Chapter 25 – Blood and Bloom

The moon was high over the Valtoris Estate, but it felt closer tonight—watching, waiting.

Aeron stood in the garden now, barefoot on cold stone, beneath the withered tree his mother once nurtured. Once a symbol of peace, it had not bloomed since her death.

Until now.

A single silver flower opened.

Selene watched from the window, silent. She didn't follow him this time. She didn't need to.

Inside the Estate, Lyra moved with quiet steps, pacing before the fire in the drawing room. A tome sat open in her hand—his mother's journal. She had retrieved it from Selene's vault while Aeron stood outside, too calm for someone who had just remembered the Council's betrayal.

Too calm… or too focused.

The journal pages were worn. Her eyes scanned the last lines.

> "If the Vessel awakens before the Rite, the truth will burn away the old world. But he must choose… to forgive, or to rewrite everything."

Lyra's fingers trembled.

---

Council Compound — Inner Sanctum

High Warden Virella stood before the Throne of Thorns, a cursed seat only she could command.

Around her, shadows murmured. Councilors whispered plans, feared the future they no longer controlled.

"The Valtoris boy has awakened," said the First Shadow.

"Yes," Virella replied. "And if he unseals the Tree of Echoes, the Inheritance will fully return."

"We must retrieve the Journal."

"It's too late. He has it."

The shadows recoiled like frightened children.

Virella's lips curled. "But his memories… are still fragmented. If we can trigger the Fifth Seal before he completes the Rite, we may fracture him again."

"How?"

"His weakness," Virella whispered, eyes flashing. "Is not power. It's connection."

---

Valtoris Garden – Midnight

The tree continued to bloom.

Petal by petal, silver flowers swayed gently in the night breeze. Aeron sat cross-legged before it, the journal resting in his lap. He hadn't opened it yet. He didn't need to.

Not yet.

"Aeron."

Lyra's voice was steady behind him.

He turned slowly. "You read it?"

She nodded, eyes unreadable. "Most of it."

Silence stretched between them.

Then—"There's something you should know," she said. "Your mother didn't just hide the truth about the Council. She… she tried to bind your power."

His brows rose. "Why?"

"To protect you. From what she called the Inheritance of the Broken Star."

"I saw the star," he murmured. "It wasn't broken. It was caged."

"She caged you," Lyra said, the words heavier than steel. "With good intentions. But a cage is still a cage."

Aeron stood, closing the journal.

"Then it's time," he said, "to break it."

---

Far East – Forest of the First Flame

Selene had left quietly. Without telling Aeron. Without telling Lyra.

She stood before an ancient altar, its obsidian surface cracked by time and war.

The last place her mother's power still lingered.

She lit a fire and whispered, "Mother. I don't ask for forgiveness. Just answers."

The flame roared higher, curling into a phantom image of the late Matriarch of the Valtoris line.

"You fear the boy," the phantom said.

"I fear losing him," Selene admitted.

"You already have."

Selene gritted her teeth. "Then tell me how to protect what's left."

The spirit paused.

"Only those who fall can rise beside the Vessel. If you want to stay by his side… then fall, Selene."

---

Valtoris Estate — Shrine Room

Aeron walked alone now, candle in hand. He opened the sealed shrine hidden beneath the estate—the place no one was meant to enter but his mother.

Stone by stone, the walls glowed with ancient light. Runes old as time.

At the far end, a mirror floated in black space. No reflection. Only the truth.

He stepped toward it.

And it whispered back.

> "You are not of this world."

> "You were written in."

> "But now, you write out."

Aeron reached toward it.

It cracked.

Light erupted.

And somewhere across the sky, a new star ignited—white, burning, alive.

---

Unknown Location – ???

Alaric paced in an arcane chamber, fingers twirling a small, glowing crystal.

"Guess it's begun," he said to no one in particular.

Behind him, a girl stirred—silver hair, sharp eyes, bound by runes.

She blinked once, then whispered, "He's remembering me."

Alaric grinned.

"Good. About time the Fourth Fragment came into play."