--
"Aldric... don't leave me."
My hoarse voice cracked through the silence, surrounded only by the scent of blood and the whispering wind brushing against the open altar. Aldric's body lay motionless, blood seeping from his chest and hands, forming an ancient pattern that still pulsed faintly. The symbol of soul sacrifice. Sealed tightly in a ritual even I—Elara, or Seraphine—couldn't fully comprehend.
I dropped to my knees, trembling. My own blood still boiled from the release of the curse. But there was no sense of victory. Only loss—too sudden, too cruel.
"Why did you do it… why didn't you tell me?"
I clutched his body, fingers tightening around the scorched fabric on Aldric's chest, as if touch could summon his soul back. But his body was cold. Too cold.
"Because he knew you wouldn't let him."
The voice wasn't unfamiliar—deep, calm, and echoing from the edge of reality.
I turned, and there at the end of the altar stood Lucien—the guardian of the realm between life and death. His cloak was pitch black, his eyes like a night without end.
"I didn't summon you," I said firmly.
Lucien shrugged. "But someone did. And I only come when a soul is ready to be weighed."
I pushed myself to my feet with the last of my strength. "If you're here to take him… you'll have to go through me first."
Lucien looked down at Aldric's body. "He traded his soul to carve a path for you. That wasn't a light choice. Curses aren't simply lifted—they must be paid for. And Aldric paid."
"No!" I shook my head. "He's not dead. I… I can bring him back. There's still time."
Lucien stepped forward, expressionless. "It doesn't work that way. A soul that's crossed over can't be pulled back so easily."
"I carry Darshana blood!" I cried, desperate. "The power of the curse still flows in my veins. If a curse can destroy, then it can also create."
Lucien paused. Then he said, "You're willing to walk a forbidden path."
"If it's the only way… then yes."
He stared at me for a long time, then lifted his hand. "Then you must enter the SoulLocus—the place where souls wander before their fate is decided."
"Soul Locus?"
Lucien met my gaze. "A boundary between life and death. That is where Aldric... is lost."
I lowered my head. "Take me there."
Lucien shook his head.
"You can't simply enter. But you can open its gate… if you're willing to pay the price."
I looked at him without hesitation. "What price?"
Lucien stepped closer and whispered one word:
"Memory."
My brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"To open the gate to the Soul Locus, you must trade one of your most treasured memories—one you hold closest to your heart."
I held my breath.
Lucien continued, "That memory will vanish completely from your mind. It cannot be restored, not even if others try to remind you. Your heart will no longer feel it."
My eyes welled with tears.
"And if I refuse?"
Lucien glanced down at Aldric. "Then your guardian's soul will dissolve into fragments within the curse, eternal but never conscious. He will never reincarnate, never return. He will be lost."
My heart cracked.
The most treasured memory.
My thoughts flew to the night I first realized I loved him. When we sat beneath the rain, and Aldric held my hand and said nothing in this world scared him—except losing me.
That was the memory. A simple moment, but deeply meaningful. And if I gave it away...
I would save him, but never remember how it felt to fall in love with him.
My hands shook.
"If that's the price I have to pay…" I took a long, trembling breath as tears spilled freely. "…then take it."
Lucien looked at me one last time. "Are you certain?"
I closed my eyes. "Yes."
He raised his hand. Silver light spiraled around my body. A roar echoed from another realm—of water, wind, and collapsing time.
I felt something being pulled from my chest. Warm, then cold, then… empty. Something was gone. But I didn't know what.
Lucien nodded.
"The gate has been opened."
---
I stood in an endless white expanse. The Soul Locus was neither heaven nor hell. It was only silence.
Shadows drifted without purpose, heads bowed, their faces blurred.
I walked, searching for a familiar face. My heart felt hollow. I knew I loved Aldric, but there was a part of me that felt… empty. As if something precious had been erased.
And then I saw him.
He stood alone beneath a leafless tree, his face pale and expressionless.
"Aldric!"
I ran to him.
But he didn't react.
"Aldric, listen to me! I came for you!"
He slowly turned. His eyes didn't recognize me.
I froze.
"I… who are you?" he asked softly.
My heart sank. "You don't know me?"
He shook his head. "I feel like… I should remember something. But it's all a blur."
I took his hand. "You have to come with me. Please…"
He looked at me. Long and hard. Then his expression shifted. "Seraphine?"
I nodded. "Yes. It's me."
He frowned. "Why… are you crying?"
I touched my cheek. I hadn't even realized I was crying so hard. But the pain felt worse than death.
He touched my hand.
And in an instant, light enveloped us both.
---
I opened my eyes. My body was still at the altar. But the light radiating from my hands and Aldric's shook the air.
Aldric coughed. His breath returned.
"W-What happened?" he asked weakly.
I smiled through tears. "You're back…"
He looked at me. "Why does it feel like… I've lost something?"
I lowered my gaze. "Me too…"
Before I could finish my sentence, the altar beneath us began to tremble. Cracks echoed through the ground.
Aldric looked up, alert. "What's that?"
I turned with him.
At the edge of the altar, the blood forming the earlier seal began to glow again—but not from Darshana's power.
From the fractured stone, another shadow rose. Taller. Darker. And… older.
Aldric staggered to his feet. "That's not Darshana…"
I whispered, "Who is it…?"
A deep voice echoed from the cracked earth.
"At last… the heir has opened the path. My time has come."
The figure emerged slowly from the mist of blood. Twice the height of a man, its body cloaked in liquid darkness like living ink, and its face… had no eyes—only an unmoving, sinister smile.
Aldric pulled me behind him. "That's not a human soul."
I nodded faintly.
"That is the curse itself."
---
Seraphine has brought Aldric back from the Soul Locus by sacrificing her most treasured memory. But the moment they return, they're confronted with a greater terror: an ancient curse, hidden behind Darshana all along, has awakened—and now, it demands a new vessel.
---