Rielun's POV:
The maze roared around us as Elias pulled me through the shifting corridors, his hand locked around mine like he was afraid the maze would swallow me whole if he let go.
"Don't stop," he said, breath uneven. "Just— keep moving."
But the maze had other plans.
The walls pulsed with a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
The floor rippled like water.
The air thickened, humming with something ancient.
And then the corridor split.
A seam of light tore open beneath my feet.
"Elias—!"
His grip tightened, but the maze was faster.
A force yanked me backward, pulling me through the glowing seam. Elias lunged after me, fingers brushing my wrist—
The wall slammed down between us.
Hard.
"RIELUN!" Elias's voice cracked, raw with panic. "Rielun, stay where you are! I'm coming— I'm coming, just hold on!"
I pressed my palm to the wall. "Elias—"
The stone pulsed once beneath my hand.
And then the world dissolved.
Light swallowed everything.
When it faded, I stood in a vast, circular chamber made of shimmering stone. The air was thick with grief — heavy, suffocating, familiar.
A figure knelt in the center.
The First Guardian.
His shoulders shook with silent sobs, his hands buried in his hair. The Haven's light flickered around him, dimming with every breath he took.
He didn't see me.
He didn't hear me.
He was trapped in a moment that had already happened.
A moment that had broken him.
"Please…" he whispered, voice cracking. "Please, not him. Not my—"
He choked on the word.
My chest tightened painfully.
The First Guardian lifted something from the floor.
A body.
My body.
Pale. Still. Lifeless.
My breath hitched. "No—"
He cradled me against his chest, rocking gently, like he could soothe death itself.
"Little Moon…" His voice broke completely. "Come back. Please. Please come back to me."
The Haven's walls trembled.
The memory flickered.
I staggered forward, reaching out even though I knew he couldn't see me. "I'm here— I'm right here—"
But my hand passed through him like smoke.
The First Guardian pressed his forehead to mine — the me in his arms — and whispered something so soft I barely heard it.
"I can't lose you. I can't— I can't—"
The chamber dimmed.
The memory darkened.
And then—
A crack split the air.
Black sap oozed through the memory's walls, sizzling as it touched the glowing floor. The chamber shook violently.
The First Guardian's image flickered, glitching, distorting.
A voice seeped through the cracks.
"Little… one…"
My blood ran cold.
"No— no, not here—"
The memory shattered like glass.
The chamber warped, twisting into a nightmare of shadows and broken light. The Hollow's hand — long, clawed, dripping with black sap — reached through the crack, grasping blindly.
"Come… back…"
I stumbled backward, heart pounding.
"Stay away—!"
The hand lunged.
A blast of wind tore through the chamber.
Noctis's wings burst through the collapsing wall, shadows swirling around him. Rowan followed, eyes wide with fear. Sylas shoved past them, vines drawn, jaw clenched.
And Elias—
Elias was the one who reached me first.
He grabbed me, pulling me into his chest, breath shaking. "I've got you— I've got you—"
The Hollow's hand slammed against the floor where I'd been standing.
Aeris leapt forward, slamming his palm into the ground. A shockwave of raw force rippled outward, knocking the Hollow's hand back through the crack.
The chamber groaned.
The walls began to collapse.
"Move!" Sylas shouted. "The maze is falling— GO!"
Elias didn't let go of me.
Not for a second.
He pulled me toward the exit as the chamber crumbled behind us, the Hollow's voice echoing through the ruins.
"Little… one…"
The doorway sealed shut just as the shadows surged forward.
Silence fell.
I collapsed against Elias, shaking.
He held me tighter.
"Rielun," he whispered, voice breaking. "What did you see?"
I opened my mouth.
But the only thing that came out was a single, trembling word.
"Everything."