Days had passed.
The first to awaken was Seraphina.
Light filtered in through tall windows carved with violet-glass sigils — not the golden warmth of Eldoria, but the muted gleam of Solvenya's palace, cool and strange. The air was still, perfumed faintly with incense and dried lavender.
She opened her eyes slowly. Her head ached, and her limbs felt heavy, like she'd been asleep for years.
She sat up with effort.
The bed was unfamiliar. So was the silk robe she wore. The ceiling above her was domed — etched with silver stars. And the chamber itself… she recognized it.
The sanctuary.The god's resting place.Where the seal had broken. Where the veil had lifted. Where—
She froze.
Her memory slipped through her fingers like smoke.
She could remember nothing of what had happened after they crossed the final gate. Not the temple. Not the light. Not even Kael's face.
Her heart pounded.
Where was he?
She threw off the blankets, rising to her feet — unsteady but determined. The cool marble floor met her skin like ice.
The door creaked open easily.
The hall beyond was dim and quiet, lined with Solvenyan banners and moonsteel sconces. Her footsteps echoed faintly as she stepped into the corridor, trying to ground herself. Every instinct told her something was wrong.
Then — a flash of motion.
A maid turned the corner, nearly colliding with her. She froze, eyes wide as if she'd seen a ghost.
"My lady…! You're—" She dropped her tray, dishes crashing to the floor. "You're awake…"
Before Seraphina could speak, the girl bolted, running faster than seemed possible.
Moments later, hurried boots thundered from the corridor.
The Crown Prince of Solvenya appeared, flanked by a royal physician and two elite guards. He stopped in front of her, visibly stunned, color draining from his face.
"Lady Seraphina…" he whispered. "It's true… You woke."
She blinked at him, confused. "Your Highness?"
He stepped closer, slowly, as though afraid she might fade again. "You've been unconscious for four days. Neither you nor Prince Kael would wake. We—" his voice faltered. "We feared the worst."
"Where is he?" she asked, instantly alert. "Kael. I need to see him."
The prince hesitated. "He's… resting. He hasn't regained consciousness yet."
Her chest tightened.
"What happened?" she demanded. "Why can't I remember anything?"
"You returned here together. You were found lying beside the pool in this very chamber, barely breathing. The seal—the temple—everything collapsed around you. You were both nearly frozen in light."
She said nothing.
Her powers stirred beneath her skin — and then fizzled.
No voices. No thoughts. Just white noise, like distant water. She tried to summon flame, even a flicker of warmth.
Nothing.
"I can't hear anyone," she whispered. "Not your thoughts. Not the walls. Not even the fire."
The doctor spoke gently. "Your magic… it may be rebalancing. We're not sure what you went through, but the energy in that room — it wasn't of this world. You survived something divine."
She shook her head. "No. We survived something worse."
The prince's expression shifted. "What do you remember?"
She looked up at him, her voice calm and unyielding.
"Only one thing," she said. "That I need to be with him."
He didn't argue.
He simply turned and gestured to the guards. "Prepare to go to his room."
She followed.
Because if she couldn't remember the end —If her powers were broken, her heart frayed —
Then she would hold on to the one thing that still made sense:
Kael.
The hallways blurred as Seraphina followed the Crown Prince and his escort through the inner wing of Solvenya's palace. Her steps quickened with every turn. Her heart beat a steady rhythm, not frantic—but determined. Even without her powers, even without memory, something pulled her toward him.
They stopped before a heavy door of silverwood etched with the royal sigil.
"He's inside," the prince said gently. "No one else has been allowed in."
Seraphina didn't wait.
She pushed the door open.
The light in the chamber was dim and cool, filtered through dark velvet drapes. The scent of crushed herbs lingered in the air. A quiet breeze stirred from the open balcony, bringing in the faint hum of Solvenya's evening windbells.
And there—on the bed at the center of the room—lay Kael.
Still as stone.
No armor. No cloak. Just plain, quiet linen sheets and the crown prince of Eldoria lying beneath them—his dark hair tousled, skin pale, lashes casting soft shadows over his cheeks. But his chest rose and fell in slow rhythm. Alive.
Seraphina stepped in slowly, heart twisting.
