around them, as if the forest itself wanted to swallow them whole.
—We're close —Cassian said softly.
Valeria looked at him, every sense sharpened.
—Close to what?
Cassian stopped in front of an ancient structure, half-shrouded in mist:
a solitary door, standing in the middle of nowhere, made of blackened wood and carved symbols that seemed to shift when you blinked.
—That door —he said, his voice tense— must not be opened.
No matter what happens, Valeria.
Do not open it.
A cold shiver raced down Valeria's spine.
—Why? —she asked, though some part of her already sensed the answer.
Cassian looked away, as if bearing the truth was almost too much.
—Behind that door... lies what you desire most.
And also what could destroy you.
Valeria felt her heart hammering against her ribs.
What if...?
No. She couldn't afford to doubt.
She clenched her fists.
—I won't open it —she promised.
But deep down, she knew the real battle was only beginning.
Because sometimes, what's forbidden doesn't need to call you.
It's enough to know it's there.
And then, desire begins to poison the soul.
Valeria stepped away from the door, trying to ignore the low hum that seemed to seep from it.
Cassian was speaking—something about staying strong, about preparing—but his voice already sounded distant in her ears.
Because something else was happening.
The mist before the door began to take shape.
First a blurry outline.
Then a silhouette.
And then, with cruel clarity, Gael appeared.
It wasn't a memory.
It wasn't an illusion.
It was him, just as she had last seen him: dark eyes, that crooked smile, the perfect mix of danger and tenderness that had dragged her into ruin time and time again.
—Valeria —he whispered, his voice a hook straight into her heart.
She took a step back, but something unseen pinned her to the ground.
Gael stretched out his hand toward her, that gesture that had once undone her completely.
—Open it —he said, meaning the door—. I'm on the other side.
I've always been waiting for you.
Valeria felt the throb of everything that had never been:
love, redemption, the impossible dream of a "us" that never truly existed.
Her fingers trembled.
Cassian, standing just a few meters away, seemed not to see Gael.
This vision was meant for her alone.
—Valeria —Gael repeated, his voice a venomous caress—.
Only you can save us.
One more step.
Just one more step, and she could touch the door.
One more step… and she could lose everything.
The air around her thickened, as if the very world was holding its breath.
—What are you waiting for? —Gael insisted, his voice now tinged with a desperate urgency—.
Don't leave me here.
Valeria could feel her heart pounding so hard it hurt.
Gael looked so real, so tangible...
He was the culmination of every "what if" she had buried for years.
Cassian noticed her hesitation.
He moved closer, his penetrating gaze locking onto hers.
—Valeria —he said, his voice deep and steady—.
Remember who you are now. Not who you were with him.
She clenched her fists. Tears welled up in her eyes.
—But if I could save him... —she whispered, more to herself than to Cassian.
—Save him? —Gael's soft, broken laughter sliced through the air—.
Valeria, you and I never needed saving. We were just too real for this world of cowards.
His words pierced her like sweet knives.
The door began to glow faintly, as if it could feel the war raging inside her.
Cassian extended his hand, not touching her, just offering her an anchor.
—Valeria. He's not real.
It's your wound speaking.
She closed her eyes.
One step forward… or one step back.
One final whisper from Gael reached her, cracked and full of pain:
—Please...
The weight of every untaken decision collapsed onto her shoulders.
Valeria opened her eyes.
And chose.
With a trembling exhale, Valeria stepped back.
The ground seemed to shudder beneath her feet as she pulled her hand away from the door.
Gael's image flickered like a dying light.
—No... —he whispered, reaching out as if he could still catch her.
But it was already too late.
The mist swallowed him, blurring his form, devouring him until nothing remained but emptiness.
Valeria dropped to her knees, feeling something inside her both break and set free at the same time.
Cassian knelt beside her, not touching her yet, respecting her pain.
—You chose to live —he said softly—.
Not everyone does.
Valeria closed her eyes, letting the tears fall without shame.
The door, no longer claimed by anyone, stopped glowing.
And the dark corridor before them began to whisper again, like a new challenge... or a new promise.
When Valeria rose to her feet, something in her had changed.
Lighter.
Stronger.
More dangerous.
Cassian watched her, giving a slight nod.
—Now we're ready —he murmured.
