The tower holds its breath.
Cairos and Kael stand frozen on opposite sides of the room. The mirror shard still glows faintly on the floor between them, like it's absorbing the energy of the moment.
And Haera — Haera feels everything.
Her skin hums like it's wearing every version of herself.
Her heart? It beats like war drums and lullabies, all at once.
---
"You can't sever soul-bonds," Cairos says, stepping forward.
Kael's gaze narrows. "You already did. The moment you lied."
Haera doesn't move. She speaks calmly, power building behind her words.
> "This cycle ends on my terms. Not through guilt. Not through grief. And not through anyone else's unfinished love story."
The mirror shard cracks — a single hairline split running from top to bottom.
And then, a flash.
---
Suddenly, they're no longer in the tower.
They stand in a vast, smoky landscape. The sky is charcoal, lit only by two fires burning on either side of Haera.
To her left: a pale flame, flickering like candlelight — warm, intimate, filled with ache. It smells like violets and old letters. That's Cairos.
To her right: a blue inferno, vibrant and ancient — wild, unpredictable, humming with storms. It crackles with words unsaid and truths unclaimed. That's Kael.
And Haera? She stands in between, wind tousling her hair, eyes glowing like coals.
---
Each man speaks at once.
Cairos: "I carried your memory for centuries. I was your anchor. Don't throw that away."
Kael: "I let you go every time you asked me to. That's what love is — not chains."
---
The fires flicker.
The sky rumbles.
Haera lifts her hands, and each fire responds. They rise and coil around her like serpents of emotion — but they do not burn her.
Instead, they wait.
For choice.
For truth.
---
And she says, slowly:
> "You both loved me for what I was to you.
But I am more than what I meant to either of you."
---
The winds scream. The fire swells.
The illusion begins to fade — the sky crumbling into stardust.
---
When she opens her eyes again, they're back in the tower.
Cairos is kneeling, silent. Kael is gone.
Or… not gone. Simply watching — from somewhere she can't yet see.
The mirror shard has turned black.
And written across the floor in smoke:
> "You can only carry one fire forward. Choose the one that lights you."
---
Haera picks up the shard, places it against her chest — and it vanishes.
Inside her now. A compass.
---
She turns to Cairos.
"You still haven't told me everything. But I'll find out. In my own time."
He nods. Slowly. Regretfully.
---
As she walks down the tower steps, a new vision floods her mind:
Not of a past life.
But of a future one.
A child.
Silver eyes.
Calling her Mother.
---
And for the first time, Haera doesn't fear the memory.
She welcomes it.