Memorywalk

I barely made it to the corner of Sakura’s room before I collapsed to my knees and retched into a flowerpot.

“Elegant,” the Compass muttered dryly. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

The room spun. My body felt like it had folded through ten different versions of itself before slamming into this one. My stomach hadn’t caught up. Neither had my spine.

Footsteps approached—light, careful. Then soft hands touched my shoulders.

“Seren?” Sakura’s voice. Drowsy, but warm.

She knelt beside me, brushing the hair from my face. Her expression was tired, and pale—but no longer as haunted. Still wrapped in silken twilight. The room smelled like flowers, ink, rain... and unfortunately, my vomit.

“I told you not to jump that far,” the Compass grumbled again.

“I’m going to smash you into pieces,” I muttered weakly.

“Not before you eject the bile again,” it snarked.

"Should you even be moving around?" I asked Sakura as she kept patting my back.

Sakura chuckled faintly, her fingers brushing slow, soothing arcs across my scalp. “I have to recover quickly so we can go back on the road," she answered. I smiled weakly at her response.

"Don't push yourself too hard," I said as I rose up slowly and we supported each other and made our way to her bed.

"How did you teleported here anyway?" Kazuha queried. "Your daggers are not here."

"Something the Compass said as I was asking him about the ability," I answered weakly as Sakura and I sat down on her bed.

"You finally asked him, huh," Yunjin said.

"Yeah. Thanks for the advice."

"So?" Kazuha pushes as she hands me a glass of water.

I gladly emptied the glass of water she offered. "Thanks." I was breathing heavily, trying to relax. "So... to keep it short, anything I trust, I can teleport to."

Kazuha and Sakura looked at me with surprise, and then expectation. Yunjin smirked and chuckled.

"What? Why? What's up?" I asked, confused.

"So..." Sakura began, trailing her fingers on to my arm.

"Which one of us did you teleport to?" Kazuha inched closer, allowing me to take a whiff of her fragrance.

I blushed, my brain short-circuited as it tried to find an answer.

Yunjin chuckled, "Rock and a hard place dude. You just dug your own grave."

I groaned, “I’m still nauseous, you know.”

“Consider this treatment,” Sakura kissed the side of my head. “Emotional grounding.”

“You mean interrogation.”

“Do you mind?" Kazuha whispered, smiling as she moved gracefully, almost weightlessly behind me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

"No. Not in the slightest," I said as I felt blood return to my body, reviving me.

Then a sigh—loud, theatrical, utterly unamused.

“Okay,” Yunjin muttered from across the room. “Is this a medical ritual or a mating dance?”

All three of us turned our heads to her. She was perched on the windowsill, arms crossed in her usual smoldering disapproval. The dying sunlight framed her like a living icon of rebellion and judgment.

Sakura blinked slowly. “He teleported into the room and immediately threw up. I doubt that’s part of any courtship tradition.”

“Could be,” Yunjin replied dryly. “Not all angels are into foreplay involving gastronomical failure, but what do I know? I’m just the walking furnace who got roped into this divine soap opera.”

I snorted. “Jealous?”

Yunjin looked away. “Mortified.”

"You can always join us." Kazuha teased.

"I'll pass." Yunjin retorted.

"You'll still join us eventually." Sakura finished.

Yunjin rolled her eyes and we all laughed.

A stillness settled—warm this time. Not weighted, but held. The kind of pause that only comes after surviving something together. Sakura's head is now nestled on my lap, my hands wrapped around her soft waist. Kazuha remained behind with her arms around me. Yunjin now sat on the chair by the bedside.

“So,” Yunjin said, leaning back against the chair, “someone want to explain the last few weeks? Because all I’ve seen is blood, prophecies, flame, an overdramatic Ignariel, and far too much longing eye contact.”

“I warned you,” Kazuha teased.

I scanned the room.

“Where do we even start?”

“Start with the day you met me,” Kazuha said. “That was the beginning.”

I smiled, that was the day our journey began, but not mine.

I began our story—how I met Kazuha, how she froze when the Purity Wraith came, and how she found her resolve and finished the Wraith with Stillveil. Then I recounted how we freed Sakura in her time-frozen temple.

Finally, I told her of our encounters with the Broken Enlighted, the empty husks corrupted by Ignariel through Blightflame and used as his personal cult and army. I told of the village ambush and finally, the confrontation at the manor here in Dazkora.

Yunjin rolled her eyes, “You make it sound like I was the climax of a song.”

“Don't let it get in your head," I joked.

Yunjin smiled but went quiet. Not defensive—just… quietly touched, like the ember of something inside her had flickered.

“What about now?” she asked. “What’s next?”

I looked at each of them before answering. “Chaewon said we must find your youngest sister."

The room dimmed, not with dread, but with melancholy, like each of them are reliving deeply buried and cherished memories. Sakura nodded slowly. “Eunchae. I felt her too. I think I always have, but I can't exactly say where.”

“And you’re all planning to run straight into her storm?” Yunjin asked.

