I don't answer Kael immediately. My thoughts are a tangled mess, and my chest tightens with a familiar ache. The weight of his words presses down on me like a storm cloud, dark and heavy.
Kael watches me, patient, knowing that if he gives me time, I'll crack open, spill the words I've been holding back for years.
I take a shaky breath, trying to keep my voice steady. "You don't get it. I didn't choose this power. I didn't ask for it. But now… now it's the only thing that defines me."
His gaze softens, and for a brief moment, I see something that wasn't there before—something like sympathy, but also something deeper. Something that makes my heart flutter painfully in my chest, as though it's teetering on the edge of a precipice.
"You're more than your Gift, Lyra," Kael says quietly, taking another step closer. "You've always been more. But you've buried that part of yourself to survive. I understand why, but it doesn't mean it's too late."
I flinch, unable to meet his gaze. I want to believe him. I want to believe that there's still time to change, to live a life where my heart doesn't slowly crumble away into stone. But I know better. The longer I use my power, the more it consumes me. The more it becomes a part of me that I can't control.
"Can you really see the future?" I ask, suddenly unsure of whether I want the answer.
Kael's lips press into a thin line. "Yes."
I swallow hard. "Then tell me. What happens to me? To us?"
He hesitates, and for a fleeting moment, I wonder if he's keeping something from me. His eyes flicker with something unreadable, but when he speaks again, his voice is steady.
"Your heart shatters. You give everything for the greater good. And in the end, you save the world... but at the cost of your own life."
The words feel like a punch to the gut, and I stagger back, struggling to catch my breath. "No. I refuse to believe that. I'm not just some sacrificial lamb, Kael."
"I don't want that future for you either," he says quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "But it's the only one I've seen. I've been searching for a way to change it, to rewrite it, but I don't have the answers. Only you can decide what happens next."
His words hang in the air between us, a fragile thread of possibility. My mind races, torn between the aching truth of what he's said and the desperate need to fight it, to cling to whatever life I have left.
"Why me?" I finally ask, my voice breaking. "Why is it me who has to carry this burden? Why not someone else?"
Kael steps forward, his expression unwavering. "Because you have the power to take away the darkness. To stop the Revenants. You're the only one who can."
I shake my head, tears threatening to spill. "I'm not strong enough."
"You are," Kael says gently. "You always have been. You just need to believe it."
I want to scream. I want to deny it all. But deep down, I know he's right. I know that my power—the power to steal others' Gifts—is the only thing that can stop the Revenants from destroying everything.
But the cost. The cost is too high. My heart... my humanity...
"You're not alone, Lyra," Kael adds, his voice softer now, filled with something I can't quite name. "I'm with you. I'll help you through this."
I look into his eyes, searching for the truth in his words. And for the first time since I met him, I allow myself to believe—just for a moment—that maybe, just maybe, we can find another way. Maybe we can change the future.
But deep down, I can't shake the feeling that it's already too late.
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