Back to Present
Elara flinched violently in Aeron's arms, gasping like she had drowned in silence. Her eyes were glassy with half-formed tears.
"She's... she's seen it all before," she whispered. "In some other version of me. I killed them. Everyone."
"You're not her," Aeron said firmly.
"But what if that's who I'm meant to become?" she asked, voice cracking.
Behind them, the door slid open. Valen strode in, eyes sharp, jaw tight. "Then we make damn sure you don't."
He crossed the room without pause and slammed a portable dampener core into the console. Sparks flew. The glyphs hissed and vanished, but not before flashing one last warning:
You cannot undo what you are.
"Enough of this," Valen growled. "This thing this echo, parasite, whatever is playing with our minds."
Elara steadied herself. "It's not just playing. It's trying to show me... how the Seeds broke me. Over and over."
