A soft breeze swept through the curtains, warm sunlight painting the apartment golden. Lucian Viero leaned against the counter, stirring coffee. His eyes wandered to the balcony where Nyssia stood barefoot, arms spread, soaking in the morning like she hadn't seen it in years.
"Lucian," she called without turning, "Let's go somewhere. Anywhere. I'm suffocating in here."
Lucian blinked. "It's barely 8 AM."
"I want the ocean. Today."
He didn't ask why. When she spoke like that—firm, out of nowhere—he knew her instincts were pulling again. He nodded once.
By noon, the beach welcomed them with salted air and sunlit waves. Nyssia ran ahead, the sand soft beneath her feet. Lucian followed slower, letting her burn through whatever restless storm was in her head.
She ran, laughed, spun with arms wide open. Her black skirt danced like smoke in the wind. For a few hours, the world felt honest.
Then she froze. Something near the water had caught her eye.
"Lucian!" she shouted, pointing down.
Half-buried in the wet sand was a glowing crystal—pale violet, shaped like an uneven shard of glass. The glow pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
She knelt beside it. "Is it… a diamond?"
Lucian frowned. "That's not a diamond."
"I'm taking it."
"Nyssia—"
"I want it."
They returned home just as dusk swallowed the city. 6:47 PM. Birds flew low as if avoiding something.
Inside their apartment, Nyssia placed the crystal on the shelf like a prize. Lucian turned on the lights—and stopped. Something felt… wrong.
Everything went quiet.
The clock stopped ticking. The flickering neon outside froze. A soft hum echoed from nowhere. Then:
Wings.
White. Massive. Seraphic. Not metaphor—real. A woman hovered mid-air in the living room, her form radiant, clothes flowing like woven light. Her eyes were the color of moonlight reflecting off still water. There was no sound… and yet Nyssia heard her.
"You are good, Nyssia," the angel spoke. "You are the one I was searching for."
Lucian didn't move. Couldn't. Time had stopped. He stood frozen in mid-step, eyes wide, unable to blink.
Nyssia staggered back. "What…? Who are you?"
"A guardian. A watcher. I saw the fracture in you. You are worthy."
Nyssia backed toward the wall. Her throat tightened. "I don't want anything."
The angel landed gently. "You already accepted it… when you touched that crystal."
Nyssia looked at the shard on the shelf. It had shattered.
A thin red mist now bled from it—liquid, smoke, memory, all in one.
"No," she whispered. "I didn't—"
The angel stepped forward. "Let your soul bloom."
Her hand pressed against Nyssia's chest.
Lucian's eyes—still locked in frozen horror.
A ripple spread out from her heart, like glass breaking inside her. Every part of her cracked and rewrote in silence. Not physically—but essence. Time peeled apart. Space flinched.
Nyssia collapsed.
The angel vanished.
Time resumed.
Lucian was frozen
She lay there. Still breathing. But different. Her eyes blinked open—dark blue, glowing faintly, laced with moving sigils like clock hands in motion.
She sat up slowly, staring at him.
Lucian was unknown what happend to her now
She didn't recognize him—not fully.
He didn't realize yet, but the girl he brought back from the beach… wasn't just Nyssia anymore.