Darkness. Heat. Breath. Movement.
Amelia drifted between waking and sleep as Kael carried her out of the mansion.The cold night air bit her skin, but his arms were unshakably warm—like he was shielding her from the entire world.
She wasn't awake enough to speak.But she felt everything.
His heartbeat hammering erratically.His aura spiking with fear and fury.His grip tightening every time her breathing faltered.
Behind them, Master Xuan moved silently, but even his calm steps carried tension.
The Gao mansion loomed in the distance, its windows flickering unnaturally, like something inside was watching them leave.
The curse was awake.And it knew she was slipping away from its grasp.
Outside the Mansion
Kael didn't stop until they reached the stone path near the back courtyard. Only then did his steps slow.
"Master," he said through clenched teeth. "She's burning up. The awakening isn't stopping."
Master Xuan placed two fingers near Amelia's wrist. A subtle glow shimmered.
His eyes narrowed."Something is forcing her power open… against her will."
Kael's jaw locked. "The curse?"
"No."Master Xuan's voice tightened."Something older."
Lightning flashed across the sky—silent, white, unnatural.
Amelia stirred in Kael's arms.
Her voice was faint. "It's… cold…"
Kael swallowed hard, lowering his forehead to hers."It's okay. I've got you. Just breathe."
But her aura flared again—violent, untamed, ancient.
The ground beneath them cracked.
Wind spiraled upward, carrying whispers of a language Kael had only ever heard in forbidden texts.
Master Xuan's eyes widened.
"Kael."His voice sharpened."She's invoking a blood-call."
Kael's eyes snapped up. "That's impossible—she doesn't know how."
"She doesn't need to know." Master Xuan stepped back."Her lineage remembers."
The air around them vibrated.
A sigil bloomed on the ground beneath Amelia's feet—a glowing circle of interlocked runes, pulsing with light.
Kael almost dropped her.
"Master—this is celestial script."
"Yes.""Ancient.""And dangerous."
Amelia's Mind — Between Worlds
Amelia found herself standing in a vast, echoing void—black as night, but threaded with silver veins of light.
A woman stood ahead of her.
Tall.Veiled in shadow.Her presence both comforting and terrifying.
Amelia's breath caught.
"Who… who are you?"
The woman raised her head.
Her voice was a whisper and a roar at once:
"I am the one whose debt you inherit."
Amelia felt her knees weaken.
"My mother…?"
A soft laugh echoed.
"Your mother borrowed what she could not repay.And you, child of her blood, now hold the interest."
Pain shot through Amelia's chest.
Her curse writhed.Her power surged.The void trembled.
"Why me?" Amelia whispered.
The veiled woman stepped closer.
Not touching.Not threatening.
Just… watching her break.
"Because your fate is not hers.And what sleeps inside you is older than her sin."
A hand—cool, ethereal—lifted toward her forehead.
"Awaken, Amelia."
Amelia gasped—
Back in the Physical World
Her eyes flew open.
Silver light exploded from her skin.
Kael staggered back, shielding her instinctively.The glow consumed the courtyard, turning trees, stones, and shadows into silhouettes.
Master Xuan swore under his breath.
"That's not awakening," he said."That's recognition."
Kael's voice shook."From who?"
Master Xuan looked at Amelia with awe—and fear.
"From whatever bloodline she carries."
Amelia rose from Kael's arms, floating several inches above the ground. Her hair drifted as if underwater.
Her eyes—no longer brown—but molten silver threaded with midnight black.
The wind howled.
The sigil beneath her feet blazed brighter.
Kael stepped forward without hesitation, reaching for her even as spiritual wind sliced through his sleeves.
"Amelia," he said, voice raw."Come back to me."
Her gaze snapped toward him.
Recognition flickered.Struggling.Reaching.
Her voice was not one, but layered—hers and something ancient behind it.
"Kael…?"Her fingers trembled."It hurts…"
Kael grabbed her hand, ignoring the burning energy scorching his palm.
"Then let me share it."
The sigil pulsed violently.
Master Xuan shouted, "Kael! Don't interfere—the ritual will bind you to her fate!"
Kael didn't look away.
"I already am."
The light swallowed them both.
When the Light Faded
Amelia collapsed.
Kael caught her instantly, dropping to his knees with her held tightly against his chest.
Her breathing steadied.Her aura settled.Her power retreated like a tide pulling back into the sea.
Master Xuan scanned her with a trembling hand.
"The curse has weakened," he whispered."But something else has taken its place…"
Kael brushed Amelia's hair away from her forehead.
"What?"
Master Xuan exhaled slowly—troubled, reverent, uncertain.
"Kael…she did not just awaken."
Kael looked up, heart pounding.
Master Xuan met his gaze.
"She has been claimed."
Kael froze.
"By what?"
Master Xuan stepped closer and lowered his voice.
"By a lineage this world thought extinct."