Seren smirked. “You’re not backing out, are you?”

She groaned. “No. But I reserve the right to complain every fifteen minutes.”

"Tell that to Chaewon." I said.

All three turned their faces at me. "She's coming with us?" They all asked in sync.

My face suddenly blushed as I remembered how Chaewon teased me when I asked the same question.

"Yeah." I said, swallowing a lump in my throat and hoping the angels didn't catch on my discomfort.

"Great." Yunjin muttered. Sakura and Kazuha just smiled.

"So, where to then?" Sakura asked.

"South east." I answered.

"When are we leaving?"

"Once you're strong enough."

Sakura nodded. "I hope we have time."

"That's ominous coming from the Ophanim of Time." I replied.

Sakura smiled. "We are always chasing time."

"Tell us more." Yunjin said.

I sighed before recounting the conversation with Chaewon.

The moon peeked inside the windows. Shadows stretched, but they did not feel threatening. Only long. Like time letting us rest for a moment before pushing forward again.

Yunjin has left, flying outside through the window. Kazuha looked ethereal sitting on the windowsill, Stillveil fluttering around her, her broken wing tucked behind her. Sakura leaned her head on my shoulder. “We’ve come so far. And there’s still so far to go.”

I nodded. “But we’re not alone anymore.”

“We won’t find her by being reckless,” Sakura whispered. “But we have to try.”

"We will try." I whispered.

“And if she’s too far gone?” Kazuha asked.

Seren exhaled. “Then we find another way. No one's sacrificing themselves.”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty.

It was shared.

A moment between stars.

A breath between battles.

"I should let you sleep." I whispered to Sakura.

Our eyes met, and time slowed again as I drowned in her golden irises. She slowly leaned in to kiss my lips and I wished time would freeze in that moment. She pulled away and slowly laid down and clutched the Temporal Vow to her chest.

"Goodnight Seren. Goodnight Kazuha." She said but did not close her eyes yet.

"Goodnight." I said as I rose from her bed. Kazuha slipped back inside the room and kissed her sister's forehead. "Goodnight, Sakura." Sakura hummed softly as she finally closed her eyes.

Kazuha and I quietly slipped out of her room. The corridor was quiet as we walked, moonlight casting intimate shadows of the two of us as Kazuha matched my steps. I turned towards her inquisitively.

She smiled and took my hand on hers. "I'm sleeping with you again tonight." She said with cheerful anticipation and finality — and who am I to object.

The first thing I felt was warmth, not sunlight. The second was the scent, pleasant and gentle but seemingly not of this world. But that just perfectly summarizes her.

Kazuha stirred beside me, her breathing soft and steady. Her head rested on my shoulder, one leg draped over mine, her broken wing tucked beneath the sheets like it didn’t matter. Her hair fell like silk across the pillow, and even in sleep, her expression was so peaceful it hurt. Stillveil and the Compass laid pulsing by my bedside desk.

I didn’t move. Not because I couldn’t—but because I didn’t want to.

“Awake?” she murmured without opening her eyes.

“Barely.”

“Good. Then stay still.” She whispered, moving closer and cuddling me tighter.

I chuckled. “Are you holding me hostage with cuddles?”

“I call it emotional detention.”

We both laughed quietly. For a moment, it was just us. The world could wait.

Then—

Bang!

The door slammed open, as if shot by a massive fireball, nearly coming off the hinges.

“Seren, get up, I—”

Yunjin froze in the doorway, one brow raised, mouth slowly parting as her eyes landed on the very intimate, some would say embarassing, arrangement we were in.

I shot up with a yelp, grabbing at the sheets and trying desperately to preserve some shred of modesty.

“Wha—! Yunjin?! What the hell—”

Kazuha didn’t even flinch. She blinked, looked at Yunjin, then casually buried her face back into my neck with a muffled, “Morning, Yunjin.” She murmured cutely and lazily.

“Morning, Zuha. And relax, Solari,” she drawled, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “Not like I haven’t seen worse. I’m an angel, not a child.”

“You can’t just barge in—”

“Sure I can. I knocked.”

“No you didn't!”

“Not my fault your hearing’s dulled from all the cuddling.” She smirked.

"You knocked the door down!"

Yunjin shrugged. "You didn't say to knock softly." I felt Kazuha's smirk on my neck as I placed a hand on my temple in frustration.

"Anyway, I came to ask if you’re still planning to not die in the next battle.” Yunjin announced.

“…what?”

“Training. You. Me. Outside. In one hour.”

I blinked. “You’re serious?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Kazuha groaned. “Two hours." She whined cutely.

"You had him for the rest of the night, Zuha." Yunjin replied.

Kazuha hummed and pulled me even closer like it wasn't her problem.

I stared at her. “Fine. Give me an hour.”

“You have thirty minutes.” She vanished down the hall.

"Close the damn door!" I yelled.

