Chapter 11
The return was not gentle.
One moment, Lina sat beside Kai in the shimmering in-between, light curling around them like breath. The next—a pull, a snap, a sensation like falling through herself.
They landed hard.
Stone beneath. Wind above. The sky was fractured—crimson clouds stitched with gold, and twin suns turning slowly across a dying horizon.
Kai groaned beside her. "Where… are we?"
Lina sat up, wincing. "Not the world we left."
Around them stood ruins—monoliths of obsidian, carved with symbols that glowed faintly. The land was quiet, too quiet, like sound itself feared to breathe.
And yet—something pulsed beneath it all.
The power. Her power.
No longer dormant. No longer whispering.
It beat like a second heart.
Kai reached for his weapon instinctively, eyes scanning the distance. "Feels like we're being watched."
"We are," Lina said softly.
She didn't know how she knew. She just did.
And then they came.
Figures stepped from the shadows of the broken stones—draped in armor that shimmered like oil, faces hidden behind mirrored masks. They didn't speak. Just knelt.
Every single one.
Kai froze. "Uh. Is this a good sign?"
Lina stood, power humming at her fingertips. "I think… they're waiting for me."
The lead figure rose, then removed their helmet.
A woman. Pale eyes, silver hair, and markings across her skin that pulsed in time with Lina's heartbeat.
"We were told you'd come," she said. "That when the Gate stirred, the Vessel would return."
Lina's throat tightened. "I don't understand any of this."
"You will," the woman said, then bowed. "But we don't have much time. He knows you're here."
Kai stepped between them. "Who's he?"
The woman hesitated—then pointed to the sky.
It was shifting now. Turning.
And far, far above—something was descending. Not a ship. Not a creature.
A tear.
A literal wound in the sky, spiraling open, bleeding light and darkness all at once.
From within it came a sound.
Not heard. Felt.
A voice Lina had never heard, yet recognized.
"You thought you could run from what you are?"
She staggered back, the air choking with heat.
Kai caught her. "Lina—what is that?"
Her voice was barely a whisper. "The one I made the deal with."
The ground cracked. The masked soldiers drew their weapons.
And the woman spoke, voice sharp. "It's too soon. She's not ready!"
But Lina—
She wasn't afraid.
Not this time.
She stepped forward, her pulse matching the rising scream of power in her blood.
"No," she said. "I'm not ready. But I remember."
The sky roared in answer.
And the Gate—the true Gate—opened.
---
Somewhere beyond worlds…
The masked figure watched from his throne of shattered constellations.
"She's awakening too fast," the shadow said again.
The Master didn't move. "Good."
"But it will unravel the others—"
"She will choose."
"And if she chooses wrong?"
He turned, the mask tilting slightly.
"She already did. Once."
His voice grew cold.
"Let's see what she does this time."
The ground heaved beneath Lina's feet.
Cracks split across the obsidian plain, spiraling outward like lightning frozen in stone. From the sky, the wound bled flame and shadow, twisting into the shape of something colossal—no form, no face, just presence. And it knew her.
"You belong to me," the voice thundered, layering over itself like a thousand echoes, "You opened the gate."
Lina didn't flinch.
She raised a hand—and the power surged up her spine like fire caught in wind. Her veins glowed. The air screamed.
Kai moved beside her, blades drawn. "Lina—whatever happens, I stay."
She didn't answer. She couldn't.
The creature descended, tendrils of light and void crashing into the monoliths, turning them to dust. The masked soldiers broke formation, scattering to avoid the shockwave. One wasn't fast enough—caught in the blast, his armor folded inward like paper, gone in a blink.
"MOVE!" the silver-haired woman shouted, shoving Kai aside as another pulse hit.
Lina didn't move.
She stepped into it.
The beam of power that should've vaporized her collided with her chest—and stopped. Warped. Then reversed, recoiling back into the sky like a whip snapped in reverse.
The entity paused.
"You've changed."
Lina's eyes burned gold. Her voice was calm. Deadly. "No. I remembered."
With a cry, she flung her arms wide—and the realm answered.
From beneath her feet, the stone lifted into the air in fragments—spiraling around her, catching the light of both suns. Runes burned into existence across her arms, her collarbone, her throat. Not drawn. Remembered.
The entity dove.
Kai yelled her name, running toward her—but something stopped him. A barrier, thick and humming.
Lina leapt.
Midair—she met the force descending from the sky head-on.
Collision.
A dome of light burst outward, expanding with a howl that flattened everything for miles. Dust rose. The world tilted.
