The morning came quietly, though the world didn't feel new.
Aiden sat by the window, still in the clothes from the night before. The white feather that had once glowed in his hands was gone, but its warmth still lingered against his skin like a memory refusing to fade.
The city outside was alive as ever: horns blaring, people shouting, life continuing as if the universe hadn't cracked open just hours ago.
But Aiden couldn't pretend anymore.
Something inside him had changed.
He looked at his reflection in the glass and for the first time, his eyes shimmered faintly with gold.
A soft knock came at the door.
Before he could answer, the door clicked open.
Elias Thorn stepped in without invitation, his presence filling the small apartment like a storm that refused to pass.
"You should start locking your door," he said.
"You should stop breaking into other people's homes," Aiden shot back.
A flicker of amusement crossed Elias's expression, brief but real.
"You're not just 'people', Aiden."
Aiden frowned. "You keep saying things like that. What do you mean?"
Elias ignored the question at first, scanning the room with practiced caution. His gaze landed on the windowsill where a faint circle of burned ash marked where the feather had been.
"They've already found you," he murmured. "Faster than I expected."
"Who?" Aiden demanded. "What are you talking about?"
Elias turned to him then, eyes cold and bright as winter lightning.
"The Celestial Order. The ones who cursed her. The ones who cursed you."
The room felt suddenly too small, too still.
Aiden's heartbeat roared in his ears. "You're saying… this is real? The dreams, the woman, the"
"Ariselle."
The name on Elias's tongue made Aiden flinch. It felt intimate, forbidden like hearing someone whisper a secret he wasn't supposed to remember.
"You knew her," Aiden said quietly.
"I loved her," Elias answered, voice almost inaudible. "And I killed her."
The words shattered the air between them.
Aiden stared, unable to speak.
Elias didn't look away. His expression was unreadable, but the pain beneath it was unmistakable a wound that time had failed to close.
"It wasn't by choice," Elias continued. "The gods bound us in a cycle love, loss, rebirth. I thought if I let her die, the curse would end. But here we are again."
He reached into his coat and drew something out a blade no longer than a handspan, its metal dull yet humming faintly with power.
"This belonged to her," he said. "To you."
Aiden hesitated before taking it. The moment his fingers touched the hilt, warmth surged through him golden light spreading beneath his skin, echoing the faint symbols that had glowed on Elias's wrists.
The room trembled.
In the reflection of the blade, Aiden saw her Lady Ariselle standing behind him, smiling faintly.
"Our bond is not broken," her voice whispered. "He has always been your shield and your ruin."
Aiden gasped, dropping the blade. It clattered against the floor, but the vision remained burned behind his eyes.
Elias caught his wrist before he fell. His grip was firm, grounding, but the closeness made Aiden's pulse stutter.
"You're awakening faster than I thought," Elias said, his tone low but laced with something gentler now.
"You need to learn control before they come."
"Control?" Aiden echoed. "I can't even tell if I'm me anymore."
Elias's expression softened, just barely.
"You are Aiden Vale," he said. "And you are Lady Ariselle. Two souls, one heart. You were never meant to be ordinary."
The air between them grew charged heavy with words unspoken.
Aiden could feel it that same pull that had haunted him since the first night.
He didn't know if it was love, destiny, or the echo of a past life's curse…
but he couldn't look away.
"Elias…" he whispered. "If what you're saying is true, what happens to me now?"
Elias stepped closer, his voice almost a whisper.
"Now, you remember."
And before Aiden could ask what he meant, Elias's hand rose fingertips brushing lightly against his cheek. The touch was feather-soft, but it carried the weight of centuries.
Aiden felt his breath hitch, his vision flickering flashes of the past bleeding into the present.
A sword raised beneath a crimson sky.
A kiss stolen before the battlefield.
A promise whispered beneath the stars:
"If loving you is a sin, then I'll defy Heaven twice."
When he blinked, Elias was gone leaving only the faint warmth of his touch, and the blade that now glowed softly at his feet.
Outside, thunder rolled across the horizon.
Somewhere far above, unseen eyes were watching.