The air around them crackled with an invisible force. Lena felt it surge through her, an unfamiliar energy awakening within her veins. It wasn't just power—it was memory.
Not the memories of a life she had lived, but of something deeper.
Something older.
Kian's smirk faded completely. He took a slow step back, his dark eyes flickering with something close to curiosity. "Ah. So you really are waking up."
Lena's fists clenched. "I don't need to remember the past to change the future."
Kian tilted his head. "You think you can change fate?"
Lena inhaled, steadying herself. "Watch me."
Then, without another word—she moved.
A pulse of energy burst from within her, a force so raw it sent a tremor through the floor.
Kian's smirk vanished. He lifted a hand, and suddenly—
The world around them collapsed.
---
Cold. Metal. The scent of blood.
Lena barely had time to react as the room around them twisted and broke apart, shifting into something else entirely.
A different time. A different place.
And in front of her—a different version of herself.
Aarya.
The girl in the vision stood in the same spot where Lena had been moments ago. Her body was bruised, her breath shallow, but her eyes—
Her eyes were burning with the same fire Lena felt within herself now.
Across from her, Kian stood, just as he was now, watching with amusement.
And at Aarya's feet—
Riven.
Bloodied. Chained.
Just like before.
Just like now.
The weight of déjà vu hit Lena like a punch to the gut.
This was what he meant.
This was the cycle she was trapped in.
Over and over—
She fought.
She lost.
And she forgot.
No.
Lena's body trembled, but she forced herself to move. She wasn't going to let this happen again.
Not this time.
She reached out—
And suddenly, the past shattered.
---
Back in the present.
Lena gasped as reality snapped into place around her.
The room was the same.
Kian was the same.
Riven was still chained.
But she was different.
Something inside her had changed.
She turned to Kian, her breath steady despite the chaos around her. "You think you control fate?"
Kian's expression darkened. "I don't think, Aarya. I know."
Lena's lips curled into a smirk of her own. "Then let's see who's stronger—fate or me."
Then—she attacked.
Kian barely had time to react as she lunged at him, her body moving faster than it ever had before.
For the first time—
He wasn't in control.
And for the first time—
She wasn't losing.
---