The last whisper still lingered in the air as Seraphina stumbled backward, nearly dropping the burned spellbook in her hand.
"Darian…?"
But no one was there.
The stone walls of the ancient temple echoed with silence, save for the distant rumble of thunder. Her heart pounded as her eyes darted through the gloom. The air had shifted. Something had changed. The spell—she hadn't completed it, yet something had answered. Or awakened.
She looked down at her palm, where the runes she had drawn with her blood had vanished. Not faded—burned away, as if scorched by something far older and more powerful than she'd dared to summon.
A wind blew from nowhere, flipping the pages of the spellbook violently. The ancient parchment tore itself loose, shriveling at the edges. As if it, too, feared what she had called upon.
Seraphina ran.
---
She burst into the palace halls soaked in rain and trembling. Mason was waiting just inside the main foyer, pacing like a caged beast. When he saw her, he rushed forward, gripping her arms.
"Where were you?" he demanded, voice thick with panic. "You disappeared for hours. What were you thinking—?"
Her eyes locked onto his, hollow and lost. "I tried the spell, Mason."
He froze. "What?"
"I didn't finish it, but… it reacted. Something reacted. I heard him."
His breath caught. "You heard—"
"His voice. Darian's." Her voice cracked. "Just for a second. And then—nothing. But it was him. I know it was."
Mason clenched his jaw, torn between anger and pain. "You could've died. That book is older than this empire. We don't even know what you awakened—"
"I don't care!" she snapped, her voice rising. "I don't care if it burns me alive. I'd rather die trying to bring him back than live knowing I didn't."
Her voice broke, and her hands trembled. Mason's expression softened, but the worry in his eyes didn't fade.
"You're not the only one who loves him, Sera," he whispered. "But if you fall… who will save him then?"
---
That night, Seraphina sat alone in her chamber, curled beneath a tapestry she once wove with her mother. The old music box sat beside her bed—dusty, forgotten. She opened it, and the delicate tune began to play.
The same lullaby Darian had hummed for her as children, when lightning used to frighten her. The sound cracked something deep inside her.
Tears slid down her cheeks.
"You promised…" she whispered. "You promised you'd always find your way back to me."
She pressed the box to her chest and cried.
In the Hollow Realm, Darian stirred.
Chains rattled.
He stood alone in a cold black void, but something had cracked through the shadows—a voice. Her voice.
"Seraphina…" he whispered, eyes wide. He saw her face in a flicker of light—then the pain surged, and the darkness dragged him back.
"No—no—!" he screamed. "Let me go to her!"
The Hollow Prince's form wavered in the mirror realm, a tremor shaking his prison. The parasite inside him snarled, angry. But Darian's soul… it had stirred. It had remembered.
---
Back in the palace, Seraphina opened the prophecy scroll Ariella had found.
The words etched in gold read:
"When the Threaded Ones remember, the world shall tremble. But love alone will not save them. One must break. One must bleed."
A knock came at the window.
Seraphina startled, snatching a dagger. She drew back the curtain—and her breath caught.
A figure stood soaked in the storm, cloaked in silver. A woman with eyes almost exactly like Darian's.
She opened the window with shaking hands.
The woman stepped in slowly. "You don't know me," she said, voice soft. "But I know him. I knew Darian long before the Hollow claimed him."
Seraphina stared. "Who are you?"
The woman looked up, her eyes filled with secrets and sorrow.
"I'm the one who failed to save him once. And I won't let it happen again."
Seraphina took a step back. "You were in the vision…"
"I was," the woman said. "But this time, you're the Threaded One. You carry the bond."
"Then help me save him," Seraphina pleaded. "Help me bring him back."
The woman looked away, hesitating. Then, she whispered:
"If you want to save him… you'll have to destroy something you love."
Lightning flashed, and the music box stopped playing.
Seraphina's throat tightened. The words echoed like iron against her ribs.
Destroy something she loved?
"No," she breathed. "There has to be another way."
The woman didn't flinch. "If there was, I would've taken it."
A silence fell between them. Rain pelted against the windows, thunder low like a growl in the distance. The woman moved toward the hearth, her cloak dripping water onto the palace floor.
"I tried to defy it too," she said, her voice barely more than a ghost. "I tried to fight fate. But love—" she paused, swallowing hard— "love is the very thing the Hollow feeds on."
Seraphina blinked back tears, struggling to steady her heartbeat. "Who… are you really?"
The woman met her gaze. "My name is Elaris. I was once Darian's guardian in the old world. His protector."
Her voice broke. "And his sister."
The floor seemed to vanish beneath Seraphina.
"Sister?" she whispered. "He never spoke of you…"
"He wouldn't. I'm the reason he died."
Those words shattered the stillness. Seraphina stepped back, instinct tightening her grip on the dagger hidden in her sleeve.
Elaris held up a hand. "I didn't kill him. But I left him unguarded the night the Hollow came. I wasn't there. I should have been."
She looked down, her voice splintering. "By the time I returned, he was gone. His light… swallowed."
Tears shimmered in Seraphina's eyes, but she kept her voice strong. "He's still in there. I felt him."
"I know. That's why I'm here." Elaris turned sharply, her expression suddenly burning with urgency. "We don't have much time. The parasite inside him… it's beginning to merge fully. Once that happens, not even the Threaded Bond can pull him back."
