The flames roared higher, fed mercilessly by the wind, devouring wood and silk alike.
Smoke choked the air.
Screams tore through the night.
"Move! Move, now!" soldiers shouted, forcing paths through the inferno as they dragged girls toward the exit. Some stumbled, some were carried, some didn't even have the strength to cry anymore.
A beam collapsed somewhere inside with a deafening crack.
Halley coughed violently, her lungs burning as she knelt beside a girl whose arms were blistered and raw.
"It's okay… it's okay…" Halley whispered, though her own hands trembled as she tore fabric to wrap the wounds.
The girl clutched her sleeve weakly.
"It hurts…" she whimpered.
"I know," Halley said, her voice breaking despite herself.
"I know… just stay with me, alright? Stay with me."
Around her, chaos raged.
Soldiers rushed in and out of the burning structure, some returning with unconscious bodies slung over their shoulders. Others didn't come back out as quickly.
Nearby, Nolan stood with Diana and the other magic users.
"Now!" Nolan commanded.
At once, they raised their hands.
Water surged from the pond, rising unnaturally into the air in twisting streams before crashing down against the flames. Steam exploded outward, hissing violently as fire and water clashed.
"Again!" Nolan ordered.
Diana's expression was focused, unshaken, but sweat lined her brow as she forced more water forward.
The fire resisted.
It spread faster than it should.
"MISS HALLEY!"
The scream cut through everything.
Halley's head snapped up.
Julie.
The girl was standing too close to the entrance, too close to the flames, her eyes wide with panic.
Before Halley could react, part of the burning doorway gave way.
It collapsed.
Right toward Julie.
"NO—!"
Halley lunged forward, her body moving before her mind could catch up. She grabbed Julie and shoved her out of the way...
The falling wood struck Halley instead.
The impact drove the air out of her lungs as she hit the ground hard, pain exploding through her side.
"Miss Halley!" Julie cried, scrambling back toward her.
For a moment, Halley couldn't breathe.
Couldn't move.
All she could hear was the fire.
Feel the heat closing in.
Then,
Hands grabbed her.
A soldier pulled the debris off her, dragging her away just as flames licked over where she had fallen.
Julie clung to her, sobbing.
"You're okay—you're okay—please be okay—"
Halley forced her eyes open, her vision swimming.
"I'm… fine…" she rasped, though her body screamed otherwise.
But her gaze shifted past Julie,
To the brothel.
Still burning.
Still consuming everything.
Not far away, Rosetta lay bound in enchanted restraints, her body limp, unconscious.
Two soldiers stood guard over her.
Untouched by the flames.
Nolan lowered his arm slowly, his jaw tight as he watched the fire continue to spread despite their efforts.
This wasn't just destruction.
This was deliberate.
Controlled.
Rosetta hadn't just tried to escape,
She had chosen to burn everything with her.
"NOOOO!"
Zarah screamed as she watched the brothel burn, people still trapped inside.
She tried to run forward,
But she couldn't move.
Tears streamed down her face as helplessness crushed her chest. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she fell to her knees.
She wept.
Her sobs came violently, her hands covering her face as her body shook.
She hated the brothel.
Hated the Madam. Hated the life it had forced upon them.
But it had given her something too.
Iris.
Miss Halley.
Friends.
The seniors who had lost their chance at becoming Flower Maidens and were forced to remain.
The juniors who still clung to hope, working endlessly for a glimpse of freedom.
Her breath hitched as her chest tightened painfully.
Then...
A warm hand rested on her shoulder.
A strange calm spread through her body.
The screams faded.
The fire stilled.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
Zarah's head snapped around.
A woman stood beside her.
Golden hair. Golden eyes.
She was taller than anyone Zarah had ever seen, her very presence radiating a soft, divine glow.
Zarah froze.
She looked exactly like the statues of Goddess Aelthrya, the same ethereal crown, the same golden light.
Zarah immediately tried to bow, but the woman stopped her.
"Child," Aelthrya said gently, her voice soft yet resonant, "I have come to speak with you, not to be worshipped."
A faint smile touched her lips.