And together, they moved forward toward the next trial.
The hallway grew narrower as they moved forward.
Every step echoed like a solitary heartbeat, as if the place itself was measuring their resolve.
Suddenly, a flash of golden light slashed through the darkness.
Valeria and Cassian halted.
Ahead of them, a portal hung in midair, pulsing gently, almost as if it were breathing.
Beyond the portal, blurred images shimmered: sunlit fields, clear skies, an impossible happiness.
—What is that? —Valeria whispered.
—A trap —Cassian replied bitterly—.
The final temptation.
The portal seemed to whisper her name.
It offered the life she had dreamed of and lost: love without pain, family without abandonment, paths unmarred by scars.
Valeria took a step forward, hypnotized.
She could see her childhood, her mother embracing her the way she never had, a Valeria without wounds, without losses, without fear.
Cassian's voice broke the spell.
—Nothing real comes without a fight, Valeria.
What you see is a perfect lie.
She pressed her lips together, feeling her heart waver.
Part of her wanted to dive into it without thinking.
To embrace that false world just to stop fighting.
But deep down, in the place where truths could not hide, she knew it wasn't hers.
It never had been.
Valeria lowered her gaze, closing her eyes.
When she opened them, her pupils burned with a new kind of determination.
Without hesitation, she walked straight toward the portal...
and through it.
But instead of being devoured by the illusion, she tore through the mirage like a spear cutting the air.
On the other side, there was only more darkness...
and Cassian, smiling faintly.
—Very few cross intact —he said.
Valeria took a deep breath.
—I didn't come to find a perfect life —she whispered—.
I came to find myself.
And with that promise burning inside her chest, she kept moving forward.
The darkness seemed even thicker now, like a heavy cloak trying to crush them.
Cassian moved first, his body tense, as if he expected something to strike at any moment.
And he wasn't wrong.
A low growl, almost animalistic, echoed from nowhere.
Valeria tensed, whipping her head around.
Out of the shadows, a figure emerged: tall, cloaked in smoke and ash.
It had no face, but Valeria could feel its gaze piercing into her like a blade.
—Don't look into its eyes —Cassian whispered urgently—.
It will steal your soul.
The creature moved slowly, floating above the ground.
It didn't walk—it glided, like a whispered death.
Cassian drew a small knife from his belt, the only thing gleaming in all that darkness.
Valeria knew she had to move, had to act, but her legs trembled.
The monster extended a hand toward Cassian.
Without thinking, Valeria ran.
She shoved Cassian out of the way just as the creature swiped at the air with a piercing shriek.
Cassian fell backward, startled but unharmed.
—Run! —he shouted.
Valeria grabbed his hand, pulling him as they ran blindly, the creature chasing them, closer, hungrier.
The hallway began to crumble around them, the world itself disintegrating.
And just as the creature was about to catch them, a door materialized ahead—old wood carved with strange symbols.
—There! —Cassian gasped.
Without hesitation, Valeria threw her weight against the door.
They burst through it.
The door slammed shut behind them, trapping the creature on the other side, its howls echoing in fury.
Inside, everything was... different.
A sacred, almost reverent silence wrapped around them.
Cassian dropped to his knees, breathing hard.
Valeria collapsed beside him, feeling the adrenaline drain from her body.
They looked at each other for a moment: brief, intense, the danger still vibrating between them.
And in that moment, Valeria knew something had shifted.
Not just outside—but within her.
A door had been crossed.
One that could never be closed again.
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke.
The silence felt deeper than ever. Not awkward—just necessary. As if their bodies and minds needed time to understand they were still alive.
Cassian kept his head down, hands resting on his knees, breathing hard.
Valeria glanced at him.
She had never seen him like this—vulnerable, exhausted… human.
"Are you okay?" she finally asked, her voice soft, almost a whisper.
Cassian looked up slowly. There was no arrogance in his eyes, no mask. Only quiet sorrow… and something else she couldn't name.
"I thought I lost you," he said.
Valeria swallowed hard.
No one had ever said that to her.
No one had ever broken down because of her.
"I was scared too," she admitted. "But I wasn't going to leave you behind."
A pause.
Then, as if the space between them had grown too small for so much silence, Cassian leaned in slightly.
"You're braver than you think, Valeria."
