The chamber convulsed.
Light cracked across the walls like lightning trapped in glass. The Veil pulsed in violent waves, reacting to the prince's power — or resisting it. Lira couldn't tell which.
Kael steadied himself beside her, blade raised, breath ragged. "Lira… he's drawing more power."
"No," Lira whispered, her mark burning. "He's forcing it."
The prince stood at the center of the storm, the stolen shard glowing beneath his skin like a second heart. His eyes blazed with fractured gold.
"You feel it, don't you?" he said. "The Veil remembers us. It remembers what we were meant to be."
Lira stepped forward, fury rising like fire in her veins. "We were never meant to be anything."
The prince's smile sharpened. "You keep saying that. But the Veil disagrees."
He raised his hand.
The chamber shattered.
Not physically — but in memory.
Suddenly Lira stood in the lab again, the ChronoGate humming behind her. The air smelled of ozone and metal. Eli's voice echoed faintly in the distance.
Kael appeared beside her, disoriented. "What—where are we?"
"A memory," Lira whispered. "But not mine."
The prince materialized in front of them — younger, human, unbroken. "This is the night you told me I was right."
Lira's breath caught. "I never said that."
"You did," he said softly. "You just don't want to remember."
Kael stepped between them. "Enough."
The prince ignored him. "Astra, you told me the Veil was the future. That together, we could reshape everything."
Lira shook her head. "I said the Veil was dangerous. That we needed to stabilize it."
"You said we needed to control it."
"That's not the same."
"It is," the prince said. "And you knew it."
The memory flickered.
Astra — her past self — appeared beside the prince, leaning over a console. Her expression was intense, focused, determined.
The prince touched the memory gently. "You were brilliant. You saw what no one else did."
Lira felt a pang of recognition — not love, but ambition. The hunger to fix what was broken. To save what was collapsing.
Kael's voice cut through the haze. "Lira. Look at me."
She turned.
His eyes were steady, grounding, real.
"You're not her anymore," he said. "You're not who he remembers."
The memory cracked.
The lab dissolved.
The chamber returned — but darker, trembling, unstable.
The prince's expression twisted. "You keep choosing him."
Lira lifted her chin. "I choose myself."
The prince's eyes burned. "Then let's see how strong you really are."
He thrust his hand forward.
A blast of red-gold energy shot toward her.
Kael moved instantly, stepping in front of her.
"Kael—!"
The blast hit him square in the chest.
He flew backward, crashing into the Veil's wall with a sickening crack.
Lira screamed. "KAEL!"
He collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
Her mark erupted in golden fire.
The prince watched her with cold fascination. "Interesting. Pain awakens you."
Lira ran to Kael, dropping to her knees. "Kael, please—please open your eyes."
He didn't move.
Her hands shook as she touched his face. "Kael… don't do this. Don't leave me."
The prince stepped closer. "He was always going to break. You just didn't want to see it."
Lira's vision blurred with tears.
Her mark pulsed violently.
The Veil responded — the chamber shaking, the air crackling with golden lightning.
The prince's smile faded. "What are you—"
Lira stood slowly.
Her hair lifted in the rising energy.
Her eyes glowed with golden fire.
"You hurt him," she whispered.
The prince stepped back. "Astra—"
"I'm not Astra."
The Veil roared.
Golden light exploded from her mark, swirling around her like a storm. The chamber cracked, the walls splitting open to reveal swirling void and fractured timelines.
The prince shielded his face. "Impossible—your power isn't complete—"
"It doesn't have to be," Lira said. "Not to destroy you."
She raised her hand.
The Veil bent toward her.
The prince staggered. "Stop—Lira, stop—"
But she didn't.
She unleashed the blast.
Golden fire tore through the chamber, slamming into the prince and hurling him across the Veil's core. He hit the far wall, the stolen shard flickering violently beneath his skin.
The chamber fell silent.
Lira collapsed to her knees, breath shaking, tears streaming.
She crawled back to Kael, her hands trembling as she touched his cheek again.
"Kael… please… come back."
Her mark dimmed.
Her voice broke.
"Don't leave me."
The Veil pulsed softly.
And Kael's fingers twitched.