Rielun's POV:
The Haven pulsed again — a soft, aching throb that echoed through my bones. I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to steady my breathing, but everything inside me felt unmoored.
"He loved you," Elias had said.
The words wouldn't stop ringing in my ears.
Loved me.
Loved me without my knowing.
Loved me enough to break the Hollow when I died.
My stomach twisted.
Rowan knelt beside me, brushing a tear from my cheek. "You don't have to understand it all at once. Just breathe."
But breathing felt impossible.
Aeris paced a few steps away, jaw tight, hands flexing like he needed something to break. "He had no right," he muttered. "Loving him in secret. Binding himself to him. And then letting the Hollow rot with that grief—"
"Aeris," Elias warned.
"No." Aeris's voice sharpened. "He hurt him. Even if he didn't mean to."
"I didn't know," I whispered. "I didn't know any of it."
Aeris stopped pacing.
And then he was in front of me — fast, decisive, dropping to his knees like he couldn't stand the distance between us for another second.
His hands braced on either side of my hips, fingers curling into the stone floor. His eyes locked onto mine, sharp and burning.
"Rielun," he said, voice low and rough, "look at me."
I did.
And the intensity in his gaze made my breath catch.
"You're shaking," he murmured. "And you're trying to pretend you're not."
"I'm not—"
His hand slid onto my thigh.
Heat shot through me so fast I gasped.
Aeris's fingers tightened, thumb stroking the inside of my thigh — slow, deliberate, dangerously close.
"Don't lie to me," he whispered. "Not when your whole body is telling the truth."
My breath hitched. "Aeris…"
He leaned in, lips brushing the corner of my jaw, his breath warm and teasing against my skin.
"Tell me to stop," he murmured, "and I will."
I didn't say anything.
A slow, wicked smile curved his mouth.
"That's what I thought."
His hand slid higher — not between my legs, but close enough that my whole body went tense, waiting, wanting.
"You feel that?" he whispered. "That's not fear."
My face burned. "You're— you're being bold."
"I'm being honest." His nose grazed my cheek. "You want grounding? I'll ground you."
His lips brushed mine — soft at first, then deeper, stealing the breath from my chest. His free hand slid up my back, pulling me closer, while the other stayed on my thigh, thumb stroking slow circles that made my pulse stutter.
When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against mine, breath unsteady.
"You're not alone," he whispered. "Not anymore."
The Haven pulsed around us, as if echoing the moment. The chamber brightened, runes flaring along the walls. The air hummed, vibrating through the floor.
Rowan looked around uneasily. "It's responding to him."
Elias nodded. "The Haven is tied to the Oracle's emotions. It remembers him. It remembers what he meant to this place."
"And what he meant to the First Guardian," Aeris muttered, still close enough that his breath warmed my cheek.
My chest tightened.
The Haven pulsed again — a steady, rhythmic beat.
A heartbeat.
Alive.
Awake.
Listening.A sudden crack split the air behind us.
I whipped around.
The sealed doorway now had a thin fracture running through it. Black sap seeped from the crack, sizzling as it hit the glowing floor.
Noctis's shadows surged, forming a barrier. "It's trying to force its way in."
A low, distorted sound echoed from the other side — not a scream, not a roar.
A voice.
My name.
"Rielun…"
My blood ran cold.
Aeris's hand tightened on my thigh. "Don't you dare answer it."
The crack widened.
A clawed hand of black sap pushed through, twitching violently as if searching for me.
Rowan flinched. "It's getting stronger."
Elias grabbed Aeris's arm. "Don't attack it. If you do, it will push harder."
"So what do we do?" Rowan asked.
The Haven answered.The floor lit up in a spiral of silver light. The runes shifted, rearranging themselves like a living map.
A new doorway formed on the far side of the chamber.
A perfect archway of glowing stone.
The air beyond it shimmered.
Elias stared. "It's opening a path."
"For us?" Rowan asked.
"No." Elias's gaze shifted to me. "For him."
The Haven pulsed again — a gentle tug in my chest.
"I think it wants me to go," I whispered.
Aeris stood, pulling me up with him, his hand sliding from my thigh but lingering at my waist. "Then we go with you."
Rowan nodded. "Always."
Noctis's shadows tightened around the cracking doorway. "We don't have long."
The Hollow's voice seeped through the fracture again, distorted and aching.
"Little… one…"
My heart twisted painfully.
The Haven pulsed again — firmer this time.
Guiding.
Insistent.
Protective.
Elias looked at me, eyes steady. "Rielun. The Hollow is calling you back. The Haven is calling you forward. You have to choose."
The guardians gathered around me, forming a circle of warmth and light against the Hollow's pull.
Aeris's voice was soft, steady, and uncharacteristically vulnerable.
"Tell us where you want to go."
The Haven's doorway glowed brighter.
The Hollow's crack widened.
And I stood between them — trembling, torn, and no longer able to pretend I didn't feel the pull of both.