Niegal refused to let go of the newborn.
The only place he felt his son was safe… was in his arms.
He sat on the cold stone ledge, soaked in spring water and blood, his body trembling with something that couldn't be named. Rage, yes. Grief, yes. But above all-
Betrayal.
Elena had promised.
Promised she wouldn't martyr herself again. That she wouldn't disappear into the dark without him.
And he believed her.
He had let himself believe.
Niegal stared down at the sleeping babe curled to his chest. A miracle. A flame. A godling.
Born screaming in fire.
Now soft and warm, nestled against him like any mortal child.
Phineus.
The name hit him like a blade through the ribs when the Behikes whispered it, reverent and grave.
"Elena named him," Señora Behike said gently. "Before she slipped."
Silence fell.
Phineus.
A name that hadn't been spoken in sacred months. Not since the mana bomb.
Not since the sea turned black with ash and screams.
His baby brother. Just sixteen. Vaporized on the shore by a trap meant for them all. Niegal had carried his grief in silence. Buried it in war and blood. Locked it beneath armor.
And she had known.
Elena. She knew what it meant. What it would rip open in him.
He clenched his jaw, tears burning in his eyes. His fingers curled tighter around the child, pressing Phineus gently to his chest.
"I don't understand," he whispered. "Why that name… why now?"
The storm outside raged, unrelenting.
Niegal bowed his head, exhaustion dragging him low. His soul ached. His body felt like it had carried the weight of ten lifetimes in one night.
And still, he couldn't stop thinking…
If he had just been stronger.
If he had let El Léon possess him sooner.
If he hadn't hesitated.
Hadn't trusted the gods.
Had run faster.
She'd be alive.
Not this… shell, floating in goddess-lit water, eyes closed, lips parted, glowing like the dead.
He turned, desperate, to the golden-eyed beast who coiled inside him.
"Tell me how to bring her back."
He pleaded, his voice shaking.
El Léon Negro didn't answer.
The Lion purred, low and ancient, his gaze locked on the divine infant against Niegal's chest.
He purred because he was satisfied.
Because his child had survived.
Because his consort had fulfilled her purpose.
Because Elena, vessel of Guabancex, had done her duty.
But Niegal?
Niegal was just a man.
A man who loved her.
A man who had begged her to stay.
When the Behike of Marisiana reached toward him, offering a comforting hand to his shoulder-
He growled.
Not in warning.
In rage.
His canines lengthened. His shoulders hunched.
The Behike recoiled instantly, whispering prayers and apologies as she backed away.
And then the water shifted.
The air snapped with power.
Elena's mouth moved.
Her body floated, glowing faintly as breathless sound spilled from her lips. Not her voice.
The voice of Guabancex.
Thunder made flesh.
"You dare question the very woman who crossed the afterlife just to return to you?"
Niegal froze. So did the Behikes. Even the infant stilled.
"You shame her sacrifices. You let doubt fester. My vessel understands. My consort understands. But my vessel's love dares question the gods who grant him breath?"
Her voice was fury and flame. It echoed through the wellspring like the cracking of earth.
"Did you not cross the threshold yourself after you tore her apart with your mortal ire? Have you learned nothing?"
Thunder shook the cave walls, the wellspring waters rippling. "Do not dishonor the woman you claim to love."
The Lion roared in agreement, satisfied with the judgment.
Niegal stared at her. Wide-eyed. Stunned.
His body folded over. He covered his face with one hand.
He remembered it then.
The blow Guabancex had once delivered. The divine punishment for wounding Elena during a moment of fear and pride. He remembered the pain. The shame.
She was right.
She was always right.
But it didn't hurt less.
Because he was still a man.
A man grieving the love of his life. A man holding their son, unsure if she would ever return. A man preparing to raise two divine children by himself. A man choking on guilt.
A mortal man in the presence of gods.
And he was breaking.
Back at the Sanctuary-
Chaos reigned.
Esperanza shrieked like a banshee, her cries sharper than thunder, her body wracked with fury. Magic burst from her tiny chest in rhythmic waves.
Alejandro held her close, soaked through, grounded by duty and fear.
Aurora knelt beside them, hands pressed to the earth, chanting sacred rites, sobbing as she begged the storm to calm.
"She's burning up," Aurora choked. "She's going to burn the whole Sanctuary down- "
She already had.
Their lodgings were gone, blackened husks.
Lightning carved the treetops like gods etching fury into bark.
Rain flooded the paths.
A storm hung above. Not mortal. Not natural.
This was grief.
A divine child's grief.
And it was undoing the world.
In distant villages, families watched from rooftops as rivers surged and winds howled. Burned towns drowned in silence. Crucified victims of the Inquisition were ripped from stakes and buried by the mud.
Justice was coming.
And no one dared leave.
To do so would be to disrespect the mourning of the Stormborn.
And no one wanted to know what punishment would follow.
"What will it take," someone whispered, trembling, "to break the storm?"
No one had an answer.
Elena floated in silence.
Her body pale. Glowing. Timeless.
She did not stir.
But her breasts had begun to swell with milk.
Her body was relearning motherhood.
Nature moved forward, regardless of the spirit within.
The serpent remembered.
The vessel endured.
The woman slept.
And then-
the waters stirred.
The Behikes stood. Niegal straightened, holding Phineus close, his heart caught in his throat.
Elena's mouth parted.
A sound emerged, low, guttural.
Inhuman.
Her eyelids fluttered.
The serpent spoke again.
Guabancex.
"Be patient," the goddess hissed, voice ancient and echoing, as if rumbling from beneath the mountain itself.
"She will return."
"She must face the consequences of godhood."
The chamber fell silent.
Even the child quieted.
Niegal clenched his jaw. Pressed a kiss to her brow.
He whispered her name. Again and again.
"Elena… mi amor… come back to me…"
But for now…
Only the serpent remained.
And the waiting began.