Light burned everywhere.
It wasn't warm or holy—just endless, suffocating brilliance that erased the world's edges.
In the center of it floated Sera, bound by chains of radiance. Her eyes were white fire, her lips moving with words that weren't hers.
"The Gate has opened. The villain must be consumed."
The voice was hers and not hers—layered with something vast, ancient, cruelly calm.
I took a step forward. The light hissed, burning my skin like acid.
"Let her go."
The air trembled. "You swore to destroy the curse, Lucien Vale. But you are its heart."
Chains shifted, tightening around her. She didn't cry out, but a tear traced down her glowing cheek. That one human detail—so small—ignited everything inside me.
I gripped my sword, though it felt like holding smoke. "If you want a heart, then fight me for it."
The Mind's Prison
The light vanished. The world flipped.
Suddenly I stood in an empty classroom—sunlight slanting across old desks, a smell of chalk and rain. My old world. My college. I blinked, dizzy.
"Lucien?"
Her voice came from the doorway. But she looked different—Sera in her academy uniform, no staff, no scars. Just the girl she might've been.
"You came back," she said softly.
I knew it was an illusion. The curse was trying to trap me in nostalgia—but the ache in my chest was real.
"This isn't you," I whispered.
She smiled sadly. "Then why does it feel better than the truth?"
The windows cracked. Light poured in like molten glass. Her smile twisted, and her eyes turned white again.
"She belongs to us now."
Battle of the Heart
The classroom disintegrated into shards of memory. I fell through them—flashes of the war, the betrayal, the tunnel where she'd first smiled at me—and landed on a field of floating glass. Each shard showed Sera, chained, struggling, screaming.
I raised my sword. The curse's voice echoed from everywhere.
"You cannot save what is already written."
"Then I'll rewrite it with blood."
The shards shattered, and the curse took form—a towering figure made of Sera's chains, her face flickering inside it like a ghost. Every blow it struck echoed with her cries.
I parried once, twice, but the third hit sent me crashing into the void. Pain seared through me; black energy bled from my arms.
The curse laughed. > "Every time you fight me, she suffers."
I froze. Through the cracks of the monster's chest, I saw Sera's true body trembling. Each strike against the curse hurt her.
"Damn it…" I dropped my weapon. "Then I won't fight."
The curse hesitated. "Surrender?"
I looked up, meeting its empty eyes. "No. I'll reach her."
The Soul Dive
I stepped closer, unarmed. The chains lashed, cutting into my flesh, but I kept walking. Blood ran down my hands, glowing black against the light.
I pressed a palm to the creature's chest—and let the curse flow through me instead of against me.
Images burst inside my mind—Sera as a child, laughing under rain; Sera kneeling beside wounded soldiers; Sera whispering, I'll still stand with you. Each memory burned, but they stitched something broken back together.
Inside that torrent, I found her.
She was kneeling in darkness, surrounded by glass shards showing all the people she'd failed. Her hands trembled as she tried to pick them up.
"Sera," I called.
She looked up, eyes wide. "Lucien? No, you shouldn't be here—if you touch me, the curse will—"
"Too late." I reached out, catching her hand. It was cold. "You said I wasn't the villain this story made me. Then stop letting it make you the sacrifice."
For a moment, nothing moved. Then the shards began to rise, spinning around us, forming a storm of memory.
She whispered, "I'm scared."
I smiled faintly. "So am I. That means we're still human."
She closed her eyes, leaned forward, and pressed her forehead to mine. Light burst outward—not searing, but soft, golden. The chains cracked.
Rebellion of the Curse
The fortress reappeared. We stood on the Gate's platform again, surrounded by collapsing pillars of light. The curse screamed, a thousand voices merging into one.
"If the villain defies the story—then the world itself will fall!"
"Then let it fall!" I roared, lifting my sword again. "I'll build a new one!"
Together, we struck. My blade carried shadow, her staff shone with white fire. When they met in the heart of the Gate, the explosion tore the realm in half. Light and dark spiraled upward, devouring the sky.
The curse howled—and shattered.
Aftermath
When the dust settled, the fortress was gone. Only a field of glowing petals stretched under a crimson dawn. Sera lay beside me, unconscious but breathing. I brushed hair from her face.
"Hey," I whispered. "You're safe."
Her eyes fluttered open. "You… won?"
"Not yet." I looked up. Above us, fragments of the Gate floated like broken mirrors—each showing glimpses of different worlds. The curse was gone, but something bigger had awakened.
A shadow moved inside one of the mirrors—a figure watching me. My own reflection… smiling.
Sera followed my gaze. "What is that?"
I swallowed. "The author."
She frowned. "The one who created this world?"
"No," I said quietly. "The one who's still writing it."
Thunder rumbled overhead. The petals began to turn black, one by one.