"Selena… help me…"
Lorenzo's voice echoed from the sealed gate, twisted with pain and something darker—something not entirely human. The crack on the seal pulsed like a heartbeat, exuding a dark mist that coiled into the air like smoke from a dying fire.
Dante's arm shot out in front of Selena. "Don't answer it."
She blinked, frozen. "Did you hear it too?"
He nodded grimly. "Lorenzo. Or what's left of him."
The seal vibrated again, whispering secrets in languages older than memory. Selena could feel the pull—not just of the voice, but of something beneath it. A soul in torment. A fragment of humanity buried beneath the Core's corruption.
"He's still in there," she whispered.
Dante turned to her, fury and fear in his eyes. "No. That's not your brother anymore. It's the Core mimicking him—luring you in."
But Selena shook her head. "It was him. Just for a second. He sounded like he did before he fell. Before the madness."
"That moment's gone," Dante said. "He made his choice."
She stepped toward the seal despite herself. "What if he didn't? What if the Core took him and twisted it?"
"Selena—"
She touched the crack.
The world blurred.
---
Suddenly she was standing in the ruins of her childhood home—charred walls, scorched earth, and silence.
A memory. A prison. A vision.
In the corner sat a young boy—Lorenzo—barely thirteen, his arms wrapped around his knees, staring at the wall. He turned slowly to look at her. His eyes were still human.
"Selena?" he whispered. "You're here… They said you wouldn't come."
She stepped forward, tears burning in her eyes. "This isn't real."
"No," the boy said. "But it's where they keep me."
The walls groaned. Shadows stretched like claws from every corner.
"You need to leave," he said quickly. "It's coming."
"What is?"
"The Core," he said. "The part of it I couldn't silence. It feeds on memories. On guilt. It knows you're here now."
Selena grabbed his shoulders. "Lorenzo—if you're really still in there, I need you to fight."
"I've tried," he whispered. "Every day. But I'm breaking. I'm not strong like you. Not anymore."
Suddenly, the shadows exploded outward.
From the void stepped another Lorenzo—older, monstrous, wrapped in darkness. Glyphs crawled up his neck and over his face like black veins.
The Core had shaped him into its puppet.
"Found you," it rasped through his mouth.
Selena screamed—and the illusion shattered.
---
She gasped, stumbling backward into Dante's arms.
"Selena!"
Her face was pale, drenched in sweat. "He's still alive in there. Trapped."
Dante's jaw clenched. "And you almost got pulled in."
"I can reach him. I have to try again—"
"No," he said sharply. "You don't. The Core wants you to believe he's salvageable so you'll crack the seal. That voice? It's a trap."
Selena looked at the seal, conflicted. "Then what if we destroy it?"
Dante shook his head. "You're connected to it now. Destroying it could kill you."
"So we're stuck?" she whispered.
A new voice answered. "Not quite."
They turned.
Elias stood at the edge of the chamber, supported by his staff, bruised but alive. His eyes scanned the cracked seal with grim understanding.
"The seal has chosen a new guardian," he said, eyes settling on Selena. "But the Core will never stop trying to corrupt you. As long as the bond exists, it will use it."
"What do I do?" Selena asked.
"You complete the rite," Elias said. "You finish what the First Vessel began."
Selena frowned. "You mean bind the Core permanently?"
"Yes," Elias said. "But it must be done willingly. Sacrifice is the only way to imprison a god."
Dante immediately stepped forward. "No. There has to be another way."
"There isn't," Elias said. "Selena's bond makes her the only one capable of reinforcing the seal from within."
Selena looked between them, then at the trembling gate. "What happens to me?"
"You'll be trapped in the Nexus," Elias said. "Alive, but untouchable. Neither dead nor free."
Dante gripped her arm. "You're not doing that."
Selena turned to him, voice trembling. "If it's the only way to stop this—"
"No!" he shouted. "You're not giving yourself up. Not again."
She looked into his eyes. "If I don't, the Core finds another way out. It always does."
"Then we fight it together," he growled. "We'll find another path."
But Elias stepped forward. "There is… one other way."
Both turned.
Elias looked hesitant. "The bond between you and Dante—it's more than spiritual. It's divine. The Core didn't account for dual vessels. If you both offer your power… together… it might be enough to forge a new kind of seal."
Selena's eyes widened. "We'd both go into the Nexus?"
Elias nodded. "Bound together, as one."
Silence hung heavy.
Dante exhaled. "Then we do it."
"No," Selena said immediately. "You have a kingdom. A family. A future."
"And none of it matters without you," he said softly. "You're not walking into eternity alone."
Tears welled in her eyes.
Elias raised his staff. "Then kneel. Both of you."
They did.
The ground beneath them lit with golden glyphs. The seal pulsed in response. The Core screamed in protest, the gate shuddering as tendrils of shadow reached out—trying to stop it.
Selena took Dante's hand.
Elias began the rite. "By bond and by blood, by flame and by shadow—let the covenant be reforged. Not by domination, but by choice."
Light exploded from their glyphs.
Selena felt herself drift, her soul pulled toward the gate. The Core clawed at her, screaming. She could feel Lorenzo within, crying out.
Dante's grip tightened.
"We go together."
They stepped forward.
The gate opened.
The world blurred—
---
Then everything went still.
Black.
Then gold.
Then—
Screaming.
Selena's eyes snapped open.
She stood in the Nexus.
But Dante wasn't beside her.
She turned, panicked. "Dante?!"
No answer.
Just darkness.
Then—a whisper.
"You thought he'd come with you…"
She spun.
And saw Lorenzo, standing whole, untouched by corruption, smiling faintly.
"I told you," he said. "The Core always takes what it wants."
---