Lyra ran through collapsing terrain, chasing the only stable point left—Gideon.
Behind her, reality dissolved into unreadable noise.
Ahead—
She heard something calling her name.
Not Gideon.
Not Azael.
Her bloodline.
A fracture opened in space.
And from it—
A memory emerged.
A woman stood inside impossible light.
She looked exactly like Lyra.
But older.
Heavier.
Like she had carried the weight of erased worlds.
"You were never meant to be free," the vision said softly.
Lyra clenched her fists.
"What is this?"
The memory smiled sadly.
"You are the last vessel of the Veyl-Kar lineage."
The name struck her like a physical blow.
Forbidden.
Deleted from every archive.
Erased even from divine records.
"You are not human," the vision continued.
"You are what was created to anchor gods when they collapse."
Lyra staggered.
"No… I'm human."
The memory tilted its head.
"So was the knife before it became a weapon."
The vision faded—
Leaving one final truth burned into her mind:
Lyra Voss was built to contain beings like Gideon.
Her breath shook.
"…Then why am I helping him?"
Silence.
Then—
Because something inside her had already chosen.