True to her word, Yunjin was already at the garden courtyard when I arrived. She’d stripped down to light training gear—black silks bound with red threads, her red hair up like a flame pillar, her Ashen Ember Ring glowing faintly around her left ring finger.

I stretched, still a little stiff from last night—and sore in more ways than one.

“I hope this doesn’t end with me vomiting again.”

“No promises,” she said, tossing me two short practice blades.

I caught it. “No fire?”

“Not yet. Today’s about fundamentals. You’ve been flailing your way through fights. That stops now.”

“I was trained to fight with daggers.”

She smirked. “I can see that, Seren. You’re fast. Your instincts are good. But your form is... inefficient, incomplete. Whatever your training was, you didn't complete it before you started your journey."

She was not wrong as I felt my chest tighten with unresolved issues.

"Now, you rely on teleportation to escape bad positioning instead of correcting it. You can only improve on your teleporting if you also improve on your fundamentals.” Yunjin continued.

“…Ouch.”

“I don’t say it to insult you. I say it because I want you to stay alive.”

Her tone changed just enough for me to look at her properly. There was no sarcasm in her eyes now. Just intensity. And something… protective?

She moved into stance, waiting.

So I mirrored her.

We clashed.

Not with anger—but in rhythm. Steel clinked against steel, light practice blades flashing under the sun. She was faster, more precise, no movements wasted, never letting me breathe longer than a second. But she wasn’t cruel. She was holding back, sculpting my reactions, breaking me down and rebuilding in real time.

"You hesitate every time you think you'll hurt me," she said as she deflected a low strike.

"I'm not trying to hurt you."

"That's the problem."

We locked blades, and she leaned in close, breath brushing against my cheek, eyes as red as fire.

"I'm not glass, Seren. You can't protect me and fight me."

I pushed her back gently, catching my breath. “You’re right. You're fire.” I said with a grin, indicating to her that I'll be serious from this point forward.

“Good. Now again. Harder.”

So I did.

Over and over, we exchanged strikes and words. Somewhere between the blows, we started talking—not just training, but talking.

“You always push like this?” I asked between blocks and parries.

“Only when I care.”

I glanced up. Her expression was unreadable.

“Do you care?” I asked, almost afraid to.

She scoffed. “I’m not burning calories for people I don’t.”

“Yunjin, that might be the softest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Even fire can burn softly, Seren.”

We circled each other.

“Why did you join us?” I asked, quieter now.

She paused.

“…Because you didn’t ask me to.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t beg. Didn’t plead. You didn’t say, ‘we need your power.’— which you actually do." She said a little haughtily. "But instead, you said, ‘you matter.’ Not that you actually did say it but, your actions showed it.” Her eyes flicked to mine. “That’s rare.”

I didn’t know what to say. So I nodded. And in that silence, she launched forward again.

More strikes. More parries. Sweat on our brows. But this time, our movements felt synced. Like dancing through heat.

Eventually, she disarmed me, knocking the blades from my hand.

“Better,” she said.

I sat down on the grass, exhausted. “Still not perfect.”

“No one is. Perfection is a goal you can chase but never catch. But you’re learning, that's what's important.”

She dropped beside me, stretching out her legs.

We watched the clouds pass for a while.

“You really think we can save Eunchae?” I asked.

Yunjin didn’t answer at first. Then:

“We need to find her first.”

“That sounds like Chaewon.”

“Don’t compare me to her.”

I laughed. “You’re both dramatic.”

“Only one of us commands the soul and subdues the will.”

"Yet both of you love your sisters more than yourselves.”

To that, Yunjin has no comeback. She leaned back, her arms behind her head.

“We’re not going to win by brute force,” she said. “Hope’s a weird thing. It’s not that it's strong, it is — but more than that, it’s stubborn. It stays even when everything else breaks. That’s what we’re carrying into the storm.”

I nodded. “Do you believe what Chaewon said? That all of you can fade but never Eunchae.”

For a moment, Yunjin didn’t say anything. But her expression softened.

"You should go,” she said melancholically.

"Sorry."

"You don't have to. I just... hope it won't come to that."

"We'll find another way."

"You always say that."

"Because I intend to do it."

She smiled, stood, then brushed her clothes off.

"Round 2?" She said offering me a hand.

"I thought you wanted me to go?" I accepted her hand and she pulled me up.

"I did." She replied as we took our positions. "But I realized I needed to beat you up first."

We raised our blades and we sparred until early afternoon.

I returned to my chambers sore and bruised after eating a quick lunch with Yunjin. Before I entered though, I found the doors Yunjin burst through already repaired. Once inside, I found the culprit. Sakura sat at the edge of my bed, looking out at the window. She looked small, smaller than Chaewon, and softer, more fragile, all the more reason to protect and take care of her.

"You fixed my door?" I greeted.

"It was easy turning back its time." She said before turning her head towards me with a smile.

"Should you be doing that already?" I asked, crossing the gap between the door and the bed.

"It's not much."

I sat beside her and took her hand. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"What brings you here?"

"A promise." She replied softly.

