Chapter 11: What We Remember When We Burn

Chapter 11: What We Remember When We Burn

The ceiling light was still flickering when Selene took Aria's hand and pulled her toward the far wall of the hotel room. Aria blinked, her body still warm and humming from the kiss they'd shared under the thin sheets. The electricity hadn't cut yet, but the lights above buzzed with that telltale fatigue like the whole place was running on borrowed time.

"Where are we going?" Aria asked, dragging her fingers through her tangled hair.

Selene didn't answer at first. She just pressed her palm to the cracked wall, and something shimmered faintly behind the wallpaper — a glowing, fragile symbol that pulsed once and vanished like breath on a mirror. Aria stiffened. The wall shifted.

Not physically. Not like in horror movies where bricks grind open or secret doors creak with the sound of the damned.

This was quieter.

Like reality gave way for a second. Like it made space.

Selene turned to her. "Come with me. I want to show you something before it fades."

Aria hesitated, her chest tight. "Is it dangerous?"

"No," Selene said, her voice soft, her expression unreadable. "Not for you."

So Aria stepped forward. Into the wall.

It didn't feel like passing through anything. No cold rush, no sensation of breaking through. Just one blink — hotel. Next blink — not.

The room they stood in now was warm. Not physically. Not really. But warm in the way memory sometimes is — too soft around the edges, the colors too rich, the air heavy with something impossible to name. The walls were stacked with half - finished canvases, dried paint clinging to the floor like scars. Light filtered in through a cracked skylight, even though Aria knew the sun hadn't been out in days.

She turned slowly. "What is this place?"

"My studio," Selene said. "From before. From the first life."

Aria blinked. "The one I don't remember."

Selene nodded. She looked different here. Not visibly, not exactly — but there was something in her stance, in her expression. A weight. A kind of grief that had settled into her bones and made a permanent home.

"I made a deal with the goddess of love," she said. "Not for power. For memory. I asked her to give me a second life. She gave it. But she made me remember it all. Alone."

Aria moved closer. "Why?"

Selene's jaw tensed. "Because I let her daughter die."

The silence hit like a dropped stone. Aria couldn't breathe for a second. "She was real?"

"She was you," Selene whispered. "In the first life. You were everything. You were fire. You burned so the rest of us could live."

Aria swallowed. Her heart beat too loudly in her chest. "I… don't feel like that person."

Selene gave a hollow smile. "That's part of the curse. You're reborn. Clean slate. No memories. I just have to wait. Hope you come back to me somehow. Every time."

"And this time?" Aria asked.

Selene stepped forward. The memory around them started to blur — the edges of the canvases softening, the floor starting to fade beneath their feet.

"We've got fifteen minutes before it vanishes," Selene said. "That's all I could bargain for."

Aria's head was spinning. "Selene… I don't know if I'm the girl you knew. I don't remember dying. I don't remember living like that. But I trust you. And if this is our chance to start over, I want it."

Selene looked startled. Aria reached up, cupping her cheeks, standing on tiptoe to close the distance between them.

Then she kissed her.

Not careful. Not hesitant.

Just honest.

Selene froze — then melted. The kiss deepened fast, mouths moving like they'd already missed too many years, like something ancient had been waiting for the signal. Selene took over, coaxing Aria's lips open, slow and thorough. Her tongue traced the corner of Aria's mouth, and Aria whimpered — overwhelmed by how good it felt, how much she wanted more.

Selene's body was cool — ice affinity cold — but Aria was burning. And the way their temperatures clashed only made the contact feel more intense. Every brush of Selene's lips lit sparks across her skin. Every teasing bite made Aria ache.

When they finally broke apart, Aria was breathless, clutching the front of Selene's coat. "That was… I didn't mean to — I mean, I like your lips."

Selene smirked. "Clearly."

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm dessert."

"You are."

Aria's ears turned pink, but she didn't let go. "We should… probably leave before this place fades with us in it."

Selene kissed her one more time, just because she could, before nodding. "Come on. I know somewhere else we can go. It's not safe, but it's better than staying in one place too long."

They slipped out just as the room began to collapse behind them — not crumble, but dissolve. Like it had only existed for them, and now it had served its purpose.

