The staircase twisted down like a serpent's spine, wrapped in old enchantments and ancient whispers. Seraphina's hand skimmed the stone wall as she descended, the runes on it glowing faintly under her touch.
Lucien followed behind, silent but tense. Kael held the rear, sword drawn, every sense on alert.
They reached a door—no, a vault.
It was marked by a single rune.
Her name.
Seraphina.
Her breathing quickened. "I sealed this… before I lost everything."
"Can you break it?" Kael asked.
"No," she said. "But I can unseal it."
She pressed her palm to the rune. It burned. Not with pain, but remembrance.
Chains of light and shadow cracked open with a sound like thunder. The vault creaked… and opened.
The room was lined with mirrors. But they didn't reflect her face.
They reflected versions of her. Smiling. Crying. Killing. Loving.
And in the center—a silver flame hovered inside a crystal sphere. It pulsed when she stepped forward.
Lucien's breath hitched. "That's…"
"My core," Seraphina whispered. "The part of my soul I locked away."
She reached for it.
The mirrors exploded.
A vision gripped her—
—Screams. A palace burning. Her voice crying out, "Stop! She's innocent!" And then… her own mother, falling into darkness. Her father turning away. The heroine smiling in white as Seraphina was dragged through the mud, condemned.
She fell to her knees, shaking.
Kael knelt beside her. "What did you see?"
"Lies," she rasped. "The heroine… she orchestrated it all. Framed me. Stole the light."
"She took your life," Lucien said grimly.
"No," Seraphina said, rising slowly. "She took my death too. But I'm taking it back."
The silver flame burned brighter. Her hand closed around it—and it vanished into her chest.
A burst of power surged through her. The vault shook.
She was whole again.
She turned, her eyes glowing with power. "We leave now. The heroine thinks I'm still playing the villainess."
Kael gave a half-smile. "Let her keep thinking it."
Lucien's voice was quiet but dark. "The world isn't ready for the real Empress of Eclipse."
Seraphina nodded.
And above ground, the divine beast raised its head. For the first time in decades, the sky cracked with both light and shadow—announcing her return.