The Fall
The world vanished beneath Aria's feet.
Her scream ripped through the chamber as she plunged into the darkness below. Wind tore at her hair, stone walls flashing past in a blur. Her wrists ached, blood still warm where the dagger had cut her, and her lungs burned with the force of her cry.
Then—impact.
She hit water. The icy shock swallowed her whole, driving the air from her chest. For a terrifying moment, she couldn't tell which way was up. Chains of panic coiled around her ribs as her limbs thrashed.
At last her head broke the surface. She gasped, coughing, hair plastered to her face as the underground river carried her forward through blackness.
Her arms flailed for something, anything to hold on to. Fingers scraped against slick stone, nails breaking. At the last second, she seized a jagged edge, dragging herself toward a ledge.
She collapsed, trembling, water pooling beneath her.
Above, she could still hear it—Damian's voice.
> "Ariaaa!"
Her heart clenched so hard it hurt.
"I'm here," she whispered hoarsely, though she knew he couldn't hear. "I'm alive…"
But for how long?
The Catacombs
When she finally forced herself to her feet, her body shook with exhaustion. The chamber stretched into darkness, lined with crumbling archways and symbols carved deep into the stone—spirals, runes, sigils that seemed to pulse faintly as her eyes lingered on them.
The catacombs.
She had read of these tunnels once, in a half-forgotten article about Crescent Hall's foundations. But standing here, surrounded by walls older than memory itself, she understood: this place wasn't just built. It was meant to be hidden.
The air smelled of damp earth and iron. Each drip of water echoed like a heartbeat, amplifying her fear.
And then came the whispers.
Soft. Indistinct. Like a thousand voices brushing past her ear.
> Evelina…
She froze. Her knees nearly gave out.
That name. Her name from before.
> He waits. He burns. He bleeds for you.
"No," she whispered, clutching her head. "Stop it. You're not real."
But the whispers only grew louder, tugging her deeper into the catacombs.
Damian Above
Up in the collapsing chamber, Damian's world had narrowed to one thing: reaching her.
He tore through the last of the cultists with lethal precision, every strike fueled by desperation. Dust rained from the ceiling as the scarred man vanished into the shadows, his laughter echoing like a curse.
> "You'll never reach her in time, boy."
Damian ignored him. He raced to the shattered dais, staring down into the abyss. He couldn't see her, but he felt her—the pull of their bond, thrumming like a live wire.
His jaw clenched.
> "Hold on, Aria. I'm coming."
Without hesitation, he leapt.
Labyrinth of the Past
Aria stumbled forward, her hand trailing along the wall to keep balance. The carvings glowed faintly beneath her touch, sparking strange sensations—memories that weren't hers, yet felt too real to deny.
Flashes of fire. A tower. Damian's hand slipping from hers as soldiers dragged him away. Her own scream echoing through centuries.
She staggered back, clutching her chest.
"No… not now. Not like this."
The ground ahead shifted. A stone plate sank with a click. Aria barely had time to react before spears shot out from the wall, missing her by inches.
Her breath came in ragged gasps as she stared at the trap. Her legs trembled, but she forced herself to move. One wrong step and this place would swallow her whole.
The catacombs weren't just ruins.
They were a test.
And someone—or something—was watching.
The Shadow in the Chamber
She followed the twisting passage until it opened into a vast chamber. A single torch burned in the center, though she had no memory of lighting it.
And there—across the circle of light—stood a figure.
Tall. Hooded. Perfectly still.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"Who… who are you?"
The figure lifted its head slightly. The torchlight caught a pale, familiar face—sharp features, eyes that glowed faintly gold.
> "At last," the stranger murmured. "You've returned."
Aria stumbled back, heart pounding. "You… know me?"
A smile ghosted his lips, both sorrowful and cruel.
> "I knew you before you knew yourself. Evelina… you've walked these halls before. And you've left me behind—every single time."
Her blood ran cold.
"Who are you?" she whispered again.
The hooded man stepped closer, the shadows clinging to him like a second skin.
> "The one fate forgot. The one your love condemned."
And before she could move, the chamber doors slammed shut behind her.