The streets were quieter now. More ash. Less noise. The city looked like it had forgotten how to be alive, and they moved through it like two people walking through someone else's memory.

They didn't speak at first. Just walked.

Until Aria nudged Selene's arm gently. "Hey. So. About earlier —"

Selene glanced sideways. "You want to make out again?"

Aria laughed — honest, soft, surprised. "No. I mean… yes. But no." She shook her head. "I was gonna say thank you. For trusting me. Even when I don't remember you."

Selene stopped walking.

Aria did too, looking up at her.

Their eyes locked — quiet, warm, a little electric.

Selene reached up, fingertips brushing lightly against Aria's cheek. The touch was soft, but it carried something weightier underneath — memory, maybe. Or longing.

Aria held her breath.

Selene noticed.

Smirked.

Then leaned in and kissed her. Not tentative. Not unsure. She kissed her like she was staking claim. Like she knew exactly who Aria was, and was reminding her — with every press of lips, every inhale between them — that this wasn't new. This wasn't starting. It was continuing.

Between kisses, Selene nipped at Aria's lower lip, teasing, coaxing. And Aria — ever the studious soul — followed her lead, mimicking the rhythm, the heat, the pace.

She kissed back with quiet hunger. Curious. Provocative. A little breathless.

And Selene… Selene loved this version of her.

Softer. But not weaker.

Innocent — not because she didn't feel, but because she hadn't named it yet. And already she was catching fire.

Selene deepened the kiss, hand curling behind Aria's neck, thumb tracing skin just to hear her breath catch.

Ash fell around them like snow. The world could burn. But right here — in this kiss — something was blooming again.

Selene shrugged. "I've made peace with that. You don't have to be the same version of yourself for me to like you."

Aria tripped on the sidewalk. "You — what?"

"I said what I said."

"I — Selene!"

But Selene was already smirking again and walking faster.

They reached the art gallery right before the wind picked up.

It was a brutalist concrete building, half - swallowed by ivy, shattered windows like jagged teeth. Inside, the walls were tagged with graffiti and lit by whatever moonlight could bleed through the ceiling.

Then came the sound.

Wet footsteps.

Snarls.

Fresh.

Roamers.

Aria spun around, eyes wide. "How many?"

Selene didn't answer. She was already moving. Pulling knives from her coat, gliding like a dancer between columns.

The first roamer lunged.

Selene dodged, stabbed it through the eye with a flick so fast Aria didn't even see the blade move.

Two more came from the side.

She kicked one down, slashed the other across the throat, then pivoted and buried the second knife into the chest of the one she'd knocked over.

Aria backed up, panting. One of them reached for her — too fast — but Selene was there in a blur, twisting its neck until it cracked.

Blood sprayed across the wall.

Then silence.

Aria stared. "You didn't even hesitate."

"I knew you'd be watching."

"Oh my god, was that a flex?"

"Maybe."

"I'm so turned on right now."

Selene grinned. "Later."

They left the gallery before more could arrive.

The streets were darker now. Aria pulled her coat tighter. Her phone buzzed weakly — single bar of signal.

She pulled it out.

Texted Jules:

if we don't talk again, please stay safe

don't trust anyone not even the ones u think u know

when we meet again we'll catch up

love you always. as a friend

• aria

The message sent.

Barely.

Aria exhaled, watching the wind carry ash across the broken pavement. She turned to Selene, who looked like she was carrying the weight of every version of their love and still chose to hold it.

"You okay?" Selene asked, gently.

Aria nodded. "Yeah. Just thinking."

"About?"

"You."

"Me?"

"And how maybe I was always meant to find you. Even if I don't remember the path."

Selene stepped close, tugged Aria by the waist until their foreheads touched. "Then let's make a new one. From scratch."

"I'll probably make fun of you a lot."

"You already do."

"And I'm definitely going to kiss you again."

"Good."

Then Aria whispered, "Can I?"

Selene's answer was a kiss.

Not fiery. Not rushed.

Just quiet.

Like a promise this time they wouldn't burn alone.

And for the first time since the sky started falling, Aria didn't feel like she was running.

She felt like she was finally going in the right direction.