"The temples are for that. This… is the dream realm."
She withdrew her hand.
Zarah quickly scrambled to her feet, wiping her tears frantically with her sleeves.
"Your Holiness… you said this is the dream realm. Then… the brothel burning, is it a dream?" Zarah asked, a fragile hope slipping into her voice.
Aelthrya tilted her head slightly.
"I thought you wished for that place to be gone," she said. "Why, then, does it trouble you whether it is real or not?"
Zarah flinched.
Her head shook quickly, almost instinctively.
Her palms were damp with sweat.
'What if she can hear my thoughts?
No, don't think. Just speak.'
"Your Holiness is the Goddess of birth and fate," Zarah said carefully. "You must already know my reasons. I would not dare lessen your divinity by trying to explain them."
Aelthrya let out a soft laugh.
"You humans and your flattery."
She regarded Zarah quietly for a moment.
"And yet… it is not only flattery."
Her gaze shifted, distant and knowing.
"You cling to what hurts you."
Zarah stilled.
"You despise it… and still, you grieve its loss."
Her voice was calm, gentle, but impossibly certain.
"Because you lived there. Because you loved within it. Because pieces of yourself were left behind in those walls."
Zarah's breath caught.
"Whether what you see is a dream… or truth… does not change what it means to you," Aelthrya continued.
"I have only used this realm to reach you… and to show you what is happening now."
"It's happening now?" Zarah's throat went dry.
Her nails dug into her palms as her breathing hitched.
"Zarah," the Goddess said, her voice firm as she looked at her.
"Do you believe you are blessed by me?" Aelthrya asked.
Zarah's focus snapped back, her eyes locking onto the divine figure before her.
"The original Zarah was blessed… so I believe this body is blessed," she replied.
She did not lie.
She was speaking to a Goddess.
How could she dare pretend to be the original?
"And who," Aelthrya asked, a faint laugh escaping her, "is the original?"
Zarah froze.
"Huh?"
"Ah… my apologies," Aelthrya said, though her tone held amusement. "You humans can be rather amusing."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Have you ever considered… that you were always the one my blessing was meant for?"
Zarah's eyes widened.
"But… the webcomic…" she began, her voice faltering.
Aelthrya raised a hand, cutting her off.
"This life was always yours," she said calmly. "You simply failed to wield my blessing the first time."
Zarah's breath caught.
"So I showed you a path," Aelthrya continued. "A vision, disguised in a form your mind would accept."
"The 'comic' you remember."
"And when that life ended… I returned you here."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"A second chance."
Silence fell heavy between them.
"I do not grant blessings lightly," Aelthrya said. "Nor do I give them to those incapable of change."
Zarah stood frozen.
Her fists clenched tightly.
Her heart pounded against her ribs.
"Why…" she tried to ask, but the word barely left her lips.
"Why tell you this now?" Aelthrya finished for her, a faint smile forming.
"I have already given you foresight once."
Her voice softened, but something in it turned colder.
"If the future changes… it will be by your hand."
"You will not receive another vision."
A pause.
"I have already granted you a second life."
Her gaze bore into Zarah.
"So whatever path you choose, ensure it leads to success."
"Do not let my name be diminished."
"Do not make my blessing lose its worth."
The air felt heavier.
"Because if you fail…"
Her voice dropped, quiet and absolute.
"There will be no third chance."
Zarah lowered her head, bowing deeply.
"I understand…"
Aelthrya placed a hand upon Zarah's head.
A bright white light spread in every direction.
"You possess more than foresight, Zarah," she said.
"You are the protector of the Empire that worships me."
"You can heal."
A pause.
"Awaken your power… before it is too late."
And then...
Everything dissolved into blinding light.
Zarah shot upright in her bed, her body drenched in sweat.
Tears had dried against her skin, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
Slowly, she raised a hand to her head.
Her fingers brushed against something soft.
A crown of lilac flowers.
The sacred bloom used in the worship of Goddess Aelthrya.
Her breath hitched.
She clutched it tightly to her chest, her body shaking.
"Thank you…" she whispered.
"I will remember your words… Goddess."