Chapter 19: What We Gave to Time
Aria didn't know when her body had started shaking, but it wasn't fear. It was something else. Something deeper. Like her cells were trying to remember something her brain had no access to.
Selene noticed. Of course she did.
She moved closer, wrapping her cold fingers around Aria's. "Hey," she whispered, like the air itself might shatter if she spoke too loud. "You're here. You're safe."
But the truth was — it didn't feel like safety anymore. Not when every corner of her mind felt like it was glitching. Like pieces of a puzzle had been forced into the wrong timeline.
"I saw something," Aria said suddenly. Her voice was tight, like it wasn't sure if it wanted to cry or scream. "When I closed my eyes. Just for a second."
Selene's expression changed instantly. Her grip didn't loosen. "What did you see?"
"Chains," Aria whispered. "Around someone's arms. Gold ones. I think she was trying to break free"
Selene's silence confirmed it wasn't just a dream.
Aria looked at her. "That was real, wasn't it?"
Selene nodded once, slow. "You're starting to bleed through."
"Through what?"
"Through the lie the gods built."
The word "gods" shouldn't have meant anything, but something in her chest pulled. Like her lungs clenched tighter around the oxygen.
"I don't understand any of this."
"You weren't meant to," Selene said gently. "They didn't want you to carry the weight again."
"They?" Aria frowned. "You mean the goddesses?"
Selene looked like she was choosing her words carefully. "Athena and Aphrodite made a choice. A big one. After you — after you died."
Aria's heart skipped.
"That's not how time is supposed to work," Selene went on. "But they broke the rules. For you."
Aria blinked. "I died?"
Selene nodded again, slower this time. "You were tortured by the Council. They were hunting all of us — me, Lys, Elara, Nova, Iris, Harmonia, Artemis. Even the goddesses. The Council found a relic — something old, dangerous. They used it on Harmonia and Artemis first. It stripped them of their power and locked them in chains. Not just metaphorical ones. Real ones. Ancient. Laced with blood magic. They became weaker than mortals. Helpless."
Aria felt the heat drain from her body. "And they were running."
"We all were," Selene whispered. "The roamers had changed. Evolved. They weren't just mindless anymore. The Council turned them into something new. Altered roamers, in three stages. The third one — even the gods avoid them, Aria, they were monsters. You saw them coming, and you knew we wouldn't outrun them."
"So I stayed."
"You created a barrier between us and them," Selene said, her voice barely holding together. "You shoved the rest of us through, screamed at us to run. And we did. You stayed behind and fought them alone."
Aria's breath caught in her throat. "That's insane."
"You were insane," Selene said, laughing through her tears. "Insanely stubborn. Brave. Stupid. You broke the relic's hold on the goddesses before you collapsed. Your skin was tearing from the power you used. You were dying. And still, you begged them to protect us. You asked them to save your lovers."
Aria swallowed. "Lovers?"
"You didn't just love me," Selene said. "There were others. You loved them all. Fiercely. In your own way. But when it came down to it, you let yourself burn just to make sure we made it out."
Aria felt the weight of that. She didn't have the memories. But she had the ache.
"And when you were about to die, the sky split open."
"Athena," Aria said, the name forming without her permission.
Selene looked at her. "Yeah. Athena came down. And Aphrodite with her. They destroyed the world around you — broke the sky, shattered the ground. They held your hands while you died."
Aria's knees nearly buckled. She reached out, found the edge of a desk, and gripped it like it could stop her from falling through time itself.
"I asked them to save my lovers," she said, voice distant.
"You did."
"And they listened."
"They did more than listen," Selene said. "They brought you back. Not… not in the way people think. They didn't rewind time. They changed it. Reshaped it. They made a new version of you. Still you. Just… placed into a timeline where you had a chance to live."
"But how?"
"Athena used a relic," Selene explained. "She remade your body. Poured your soul into it. Aphrodite and Vaethea helped her."
Aria blinked. "Vaethea?"
Selene looked surprised. "You're remembering."
"I don't know who she is," Aria said. "But I can feel her name."
Selene's expression softened. "She was your mother. Not adoptive — your real mother. She and Aphrodite loved each other. You were their daughter."
