A love that transcends time

Darkness pressed around Eleana like an unseen force.

She sat motionless in the grand chamber where Victor had imprisoned her, staring down at her trembling hands. The ring on her finger—the one she had always worn but never questioned—felt heavier than before. A strange warmth pulsed beneath the silver band, a sensation she had never noticed.

She traced the intricate engravings with her fingertips. It wasn't just a ring. It was a seal.

"This will protect you, my love," a voice whispered in her mind.

She gasped, clutching her head as another vision surged forward.

A woman's gentle touch. A mother's sorrowful eyes. A trembling hand placing the ring on her finger.

"You must never remove it."

The pain in her head was unbearable. The fragments of her past were coming faster now, but they were still broken—like a mirror shattered into a thousand pieces.

And in every fragment, Leon was there.

Victor's Plan Unfolds

Victor stood in the shadows, watching her with an unreadable expression.

She was changing.

The ring that had suppressed her power for so long was beginning to crack under the force of her awakening. And he knew that if it broke completely, there would be no turning back.

He stepped forward, his golden eyes glowing in the dim candlelight. "Eleana."

She looked up at him, eyes still clouded with confusion.

"You feel it, don't you?" he asked, voice smooth as silk. "The power inside you. The truth you were never meant to know."

Eleana shivered. "You knew," she whispered. "You knew what I was, and you never told me."

Victor sighed, moving closer. "Would you have believed me?"

She clenched her fists. "You never even gave me a choice."

Victor exhaled, his fingers twitching as if restraining himself from something. "I did what I had to do."

Her gaze hardened. "You mean you did what benefited you."

A flicker of something crossed his face—was it regret?

"Eleana," he said carefully, "I don't want to hurt you. But if you continue resisting, you're going to force my hand."

A cold chill ran down her spine. "What are you going to do to me?"

Victor's lips pressed into a thin line. He had planned to awaken her slowly. To make her choose him willingly. But Leon's interference had changed everything.

Now, he had no choice.

He had to break the seal.

Leon's Pursuit

Leon soared through the night sky, his wings burning with celestial light.

He could feel her.

Eleana's energy was pulsing—unstable, awakening, terrified.

His heart pounded as he flew faster. He had to reach her before it was too late.

Then, suddenly—a surge of dark energy slammed into him.

Leon was thrown backward, his wings faltering as he crashed onto a rooftop. Pain shot through his body, but he barely had time to recover before a voice echoed through the night.

"You're too late, Leon."

Leo's breath hitched.

A figure emerged from the shadows—Victor's fallen form.

His long, curly red hair framed his sharp features, and his red eyes glowed with dark power.

Leon gritted his teeth. "Where is she?"

Victor smirked. "Safe."

Leon's fists clenched. "You call imprisonment safe?"

Victor shrugged. "She belongs with me."

Leon's wings flared. "She belongs to herself."

Victor's expression darkened. "You don't understand, do you?" He took a step forward, his presence overwhelming. "You've been fighting to protect her, but you have no idea what she really is."

Leon's jaw tightened. "And you do?"

Victor's smirk faltered. For a moment, his gaze drifted—somewhere distant, somewhere painful.

And then, softly, he whispered, "I lost her once."

Leon's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Victor's fingers curled into fists. His voice was colder this time. "You don't know, do you?" He let out a bitter laugh. "Of course you don't."

Leon's wings tensed. "Know what?"

Victor met his gaze, his red eyes gleaming.

"Eleana… was mine before she was yours."

Leon's breath caught.

"What?"

Victor's voice was quieter now. Haunted.

"I had a love once," he murmured. "A human. She was everything to me. But she was taken—ripped from my grasp by something I couldn't fight." His jaw clenched. "I couldn't save her."

Leon's heart pounded. "What does that have to do with Eleana?"

Victor's smirk returned, but it was bitter. "Because she's the same soul."

Leon froze.

For a moment, the world stopped.

Eleana… had lived before?

And not just once.

She had been someone Victor loved.

Someone he lost.

And suddenly, Leon understood.

Victor's obsession wasn't just about power.

It was about a love that never died.

Eleana's Awakening

Eleana gasped as heat exploded through her body.

The ring on her finger flared with golden light, but this time, it was cracking.

She fell to her knees, clutching her chest as eergy pulsed through her veins.

It hurt. It burned.

And in that moment, she saw it.

Her past.

Victor's voice—softer, desperate, filled with love.

"Please, don't leave me."

Leon's voice—warm, steady, comforting.

"No matter how many lifetimes it takes, I will always find you."

Her breath came in short gasps. What was happening to her?

Who had she been?

And why did it feel like she was running out of time?

The Final Choice Approaches

Victor clenched his fists. Leon knew now.

But it didn't matter.

"She was mine before," Victor said, his voice low. "And this time, I won't lose her again."

Leon's wings flared with celestial fire.

"You already have."

Victor's eyes burned with fury—but also, deep sorrow.

And above them, as Eleana trembled in her prison, the ring on her finger finally shattered.

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