Seraphina staggered back, her breath coming faster.
"But what do I have to destroy?" she cried. "What am I supposed to give up?!"
Elaris didn't answer immediately. Instead, she reached into her cloak and brought out a small, crystal vial filled with a glowing silver liquid. It pulsed like it was alive.
"This," she said, "is the only thing powerful enough to sever the Hollow's hold. But it comes with a cost."
Seraphina's hands trembled as she reached for it. "What cost?"
Elaris looked at her, tears slipping down her own cheeks now.
"It will rip your bond to him from the root. Every memory, every emotion... everything that ties your soul to his. You will forget him."
Seraphina stared in horror.
"You'll save him," Elaris whispered, "but he'll wake up… to a world where you don't remember loving him."
A sob burst from Seraphina's chest. She fell to her knees, clutching the vial as if it were both lifeline and curse.
"Why?" she sobbed. "Why does love always have to bleed?"
Elaris knelt beside her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Because love is the only thing strong enough to break the Hollow."
---
Far away… in the dark corner of the Hollow Realm…
Darian sat slumped in chains, the darkness coiling tighter.
But suddenly… his eyes snapped open.
A single tear slid down his cheek.
"I remember…" he whispered, staring into the abyss. "I remember her name."
The ground beneath him shook violently. The Hollow parasite shrieked from the shadows.
"No," it hissed. "You belong to me—"
But Darian stood.
And for the first time… he smiled.
"She's coming."
Seraphina clutched the vial in her trembling hands, its silver glow pulsing in rhythm with her shattering heartbeat.
Forget him?
Forget the boy who lit up her world with one crooked smile…
The boy who whispered her name like a secret prayer in the dark…
The boy who bled to protect her, even when he had nothing left to give…
Her vision blurred. Her knees threatened to give way beneath her.
"I can't…" she whispered.
"You must." Elaris' voice cracked. "The Hollow won't stop until he's fully consumed. And when that happens, he won't just forget you—he'll be used to destroy you."
Seraphina turned away, clenching the vial to her chest. Her lungs burned. Her soul begged her to run. But something deeper, something older than memory, whispered the truth:
If you love him… let him go.
A sob tore from her throat, raw and broken. "Why does saving someone mean losing them?"
"Because love," Elaris whispered, "isn't about holding on. It's about breaking… so they don't have to."
Lightning cracked across the sky.
Seraphina collapsed beside the altar, her head bowed low. The storm outside raged like her chest—wild, chaotic, and desperate. Her fingers loosened around the vial.
She stared at it for a long moment.
Then…
She uncorked it.
The air around her shifted instantly—like the world inhaled.
A silver wind circled her, threads of memory lifting from her skin like smoke.
"Wait—" Elaris moved forward. "There's something else I must tell you—"
But the light had already begun its work.
Seraphina gasped as a golden memory floated up: Darian smiling in the moonlight, brushing her tears away after their first real fight.
Another: his arms around her as she sobbed into his shoulder, whispering, "You don't have to be strong alone."
And another—his forehead against hers, whispering, "You're my home, Seraphina."
Tears streamed down her face as the memories faded… flickering like dying stars.
"No—please—don't take that one—don't take his voice—"
But it was too late.
One by one, they vanished.
Until the last thread rose — a memory so soft, it barely clung to her soul.
His name.
Her lips trembled. "Da…ri…"
Gone.
The vial shattered at her feet.
Seraphina fell forward, breath hitching. Her chest felt hollow. Empty.
Elaris caught her before she hit the ground. "It's done," she whispered. "He's free."
But Seraphina didn't respond.
She just stared—eyes vacant, lashes wet.
From far away, a pulse of light flickered through the window. The Hollow Realm cracked open with a thunderous wail.
And Darian…
Awoke.
In a dark chamber flooded with moonlight, he sat up, gasping for air.
"Seraphina?" he rasped, holding his chest.
He remembered everything.
But she…
Didn't even remember him.
---
Back in the temple ruins, Seraphina slowly stood, dazed.
"Who are you?" she asked Elaris, her voice quiet and empty.
Elaris froze, her heart tearing in two. "…You don't remember?"
Seraphina blinked. "Remember what?"
But before Elaris could speak—
A deafening scream tore through the air.
A monstrous shadow—what remained of the Hollow—burst through the cracks of the earth.
It had one final plan.
A curse of reversal.
The sacrifice would now bind her to the darkness she thought she destroyed.
Elaris turned in horror. "No—NO! The bond's reversing—he remembers, and she's the price—!"
The Hollow lunged toward Seraphina.
And she just stood there… confused, frightened, with no memory of why she had been so broken only moments ago.
Then—
A blur of black and silver crashed between them.
Darian.
He had arrived.
But he was too late.
The Hollow had already touched her soul.
And as Seraphina looked up at him—eyes wide, heart completely blank—
She whispered, "Who are you?"
AUTHOR THOUGHTS
Okay, y'all, if you didn't laugh or cry at least once, I'm sending Darian to haunt you with bad Wi-Fi forever.
If this chapter was a power stone, it'd be extra rare—like finding socks that don't disappear in the laundry. So drop your votes, collect those power stones, send me gifts (or snacks), leave reviews, and comment like your life depends on it—because honestly, it does.
And remember: love means forgetting… your password, your keys, and sometimes your whole life. So buckle up, fam, this ride's just getting wild!