Rielun's POV:
The ground pulsed beneath my feet.
Once.
Twice.
A third time — harder, deeper, like something buried far below the meadow had taken its first breath in centuries.
The air thickened.
The sky dimmed.
The river of light surged, glowing brighter than before.
Rowan stepped closer, staff raised, eyes locked on me.
Noctis's wings flared, shadows curling protectively around my legs.
The First Guardian stood behind me, silent, watching with an expression that was equal parts awe and dread.
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
The heartbeat beneath the world was syncing with mine.
And it hurt.
Not like a wound.
Not like magic backlash.
It hurt like remembering something I wasn't ready to remember.
My knees buckled.
Rowan lunged forward. "Rielun—!"
Noctis grabbed my arm. "Stay with me!"
The First Guardian whispered, "It's beginning."
The grass around me lifted, glowing faintly.
Petals rose into the air like they were weightless.
The sky cracked — thin fractures of gold spreading outward like lightning frozen in place.
The world wasn't breaking.
It was waking.
And it was waking because of me.
My breath hitched. "What's happening—?"
The First Guardian stepped closer, voice soft.
"The heart remembers itself."
Rowan's jaw tightened. "Stay back."
Noctis's shadows surged. "Don't touch him."
But the First Guardian didn't reach for me.
He didn't have to.
The meadow did.
Light curled around my ankles, warm and gentle, like fingers brushing my skin.
Shadows rose too — not Noctis's, but older, deeper, familiar in a way that made my chest ache.
The river of light split down the center, forming a glowing path that led straight to me.
The world was choosing.
And it wasn't choosing any of them.
The heartbeat grew louder.
Not a sound — a feeling.
A pressure behind my ribs.
A warmth spreading through my chest.
A memory I didn't have trying to force its way into me.
I gasped, clutching my shirt.
Rowan grabbed my shoulders. "Rielun, look at me. Stay with me."
Noctis pressed against my side, shadows trembling. "Don't let it take you."
The First Guardian whispered, "Let it in."
The meadow pulsed.
Light.
Shadow.
Memory.
All of it converging on me.
I felt like I was being pulled apart and stitched back together at the same time.
"I— I can't—" My voice broke. "It's too much—"
Rowan's grip tightened. "You're not alone."
Noctis's voice cracked. "We're right here."
The First Guardian's voice softened. "You were never meant to carry it alone."
Three voices.
Three hands.
Three different kinds of love.
And the heart beneath the world beating faster and faster.
The ground split open beneath me.
Not violently — gracefully, like a flower blooming.
Light poured upward, wrapping around my legs, my waist, my chest.
Shadows curled around my arms, gentle and warm.
The air shimmered with fragments of memory — laughter, tears, a lullaby I didn't know but somehow recognized.
I felt everything.
Every heartbeat this place had ever held.
Every moment the First Guardian had lost.
Every echo of who I used to be.
My vision blurred.
"I don't want to disappear," I whispered.
Rowan's voice broke. "You won't."
Noctis's shadows tightened around my wrist. "I won't let you."
The First Guardian stepped forward, eyes shining with grief.
"You won't disappear," he said. "You will return."
The light surged.
The shadows deepened.
The meadow bowed toward me like a living thing.
And the heart woke.
A shockwave burst outward.
Rowan was thrown back, hitting the ground hard.
Noctis's wings snapped open as he was flung into the air.
The First Guardian staggered, light flickering around him.
But I didn't move.
The world moved around me.
The sky split open, revealing a vast expanse of golden light.
The river rose into the air, spiraling around me like a ribbon.
The grass bent low, as if kneeling.
And in the center of my chest, something glowed.
Not a wound.
Not a mark.
A heart.
Not physical — luminous, ancient, pulsing with a rhythm that wasn't mine and yet was.
I stared at it, breath shaking.
"What… am I?"
The First Guardian whispered, voice breaking:
"You are the heart of the world."
Rowan whispered, voice raw:
"You're still Rielun."
Noctis whispered, trembling:
"You're mine."
And I stood in the center of all of them, glowing with a light I didn't understand, as the world bowed to a heart I didn't remember being.