"What promise?"

"That I sift through your memories." She says almost matter-of-factly.

My gaze on her softened. "Sakura... isn't it too soon for you to use your power?" I asked in concern.

"It's fine. He thinks I should do it." She answered.

"He?" I asked, puzzled. "Who's he?"

Just then, a voice boomed, sonorous and low, filling the room. "Mine."

I felt the Compass hum. "So you finally speak, huh." He said.

"The Temporal Vow." I whispered.

"Yes." Sakura said. "He believes I'm strong enough for this."

"Are you sure?"

"No. But he also said I need to do this now. Not just to fulfill my promise to you, but also, to know for myself if I'm strong enough to keep accompanying you in your journey."

I looked in her eyes and saw—determination, and something deeper. Love. And just like that, I crumbled

"Fine. But don't push too hard." I relented.

"Don't worry. The Temporal Vow would pull us out if it thinks we'll be in danger." She replied and her relic pulsed as if to affirm her statement.

I breathed heavily. "Fine. I trust you. Let's do this." I said, preparing myself for what I'm sure will be a painful experience.

The room dimmed, not with shadow, but with intention. As if the walls knew what we were about to do.

Sakura sat across from me, cross-legged on the bed. Her hair flowed like golden ink over her shoulders, and the Temporal Vow pulsed faintly at her chest—soft, golden, and solemn. Her eyes held mine with a gentleness that made it harder to breathe.

“Before we begin,” she said softly, “you need to tell me something.”

“You're beautiful.” I said before I could stop myself.

"Very smooth, Seren," the Compass commented sarcastically.

Sakura blushed. "Not that, Seren. But, thank you." She replied shyly, her cheeks quickly flushing red. "Don't make me jump on you." She added softly.

"Sorry." I said, bowing my head in embarassment. "But what should I say?"

She hesitated, fingers tightening around the edge of her robe. “Who you are, or who you think you are.”

I blinked.

“What do you remember,” she continued, “before your journey began? Before the Compass? Before the Fallen? Before Dazkora?” Her voice lowered. “Before me, before us.”

A silence bloomed in the space between us.

I opened my mouth, but the words didn’t come.

“I ask not to pry,” Sakura added gently. “But because… if I guide you through memories you’re sure of, it will strain me. They are... unnecessary, since you already know them. Temporal Vow isn’t meant to sift through certainties—it reacts violently to clarity. They're like boulders in a river, and it takes more energy to go around them. Ideally, it should only flow through distorted ripples, shadowed echoes. Things you fear. Doubt. Regret. Or repress. Whether you chose to or not."

I lowered my gaze. “So I have to choose what to remember?”

“You have to choose what you don’t want to remember.”

I stared at the floor for a long moment, letting the question settle like dust around me.

Who was I, before all of this?

Images flickered. Distant. Disjointed. A burning gate. A voice I didn’t recognize calling my name. Gold light flooding a stone corridor. A girl’s laughter, muffled like it was trapped underwater.

“My father's name... was Voltaire, Voltaire Solari.” I began. "My mother, Myreen. She may have been lowborn as I never knew or heard her family name."

Sakura nodded slowly. “That’s a beginning.”

"I had an older brother, Soren. And a younger sister, Neera."

Sakura nodded. "Your home, do you remember it?"

I exhaled shakily. “I remember a house on a cliff. Marble walls. Tall windows. A garden with wind chimes made of crystals that cast shadows and reflections when the sun hits them in just the right time and angle. There were voices—guards maybe. Formal words. A title. People calling me…”

My brow furrowed. “Calling me ‘young lord'.”

Sakura tilted her head. “A noble house.”

I closed my eyes. “We were. House Solari of Lake Aldaria. Our sigil was our castle, Sunset's Edge, in front of a setting sun. We were minor nobles of the Westermen.”

The Compass pulsed once, its needle pointing westward. A sound, faint and reverent, like a bell tolling in a half-forgotten chapel.

Sakura’s breath eased. “Solari,” she whispered. “The name is… old. Not angelic. Not mortal either. Something in between.”

“They said I was someone important. Or someone meant to be.” I clenched my fists. “Eclipse-born, our High Priest, Eldarion, always calls me, the One born when the moon swallowed the sun, though I won't know what it means till I reached fifteen.”

"Go on." Sakura said gently.

"In our family, there was a tradition, the eldest is trained in statecraft, to be our village's leader one day, the one to lead our way to the sun. The second son, me, is trained in combat, to protect the eldest, to be its shield when the night was darkest."

"That explains why you're a decent fighter." Sakura noted.

"I think I'm more than decent." I joked softly.

"Just keep going, love." She said.

'Love'.. I smiled at the thought, she called me "love". A small comfort to the pain I know is unravelling.

"Tiberius, my uncle, the second son of my grandfather, trained me alongside most of the boys in the village." I continued. "I was never the strongest, nor the best overall fighter. But I was the quickest, both in body and in mind, and no one can beat whenever I use dual daggers." I remembered, my voice brimming with pride as I remembered sparring with boys bigger and stronger than me. I got my ass beat most of the time, but with daggers, I was unstoppable.