Aria looked like she'd been punched in the chest. "So I'm…"
"You were born from love," Selene said. "Not just metaphorically. Literally."
"And what happened to her?"
"She arrived too late," Selene said. "Slower to ascend. She found Aphrodite holding your body. The reunion was… raw. Vaethea sobbed. Told you she was sorry. That she'd failed."
"But she helped bring me back?"
"She did. Together, the three of them created your new form. A reset. A chance."
"And Athena?"
Selene's jaw clenched. "Zeus punished her. For breaking divine law. The golden chains appeared out of nowhere. Bound her. Dragged her back to Olympus before she could say goodbye. Aphrodite screamed. Vaethea tried to follow. But it was too late."
Aria's hand instinctively reached for her left thigh.
Selene saw.
"She marked you there," she said. "A binding. A signal. A connection. So she could find you again. In dreams, if nothing else."
"I've seen her," Aria said. "In the dark. In the water. In flashes."
"She's waiting," Selene said. "The chains haven't broken yet. But she's saving her strength. Watching. Hoping."
Aria's breath shook. "And I just… woke up in this timeline like none of that happened."
"You weren't supposed to carry it," Selene repeated. "That was the deal. You'd be free."
Aria glanced out the broken window at the quiet city. "Doesn't feel free."
"No," Selene agreed. "Because something's changing. Again. Whatever they did to bring you back — it's starting to unravel."
"Why?"
"Because time doesn't like to be bent," Selene said. "And gods don't like being defied."
Aria looked at her. "And you? What do you believe?"
"I believed it was my rebirth too," Selene admitted. "But now I think it wasn't me that was reborn. It was you."
A silence stretched between them.
"Do you remember when I said you told me to run?" Selene said suddenly. "Before you made the barrier?"
Aria nodded.
"I didn't run," she said. "Not really. I tried to turn back. Lys had to drag me away."
"Why?"
"Because I couldn't leave you."
Aria blinked fast, her chest tight. "Even knowing I wouldn't survive?"
"Especially then," Selene said. "Because loving you always meant choosing the harder path."
Aria touched her thigh again. "If Athena marked me… then why can't I feel her?"
"You're still blocked," Selene said. "By the new timeline. By your own fear. You're waking up, but you're scared of what comes with it."
"What if I don't want to be who I was?"
"Then don't be," Selene said simply. "Be who you are now. Just… don't shut the door on what's trying to reach you."
Aria sat down again, her eyes drawn to the window. The sky was darker now. Not storm - dark. Just… wrong.
"She's trying to come back to me," she said softly. "Isn't she?"
Selene nodded. "And she will. The moment those chains crack."
They both sat in silence for a moment. The kind that isn't empty, but full of breath and truth and things too big for words.
Then Aria said, "What did Zeus say?"
Selene looked startled. "What?"
"You said he punished Athena. That he dragged her back. What did he say to her?"
Selene hesitated.
Aria reached for her hand. "Tell me."
"He told her she was a disappointment," Selene whispered. "That she should've never fallen in love with a demon."
Aria's mouth parted. "Is that what I was?"
"No," Selene said fiercely. "You weren't a demon. You were power. You were heart. They hated what they couldn't control."
Aria looked away. "I don't know who I'm supposed to be anymore."
"You're not supposed to be anything," Selene said. "You just are."
A beat passed.
Then Aria looked up, eyes suddenly sharp. "If they came once… if they broke time once… what's stopping them from doing it again?"
Selene didn't answer right away. "Maybe nothing."
"Then we need to be ready."
Selene smiled faintly. "That sounds like you."
Aria stood, walked to the center of the room, and peeled back the fabric from her thigh.
The mark was there.
Faint gold, almost glowing.
Not a scar.
A sigil.
Alive.
"Guess I don't get to be normal after all," Aria muttered.
Selene stood beside her. "You never were."
They stared at the mark together.
Then Aria whispered, "Come back to me."
Somewhere, far away — chained in golden light, Athena opened her eyes.
And smiled.
Still bound.
Still burning.
Still waiting.
But not for long.