The Forgotten One
The hooded man's presence filled the chamber like smoke—thick, suffocating, impossible to ignore. Aria's back pressed against the cold wall, her fingers trembling as if her body recognized him before her mind could.
> "You should not exist," she whispered.
The man's golden eyes gleamed with bitterness.
> "And yet I do. Because of you."
Her pulse thundered. "I don't know what you mean."
He tilted his head, almost pitying.
> "No, not you. Not Aria. The other you. Evelina."
Her breath caught.
> "You chose him," the man continued, voice rising with centuries of fury. "Damian. Every lifetime, you run to him. Every lifetime, you die for him. And me?" His voice broke, but the hatred in his gaze sharpened like a blade. "I am left with nothing but dust and memory."
Aria's hands curled into fists.
> "Then tell me who you are."
The hood slipped back, revealing a face she had seen once before in her dreams—dark hair, features carved by grief.
> "I was your brother once," he said quietly. "Your protector. Your shadow. But history remembers only your love for him. And so the curse bound me here, in these halls. Eternal. Forgotten."
Her heart stuttered.
Brother. Protector. Shadow.
The whispers that had followed her through the catacombs suddenly made sense.
Damian's Descent
Meanwhile, Damian plunged deeper into the abyss, his boots slamming against stone as he tore through corridor after corridor. The bond between them was a lifeline, guiding him.
But the catacombs fought back.
Walls shifted. Shadows writhed. Voices mocked him with Evelina's dying cries. Yet he pressed on, his jaw clenched, his sword glowing faintly with the runes etched into its blade.
He whispered her name with every step.
> "Aria. I'm coming."
The Choice
Back in the chamber, Aria's voice shook.
> "If you truly were my brother, why haunt me like this? Why trap me here?"
The Forgotten One's smile was razor-thin.
> "Because I want you to remember. I want you to suffer as I have. You chose him, and because of that choice, we all burn."
He stepped closer, shadows coiling at his feet.
> "But this lifetime… you could choose differently."
Aria's stomach lurched.
"You're asking me to betray him."
> "I'm asking you to live," the man snapped. "With me, you could end this curse. With him, you'll die again—and doom us both."
Tears stung her eyes. Somewhere deep in her soul, fragments of Evelina's memories stirred—her brother's face, twisted with jealousy as she ran into Damian's arms centuries ago.
Aria's voice broke.
> "I can't. I can't abandon him.
The chamber trembled with the man's fury.
> "Then you'll die by his side, like you always do."
Reunion in the Shadows
The doors of the chamber exploded inward. Damian burst through, eyes wild, blade raised.
"Aria!"
Relief crashed over her like sunlight. She ran into his arms, clutching him as if he might vanish. His hand pressed against the back of her head, grounding her.
But the Forgotten One only laughed, the sound hollow and bitter.
> "See? Even now, you choose him."
Damian's gaze hardened.
"Who are you?"
> "The one you stole everything from," the man spat. "And I'll make sure neither of you leave this place alive.
The ground split, shadows flooding the chamber like water.
The Cult's Truth
As Damian shielded Aria, the man's voice rose above the chaos.
> "You think this curse is about your love? No. It's about balance. Her blood is the key. With it, we can tear open the veil between past and present—and remake the world that abandoned us."
Aria's blood ran cold.
"They want to use me," she whispered.
Damian tightened his grip on her hand.
"Over my dead body."
> "So be it," the Forgotten One sneered.
Fire and Shadows
The chamber walls split open, releasing torrents of flame and writhing darkness. The torchlight died, replaced by the glow of runes blazing across the stone floor.
Aria and Damian fought to stay together, dodging falling debris as the abyss seemed to consume itself.
Damian pulled her close, his lips brushing her ear.
> "No matter what happens—don't let go."
Aria clung to him, tears streaking her face.
> "I won't. Not in this lifetime. Not ever."
But the shadows surged, separating them with brutal force.
"Damian!" she screamed as hands of smoke dragged her backward.
His figure blurred through the flames, reaching desperately, their fingertips inches apart—
The last thing Aria saw before darkness swallowed her was Damian's face, twisted with anguish.
The last thing she heard was the Forgotten One's voice, triumphant:
> "This lifetime, she is mine."
And then—blackness.