Sakura smirked. "And yet Yunjin said your training was incomplete."

"It was." I answered. "My training is only considered complete once I save my older brother from certain death not caused by natural factors."

"That's... extreme." Sakura commented softly.

"In hindsight, it does seem that way. And yet, I was a kid, trying to prove myself, so I didn't question it."

Sakura nodded. "Tell me about Neera."

I smiled as I remembered my younger sister. "She was our sunshine. The only one who can break me and Soren apart when we fought."

"Sounds like you were troublemakers." Sakura joked with a soft grin on her lips.

"No, we were trouble itself." I chuckled. "I remember us jumping on the miles-high cliffs our home was built atop. I remember being scolded afterwards saying I should have known better and steered my older brother out of such a dangerous activity. And yet I didn't."

"Because it was fun." Sakura said.

I smiled again. "Because it was with Soren."

"Tell me... about Soren." Sakura asked. "You seem... close."

"We were. He's older than me by a year. Every night he teaches me what Alaric, his tutor, teaches him, and in return, I teach him how to fight."

"That's sweet. Tell me of your village." Sakura asked.

"Sunset's Point. A triangular lake village pointing west and situated directly below our castle." I began. "The people are warm. The boys are... well, boys. We ran, we played, we fished with rods and nets in the lake, we fought."

"And the girls?" Sakura grinned teasingly.

I huffed softly. "Pretty. I would've said beautiful had I never met you and your sisters."

"Flattery will get you nowhere in this, Seren of House Solari." Sakura chuckled, clearly flattered and flustered.

I smirked before I continued. "Our High Priest, Eldarion, pulled me when I turned fifteen, saying he'll tell me what I'm meant to be. He said, as the One born when the moon devoured the Sun, I am destined to find the darkness who will devour the light cleansing its taint and bringing back a new era of brightness. I thought it was the ramblings of a fanatic. Now I know better, that a madman's truth may be truer than a scholar's claim."

Sakura nodded.

"Do you know this prophecy, Sakura?" I asked.

"I do not." She confessed.

"Anything else? How about the night before your journey started?" Sakura queried.

I breathed. 'Here we go,' I thought.

"Don't force the memories out, Seren, just tell me what you can remember." Sakura whispers comfortingly.

I closed my eyes. "I remember my father commanding me to find Soren, then when I did, Soren told me to find Neera. We hid inside her room. Then I remember a thud, like something pierced something hard. I turned—and there they were. Ten claws, bloodied and massive, each longer than my arms, speared through Neera’s door like death's twisted way of knocking." I paused, my breathing heavy.

"Relax, love." Sakura said, gently placing and pressing her hands on mine.

I calmed down slowly. "I remember Eldarion pulling me from my sister's chamber, his hands grasping me so tight I thought he'll pull it out of my body. I remember him giving me the Compass at the highest tower of our castle. He said something more—something beyond just following the Compass—but I can’t remember what it was. Then he threw me, off the tower and in to the lake. As I fell, I saw flames, the village, the castle, even the forests surrounding it. It was all ablaze. Then I hit the water, and everything blacked out."

I opened my eyes and looked at Sakura, her golden eyes are also fixed on mine. "Is that everything?" She asked softly.

I nodded. Sakura leaned forward, her hands move upward to cup my cheeks gently. “Thank you, for trusting me with this."

As warmth seeped through my body, I placed my hands on hers and leaned in to her touch. "I love you." Was all the answer I can conjure and yet, it seemed enough.

"And I you." She replied. Those three words alone gave me the strength to keep pushing on.

"Are you ready to relive what you buried, Seren of House Solari?" She asked.

I nodded.

Sakura then closed her eyes. The Temporal Vow glowed like golden sand in her chest. And then — sand began to cluster behind Sakura, forming her wings with interwoven symbols of time. Then the sand crawled on her body, glowing as it etched her with more symbols of time and divinity.

She opened her eyes, and they were solid gold. She placed a thumb on my forehead and I felt myself pulled by the small of my back. And everything went dark.

The scent of lake salt and morning bread drifted through the air.

I stood at the edge of Sunset’s Edge, the castle that crowned the cliffs above Lake Aldaria. Below, Sunset’s Point glittered—triangular, orderly, alive. The village rooftops caught the light, and boats glided on the lake’s surface like leaves drifting on a mirrored sky. Fisherfolk cast their nets, hoping for a bounty the lake never fails to provide. Oh how I would love to be down there fishing and talking and swimming with the people, not that it's bad to be at home but... it's too orderly, too many rules. Down by Sunset's Point, chaos — freedom.

A breeze stirred the wind chimes in the courtyard garden, casting conflicting shadows and reflections of images I can't quite place. Crystalline notes filled the morning, catching sunlight and scattering it in flickers along the marble walls.

Peace. Silence.

For a time, that was all there was.

