Rafe sat hunched forward, breathing hard as Mara and Lyn clung to him. His body felt warm and cold at once — a strange dual pulse thudding faintly under his skin.
Selene paced in front of him, staff in hand, trying to hide the tremor in her fingers. She had seen many things in her life, but what she was seeing now…
It was impossible.
Mara noticed the way Selene stared.
"What?" she snapped. "Why are you looking at him like that?"
Selene didn't answer at first. Instead, she knelt before Rafe, her eyes scanning him slowly — the faint white glow tracing his left arm, the dark shimmer pulsing under his right.
Then she whispered:
"…This shouldn't exist."
Rafe stiffened. "Why? What's wrong with me now?"
Selene shook her head. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is wrong. Rafe…"She exhaled."…you stabilized a dual Awakening inside your soul."
Mara blinked. "Isn't that good?"
"It's not possible," Selene said. "Light and shadow destroy each other. They don't coexist. They certainly don't merge into balance."
Rafe frowned. "But I didn't let them fight. I didn't choose one. I chose… both."
Selene swallowed.
"You forced balance on two forces that hate each other. And somehow… they accepted."
Lyn tugged lightly on Rafe's sleeve. "So he's okay?"
Selene hesitated.
"…He's alive."
Mara glared. "Selene, that's not an answer."
"No, Mara," Selene said grimly. "It's exactly the answer."
Rafe tried to stand, but his legs shook and he fell back on his knees.
Mara caught him. "Hey—slow down."
"I'm fine," Rafe insisted.
"No, you're not," Mara snapped.
Lyn hugged him tighter. "You almost didn't come back."
Rafe placed a hand on Lyn's head and ruffled her hair gently. "But I did."
Selene continued pacing.
"I need to know what happened inside," she said. "Rafe, tell me everything. Every sensation. Every voice. Every memory."
Rafe inhaled slowly.
"I met someone."
Selene froze mid-step.
"Someone? Inside your soul?"
Rafe nodded.
"He looked like me. Older. Stronger."
Mara stiffened immediately. "Not the Shadow again—?"
"No," Rafe said. "He wasn't the Shadow. He wasn't… a discarded fate."He met Selene's eyes."He was a possible future. One I could become."
Selene's expression twisted.
"That… is even worse."
Rafe blinked. "Why?"
"Because if versions of your future already exist inside your core," Selene said, "then you have the traits of a Convergence Soul."
Mara frowned. "What does that even mean?"
Selene turned toward her, eyes serious.
"It means Rafe's destiny isn't fixed. He has multiple paths he might grow into. Many. Too many. And Primordials are attracted to souls like that — because they don't obey fate."
Rafe's stomach dropped.
"So that's why it marked me."
Selene nodded slowly.
"…Yes."
Lyn whimpered softly. "Rafe… are you going to disappear again?"
"No," he said immediately.
"You promise?" Lyn whispered.
"I promise."
Mara tightened her grip on him. "You better."
Selene let them have the moment before clearing her throat.
"Now listen carefully. Your Awakening has stabilized… barely. But it's incomplete."
Rafe straightened. "Incomplete?"
"You opened the door," Selene said. "But you didn't step through it. Your core has awakened — but your mana pathways haven't. That means—"
She pointed at him.
"—your power exists, but you cannot use it. At least, not safely."
Mara blinked. "How dangerous are we talking?"
Selene took a deep breath.
"If he tries to use mana right now… even a little… he could burn out his core. Or rupture it. Or worse."
Rafe's skin prickled. "So I can't use anything."
Selene nodded. "Not until we finish the Awakening process properly."
"And how do we do that?" Rafe asked.
Selene tightened her grip on her staff.
"We need a Convergence Ritual."
The forest around them seemed to grow quieter.
Mara frowned. "That sounds complicated."
"It is," Selene said. "And more dangerous than anything we've done so far. It requires someone with your affinity. Someone alive."She paused."…Or something else."
Rafe stiffened. "Something else?"
Selene turned toward the forest, where the Primordial's presence still lurked… patient.
"Rafe, when the Aberration arrived, the Primordial didn't interfere out of benevolence."
Rafe's pulse quickened. "Then why?"
"It's waiting," Selene said.
"For what?"
"You."
A chill ran through Rafe's spine.
Mara grabbed his wrist. "No. No. No. We're not going to that thing for help."
Selene sighed. "Mara—"
"No!" Mara snapped. "It keeps calling him. It keeps marking him. It keeps pushing him to awaken. It killed a Fate Hunter just by existing! And you want him to go to it?!"
Her voice cracked.
"That thing is not a teacher. It's not an ally. It's not a guardian. It's… it's—"
Her hands trembled violently.
Lyn hugged her. "M-Mara…"
Rafe put a hand on Mara's arm.
"I won't go near it unless I have to."
Mara stared at him, eyes glowing with fear she didn't want him to see.
Selene closed her eyes.
"The Convergence Ritual can be done without Primordial involvement… but only if we find a proper catalyst."
Rafe frowned. "What kind of catalyst?"
Selene opened her eyes again.
"A relic."
"What relic?"
Selene turned slowly toward the deeper part of the forest.
"One older than the kingdom."She tightened her grip on her staff."And buried inside a ruin that even the Outer Circle fears."
Rafe stiffened.
"And we're going there?"
Selene nodded.
"If you want to live."
Mara stepped forward immediately.
"Then we're going with him."
Selene smiled faintly.
"I assumed you would."
Lyn hugged Rafe's arm tighter.
"I'm scared," she said softly.
Rafe looked at her and managed a weak smile.
"I am too."
Mara punched his shoulder lightly. "Don't say that!"
Selene raised her staff.
"We leave in two days. That's how long you have to recover."
Rafe exhaled.
The ritual would decide his future.The Primordial was waiting.The Outer Circle was hunting.
And he…He had only just awakened.