With a final, loving gaze at Elias, now cradled in Seraphina's trembling arms, the woman moved towards Sara. Akane's heart pounded, a frantic drum against her ribs.
"What now? Would she heal Sara too? But she is fine." The woman reached out, her fingers gently touching the girl's forehead.
Again, the seven currents of energy, the familiar and the unknown, flowed. This time, there was no reconstruction, no painful undoing and re-knitting of flesh. Instead, the energy flowed in.
It was a silent, profound blessing, a delicate infusion of light and purpose that resonated deep within Sara's nascent spirit. Akane felt a warmth spread from Sara's forehead, not a burning heat, but a comforting, protective aura that settled around her, humming with a quiet power.
Her task complete, the woman looked once more at Elias, cradled in Seraphina's arms, then at Sara, now glowing faintly with an inner light. A final, knowing smile, a hint of something deeper, something eternal, touched her lips.
She didn't turn, didn't move towards the door. Then, a whisper can be heard and without disturbing even a partical of air, without a ripple in the fabric of reality, she simply vanished. One moment she was there, a luminous presence, the next, the space she occupied was empty, as if she had never existed.
The space where the luminous woman had stood now yawned empty. A collective gasp, ragged and disbelieving, tore through the chilled air of the Grand Hall.
The heavy rain continued its relentless assault on the Crown Estate, each thunderclap a violent punctuation to the impossible silence within.
Before the chaotic whispers could fully erupt, the salon's heavy oak doors swung inward with a groan, revealing Sigrid Valentino, the Crown family's stoic butler.
His usually impeccably composed features were creased with a grim tension Akane had rarely seen. Behind him, emerging from the deeper shadows of the corridor, was Lilia Valentino, Sigrid's wife and Akane's ever-present shadow.
Her usually serene face was etched with a similar, stark disbelief. Both of them, guardians of the Crown household, looked severely shaken.
Sigrid took a hesitant step into the room, his eyes scanning the space, lingering on the empty spot.
"Forgive the intrusion, Lord Aevin, Lady Akane," he began, his voice gravelly, but his gaze was fixed on the two infants, miracles in their midst.
"We... we could not stop ourselves from entering. We were... held. Utterly paralyzed. As if an invisible wall, a force beyond comprehension, stood directly before the threshold. No matter our will, our strength, we could not even move a finger to enter until just this moment."
Lilia, ever the shadow, nodded, her voice a hushed echo of her husband's. "It was as if time itself had ceased for us, Matriarch. The rain outside, the thunder... it continued, yet we were trapped, motionless, aware only of our inability to move. The moment she... vanished... the force simply released us. It was unlike any magic or power I have ever witnessed."
Her words confirmed the family's own prior, inexplicable paralysis, adding another layer of terrifying understanding to the encounter.
Siara, Seraphina's elder sister, her typical chill composure now exchanged for a taut, watchful tension, stepped forward.
Her eyes, usually sparkling with wry amusement, were narrowed, taking in every detail – Seraphina's trembling, Akane's bewildered protectiveness, Aevin's shock, the children's profound changes. "So, it wasn't just us, then," she murmured, her voice low, almost to herself. "She wanted us to witness it. Helplessly watch." She looked around the faces in the room, then back to the empty space. "And then she simply... ceased to be."
Aevin, pushing himself away from the wall, still unsteady, struggled to find his voice. His gaze, slowly regaining focus, settled first on Elias, then on Sara. "Sigrid, Lilia… you saw nothing? No person, no portal, no even a ant?" His voice was thin, reedy, utterly unlike his usual booming command.
Sigrid shook his head. "Nothing, Lord Aevin. The estate gates are secured, the guards in their positions, though I suspect they, too, felt some… unnatural stillness. No one entered or left. She simply… appeared within these walls, performed her… acts, and departed without trace or passage."
Seraphina, finally tearing her gaze from Elias, looked up at Akane, then at her father. "Elias... he's... he's whole. He feels... stronger. But who... why? What did she mean, 'World, as everyone knew it, was no more'?" Her question hung in the air, heavy with unspoken dread.
Akane Crown, her heart still thrumming from the impossible sight, tightened her embrace around Sara. The faint, warm glow emanating from her granddaughter's forehead was real, a beacon against the encroaching dread.
She felt it, a gentle hum of power, unfamiliar yet profoundly protective, settling around the child. Her gaze swept over the stunned faces – her husband, her daughters, the loyal Valentinos.
Practicality, always her anchor, warred with the sheer, unadulterated terror clutching at her throat. The whisper, "World is changing. New age is coming. This world will not be same one," echoed faintly in her mind, a cold premonition.
Akane tightened her hold on Sara, who was now beginning to stir, her tiny face furrowed in a sleepy frown, but with that faint, ethereal glow still radiating from her. "The way she looked at them," Akane mused aloud, her brow furrowed.
"A final, knowing smile. As if... as if she knew what was to come. What this all meant." She looked squarely at Aevin. "Aevin, this was no ordinary mage. No sorceress. This was something... else. Something beyond our understanding."
"Beyond any understanding, Akane," Aevin corrected, his voice gaining a fraction of its former strength, though laced with a new, profound fear.
He straightened, his eyes sweeping across his assembled family, his loyal retainers. "This was… an act of immense power. A power that saw fit to intervene directly within our home, in our lives, without explanation or solicitation. What does it mean for Elias, for Sara?"
He gestured towards the children, the unwitting centers of this unprecedented event. "And what does it mean for the Crown family, to have been touched so directly by… whatever she was?"