“Seren!”

A voice called from the courtyard steps. I turned to see Neera, her sun-colored hair streaming behind her, a wreath of flowers half-made in her hands.

“You promised to finish this with me!” she huffed, pouting like only a little sister could. “You always run off to stare at the lake. It’s just water!”

I grinned. “It’s not just water. It’s where the sun sleeps.”

She rolled her eyes but ran to me anyway, catching my arm and dragging me back toward the shade of the veranda. “Soren said you’d forget again. That you’d vanish into your broody lake thoughts.”

“Did he now?” I laughed. “Then I’ll have to duel him for slander.”

“You’ll lose,” she said matter-of-factly, beaming. “Unless you bring your daggers. Then it’s a maybe.”

I rolled my eyes. "I taught him everything he knows."

"You'd be surprised." Neera retorted mischievously.

We sat together on the garden steps, weaving flowers into each other’s hair—something so soft, so simple, it almost hurt.

Inside the house, I heard my mother’s voice humming in the kitchens. My father’s deeper timbre barked orders to the guards below. Soren's laughter carried from a training yard nearby, steel clashing, and Uncle Tiberius calling out corrections.

"Is Soren training with Uncle Tiberius?" I asked.

"Yeah. Uncle Tiberius lost a bet. Some game Alaric taught Soren." Neera giggled. "He's getting his butt handed to him."

I chuckled. "He better give at least a half decent showing, or it'll reflect badly on me as his instructor."

"They're training with shortswords, not daggers..." a deep voice oozing with gravitas but laced with gentleness joins us. "I'd say you'll get a pass since they're not sparring with your specialty." Lord Voltaire Solari sits beside us.

"Father." Neera and I greeted courteously.

"From what I can see, you've taught Soren well."

I chuckled. "You're too kind, father."

"I am." My father replies, looking at me sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll get you one day."

"Not today, Seren. Not for a while."

And we all laughed. Alive. They were all so alive.

“Do you think we’ll always be like this?” Neera asked, not looking at me.

“…No,” I said quietly. “But I hope we remember it, even when we’re not.”

She tilted her head. “Dad, Seren's being weird.”

“I’ve been told.” I quipped, grinning.

"He just sees the world differently. There are people like that. Sometimes its not bad being a little different Neera, it's what makes you who you are."

"I don't get it." Neera remarks shyly.

My father and I chuckled.

We sat in silence for a little longer, her head on my shoulder, the lake sighing below as the sun set to sleep on the waters.

That night, the wind changed.

It began with nothing.

Just a quiet.

No crickets. No water lapping. Just… stillness.

I stirred in bed, the warmth of my sheets replaced with a chill I couldn’t place.

Then—

Thud.

I blinked. Sat up.

Another thud.

Closer.

Then the door burst open—not mine, but down the corridor. Then another. And another.

There were no voices. No screams. No sound produced by anything living. Only doors being opened. And the scent — metallic, rotting, burning, almost every stench imaginable permeates the castle corridors.

I leapt out of bed, grabbing the twin daggers from my trunk.

Smoke.

Blood.

I rushed out into the corridor as firelight flickered along the walls. Shadows twisted unnaturally, and the warmth I had always known here was gone.

Dead guards littered the halls. Their armor was torn through like parchment, their faces frozen in horror.

I rounded a corner and bumped into my father and Uncle Tiberius. My father gripped Sunset's Blade, our ancestral sword, Uncle Tiberus, a hulk of a man, held his signature greataxe, both weapons stained with... mud? And is the mud steaming?

"Seren —" Tiberius held my arm to stop me. "Where's Soren?"

"I'm on my way to his room."

Just then — another door opened and it crawled out. Its long nails painted with blood, as long as swords scratched the floor. My father and uncle were quick to assume a defensive stance.

"Go to Neera, we've been to Soren's room and he's not there." My father commanded.

"No. I'll fight with you." I said drawing my daggers as the creature's claws dug into the floorboards making a creaking sound that made me grind my teeth.

"No Seren — your duty is to your brother, as the shield that guards during the night." Uncle Tiberius growled.

"But —"

"And it is a parent's job to protect his children." My father finished.

"Go, Seren." Uncle Tiberius said silently.

I kept my blades drawn as I turned my back and raced towards Neera's room.

Soren’s voice called from ahead—“Seren! Neera!”

I found him outside her door. His blade dripped with something that steamed, similar to the substance in the weapons of our father and uncle.

He looked at me—face streaked with blood, not his own.

“Seren. Help me with Neera's door, she's locked herself, we need to get her out, get her someplace safe."

Then—

Screeeeeeeeeee.

A sound split the air. Not a scream. Not a voice. Just… purity.

It was like a choir singing wrong. A dissonant holiness that boiled the blood in my ears.

From the corner at the end of the hall, a pale, hairless, head emerged.

White. But with no ears.

Then it turned to face us.

Its face... was empty. No eyes, nose, nor mouth. Just one long facade, like an egg splotched with blood.

