Aria

nd But surrounding her the way moonlight settles

ver mist rippled around her bare feet

ho's

melody continued, like a song from a ch

r feet shimmered with every movement, leaving circles

" Another step. "Please.

it felt warm - comforting, The way returning home feels like

k shape. Long silver robes flowed without touching the water. Hair the color of moonlight drifted weightlessly, untouched by any win

na whispered.

the light itself simply brighte

names. I can'

r youth. It simply was magical t

wned. "...

e said nothing. Then: "You s

t quickened. "I d

erything fully" The answer came

wedding. Lucien's steady voice. The shattered goblet. Her moth

even. "My family. My pa

are in

ve. Ariana lowered her head, and a tear slipped

goodbye To my par

Elowen weeping alone in an empty chamber that had been readied for a wedding night that would never come; King Alaric standing motionless on the palace balcony, st

toward the im

the water, and the vision d

es. "They're hurt

as simple. Undeniably true. It offered no comfor

before Ariana finally spoke

figure flickered, fai

up. "What do

olemn. "The balance has been broken. The thread that

ggled to re

I wasn't supp

echoed across the sp

"If my life was stolen, who did

, and seven stars emerged in the space it revealed , Each star shone a different color: silver, gold, cr

forgotten," the figure said, voice quieter no

aited - unlike the gentle silver surrounding them, this one pulsed with so

is t

e mysterious

ow furrowed

the distant light. "It is waiting, It does not y

an uncertain step back. "W

or another day." The

not an

omething in the light around it seemed to softe

t of her questions, scar

rstand," she

hen the time

thers, drifting upward instead of down. The water beneath Ariana's feet cracked

hed forward despera

"When your journey is complete, you will know my name. Look f

r world s

ing bec

h

ng forcing itself back into rhythm. A desperate gas

eyes fl

amiliar plaster. The room smelled of lavender and old paper. Heavy velvet curtains

ell rapidly, each br

Wher

r. Different, the way a room feels different when the fur

oss the room, angl

Ariana crossed to it a

pped. S

her pale, wide-eyed, achingly un