He looked like he was dreaming… or lost somewhere just out of reach.
"Leave us," she said softly.
The guards and the doctor hesitated—but the Crown Prince of Solvenya gave a simple nod.
And the door closed behind her.
Silence returned.
She moved toward the bed, every step slower than the last. A part of her feared he would vanish if she touched him. That this was all a cruel vision, like those born from the seal.
But when she sat beside him—and reached out—his skin was warm.
Real.
Her fingers curled around his hand. His larger one didn't move, but it responded in its own way—muscle tension easing beneath her touch.
"Kael," she whispered. "I don't know what they did to us. I don't remember the end. But I remember you."
She blinked hard, tears stinging.
"I remember the way you looked at me when I was afraid. I remember how you stood in the fire beside me, even when everything told you to run."
A breath.
"You told me we'd live. So please… wake up. I'm here. I'm still here."
Her voice cracked.
She bowed her head, resting her forehead lightly against his.
And somewhere beneath her touch—faint as the first beat of spring—his fingers twitched.
Her breath caught.
She pulled back just enough to see him—eyes still closed, but his lips parted slightly now. A shift of breath. A tremor in his brow.
"Kael?" she whispered again.
His fingers tightened.
Not fully—but enough.
Then a word, hoarse and broken, escaped him:
"…Seraphina."
She nearly collapsed from the sound.
She gripped his hand tighter. "I'm here."
Kael's eyes fluttered open—slowly, like a curtain rising after a long night. He blinked once. Twice.
Then his gaze found hers.
And the pain in his expression melted—not into joy, but into a quiet kind of peace. The kind that comes when something lost is finally found again.
"You came back," he murmured.
"So did you," she whispered.
Neither said more for a moment.
Because no matter what the gods had shown them…
No matter what the world had taken…
They still had this.
Each other.
Seraphina didn't let go.
She sat beside him, fingers tangled in his, and let the silence stretch. Not the kind that weighed, like before—but something softer now. Whole.
Kael was awake.
And for the first time in what felt like lifetimes, they weren't standing in fire, or shadow, or some sacred threshold of fate. They were just… here.
Alive.
"I thought I'd lost you," she said quietly, brushing a strand of dark hair away from his forehead. "I woke up and everything was… gone. The temple. The throne. The light."
Kael turned his head slightly, his voice still low and raw. "I didn't think we'd come back."
His eyes flicked toward the ceiling, as if seeing something that wasn't there anymore. "The seal—it didn't just test us. It unraveled us. Our memories, our fears… it tried to make us forget."
She nodded, her throat tightening. "And yet, even without memory… I still looked for you."
Kael's gaze softened.
"Do you remember what you said?" he asked, voice rough.
Seraphina blinked. "When?"
"In that place. Right before we crossed the final gate."
Her lips parted, and the moment flashed back in pieces—silver light, his hand, her voice steady despite the storm inside her.
No more seals. No more tests. Let's live now.
She smiled faintly. "Yes," she whispered. "I meant it."
Kael sat up slowly—every movement heavy with effort. But when he reached for her, it was with purpose. He took her hand again, cradling it between both of his.
"I don't care what we lost along the way," he said. "What matters is that you're here. That we're here."
"I feel… different," she admitted. "Like something is still shifting inside me. The fire doesn't burn the same. It's quieter. But deeper."
"Maybe that's what happens when it's no longer chained," he murmured. "When you stop being just a vessel, and start being yourself."
She looked down at their joined hands, then up into his eyes. "And you? Do you still feel the shadow?"
He was quiet for a long moment.
Then: "Yes. But it's not empty anymore." He lifted her hand, brushing his lips softly across her knuckles. "Because you're in it."
The silence that followed wasn't silence at all. It was breath. Shared. Soft. Full.
Seraphina leaned into him slightly, her head resting against his shoulder.
"I don't know what comes next," she whispered. "But I want to choose it with you."
Kael's arm slipped gently around her, pulling her close.
"Then that's what we'll do," he said. "One day at a time."
They sat like that for a long while—no gods watching, no fire rising, no throne demanding answers.
Just two souls, scarred but whole, sitting in a room no longer bound by prophecy.
And for once, they didn't need to speak.
Because after everything—
This peace was enough.