Silence.
The kind of silence that comes after an earthquake—full of dust, fear, and a truth no one wanted to speak aloud.
Amelia's breathing was ragged as she clung to Kael, her forehead pressed to his chest, her newly awakened light flickering like a dying flame.
She wasn't dying.
She was changing.
And it terrified her more than any monster beneath the city ever could.
Kael cupped the back of her head, ignoring the pain that burned up his arm every time her light brushed his skin.
"You're alright," he whispered.
A lie.
And she knew it.
Her voice trembled.
"Kael… I heard him. I felt him. And it didn't feel wrong."
Kael's arms tightened instinctively.
"It's the bond," he said through clenched teeth."Whatever you were before—whatever you and Raeth were—it doesn't define you now."
But Amelia's gaze drifted to her chest, where the molten gold veins still glowed beneath her skin.
"It feels like it does," she whispered."Like I'm remembering a life I didn't choose."
Her reflection flickered faintly in the shattered glass window—
—two irises swirling red and gold.
A goddess trapped in human bones.
A dawn forced into mortal flesh.
A being who was never meant to forget.
"Kael…" she whispered again, "what if who I was is stronger than who I am?"
Kael's answer came without hesitation.
"Then we make who you are stronger."
He meant it.
He always did.
But deep down, he feared this awakening was a path he could not follow her onto.
And she felt that fear too.
The Hidden Listener
Unseen by either of them, a pair of eyes watched from the doorway—eyes ice-blue and burning with envy.
Claire.
Her nails dug into the wooden frame, splintering it.
Of course she awakens, she thought bitterly.Of course she becomes something impossible. Something divine.
Her mother's whisper echoed through her memory:
"True fate skips those who taint their lineage, Claire.But you… you must steal yours."
Claire's stomach twisted.
Because if Amelia was awakening—if Amelia was remembering—then everything her mother warned her of was coming true.
Amelia was not just a rival anymore.
She was a storm.
A prophecy.
A threat.
Claire forced herself back into the shadows before Kael sensed her envy.
But she left a faint crack in the frame.
Kael's eyes flicked up.
Too late.
She was gone.
The Power That Shouldn't Exist
Amelia stood shakily, gripping the bedpost for balance.Her knees buckled.Kael caught her again.
"You're burning up," he muttered, touching her forehead.
The flame didn't scorch her.
But it blistered him.
He didn't show the pain.
He never did.
Amelia's breathing hitched.
"I feel… too big," she whispered, hands trembling."Like my skin isn't enough to hold me."
Kael's expression flickered with worry he tried to hide.
"That's the awakening. Your spirit is adjusting."
"No," she whispered.
Her fingers pressed to her sternum, where something pulsed—something ancient, something older than heaven itself.
"This is different. This is… remembering."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I think I'm remembering the life I had before."
Kael looked away.
Because he knew what that meant.
If Amelia remembered her celestial origin…she would also remember the one who completed her.
Raeth.
The Devourer.
Her other half.
Her doom.
Her dawn.
"Whatever you were," Kael whispered, stepping closer, "whatever you remember—your life now is real. I refuse to let your past steal you from your present."
Her lips parted—
—as if she wanted to believe him.
But another voice curled inside her mind, deep and velvet-dark:
"Little light… you cannot run from home."
She flinched.
Kael caught it instantly.
"Raeth?" he asked sharply.
Amelia shook her head.
"No.Not a vision.Not him speaking."
Her fingers trembled against her temple.
"It was… a memory."
Kael's wings tensed.
Because this was worse than Raeth whispering to her.
This was Raeth inside her—woven through her past, her fate, her soul.
The Thing Beneath the City Moves
A tremor rolled through the floorboards.
Kael instinctively shielded Amelia with his body.
The High Guardian raced into the room again, breathless.
"The chains are weakening!" he gasped."Her awakening is accelerating the Devourer's release!"
Kael swore under his breath.
But the Guardian wasn't looking at him.
He was staring at Amelia—or rather, the mark glowing on her chest.
"The Dawn sigil is reacting," he whispered in awe and terror."If the Dusk awakens, the Dawn will answer. That is their nature."
Amelia swallowed.
"You're saying I caused this?"
"No," the Guardian replied carefully."You are responding to him."
Her heartbeat stuttered.
Responding.
Calling.
Answering.
"No," Amelia whispered, shaking her head violently."No, no, no. I'm not calling him. I don't want him."
Kael stepped in front of her.
"And that's final."
But the Guardian's expression turned grim.
"Intent does not matter.Your spirits are bound.Where one rises… the other follows."
Kael's hands curled into fists.
Amelia's eyes filled with dread.
Because deep inside her…she could feel Raeth stirring.
Not pulling her.
Not controlling her.
But waiting.
Waiting for her to remember.
Waiting for her to return.
Waiting for her to choose.