Light.
Not warm.
Not gentle.
Blinding.
It wraps around May like a cocoon and pulls—upward, inward, nowhere and everywhere at once.
She can't breathe.
She can't move.
But she feels.
A presence inside the light—
vast, ancient,
older than the Veil itself—
reaches toward her, brushing against her soul like a hand made of stars.
"Awaken, Child."
May's voice trembles.
"Who… who are you?"
The light shifts,
condensing into a silhouette—
humanoid but radiant,
as if carved from golden fire.
"I am what your line was created to guard."
A pause, resonant.
"And what once protected the Veil now threatens to tear it apart."
May's heart slams painfully.
"My line? What do you mean my line?"
The figure's glow dims slightly, revealing hints of a face—
not human,
but familiar in its presence.
"The Half-Heart Line began long before your mortal memories.
Your ancestors were born of both realms—Veil and Earth—
to maintain the balance between them."
May staggers back—except she has no ground.
She's standing in pure light.
"What balance? Why me?"
The figure lifts its hand.
A wave of images floods her mind:
—A woman with eyes like molten gold standing at the edge of the Veil.
—A man with pale markings like Nathel's, their hands intertwined.
—A seal carved into stone, splitting in two halves.
—A ritual.
—A sacrifice.
—A cradle.
A baby wrapped in shimmering cloth…
The same pattern that pulses in May's chest.
She gasps.
"That's—my mother."
"She carried the dormant half of the Veil's power," the figure confirms.
"And she passed it to you."
May's knees weaken.
"My mother never told me—she didn't know—"
"She did."
The words slice through her.
"And she died protecting you from the shadows that hunt your kind."
May's breath shatters.
"No—no, she died in an accident—"
"Nothing about your mother was accidental."
The light ripples.
And now she sees the truth:
Her mother running through a forest at night—May as a toddler in her arms—
a shadow creature chasing them, the same kind that hunted her now,
its claws reaching—
Her mother turning, eyes blazing gold, unleashing a burst of light—
Then darkness as the vision cuts off.
May clutches her head.
"No—stop—please—"
The figure's voice softens, but the truth doesn't.
"You were hidden in the mortal world because the Veil feared you."
"Feared me?" she whispers, horrified.
"Your bond with Nathaniel awakened too early.
I sealed it once.
But the shadow broke it.
And now it expands again."
May swallows hard.
"And Nathel? What is he in all this?"
The light shifts.
Showing Nathel, years younger, kneeling in the Veil, marked, trained, watched.
"He was created to find you."
The words hit like a blow.
Created.
Not born.
Created.
The figure continues:
"He is the other half of what you carry.
The anchor.
The stabilizer.
The balance."
May's throat closes.
"Does he know?"
"No."
A pause.
"If he ever did, it was taken from him."
The light flickers suddenly—
violent, pressured.
A ripple of shadow leaks into the brightness.
The creature's voice—
the one from the Veil—
hisses through the crack:
"You cannot keep her."
The golden figure turns sharply, radiance sharpening like a blade.
"The girl is not yours, Shade."
"She was ours before your kind stole her line."
The air shakes, splitting between them—
gold
and shadow.
May stands at the center, choking on fear.
The golden being speaks urgently now:
"May, listen to me—
your power is waking.
If you return to the mortal world unprepared, you will tear both realms apart."
May stares, horrified.
"I don't want any of this— I just want—"
Nathel.
The light warms for a fleeting moment.
"Then you must choose:
embrace what you are,
or let the shadow claim you."
The shadow creature lunges closer.
Nathel's voice echoes distantly, muffled:
"MAY! FIGHT IT—COME BACK TO ME!"
May's heart wrenches painfully as both forces tug at her—
Gold pulling one way.
Shadow pulling the other.
Nathel's voice pulling her everywhere at once.
The golden figure reaches out a hand.
"Let me awaken you fully."
The shadow hisses.
"Give her to me, and she will not break."
Nathel's voice tears through the cracks again:
"MAY—PLEASE—CHOOSE ME—NOT THEM!"
Tears stream down her face.
Her chest burns.
Her power thrashes.
And the light around her begins to splinter.
May must choose.
Now.
Golden awakening.
Shadow descent.
Or Nathel's desperate call.
Only one path will save her—
and only one will save him.