The Womb trembled.
The Heart pulsed not with divine harmony—but with discord.
Kaela stood at its edge, one hand brushing the surface of the crystalline Heart. Every touch bled color from reality. Stars flickered out above. Time fractured in coils of reverse motion. And Darius watched, unmoving, as the fabric of the cradle began to rot.
"You shouldn't be here," whispered the Twice-Killed Queen, blade drawn but breath tight.
Kaela turned slightly, lips curling in delight.
"And yet," she purred, "here I am. You opened him… I'm just finishing the rite."
Darius finally spoke.
"Kaela—stop."
She laughed—not cruelly, but with genuine amusement, as if his plea was a joke only lovers could share.
"Stop? You awakened me, Hollow King. You tasted her… and remembered her. Now I remember me."
Her form shimmered. Chaos bled from her skin—wings of tangled void unfurled, eyes multiplying across her body, mouths whispering undone prayers.