Soren finally kicked the door open and shoved me inside. "Get Neera to safety." He commanded.

"Soren, my duty is to protect you," I said as I attempted to join him back outside.

"Your duty is to obey me." And he slammed the door shut before I can make it out.

"Damn you, Soren!" I screamed inside Neera's room.

Just then — "Seren?" I heard Neera's meek voice. I turned and saw her shaking underneath her bed. I rushed towards her as I heard Soren grunting with effort as he battled whatever was outside Neera's door. She was curled in a fetal position, wide-eyed, her small hands pressed over her ears.

"Soren... is he?" Neera asked, shaking as she rushes to my arms.

"Outside, listen Neera, I'm going outside to help him. I need you to stay hidden until the threat is gone. We'll come back for you. Can you do that?" I asked, trying to sound as calm as I can.

Neera nodded when I heard it. Like something hard piercing something harder. I turned, ten claws, each one as long as my arms, speared through Neera's door, bloodied with gore.

Horror washed through my existence... "Soren..." was the only thought in my mind.

"Get Neera to safety." Soren's last command to me ringed in my ears. I readied my daggers, I will not fail where I failed with my brother.

The door opened, it entered,and Neera and I froze. Spikes stretched behind it like shrouds of light turned rotten. Its body was wreathed in false radiance, and where it walked, nothing remained—not scorch marks, not ash—just absence.

A Purity Wraith. And in the claws in one of its hands, Soren, impaled, lifeless.

“No,” I breathed.

"Seren...." Neera clutched my shirt. She was the only one preventing me from rushing this Wraith to my inevitable death. I failed my duty to protect Soren. I'm dishonored either way. And yet, I'll make sure my sister survives... then I'll die after.

The Wraith coiled to lunge, but before it could, a blade slashed through its legs, crippling it. As it was distracted, Eldarion emerged with a sword in his hand. He pulled me so hard I dropped one dagger—then the other, as I reached for Neera.

As we passed by the Wraith however, it moved one of its long claws and tripped Neera to the floor. I stumbled to catch her, yet Eldarion's grip was stronger as he pulled me away from Neera.

"No, no, no. Neera. Eldarion wait!" I screamed in Eldarion's grip.

"We can't stop. They're after you, Eclipse-born." He wailed.

"No. Eldarion! Please!" My pleas fell on deaf ears as the High Priest guided me through the corridors of the castle. I shut down every sense, I refused to acknowledge the blood and dead bodies scattered in the hallways, the stench of death so strong I can almost taste it. And the silence — for all the chaos and death, there were no screams, no sound of conflict nor violence.

Eldarion burst through a door and I looked around. This was the highest tower in the castle — a dead end.

"Eldarion. We have nowhere to go here." I said, panting weakly.

"There is always somewhere to go, Eclipse-born." He said as he knelt, clipping a compass to my belt. "Follow the Compass. It shall point you where you need to go." He buckled a leather holster to my side—two daggers resting in it, unfamiliar, yet it called to me. "Keep these with you always, never lose them. They're from the other side of your bloodline." Just then, a bang from the door we just went through.

Eldarion stood in front of me, his sword raised as the Wraith burst through. Its faceless head peered first then out came its body — and my world collapsed. In the spikes on its back, were the impaled heads of my family, all of them, my father, mother, Uncle Tiberius, Soren, and Neera. Their expressions frozen in time. Their eyes held no more light.

"Your duty is to your brother"
"Keep Neera safe."
“Sometimes its not bad being a little different... it's what makes you who you are."

Those words from my Uncle, Soren, and my father rang in my ears. And I felt like a failure, a dishonorable wreck of a son, a brother trained to be a shield yet so easily broken.

The Wraith produced a chilling sound, like it was laughing. Then it spoke, a voice so empty that it was heavy, "Lady Seraphiniel sends her regards... and condolences."

Eldarion tensed then looked at me.

“Follow the Compass. Wherever it points. Do not question. Do not hesitate. It will lead you to them, to the Fallen, to the Lights who fell, to the Darkness who will swallow the Light to usher in a new age of the Sun.”

“Eldarion—”

He placed a hand on my chest.

“Forgive me, Child of the Eclipse. It was... a joy to have known you. Now live.”

Then he pushed me.

Out the tower.

The wind screamed.

Below me, the village burned. Sunset’s Point, gone. Sunset’s Edge, crumbling. Everything that was mine—turning to ash.

"It's just water." Neera's voice echoed in my head.

"It's where the sun sleeps." My reply to her whispers wistfully as my head hit the surface of the lake.

Cold.

Black.

And everything—

—went dark.

The surface shattered.

Light fractured.

And I was yanked back.

My breath caught in my throat as my head collapsed against the soft cushion of the bed. Air scraped my lungs like broken glass. My mouth felt full of sand. My body spasmed—drenched in sweat, in lakewater, in memory.

