The air felt wrong—as if the very fabric of reality had been stretched too thin, ready to tear apart at any moment.
Lena staggered backward, barely able to breathe.
Riven's chains had shattered.
But something else had broken with them.
And now, standing before her, wasn't the boy she knew.
Not anymore.
---
A Presence That Shouldn't Exist
The moment Riven's restraints dissolved, an unnatural force pulsed outward. The room darkened, shadows slithering along the cracked floor, whispering secrets in a language Lena couldn't understand.
She could feel it in her bones—a power ancient and hungry.
Kian's smirk flickered, his usually effortless confidence faltering for the briefest of moments.
"Well," he murmured. "This is unexpected."
Lena's breath caught in her throat.
Riven hadn't moved.
But his presence had changed.
It wasn't just overwhelming.
It was wrong.
A force that should never have been set free.
And she had been the one to release it.
---
A Name Lost to Time
Riven's eyes slowly opened, revealing something that wasn't human.
Deep, endless voids.
Not empty, but filled with shifting, unknowable things—shadows twisting beneath the surface, watching.
Lena's chest tightened. "Riven…?"
No answer.
He didn't even seem to see her.
It was like he was somewhere else.
Somewhere impossibly far away.
Kian tilted his head, studying him. "Tch. It took this long for the seal to break?" He exhaled, shaking his head. "Honestly, I expected better."
Lena snapped her gaze toward him. "Seal?"
Kian gave her a lazy smile. "Oh, sweetheart. You didn't think this power was just his, did you?"
Something cold ran down her spine.
"What do you mean?"
Kian took a step closer. "Tell me, Lena. Or should I say—" He paused, then grinned.
"Aarya."
Lena froze.
That name—again.
Echoing in her mind like a memory she wasn't supposed to have.
Her vision blurred, fragments of something ancient flashing behind her eyes—
A temple, bathed in moonlight. A voice calling out. Chains wrapped around an unfathomable being.
A promise.
And then—
Pain.
She gasped, gripping her head as the images shattered into a million broken pieces.
Kian chuckled. "Ah, there it is. The cracks are forming, aren't they?"
Lena forced herself to focus, her hands curling into fists. "Shut up."
Kian merely smirked. "It's only a matter of time, you know. And when you remember—" He gestured toward Riven. "So will he."
Lena's gaze flickered back to Riven, still unmoving, still lost in whatever abyss had swallowed him.
She swallowed hard.
No.
She couldn't let this happen.
Not to him.
Not to herself.
---
The Abyss Stares Back
Summoning every ounce of strength, Lena took a shaky step forward.
"Riven."
No response.
She reached out, fingers trembling, closing the space between them—
And then—
His hand shot out, grabbing her wrist.
Pain exploded through her body, a burning, searing agony that felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside.
Her breath caught, a strangled cry escaping her lips.
It wasn't just pain.
It was something else.
A force pulling her in.
Dragging her toward the abyss inside him.
She fought back, trying to pull away, but Riven's grip only tightened.
"Lena," Kian warned. "Let him go."
She ignored him.
Instead—
She pushed forward.
If Riven was lost in the darkness—
Then she would find him.
---
Between Two Worlds
The moment she fully touched him, the world shattered.
Lena wasn't in the room anymore.
She was somewhere else.
A void stretching infinitely in every direction.
Cold. Silent.
And in the center of it all—
Riven.
Or what was left of him.
He stood motionless, his body flickering like a dying flame, fragments of his existence breaking apart into the nothingness around him.
Lena's heart pounded.
She had to reach him.
She moved forward, but the closer she got, the more unreal everything felt—like she was stepping through a dream that wasn't her own.
She heard whispers in the darkness.
Calling her.
Begging her to let go.
She clenched her teeth. No.
She wouldn't lose him.
She wouldn't fail.
Taking a deep breath, she lunged forward—
And grabbed his hand.
---
The Breaking Point
A surge of energy erupted between them.
Pain. Light. Chaos.
The void cracked, splitting apart in jagged streaks of blinding brightness.
And then—
He moved.
Slowly, his head tilted toward her, and for the first time, their eyes met.
Lena's breath hitched.
The void in his gaze flickered—something familiar struggling beneath the surface.
A memory.
A feeling.
A single moment of recognition.
And in that moment—
Lena pulled.
A force stronger than anything she had ever felt rushed through her.
For a split second, she swore she heard something—
A voice.
Soft. Almost broken.
"Lena…"
And then—
The world collapsed.
---
Would Riven return? Would the abyss take him completely?
Lena had one chance to bring him back.
But some doors—once opened—can never be closed.
And something else had noticed her presence.
Something that was never meant to wake.
---