Aira stood between them, her chest rising and falling with sharp, panicked breaths. Her hands trembled at her sides as the memory sphere behind her pulsed with violent energy, casting the chamber in bursts of shifting gold and violet. Her heart pounded louder than the cracking temple stone.
Kael's sword was raised, his stance ready, but his eyes were locked on her—not on Eiran. Not on the danger. On her.
"Aira," Kael said, his voice strained with desperation. "Step away from him."
She opened her mouth, but Eiran's arm slid protectively in front of her. "She doesn't need protecting from me."
Kael's jaw clenched. "You're the one pulling her back into things she buried for a reason."
Aira looked between them. The air was heavy with the scent of earth and magic, thick enough to choke her. "Stop," she said, voice cracking. "Both of you. I can't breathe with your shadows pressing in on me."
Neither man moved. The temple trembled again, dust falling like ash from the ceiling.
"Kael," she whispered, stepping forward to place a hand on his chest. His heart was racing, his breath uneven. "You came for me."
"I always will," he said. "Even if it means dragging you out of the past."
His hand closed gently over hers. Their eyes met, and in that one look she saw the life they had started to build—shared dreams, soft laughter, stolen touches in the dead of night. Safety. Steadiness.
But then she turned—and saw Eiran.
His silver eyes, deep and haunted, held centuries of knowing her. There was fire in them, but also pain. A thousand lifetimes compressed into one soul. He had known her before memory. Before time.
Her knees weakened.
"I remember… pieces," she said. "Flashes. You were mine once. And I gave you up."
"You gave me up to save the world," Eiran said softly. "But now the world is threatening to burn again. The same darkness you ended has returned inside me—and I don't have the strength to fight it without you."
The memory sphere behind her flared again, brighter than before, drawing all three toward it.
Kael reached for her. "Don't go in. Please."
Eiran held out a hand. "You have to. If you don't, the curse will consume everything. Me. You. All of this."
"I'm tired of everyone telling me what I have to do!" she snapped, voice cracking under the weight of it all. "You want me to remember so I can relive the pain. You want me to forget so I stay safe. But what about what I want?"
The temple walls groaned again. Stones fell. Cracks split the glyphs along the floor.
Aira turned toward the sphere.
"I want to know the truth," she whispered.
Then, without another word, she stepped into the light.
—
The world shattered.
Aira found herself in another body, another time—her own, but not her own. Her hair was longer, braided with golden beads. A crown of feathers and moonstone rested on her head. She stood in ceremonial robes before a dark altar, a sword in her hand, and across from her—
Eiran, kneeling.
His body shook, black veins crawling up his arms, his breath ragged.
"Do it," he whispered. "Before I lose myself completely."
Her hand trembled.
"Lirien," he said again—her name in that life. "End it. Before I become something that will kill you."
She fell to her knees before him, cupping his face. "I love you. There has to be another way."
"There's not. And we both know it."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she lifted the blade.
He leaned into her touch one last time. "Promise me you'll forget. Live a life where you never have to remember this. Promise me, Lirien."
She nodded, sobbing. "I promise."
Then she plunged the blade into his heart.
The memory collapsed.
—
She fell backward out of the sphere, gasping, screaming.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground. "Aira! Aira, I'm here!"
She clutched his arms, eyes wild with tears. "I killed him. Gods, I killed him!"
"I know," Eiran said gently from across the chamber. "And I asked you to. You saved me then. You can save me again."
Kael's arms tightened around her. "No. You don't get to ask that of her again."
The temple cracked violently. A flash of red light exploded from Eiran's chest—dark tendrils writhing up his neck. The curse had awakened.
He staggered back, gasping. "It's too late. It's already begun. I came to warn you… but I didn't expect it to be this fast."
Aira scrambled to her feet, still shaking. "What do I do?"
"The seal," Eiran said. "It has to be remade."
Kael stepped forward. "And if she remakes it?"
Eiran locked eyes with her. "Then you'll forget me again. Forever this time."
Aira's breath caught.
"Every moment we ever had. Gone. No dreams. No visions. No echoes. Just silence."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then Kael said, voice low and aching, "Or you keep the memories… and risk the curse killing you both."
Aira's hands curled into fists.
Two choices. Two lives. One heart.
"What if…" she said, voice trembling, "what if there's a third way?"
Both men stared at her.
"I've been stuck between two worlds—between past and present—because I keep letting others decide who I am. But I'm not just Aira. I'm not just Lirien."
Her eyes glowed faintly, and her voice grew steadier.
"I'm both. I carry all of it. And I won't seal him. And I won't let him die again."
Kael stepped forward, voice tight. "You're risking everything."
"I know," she whispered. "But I think… if I face this fully, if I embrace all of who I was and who I am—I can change the outcome."
She turned to Eiran. "Let me share the curse with you."
His eyes widened. "That will tether us. Forever."
"I know."
Then she turned to Kael. "And you… can you still stand beside me if I choose this?"
Kael's silence was long, but finally, he nodded. "If it means you live… I'll walk into fire for you."
Aira took a deep breath. The temple responded to her resolve. Light swirled around her, her mark blazing.
She reached for Eiran's hand.
"Then let this be our new beginning."
—