Before the guards could protest, Belga ushered the three of them through the portal. The sensation of transit was disorienting—a moment of weightlessness followed by the feeling of being pulled through a narrow tube. Colors and sounds blurred around them until, with a flash, they emerged on the other side.
The Crystal Falls stretched before them, a breathtaking cascade of luminescent water that seemed to sing as it tumbled down massive crystalline formations. Under normal circumstances, Jasmine would have been awestruck by the
beauty, but there was no time for wonder. The area around the portal was eerily deserted, with signs of hasty abandonment—scattered possessions and half-eaten meals suggesting that the evacuation order had come suddenly.
"The Shadowbound haven't reached this region yet," Belga said, her keen eyes scanning the landscape. "But they will soon. We must move quickly."
Naira stepped forward, her newly awakened memories of Mei blending with her Archivist knowledge. "According to the vision, Lila—or her reborn self—was in the meadow near the upper falls."
The Heartstone pulsed against Jasmine's skin, its rhythm quickening as they moved away from the portal. "She's close," Jasmine whispered, feeling the connection strengthening. "I can sense her."
They followed a winding path upward, climbing alongside the massive crystalline formations that channeled the glowing waters. The air was charged with elemental energy, making their skin tingle and their hair stand on end.
"This place sits on a convergence of ley lines," Belga explained as they climbed. "It's why the Shadowbound would be drawn here. The boundaries between realms are naturally thinner."
"Is that why Lila's soul would be drawn here too?" Lyra asked.
Belga nodded. "Souls seek resonance. If she was as spirited in her human life as you've described, this place of wild energy would call to her."
As they neared the upper falls, the path opened onto a vast meadow filled with flowers that seemed to pulse with inner light. In the center, dancing alone to music only she could hear, was a young Aethorian woman with copper-gold hair that flowed around her like living flame.
Jasmine stopped, emotion overwhelming her. Even without the Heartstone's confirmation, she would have recognized the joyful abandon in those movements anywhere. Lila had always danced like no one was watching, finding freedom in motion when their lives had offered little else.
"Lila," she whispered, the name carrying on the wind.
The dancer stopped abruptly, turning toward them with a grace that seemed almost supernatural. Her features were Aethorian—high cheekbones, slightly pointed ears, eyes the color of amber—but her expression of curious mischief was pure Lila.
"Hello," she called, approaching without fear. "Are you here for the Convergence Dance? You're early—it doesn't begin until the third moon rises."
Jasmine stepped forward, the Heartstone glowing visibly now through her clothing. "We're not here for the dance. We're here for you."
The young woman tilted her head, her amber eyes fixing on the glow. "A Heartstone," she breathed, recognition flashing across her features. "I've dreamed of one just like it."
"What's your name?" Naira asked gently, her voice steady despite the emotion Jasmine could feel radiating from her.
"Thalia," the dancer replied, her copper-gold hair rippling in the breeze. "Though sometimes..." She hesitated, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. "Sometimes in my dreams, I'm called something else."
Jasmine took another step forward, the Heartstone pulsing in sync with her racing heart. "Lila," she said softly. "In your dreams, you're called Lila."
Thalia's eyes widened, and she took an involuntary step back. "How could you possibly know that?" Her gaze darted between the four of them, lingering on Naira with an odd expression of half-recognition.
Belga moved forward, her maternal presence calming the sudden tension. "Thalia, these are my daughters, Celebrië and Lyra. And this is Naira, an Archivist. We've come because of a connection that exists between you."
"What kind of connection?" Thalia asked, wariness mixing with curiosity in her voice.
Instead of answering directly, Jasmine held out the Heartstone, letting its light spill into the space between them. "Do you remember a small apartment? A father who drank too much? Two sisters who protected you from the world's cruelty?"
The meadow around them seemed to still, the luminescent flowers dimming as if holding their breath. Thalia's expression shifted from wariness to wonder as the Heartstone's glow reached her, illuminating memories long buried.
"I thought they were just dreams," she whispered, reaching out hesitantly toward the crystal. "Nightmares sometimes. But also... moments of such love that I would wake up crying."
When her fingertips touched the Heartstone, the connection exploded into brilliance. The meadow disappeared, replaced by cascading images from their shared past—Lila's first dance recital, Jasmine bandaging her knee after a fall, Mei reading her stories when she couldn't sleep. The moments of fear and pain were there too, but woven through it all was the unbreakable bond of three sisters against the world.
Thalia gasped, tears streaming down her face as the memories flooded back. "Jasmine," she breathed, recognition dawning in her eyes. "Mei. How is this possible? We died. I remember the pain, the darkness, and then... nothing."
"Not nothing," Naira corrected gently. "Transformation. Our souls were brought here, reborn into new bodies. Jasmine—Celebrië now—retained her memories, but we forgot. Until today."
Thalia looked down at her Aethorian hands as if seeing them for the first time. "I'm... both? Lila and Thalia?"
"Yes," Jasmine confirmed, her own tears falling freely. "Just as Naira is both herself and Mei. Our souls remember, even when our minds forgot."
The connection between the three sisters pulsed with renewed strength, a trinity of light forming in the space between them. The Heartstone at the center glowed with an intensity that illuminated the entire meadow, casting long shadows behind them.
Belga watched with tears in her eyes, witnessing the reunion of souls that had traversed death itself to find each other again. "The prophecy," she whispered. "Three as one, twice-born and remembering."
But their moment of reunion was shattered by a sudden darkening of the sky. The multiple moons of Aethoria, visible even in daylight, seemed to dim as shadows gathered across their surfaces. A cold wind swept through the meadow, causing the luminescent flowers to fold in on themselves.
"They're here," Lyra warned, her oceanic eyes wide with fear. "The Shadowbound have found us."
Belga moved with the fluid grace of a Council member, her hands weaving patterns of protective magic around the group. "Stay close," she commanded. "Whatever happens, you must not be separated again."
The darkness condensed at the edge of the meadow, forming a tall figure of such profound blackness that it seemed to absorb the light around it. When it spoke, its voice was like ice cracking in the depths of winter.
"How touching," it said, the words somehow reaching them without traveling through air. "The prophecy fulfilled before my very eyes. Three sisters, reunited across death's threshold."
Jasmine stepped forward, placing herself between the figure and her sisters. "Saryx," she said, recognizing the presence that had whispered through their probability bridge.
The figure inclined its head, a gesture of mocking courtesy. "The twice-born child knows me. I'm flattered." The darkness shifted, revealing glimpses of a face that seemed carved from obsidian, with eyes like distant stars seen through the void. "Did your Council tell you why I've sought you so diligently?"
"You want to destroy the barriers between realms," Jasmine replied, the Heartstone burning against her skin. "To unleash chaos."
Saryx laughed, a sound like glass breaking. "Is that what they told you? How simplistic." He moved closer, the meadow withering where his shadow fell. "I seek balance, child. True balance. Not the artificial constraints your Council maintains."
"Don't listen to him," Belga warned, her protective magic intensifying. "Saryx was once a Council member himself, before he embraced the shadow. His words are poison wrapped in half-truths."
"Half-truths?" Saryx echoed, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Tell them, Belga. Tell them why the Watchers really brought these souls to Aethoria. Tell them about the Collapse."
Belga's expression tightened, her violet eyes flashing with anger and something else—fear