The moment the chamber sealed, a rush of magic pulled the three into darkness—not absence, but depth.
A hum. A heartbeat.
Then—
Light.
They stood not as themselves, but as echoes wearing old skin. Not in Syeralyn, but in a vast, radiant realm that felt both ancient and intimate.
The Realm Before the Fall.
Golden skies stretched overhead, cities gleamed with living stone, and air shimmered with power drawn from the very threads of creation.
Liara looked down at her hands. They weren't hers—not entirely. She wore the skin of someone regal. Her voice, when she spoke, echoed with command.
"Where are we?"
Aeron appeared beside her, dressed in obsidian ceremonial armor, his eyes glowing faintly silver. "This… this isn't a vision. It's a memory."
Cassian stepped from behind a marble column, wearing the deep crimson cloak of a sworn guardian. "Then whose memory are we reliving?"
A voice answered—not spoken aloud, but carved into their thoughts.
"Your own."
In this past life, they were part of a ruling trinity: a sacred balance of power, soul, and will.
Liara was Auraleth, the Soul-Bearer—a conduit between mortal and divine.
Aeron was Vaeron, the Flamekeeper—a wielder of celestial fire who protected the realm's heart.
Cassian was Kaerin, the Blade of Oaths—guardian and beloved of the Soul-Bearer.
They ruled in harmony.
Until Kael came.
He was not named Kael then—he was called Velkaris, the Fallen Star.
He came from the Void—not as a monster, but as a broken god in search of peace. And Auraleth, Liara's past self, pitied him.
And loved him.
They saw it unfold:
Liara—Auraleth—choosing Kael over both duty and prophecy.
Vaeron—Aeron—warning her, begging her to see what Velkaris truly was.
Kaerin—Cassian—stepping aside for love, even when it shattered him.
And in the end, when Kael unlocked the Vault of Souls, it was Liara's power that helped him.
The destruction that followed was unimaginable.
A sky turned to ash. A world split in three. A bond severed... but not destroyed.
Only buried.
As the vision waned, the three fell to their knees in the present, sweat glistening on their brows, hearts pounding.
Liara's voice trembled. "We were all in love with each other… and we lost everything."
Cassian's smile was small and sad. "At least now I know why you drive me mad."
Aeron stood, fists clenched. "Kael didn't die. He bound himself to the Vault's core—waiting for us to remember."
The chamber door rumbled open.
Not with release.
But with invitation.
The true Vault was no longer sealed.
And Kael?
He now knew they remembered.