Chapter 7: “Velvara’s Heart, Kairo’s Curs
The campfire crackled.
But Kairo didn't feel the heat.
He stared into the flames like they owed him answers. His fingers traced the handle of his sword, absently—not to draw it, but like a nervous habit.
His thoughts weren't here.
They were with her.
---
Velvara.
The stitched-eyed girl in white.
The one who'd played a silent song that made gods flinch.
The one who said:
> "He is mine."
---
"You look like a guy trying to survive a waifu apocalypse," Gix muttered, floating beside him while chewing on roasted slime.
"She's not just a waifu," Kairo said quietly. "She's… something else. Something I think I broke."
Lyria scoffed nearby. "Hot. Dangerous. Clearly obsessed. What's the problem?"
"She remembers me from another life."
"Then stop flirting with her and apologize."
"It's not that simple."
---
> FLASH — MEMORY ECHO
Kairo stood on a battlefield.
He wasn't himself. Not this version.
His sword was bigger. His eyes were cold.
And beside him, Velvara stood—not in white, but in black armor, her mouth sewn shut, her fingers bleeding from playing a broken violin.
Around them were bodies.
So many bodies.
> "Promise me," she said, voice breaking through stitches.
"That in the next world, you'll save me."
> "I promise," he said.
And then stabbed her.
---
BACK TO THE PRESENT
Kairo gasped.
Sweat on his face.
Breathing hard.
Gix blinked. "Damn. You good?"
"I killed her," Kairo whispered. "In another timeline."
Lyria stopped sharpening her blade.
"…What?"
"I killed her. She begged me not to. I made a promise. And I broke it."
---
SCENE SHIFT — THE GLASS SANCTUM
Mirael Venla paced a floating corridor.
Six different versions of her flickered like ghosts around her—alternate selves.
> "The Mirrorblade's Echoes are activating faster than we calculated."
> "His memories will override this world's stability."
> "He's becoming the Anchor."
One version—darker, crueler—smiled.
> "Then let him break. Let him remember what he really did."
---
SCENE SHIFT — VELVARA
She walked barefoot through a forest of white trees.
Each step bloomed roses of blood behind her.
She hummed a tune that made the animals cry.
And behind her followed a dozen Echoes—Kairo-shaped, broken, loyal.
Each wore a cracked crown.
Each one had died protecting her… or killing her.
---
"Do you love him still?" one Echo asked her.
She smiled.
> "Love?" she whispered. "I became a god for him."
She paused.
> "And if this one breaks his promise too—"
"I'll love what's left."
---
SCENE SHIFT — KAIRO, LATER THAT NIGHT
He sat alone, again.
Until a familiar violin chord whispered into the night wind.
He turned.
And there she stood.
Velvara.
Eyes stitched. Dress white. No shoes.
But instead of power…
She looked soft. Tired.
She knelt in front of him.
And whispered—
> "Do you remember yet?"
Kairo swallowed.
> "Pieces."
She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his.
> "Then remember this—"
Her lips hovered near his—
> "This time… don't lie to me."
---
> "Affection Gained: Velvara — Tier 2: Intimacy Unlocked"
"New Ability: Echo Flare – Link to Past Lives Temporarily"
"Next Sin: Betrayal"