Amelia fell.
Not physically—but into lightand darknessmixed like oil swirling through gold.
A memory tore open beneath her feet, swallowing her whole.
She tried to scream, but there was no sound.Only the rush of wind and ancient power.
And then—
She landed.
But not as Amelia.
Not even as Serael.
This memory…this one was older than both.
She stood on the fractured remains of a celestial battlefield—sky cracked like glass,ground glowing with molten veins of dying stars.
Her body flickered, unstable, shifting between two shapes:
One pure gold and light—Serael.
And one shadow-touched, marked with a sigil she didn't recognize—a name she had forgotten long before she became human.
Solyn.The forbidden name.
Her second celestial identity.The darker one.The one sealed away so deeply even Kael didn't know it existed.
Amelia gasped.
"No… no, that's not me—"
But the world around her ignored her denial.
Because this was truth.
A Meeting That Changed Everything
A figure stepped out from the fog of cosmic war.
Shadow and flame coiled around him like serpents.His silver eye glowed like a dying moon.His red eye like a burning sun.
Raeth.
But not the half-chained monster beneath the city.Not the broken prince who whispered through the cracks of her mind.
This was Raeth before the fall.Before the war.Before the Devouring.
He was beautiful.
Terrifying.
And undeniably hers.
He stopped only inches from her, breath cold and warm at once.
"You should not be here," he murmured.
His voice was softer in this memory.Gentler.Alive.
"Which one are you?" he asked, tilting her chin up with a clawed fingertip."Serael… or Solyn?"
Amelia shivered.
Both names pulled at her like chains.
"I—I don't know."
Raeth smiled painfully.
"You never did."
He lifted a hand and pressed it to her chest—right over her heart.
Light erupted.
But not gold.
Not shadow.
A violent mix of both.
"You were born in two halves," he whispered."Light to guide the heavens.Shadow to balance them."
Amelia's breath rattled.
"You mean… I wasn't just Serael?"
Raeth shook his head.
"No.You were Serael—the Dawnbringer.But you were also Solyn—the Keeper of Dusk."
He leaned closer.
"You were never meant to choose one."
His voice broke.
"You were meant to be whole."
Amelia staggered.
This memory wasn't just showing her a past.
It was revealing a truth she wasn't meant to hold.
Kael Watches Her Break
Back in the Sanctuary, Amelia's body convulsed.
Kael held her tightly, wings folding around her like a shield.
"Amelia—Amelia, listen to me," he whispered, voice trembling.
Her eyes blazed—not gold.Not white.A split glow—half celestial light,half shadowfire.
The sight nearly brought Kael to his knees.
"No…" he choked."Not that power. Not her second name—"
Her pulse exploded with energy, every beat cracking the air around them.
"Kael…" she rasped, voice layered—Ameliaand Seraeland someone else.
"I think… something's wrong."
Kael cupped her face, panic etched into every line.
"Amelia, listen. This is important."He swallowed hard."Whatever you're remembering… don't follow it. Don't let him show you—"
But Amelia was already slipping back into the memory—back to Raethand the battlefieldand the girl with two names.
Back in the Memory
Amelia—Serael—Solyn—felt the world tremble.
Raeth stepped closer, forehead nearly touching hers.
"You were made with light and shadow," he whispered."That is why you were drawn to me."His eyes softened."And why I was doomed to fall for you."
He lifted her hands into his.
"You were meant to balance me, Serael."A pause.A breath.A confession."You were meant to save me."
The sky shattered behind them.
The war began.
And Amelia felt her heart split—one half reaching for Raethand the other screaming Kael's name.
The Memory Tightens Its Grip
The battlefield trembled as stars died overhead.
Amelia—Serael—Solyn—felt her knees weaken beneath the weight of two destinies pulling her in opposite directions.
Raeth's hand tightened around hers.
"Listen to me," he said, voice shaking with urgency."This moment… this is where everything began."
The air around them warped—a celestial storm spinning with gold and black lightning.
"Your two halves awakened at once," Raeth whispered."And when light and shadow collided inside you—"
He touched her cheek.
The memory froze.
The universe held its breath.
"—you broke the balance of heaven."
Amelia's heart dropped.
"What… what do you mean?"
Raeth's expression hollowed with grief.
"They feared you," he said softly."Because no celestial had ever been born like you.Light and shadow.Order and chaos."
He looked away.
"They feared what you might become.What we might become together."
Amelia shivered, her entire body flickering between forms.
"But I wasn't dangerous."
"Oh, little light…" Raeth whispered, brushing his thumb along her jaw."You were more dangerous than any army."
Not because she was a monster.But because she was powerful enough to rewrite fate itself.
Kael's Terror in the Sanctuary
Reality snapped back for a second.
Amelia's body arched violently.
Kael wrapped his arms around her, holding her as if she might fall into the void itself.
"Amelia!"His voice cracked."Fight it—don't let the memory swallow you!"
But her glowing eyes rolled back again.
"Kael—" one of the healers whispered, horrified."She's channeling two auras—light and shadow. That's impossible—"
"I know it's impossible!" he roared."She isn't meant to remember this yet!"
A pulse of dark-gold light blasted outward from her chest, knocking books off the shelves and shattering every lantern.
Kael shielded her, wings flaring.
"Amelia… come back to me."
But she couldn't.
Because the memory wasn't finished.
The Forbidden Moment
She stood with Raeth on the fractured battlefield.
His eyes—one silver, one red—held a sorrow that echoed through aeons.
"We were forbidden from being created," Raeth said quietly."But the Dawn Council couldn't stop it."
Amelia's breath trembled.
"Stop what?"
Raeth stepped closer.Close enough that their foreheads touched.
"The prophecy."
A chill slid down her spine.
"What prophecy?"
"That two celestials, born as opposites, would unite."His voice hushed."Light and shadow. Dawn and dusk.A union that would change the fate of all realms."
Amelia swallowed.
"And… is that us?"
Raeth exhaled.
"It was always us."
The sky cracked above them—a sign the Council was coming.
Raeth leaned in, voice desperate.
"I need you to remember this, Serael.Because one day… you'll be reborn.And when you are, the world will lie to you about who you are."
He pressed his lips to her forehead.
"You will be told to fear the darkness inside you.To destroy me.To choose one destiny."
The battlefield shook violently.
"And you must not believe them."
Amelia stared up at him, heart pounding in her ancient chest.
"Why?"
Raeth cupped her face.
"Because you were never meant to choose between your names."
His voice broke.
"You were meant to be both."
Light.Shadow.Serael.Solyn.
Amelia.
Memory Collapse
The memory cracked apart suddenly—like a mirror struck by fate.
Raeth reached for her.
"Little light—!"
Amelia reached back.
"Raeth—!"
And then the world imploded.
Back in the Sanctuary
Amelia's eyes flew open.
She collapsed forward into Kael's chest, gasping like she'd just drowned.
Kael wrapped both arms and both wings around her.
"Amelia," he breathed, voice raw with relief, "you're here. You're here."
But Amelia clutched his shirt with trembling fingers.
"Kael…"Her voice was broken.Terrified.Awed.Changed.
"I'm not just Serael."
Kael stiffened.
"And… I'm not just Amelia."
His heart stopped.
"…What did you remember?"
Amelia lifted her head slowly.
Her eyes—for the first time—glowed in two colors.
One gold.One shadow-black.
"I remembered… my second name."
Kael's wings froze.
"…No," he whispered."Not that. You weren't meant to—Amelia, that name is forbidden."
Her voice trembled.
"But it's mine."
Kael's expression shattered.
And far beneath the Sanctuary—
Raeth opened all three of his eyes and smiled.
"She remembers."