The Void
Blackness.
It wasn't just the absence of light—it was suffocating, heavy, like tar filling her lungs. Aria's screams vanished into it, swallowed before they could echo. She tried to move, but invisible chains bound her arms and legs, pressing her against unseen stone.
Her heart hammered.
"Damian!"
Nothing answered.
Only silence… and then, a voice.
> You cannot call him here.
Her blood chilled.
The Forgotten One's voice curled through the dark like smoke.
> This place is mine. My prison, my sanctuary. Here, only I decide who lives and who fades.
Aria's throat tightened. She forced her voice to stay steady.
"Then why bring me here? What do you want from me?"
The answer was simple. Brutal.
> I want you to remember.
The Mirror of Lifetimes
Light flared.
Before Aria, a mirror rose from the void, its frame of bone and iron. The glass rippled like water, showing flashes of lives she had never lived—yet somehow had.
A woman in silk, poisoned at a banquet.
A peasant girl, burned at the stake as Damian fought through flames to reach her.
A queen, crowned in gold, weeping as her brother was executed.
Lifetime after lifetime, love and death, always ending the same way.
Aria's knees buckled.
"No… stop it!"
But the mirror would not stop. It showed her Evelina—her past self—laughing in Damian's arms, kissing him beneath starlight, dying in his embrace.
And then—her brother, watching from the shadows. Always watching. Always forgotten.
> Do you see now? the voice hissed. You were never his alone. You belonged to us both. But you chose him, every time.
Tears blurred her vision.
"I can't change what was."
The mirror shuddered.
> But you can change what will be.
Damian's Hunt
Far above, Damian sprinted through the collapsing catacombs, his lungs burning, his heart a storm of rage and fear.
The bond between him and Aria flickered—weak, but still alive. He clung to it like a rope, guiding him deeper into the labyrinth.
Every shadow whispered lies.
She's gone. She chose him. She will never be yours.
His jaw clenched.
"No. She's mine. She's always been mine."
He slammed his hand against the wall, and runes etched into his skin flared—marks carved long ago, when he had first sworn to protect her across lifetimes.
> "Hold on, Aria. I swear—I'll tear this world apart before I lose you again."
The Forgotten One's Bargain
In the void, the Forgotten One appeared at last—not as a shadow, but as a man. His golden eyes gleamed with grief and fury as he circled her.
> "You've seen the truth. Every life, he fails you. Every life, he dooms you. Don't you want to be free?"
Aria's voice cracked.
"What do you mean?"
> "Choose me. Just once. End this cycle. With your blood and my power, we can shatter the curse forever. No more deaths. No more chains. You could live."
Her chest ached with longing. The thought of a life without loss, without pain, without watching Damian die or vanish—it tempted her like forbidden fruit.
But then she saw his face in her mind: gray eyes burning with devotion, his voice whispering, Don't let go.
Her tears fell hot and fast.
"I can't betray him. Not now. Not ever."
The Forgotten One's face twisted with anguish, then hardened into rage.
> "Then you will share his fate. Death upon death, until nothing remains of you."
The chains tightened, crushing the air from her lungs.
The Awakening of Power
Her vision darkened. Her pulse slowed. The mirror's images blurred into flame.
And in that flame—Damian. His voice thundered through her soul, breaking the void.
> "Aria. Breathe. Fight. Come back to me."
Her heart jolted. A spark ignited in her chest, searing through the chains.
The Forgotten One staggered back as cracks of light split the darkness.
> "Impossible," he hissed.
But it wasn't impossible.
It was destiny.
Aria's eyes blazed with a light she didn't know she possessed. Memories surged—not just Evelina's, but all of her lifetimes, weaving together like threads of gold.
She wasn't just a victim of the curse.
She was its key.
The chains shattered.
And the void trembled.
The Shattered Void
Light poured from Aria's chest, ripping apart the darkness that bound her. The void cracked like glass, fragments of shadow scattering into nothingness.
The Forgotten One recoiled, his golden eyes blazing with disbelief.
> "No! You were never meant to awaken it."
