Rielun's POV:
The silver doorway widened with a soft, trembling hum — a sound that wasn't quite sound, more like a vibration sinking into my ribs. Light spilled across the clearing, pale and cold, brushing over my skin like a hand that already knew me.
My breath caught.
It felt like recognition.
Sylas's arm tightened around my waist. "We're going. Now."
I barely heard him.
Because behind us, the Hollow screamed.
Not the fractured cry from before.
Not the grieving exhale.
This one was deeper — a raw, guttural sound that vibrated through the ground and up my spine.
A warning.
A plea.
A claim.
The earth split open again, black sap surging upward like desperate hands reaching for me.
Noctis's shadows snapped into place, forming a barrier. "Go! I'll hold it!"
But even his shadows trembled.
The pull hit me like a hook behind my sternum. I gasped, clutching Sylas's sleeve. "It's stronger— I can't—"
Elias grabbed my wrist. "The Haven is open. It's reacting to you. Step through!"
The doorway pulsed again, and the light curled around my arm like a ribbon tugging me forward.
I stumbled toward it, pulled by the guardians, pulled by the Haven, pulled by something inside me that felt ancient and aching.
The moment my foot crossed the threshold—
Everything changed.
The world shifted.
The pressure vanished.
The air stilled.
The light softened.
I sucked in a breath that didn't hurt.
A vast chamber stretched out before me, carved from pale stone that glowed faintly from within. Floating motes drifted through the air like suspended stars. A soft hum vibrated through the floor — steady, rhythmic.
A heartbeat.
My heartbeat.
No—
someone else's.
Aeris stepped in beside. "Stay close. Don't wander."
But I barely heard him.
Because the Haven felt… familiar.
Like stepping into a dream I'd had a thousand times but could never remember upon waking.
"I've been here before," I whispered.
Sylas turned sharply. "Rielun— what do you mean?"
I didn't know.
I didn't know anything.
Except—
Something was moving in the distance.
A silhouette.
Kneeling.
Still.
Head bowed.
My breath stuttered. "There's someone—"
The Haven pulsed violently.
The silhouette lifted its head.
And a voice — soft, clear, unbearably familiar — whispered through the chamber:
"Rielun…"
My name.
Not "Little Moon."
Not "Little one."
Not a fragment.
Not a glitch.
My name.
My knees nearly gave out. "I know that voice…"
The guardians tensed around me, forming a protective circle, but I couldn't look away.
The silhouette rose slowly, as if waking from centuries of sleep.
The Haven's heartbeat quickened.
The Hollow screamed from the other side of the doorway — a sound of fury and grief intertwined.
The figure took one step forward.
And the voice came again, stronger, closer, devastating:
"Come back to me."
The doorway behind us shuddered.
The Haven trembled.
My vision blurred.
I reached out without meaning to — my hand moving on instinct, on memory, on longing I didn't understand.
The silhouette reached back.
And the Haven exploded with light.
The brightness swallowed everything.
No sound.
No ground.
No breath.
Then—
Warmth.
Sunlight.
I stood in a courtyard of pale stone, silver banners fluttering overhead. The air smelled like rain and crushed herbs. Voices echoed softly in the distance.
My heart lurched.
I knew this place.
Footsteps approached behind me.
Slow.
Steady.
Purposeful.
I turned.
A man stood there.
Tall.
Strong.
Wrapped in silver and shadow.
His presence warm and overwhelming in a way that made my chest ache with a feeling I didn't understand.
The First Guardian.
Alive.
Whole.
Not a silhouette.
Not a glitch.
Not a fragment.
Him.
He stepped closer, and the world seemed to bend around him, like even the air recognized him.
"Rielun," he said softly.
My breath caught.
His voice was the same one I'd heard in the Haven — warm, steady, devastating.
"You're late," he murmured, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I was starting to worry."
I swallowed hard. "I… I don't remember this."
He reached out.
Not to pull me.
Not to claim me.
To touch my cheek.
Gentle.
Reverent.
Like he'd done it a thousand times.
"Little Moon," he whispered. "You never see how precious you are."
My vision blurred.
I didn't know this man.
I didn't remember him.
But the emotion in his eyes—
It wasn't mine.
It was his.
I reached for him—
And the memory shattered.
I hit the floor hard, gasping as the chamber snapped back into focus.
Sylas was kneeling beside me, hands on my shoulders. "Rielun! Talk to me. What happened?"
Aeris hovered close, wind trembling around him. "You vanished for a moment. Your body— it went still."
Rowan pressed a hand to my back. "You weren't breathing."
Elias's voice was quiet, shaken. "The Haven showed him something."
I swallowed hard, tears burning my eyes.
"I saw him," I whispered. "The First Guardian. Alive."
The guardians froze.
Sylas's fingers tightened on my shoulders. "Rielun… what did he say?"
I wiped my face with a shaking hand.
"He called me Little Moon. He… he touched my face. He looked at me like—"
My voice broke.
Elias knelt in front of me, expression solemn.
"Rielun," he said gently, "the Oracle didn't love the First Guardian."
I blinked, confused. "Then why—"
"Because he loved you," Elias said softly. "Deeply. Quietly. More than he ever admitted."
The Haven pulsed once — soft, aching.