*The Two-Souled*
The cheers of the onlookers and the relief on the faces of Kael, Jace, and Elara are a distant hum. For Aki, the world is a quiet place now. The girl he knew, the one who fought for him, is gone. He walks away from the battlefield, her farewell kiss a faint warmth on his forehead.
Days turn into weeks. The world begins to rebuild, and the trio, with Aki in tow, becomes the guiding force of the new magical age. But Aki remains quiet, his thoughts consumed by his loss. He feels a strange, new presence within him—not a physical one, but a voice, a feeling, a warmth that is both him and not him.
One night, as he lays in bed, he hears it for the first time. The voice is clear, melodious, and filled with a timeless calm.
"I am not gone, Aki," the voice says inside his mind.
Aki sits bolt upright. "Lyra?" he whispers out loud.
"My essence is now within you," the voice explains. "The forehead kiss was not a goodbye, but a bond. You are the conduit for my power, and I am the knowledge to guide it. We are two souls in one body now."
Aki and Lyra have become the true main characters of the story. She is the wise, divine echo, and he is the pure-hearted mortal. Their magical ability is unlike any other. He has control over the world's wild magic, but it is Lyra's ancient knowledge and purpose that gives it direction. Together, they are a powerful, unique force, a perfect balance of past and future, of chaos and order. They are the ultimate Two-Souled being.
The old heroes, Kael, Jace, and Elara, are the mentors, the guardians of the world. Aki and Lyra are the hands that shape it. But the world they are shaping is a dangerous place. The victory over the Ethershifters was a success, but it was just a symptom of a larger problem. The wild magic is creating strange, beautiful, and terrifying things, and not all of them are benevolent.