And beside me — Sakura gasped, her sandy wings trembling in disarray. Her solid golden eyes retreated back to her irises. The golden etchings spiraling across her body—runes of the Temporal Vow—burned dim, then slowly slithered back to the relic.

We collapsed beside one another, gasping. The memory still clung to me—blood-warm and searing. I could still feel Neera’s fingers in mine. Still hear my father's voice, see Soren’s body, see their faces as they were impaled on the Wraith's back, and Eldarion's final words.

Then, the Wraith's chilling announcement. "Lady Seraphiniel sends her regards... and condolences."

I curled forward, hands shaking. Sakura recovered first and gently wrapped her arms around me. Her voice was hoarse and delicate. “Are you okay, love?"

I nodded, then shook my head. Couldn’t speak. My throat was sand.

She slowly leaned closer, her hands bracing her weight as she turned toward me. “Did you remember everything you need?”

I clenched my jaw. “I remembered everything burn.”

Silence.

Only our breaths filled the chamber.

She sat beside me, curling her knees to her chest. Her wings flicked once, then receded inside her body like trickling sand, fading to nothing but memory. I turned my head, finally meeting her eyes.

They weren’t filled with pity.

Only understanding. And love.

“You loved them,” she whispered.

“They were everything,” I said. “And I let them all die.”

“No,” Sakura said, gently but firmly. “You lived.”

“That’s not enough.”

“It has to be. Because it’s all any of us get.”

"I'm dishonored." I turned away. "I failed them all." I curled, burying my head in my knees.

Sakura leaned in closer. “You remember what it cost. That makes you stronger than you were. And more dangerous to them than you’ve ever been.”

“I couldn’t save Soren,” I sobbed. “Couldn’t save Neera. I trained my whole life to be their shield. And I failed. All of them.”

“You didn’t fail,” she whispered. “You survived.”

My hands curled into fists. The Compass at my hip pulsed faintly—silent, but steady. Waiting. Watching.

“My survival means failure. I should’ve died with them,” I whispered.

“No,” Sakura said, almost inaudible. “Because if you had, I wouldn’t have met you. We wouldn't have met you.”

She reached for me.

And I didn’t stop her.

Sakura touched my face—lightly, reverently—as if afraid I might shatter again. “Seren,” she whispered, “I’ve walked a thousand memories. Yours… was the heaviest I’ve ever borne.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.”

Her lips trembled as she leaned in closer. “You’re not broken. You’re mourning. And mourning is holy. But you don’t have to carry it alone, not anymore.”

I closed my eyes. Her presence—so near, so gentle—felt like warmth in winter.

"Seraphiniel." I growled, venom laced my voice.

Sakura recoiled. "I know. Her time will come, and I'll be with you when it does. That shall be my next promise to you."

“You saw everything,” I whispered. “And yet you’re still here.”

“You chose to stay for me, I choose the same for you,” she said.

I turned to face her fully. Our foreheads touched. The silence stretched—not hollow, not empty—but waiting.

She pressed her forehead against mine, breath trembling.

“We can discuss what you've seen at a later time. But tonight, you don’t need to be strong with me,” she said. “Not tonight.”

My hands moved instinctively to her waist, unsure, searching. But she didn’t flinch. She leaned closer, her voice almost lost in breath.

“I want to be with you." She breathed. "I want you, Seren.”

My heart lurched. “Sakura—”

“You’ve carried pain for so long you’ve forgotten what it feels like to be held. To be loved. Let us remind you. Let me remind you, tonight.”

"But..." I hesitated. "Kazuha..." I stuttered with uncertainty.

Sakura pecks my lips. "Idiot." She whispers endearingly. "We don't mind having you between us. Angels are not bound by your mortal laws. And you shouldn't be as well, it's clear you're no ordinary mortal."

She sensed that I'm still hesitating. "We're yours, Seren. Kazuha had you for herself for two nights. She could have been here by now. But she allowed me to have this one. Will you allow me to have this one?" She asked tenderly.

Then, slowly, I kissed her—soft at first, then with the ache of a heart cracking open.

She melted into me like rain into sand.

The kiss deepened, and her fingers slid along my jaw, tracing every fracture, every scar unseen.

She didn’t recoil.

She worshipped.

And in that moment, with memory still clinging to my skin like blood and smoke, I allowed myself something dangerous—

Hope.

She whispered once more, “Tonight, let it be love that holds you. Not sorrow."

And with a wave of her hand and a soft pulse from the Temporal Vow on her chest, our robes were stripped from us and dispersed like sand in the wind.

She laid herself flat on my bed, offering herself, all of herself.

And I let her.

And she let me in.

We breathed.

We felt.

We kissed.

We touched.

We moved.

We gasped.

She rose to meet every movement, never breaking eye contact. I saw eternity in her golden eyes as we climbed, breathless, to the edge of release.

She looked me in the eyes as we both neared our climax. "I can make this last forever if you want." She breathed hoarsely.

"No." I replied, sweat dropping from my forehead to hers. "Let this be etched in both our memories."

And she cried out my name as we broke together.