Ava fell—
Through nothing.
No sky, no ground, no time.
Just a rushing storm of whispers that clawed at her ears like insects.
"She failed.""She forgot her.""She chose love over blood."
The voices spiraled until her body hit something solid—ice cold, yet burning to the touch.
She was on a path.
Black stone. Endless. Winding into a fortress made of bone-white towers that breathed, as if alive.
Above the gate, scrawled in ash and agony:
"Only Truth May Enter."
Ava's legs trembled as she stood. Her fingers, blistered from fire, curled into fists.
"Lily needs me. I don't care what I have to face."
She stepped forward.
The Labyrinth of Lies
Inside, the walls shifted with every heartbeat.
Each step she took, the corridor reshaped—stretching longer, darker, whispering new lies meant to break her.
But she pressed forward.
Torches flared alive on the walls, casting long shadows.
And in one, she saw herself.
Not the Ava now.
Ava... broken.
Her hair limp. Her arms scarred. Her fire gone.
This Ava sat in a corner of the hall, rocking slowly. Murmuring.
"I left her. I didn't fight. I chose Damian. I lost everything…"
The air froze.
Ava was looking at the version of herself that gave up.
The Mirror of Regret
"You're not me," Ava whispered, even as guilt constricted her throat.
But the broken Ava raised her eyes—and they were Lily's.
"You became me the moment you made Damian your world," the reflection hissed. "You gave up your daughter's soul for kisses in the dark."
"No." Ava backed away. "That's not who I am."
The ground split behind her.
The broken Ava lunged, shrieking, her hands clawing like a beast—
But Ava ignited.
A burst of golden fire surged from her chest—not rage. Not power.
Love.
It scorched the illusion to ash.
The Gate of the Core
Ava collapsed to her knees at the end of the hall, breathing hard. The corridor had vanished. Before her stood a colossal obsidian gate with a heart carved into its center.
The stone pulsed.
Behind it—she could feel Lily. Afraid. Alone. Not yet lost.
Ava touched the stone, whispering, "I'm coming, baby."
The door groaned open.
And on the other side—
Cliffhanger Hook
Damian stood there, bathed in violet light, his sword drawn.
But it wasn't the Damian she knew.
His eyes were black.
His voice was cold.
"You should've stayed gone, Ava."
And next to him, wearing a new crown of thorns and frost—
Lily.
Unsmiling.
Eyes void of color.
"I don't remember you anymore."