Her Memories, My Nightmare
The world bent.
Colors bled into one another like melting wax. One moment, I was sitting beside Aria's unconscious body. The next, I was standing in a massive hall of black stone and crimson glass.
> [System Notice: Bond Trait "Soul Mirage" Activated.]
[You are now experiencing Aria Vayne's sealed memory.]
I looked down.
My body shimmered—half-formed, ghostlike. I could feel Aria's emotions curling beneath my skin like embers. Anger. Regret. Grief.
Then I heard her voice.
"...Don't do this."
I turned.
There she was.
Aria stood at the center of the chamber, dressed in ivory armor that shone like the moon. Her wings—white and pure—were extended, tense. Her sword was drawn, aimed at a man seated on a throne of bones.
He smiled lazily.
Lucien.
Even in a memory, the Devil radiated pressure like a dying star. Handsome, refined, cruel. He tapped his fingers against the armrest, each tap echoing like a heartbeat.
"You were Chosen once, weren't you?" he asked Aria, voice silk and steel. "Loved. Praised. Worshipped."
She didn't answer.
"You still dream of their approval." Lucien rose from his throne. His presence was overwhelming. "But dreams are lies. You came to me because you wanted truth."
He stepped closer.
"Now take the final step."
Aria hesitated. Her grip on the sword tightened.
Then she dropped it.
Lucien smiled wider.
A sigil flared beneath her feet, and her wings burned away, feathers turning to ash. She screamed—but didn't move.
"You will become my weapon," he whispered. "And I will break this wretched world using the fallen light inside you."
> [System Data Imprint Completed.]
[Memory Fragment Ending.]
The vision shattered.
I fell backward into my body with a gasp.
Beside me, Aria stirred—eyes fluttering open. Her face was pale, haunted.
"You saw it," she whispered.
I nodded.
Her voice broke. "I killed them, Flare. My own team. The Chosen. I betrayed everything."
I didn't know what to say. I should've hated her. I should've run.
But I remembered her scream as her wings burned.
The look in her eyes when she dropped the sword.
She hadn't fallen.
She was pushed.
And the bastard who did it was still out there, smiling from his throne.
Lucien.
The Devil.
And apparently, the architect behind our contract.
> [New Objective Unlocked: Find the Lost Sanctum.]
[Optional: Discover the True Purpose of the Devil's Contract.]
I looked at Aria—broken, but still breathing. Still fighting.
"Get up," I said quietly.
She blinked.
I offered her my hand. "We're not done yet."