Chapter 88: The Seed of Rebirth

The silence that followed was thick, heavy—like the air before a storm. Lucian knelt in the ruins, Kael's unconscious form sprawled beside him, his breath shallow but steady. The battlefield was a wasteland now, the earth scorched black where Aurelia had stood moments before. And in the center of it all—the seed.

It pulsed faintly, a slow, rhythmic glow like a heartbeat. Golden light swirled within its core, shifting like liquid sunlight. Lucian reached for it, his fingers hovering just above its surface. The moment his skin nearly brushed against it, a jolt of energy raced up his arm, sending his nerves alight with a strange, humming warmth. The realization hit him like a blade to the gut—Aurelia wasn't gone. She was changing.

The ground trembled again, this time with purpose. Thin, glowing roots erupted from the soil around the seed, spreading outward in delicate tendrils. They wove through the cracked earth like veins, stitching the battlefield back together. Where they passed, new life sprouted—not just plants, but something more. Flowers bloomed in impossible colors, their petals shimmering with faint golden light. Vines curled around broken stone, pulling shattered ruins back into place as if time itself were reversing.

Lucian watched, transfixed, as the roots grew thicker, stronger, climbing upward to form a lattice of light. At its center, the seed pulsed faster, its glow intensifying. Then—a sound. A whisper of breath. A heartbeat. The roots contracted, pulling inward, weaving together into a humanoid shape. Limbs formed, then a torso, then the faint outline of a face. Golden light swirled within the figure, solidifying into skin, into hair, into—

Aurelia.

But not the Aurelia Lucian remembered.

This version of her was more. Her skin glowed faintly, as if sunlight lived just beneath the surface. Her hair, once dark as night, now shimmered with strands of gold, shifting like liquid metal in the dim light. And her eyes—her eyes were no longer black. They were golden, burning with the same radiance as the seed that had birthed her.

She took a breath—her first—and the earth sighed with her.

Kael groaned, stirring weakly. His eyelids fluttered open, his vision swimming as he tried to focus on the figure standing before them. "Aurelia...?" His voice was rough, barely audible.

She turned to him, and for a moment, something like sorrow flickered across her radiant features. Then she knelt beside him, her fingers brushing against his chest—where the shard had once been. The wound was still there, a jagged, blackened scar where the shard had fused with his flesh. But it was empty now. The shard was gone.

Kael's hand trembled as he touched the scar. "It's... gone."

Aurelia nodded. "It served its purpose."

Lucian's gaze flicked between them. "What purpose?"

Aurelia didn't answer right away. Instead, she pressed her palm against Kael's chest, and golden light spilled from her fingertips, seeping into the wound. Kael gasped as the pain eased, the blackened edges of the scar fading to silver. "The shard was never just a weapon," she said softly. "It was a key."

Lucian's jaw tightened. "A key to what?"

Aurelia looked up, her golden eyes locking onto his. "To me."

The moment the words left her lips, the ground lurched. A sound like tearing fabric split the air, and a rift of pure darkness ripped open just beyond the ruins. From its depths, a voice echoed—a voice that should have been gone.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?"

The Original's voice. But not from the battlefield. From somewhere else.

Aurelia's hands clenched into fists, her glow flaring in response. "She's not dead."

Lucian was already on his feet, his sword drawn. "Where is she?"

Aurelia's gaze remained fixed on the rift. "Not here. Not yet." She turned back to Kael, her expression softening. "But she's coming."

Kael swallowed hard, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "Then we stop her."

Aurelia's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile. "Oh," she murmured. "We will."