She held his gaze. Not because she wasn't afraid, but because she felt that if she looked away, everything—this moment, this truth, this connection—might shatter.
"I don't know if I'm brave," she whispered. "I'm just tired of running."
Cassian reached out slowly, brushing her cheek with the tip of his fingers. The touch was brief—but her skin burned as if he'd touched something deeper than flesh.
"Then stay," he said, voice low. "At least for now."
And for the first time, Valeria didn't think about escaping.
She stayed.
And in that shared silence, the world seemed to stop…
Or maybe, it began again.
The moment didn't last.
A sudden chill swept through the room, snatching the warmth from her skin.
Valeria blinked. Cassian had felt it too—his hand dropped, and he stood, alert.
Something was shifting.
The candles lining the old shelves flickered, and for a split second, one of them went out without reason.
Valeria turned to the far wall—the one with strange carvings she hadn't noticed before. A soft hum, like a heartbeat wrapped in static, began to pulse from behind it.
Cassian frowned. "That wall wasn't humming before."
"No," she whispered. "It wasn't."
As they stepped closer, the symbols began to glow faintly. Gold and crimson light, pulsing in sync with Valeria's own heartbeat.
She felt it—that familiar weight in her chest.
The same one that had stirred when she first found the key.
The same one that always warned her: Something is about to change.
Suddenly, the center of the wall rippled like water.
And from it… a voice spoke.
Low. Velvet. Dangerous.
"You've come too far, Valeria."
She froze.
It wasn't Ezra.
It wasn't Nico.
It wasn't even the shadow-creature that had called her Chosen.
It was a voice from her past. One she hadn't heard in over a year.
Gael.
Cassian stepped in front of her instinctively, but Valeria grabbed his arm.
"No. Let me."
The wall pulsed again.
And this time, it wasn't just a voice.
It was an invitation.
Or a trap.
The wall opened.
Not with noise or violence, but with a whisper—like reality itself had decided to surrender without a fight.
On the other side, there was a completely different room.
White. Empty. Lit by a light with no source.
And at the far end… a figure.
Gael.
He looked just like she remembered. Black jacket, intense eyes, that smile that promised the world but always hid destruction.
Except this time… he wasn't fully human.
His eyes held a faint golden glow.
And the air around him shimmered.
"Val," he said softly. "I knew you'd come."
Cassian took a step forward, but Valeria stopped him with a firm hand. There was no fear in her eyes. Only restrained fire.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, voice steady despite the tremble in her hands.
"Waiting." Gael smiled. "All of this… was always for you. Only you can open the right door."
"What door?"
Gael raised a hand, and behind him… a new door appeared.
Black. Sealed with symbols Valeria recognized from her journal.
Symbols that spoke of loss, desire… and sacrifice.
Cassian spoke at last.
"Don't trust him."
"I never did," Valeria answered.
But her heart… hesitated.
Valeria stepped forward.
The air thickened, as if every motion was a final decision. The threshold of the room Gael revealed seemed bottomless, as if what lay beyond didn't obey the rules of the world.
"What happens if I walk through?" she asked, never breaking eye contact with Gael's golden gaze.
"Then you'll see what you've always feared," he answered. "But also… what you've always wanted."
Behind her, Cassian whispered:
"Don't. This door isn't just physical. It's emotional. A test. And he knows it."
Valeria took a deep breath. The room trembled.
Flashbacks struck her like waves.
Their first kiss in that dark car.
The time he vanished without saying goodbye.
The nights she thought he was just a dream.
And then, the message: "I'm not made to stay."
But she also remembered how much she loved him.
How she believed that if she just loved him enough, he'd change.
How she broke herself trying to save someone who never asked to be saved.
Valeria clenched her fists.
"I'm not that girl anymore, Gael. The one who thought she could fix you with kindness."
Gael smiled, but his eyes carried a hint of sorrow.
"And yet… here you are."
She held his gaze for one more second, then looked away.
"I'm here to close cycles. Not relive them."
She turned around.
Cassian exhaled, relieved. But just as they were about to leave, the black door pulsed. A single word lit up across its surface:
"Chosen."
And something —not human— whispered inside Valeria.
A voice. Ancient. Female. Deep.
"You haven't seen the worst. But neither have you seen the best."
The door closed.