When it cleared—
She stood in the crater, one knee on the ground, her hands dug into the stone. Her breath came hard. Blood trickled from her nose. But the wound in the sky—was closing.
Screaming.
Clawing.
Resisting.
But it was closing.
The masked soldiers stared in awe. The silver-haired woman dropped to one knee.
Kai finally reached her side, grabbing her before she fell. "Hey—hey, stay with me—"
She looked at him.
Smiled, just barely.
Then collapsed.
Behind them, the last flicker of the sky wound snapped shut with a sound like the universe exhaling.
But high above, unseen through the fading light—
Something still watched.
And it wasn't finished.
Darkness wrapped around her like an old blanket—not cold, not warm—just still.
Lina didn't know if she was dreaming or if she had vanished. But here, in the deepest layer of consciousness, everything was silent. There was no Kai. No battlefield. No sky-splitting fractures.
Only the sound of dripping water… and breath.
She turned around.
A room. Old. Dim light filtered through a dusty brown curtain. On a wooden table sat a cup of tea, long gone cold. And by the window—a little girl.
No older than seven. Barefoot, hair loose, wide eyes gazing outside. She didn't turn. Didn't speak. But Lina knew—that was her.
The past.
A memory.
Before everything began.
A man's voice rose from behind—low, soft, but laced with something sharp.
"I can give you what you want."
The girl didn't reply.
"No one needs to know. No one needs to remember. All you have to do is say yes."
Lina—the present Lina—stepped forward. She tried to scream, to grab the girl's hand, but she couldn't touch anything. Only watch. Only listen.
The girl turned her head slightly. And for the first time, Lina saw it—that dark light in the child's eyes. No fear. No sorrow.
Just… acceptance.
"I agree."
The voice chuckled softly. "Good. Very good. Then, just this once—close your eyes."
And the girl closed her eyes.
The world around them collapsed.
Lina screamed.
But no sound came.
Only the feeling of being ripped out of herself—and falling.
She jolted upright.
A roar exploded next to her ear—metal clashing, footsteps thundering.
No soft glow. No Kai.
Only smoke, engine noise, and bullets whistling past her face.
She had woken up—in the middle of a chase.
Someone shouted behind her, "THERE! SHE'S OVER THERE!"
Lina turned, gasping, vision still hazy from shock. But her instincts didn't fail—she ran.
Her feet hit wet ground. The setting was completely foreign—a city drowned in shadow, flickering lights, and streets torn apart like after a war.
A high-pitched whine shrieked from above—a drone dove toward her, gun charged and ready.
Lina slid sideways against a wall, her hand lifting instinctively.
A burst of light shot from her palm.
The drone exploded.
She stood there, breathing hard, heart hammering. She didn't know how they'd found her so fast. Didn't know why she was separated from Kai.
But deep inside, an old voice echoed:
"Just once—close your eyes."
She whispered back, answering the memory:
"Not again."
And then—she ran.
Not to escape.
To lure.
Because this time, she didn't wait for someone to tell her what to choose.
She would open the next gate herself.
Her lungs burned, legs trembling with every step—but she didn't stop. Couldn't.
Wind tore at her hair as she turned a sharp corner, boots skidding against shattered pavement. Somewhere behind, the sounds of pursuit grew louder—orders barked, metal pounding, the hum of machines locking onto her presence.
But inside her chest… something else pulsed. Not just fear. Not just adrenaline.
Memory.
Of Kai's hand in hers. Of the little girl by the window. Of that choice—ancient and binding.
Tears stung her eyes—not from pain, but from clarity.
She had lost pieces of herself across worlds, but now, for the first time in what felt like lifetimes, she wasn't running away from what she was.
She was running toward it.
And whatever waited on the other side—she'd face it standing.
A flash lit up behind her—gunfire or a warning shot, she didn't know. Didn't care. Her feet pounded harder, the ache in her muscles drowned by the thunder in her heart.
Then—
A wall. Dead end.
She skidded to a halt, breath ragged, eyes darting for another way out. Nothing. Just cracked concrete and the roar of her pursuers closing in.
Her hand curled into a fist.
The power stirred again, raw and untamed. It surged up her spine like fire—but this time, she didn't fight it.
She let it come.
The ground beneath her shuddered. Light—pure, ancient, violent—rippled outward from her skin, and for a split second, time itself seemed to hold its breath.
Her eyes lifted to the dark sky, voice steady even as the storm within her screamed.
"I remember now."
And with that—
She turned to face them.