Aria stood tall, her body trembling yet radiant.
> "You were wrong. I'm not just Evelina. I'm not just a victim of the curse. I am all of them—every lifetime, every death, every choice. And I will never abandon him."
The void roared in protest as if rejecting her defiance. But the chains were gone. Her power pulsed, raw and untamed, ready to break free.
Damian's Arrival
Stone shattered as Damian burst into the chamber. His sword glowed with runes, his eyes locked on her. Relief and fury battled across his face when he saw her standing.
"Aria!"
She ran to him, their hands colliding, sparks erupting where their skin touched. For a heartbeat, time stilled.
But the Forgotten One's voice tore through the moment.
> "Fools. You think love can defy eternity? Then die together, as you always do."
The chamber convulsed. Shadows surged like a tidal wave, slamming against them with suffocating force. Damian pulled Aria behind him, blade flashing, cutting through the dark.
The Revelation
As they fought, the Forgotten One's laughter rang out.
> "You don't even know the truth of your curse. You think the gods punished you for love? No. It was her. Evelina made the pact. She chose to bind her soul to yours, Damian—and in doing so, condemned you both."
Aria froze, her sword of light flickering in her hand.
"That's not true…"
> "Isn't it?" the man sneered. "Ask him. Ask the shadow you love so blindly."
Her eyes snapped to Damian. "Is it true?"
His jaw tightened. For a long moment, silence stretched. Then—
"…Yes."
Her breath caught like a knife in her chest.
Damian's gaze burned with sorrow.
"When Evelina lay dying, I begged the gods to save her. She refused. She made the vow instead—to return to me in every life. To love me always, even if it killed her."
Aria's heart shattered. The truth was worse than she imagined. Evelina hadn't been cursed by accident. She had chosen it.
Between Love and Fury
The Forgotten One's voice struck like thunder.
> "Do you see now? He allowed it. He let you suffer again and again because he couldn't let you go. He's your chain, not your salvation!"
Aria's chest heaved. Tears blurred her vision as she turned to Damian.
"Is that true? Did you let this happen to me?"
His voice was hoarse.
"I should have stopped her. I should have let her go that night. But Aria… I was selfish. I couldn't lose you. Not then. Not ever."
The Forgotten One stepped closer, triumph gleaming in his eyes.
> "And so you suffer for his weakness. Choose me, and I will cut that chain forever.
Aria trembled. Part of her wanted to collapse. Part of her wanted to scream. But deep within, her soul whispered.
She saw Damian's sacrifices. His endless grief each time she died. His refusal to move on. His desperate fight through every shadow just to reach her.
Her voice broke.
"No. I won't choose hate. I won't choose bitterness. I choose him. Always him."
The Battle of Souls
Her light flared, colliding with Damian's runes, merging into a torrent of fire and lightning. Together, they struck.
The Forgotten One roared, shadows twisting into monstrous forms. The chamber exploded into chaos—stone walls crumbling, air splitting with screams of the damned.
Damian fought like a storm, blade flashing. Aria unleashed her newfound power, bolts of radiant energy tearing through the darkness. For the first time, they weren't just running from the curse—they were fighting back.
But the Forgotten One was relentless. His golden eyes burned as he raised his hands.
> "If you won't choose me, then I'll destroy you both and end this cycle myself!"
Shadows erupted into chains, slamming into Damian's chest and hurling him across the chamber.
"Damian!" Aria screamed.
The man lunged for her, his hand reaching for her heart.
At the last instant, Damian threw himself between them, taking the blow meant for her. The Forgotten One's power slammed into him, sending blood spraying across the stone.
Aria caught him as he collapsed, her hands trembling, his blood warm against her skin.
"Damian—no, stay with me!"
His gray eyes locked onto hers, filled with pain yet unbroken devotion.
> "Aria… don't let him win…"
The Forgotten One loomed above them, shadows writhing.
> "This is the end. For both of you."
The chamber cracked open, swallowing them in a maelstrom of light and darkness.
Aria's scream echoed as the world shattered—
And then, silence.