The fire from the old chemical factory hadn't died out. Instead, it had evolved into something unearthly. Red and violet flames danced in unnatural rhythms, and the air itself shimmered with distorted heatwaves. But this wasn't ordinary fire. It was hellfire — the kind that responded to emotion and memory.
Saral stood in the center of the flames. Unharmed. Glowing.
Abraham, cloaked and shadowed, stood silently behind the crowd. No one saw him arrive — no one ever saw him arrive. He watched her from afar, his heart pounding, not with fear but urgency. Her secret was starting to bloom, and the world wasn't ready.
"She's not afraid..." whispered one villager.
"She walked into the flames," said another.
The higher organization — M.E.S.H. (Multiverse ExoSaints Headquarters) — had eyes in every corner. And tonight, they were watching Saral for the first time not as a suspect... but as a potential catalyst.
Flashback: 3 Days Ago
Saral sat in the ruined church library, her fingers tracing the edge of a worn Bible. The verse that echoed in her heart wasn't coincidence anymore.
> "When you pass through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." — Isaiah 43:2
It had happened once before — when she was seven, and the accident at the lighthouse made her body glow and heal without reason. That was the first time she heard the voice of someone else inside her mind.
Not her own thoughts.
Not God either.
But Him.
Present Time
Inside the flames, Saral's memories broke loose.
Every moment with Abraham — the hidden glances, the time he saved her without ever revealing himself, the way he knew her even before they met — it all poured into her like lightning.
Her body absorbed the fire.
Her eyes turned silver.
From the rooftop, Abraham whispered, "Now you remember..."
Suddenly, the flames vanished — sucked into her chest like vapor — and the crowd fell to their knees. They had seen a miracle. Or a weapon. No one could decide which.
---
M.E.S.H. Control Room
Agent Noam looked at the live feed.
"She's awakened."
A voice from the dark replied, "And Abraham?"
Noam replied without turning. "He's still hiding. Still playing the friend."
"No... he's doing exactly what the prophecy says. Protecting the Seventh Flame. Even if it costs his soul."
---
Final Scene
Saral collapsed, unconscious, in the ashes. Abraham appeared beside her and gently picked her up. He didn't care that people were watching now. They could think what they wanted.
As he walked away, a child pointed and asked,
"Is he her guardian?"
"No," an old woman whispered,
"He's something much more dangerous... and holy."
Abraham looked up at the sky.
"L
ord, let her not bear this alone."
And the stars blinked, as if in answer.
To be Continue