SFX: SKREEEEEE— fabric ripping across the sky as gravity buckles)
Saint Lyria's hand hovered inches from Kael's chest, soft as a lullaby, inevitable as a falling star.
"Don't touch him."
Veyra's voice came first—low, bright, venom wrapped in velvet.
Then Seraphine's—sweet, lethal, like a knife smiling.
"Seriously. Don't."
Lyria paused.
Not in fear.
In curiosity.
Her head tilted under the veil, the movement gentle enough to make the world hold its breath.
"My dears," she murmured, "you misunderstand. I am not here to harm him. I am here to fix what he has lost."
She stepped closer.
"Children shouldn't wander around with empty hearts. It makes them—"
Veyra moved.
Veyra: Thornstorm Ignition
(SFX: THRUM-THRUM-THRUM — thorns erupting like rapid-fire arrows)
Her vines detonated outward in a violent bloom, red thorns spiraling like saw-blades. The Garden's stars recoiled as the air turned crimson.
Veyra didn't shout.
She didn't warn.
She attacked the Mother of Mourning like she'd been waiting her whole life to do it.
A wall of thorns slammed toward Lyria—
and passed through her.
Through.
Like she was made of memory and regret.
Lyria's voice drifted from everywhere at once.
"My child… thorns are for protecting fragile things. I am not fragile."
Veyra's jaw clenched.
"Oh trust me," she hissed, "you're about to be."
Seraphine: Moonlit Execution Protocol
(SFX: CHHHH—VMMMM—BOOM a blade forming from condensed moonlight)
Seraphine launched upward, wings cutting gravity in half.
Her sword of melted moonlight lengthened into a crescent—
a silent, perfect arc aimed at Lyria's throat.
She descended in a blur of pale fire.
Lyria simply raised a hand.
Not to block.
To comfort.
"My darling," Lyria whispered, "you swing too hard. You'll hurt your wrists."
She caught Seraphine's attack between two fingers.
The moon-blade screamed like a dying comet.
Seraphine snarled.
"Lady, if you patronize me again, I'm turning you into confetti."
Lyria hummed softly.
"A temper. How precious."
She flicked her wrist.
Seraphine was launched backward like a fired bullet.
(SFX: BOOOOM—CRUNCH as she demolishes a pillar of inverted starlight)
Kael: Empty Heart Resonance
Kael stepped forward.
Enough running.
Enough being "the one to fix."
The vial of saint blood burned against his ribs like a second heartbeat.
Lyria sensed it.
Her voice softened further.
"You poor thing," she whispered, walking toward him as if the battlefield were a nursery floor. "They burden you with violence because you try to protect them. But you were not made for war."
She reached out.
Kael's fist closed around the vial beneath his coat.
"I wasn't made at all," he said.
Lyria froze.
Kael looked up, eyes dark and steady.
"I chose."
The Girlfriends Return
Veyra exploded upward from the ground, vines bursting through star-soil like artillery fire.
Seraphine streaked in from the sky, moonlight cracking behind her.
Together—
(SFX: WHOOOM—BLAZE—THORNCLANG)
—they slammed into Lyria from opposite sides.
The shockwave tore through the Garden, flipping constellations upside-down, scattering stars like panicked fireflies.
Lyria staggered.
For the first time.
Just a fraction.
Just an inch.
But it was enough for Seraphine to shout:
"KAEL, MOVE!"
He did.
Just as Lyria straightened, veil shimmering with fresh cracks.
She touched her cheek—
a place that should not have been touchable.
"Ah," she whispered, almost delighted.
"You drew blood."
Veyra snarled, thorns sharpening.
"You haven't seen anything yet."
Seraphine cracked her knuckles, eyes glowing with silver fury.
"Round two. No holding back."
Lyria smiled beneath the veil.
Not kind.
Not maternal.
Hungry.
"Then come, children," she breathed.
Her shadow unfolded into a cathedral of mourning women, thousands of hands reaching out.
"Let mother teach you how to scream."
(SFX: SHRIEKING CHOIR—RIP OF REALITY—METAL AGAINST MOONLIGHT as all three charge)