The dream didn't end.
It evolved.
Aira walked through the grand obsidian halls of the memory palace, her fingers grazing the carved runes along the wall. They whispered ancient truths to her — not in words, but in impressions, in heat, in shivers. The palace was alive with echoes, both hers and not hers.
Zareth walked behind her silently, letting her lead.
"Where are we?" she asked.
He answered after a pause. "The night before everything changed."
She stopped. "Before what?"
Zareth stepped beside her, his face shadowed. "Before your betrayal."
Her heart thudded. "Mine?"
He didn't flinch. "You chose Eiran. You sealed me."
She couldn't speak for a moment. Her breath came faster. "Why?"
"Because he asked you first. Because he needed saving. Because you believed in his curse more than you believed in my love."
She turned sharply. "I don't remember choosing anyone."
"That's because someone erased the truth."
He stepped forward slowly, his eyes burning.
"But your body remembers. I've seen it in the way you look at me. The way your hand trembles when I touch it."
She backed into a stone pillar, trapped between him and the memory walls.
He didn't touch her.
He didn't need to.
The tension between them pulsed like a heartbeat, hungry and aching.
"I never forgot you," Zareth said, voice rough. "Not for a second. Even after a thousand years."
Aira whispered, "Then why did you wait?"
He leaned close, his lips inches from hers. "Because the world told me you were dead."
And then, he kissed her.
It wasn't a soft kiss. It was fire, centuries repressed, teeth and lips and gasps. Her hands slid into his hair instinctively, anchoring herself as the memory palace spun around them. Her back hit the wall and his body pressed into hers, solid, warm, desperate. His mouth devoured her, and she let it.
Because she remembered.
She remembered what it felt like to be loved without hesitation.
His hands gripped her waist, slid up her back, pulling her tighter, deeper. His mouth trailed to her throat, where he bit gently, and she arched with a cry. It wasn't just lust — it was grief, reunion, hunger for time stolen.
But then—
A blast of pain hit her chest.
Aira gasped and shoved him away, stumbling back. The memory rippled violently. Walls cracked. Torches flickered.
She fell to her knees, clutching her ribs.
Zareth rushed forward. "What's happening?"
"The seal," she breathed. "It's breaking."
He reached for her, but she pushed him back.
"If I stay here… I'll never wake up."
Zareth's jaw clenched. "Then don't. Let it happen. Be Lirien again. Be mine again."
Her heart cracked.
"I'm not just Lirien anymore. I'm Aira too."
And with the last of her strength, she slammed her palm into the floor, invoking the recall rune Kael had etched onto her skin before she entered.
The world screamed.
And the memory shattered.
---
She awoke on the stone floor of the chamber near the well, gasping, sweat-drenched, throat raw.
Kael was there instantly, holding her, shaking. "Aira! Gods, I thought— You weren't responding. You were gone too long."
She buried her face in his chest. "It nearly pulled me in."
"Zareth?"
She didn't answer. Not right away.
When she did, her voice was ragged. "I remembered… everything. The betrayal. The love. The choice."
Kael stiffened. "And?"
"I chose Eiran because he was cursed. Because he needed to be stopped before he destroyed everything. But I loved Zareth. I loved him fiercely. I never told anyone. Not even Eiran."
Kael's heart sank, but he didn't let her go.
"You still love him now?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know." She pulled back to look into his eyes. "But I know I love you."
He kissed her before she could say more. This kiss wasn't desperate like Zareth's. It was steady, full of pain and promise. His hands slid to her hips, grounding her. Her fingers clutched his tunic, trying to hold on to the one thing that felt real.
"I'm here," he whispered into her lips. "And I won't stop being here. Even if the past comes for you with fire and fury."
She kissed him again, fiercely, anchoring herself to his mouth, his hands, his scent.
When they finally parted, Kael rested his forehead against hers.
"We need to finish this," he said. "Seal the veil before it consumes everything."
Aira nodded. "Then we need to find Eiran. All of him."
"Even the part that's still cursed?"
"Especially that part."
---
In the temple archives, Sareth looked up from a burning scroll.
"I was hoping you'd come to this conclusion."
Kael frowned. "What do you mean?"
Sareth turned the scroll around. On it was a sigil — the Eye of Eiran, but fractured into three.
"Eiran's curse wasn't just a punishment," Sareth said. "It was a division. His soul was broken. The noble part, the wrathful part… and something else."
Aira's blood turned cold. "There's a third part?"
Sareth nodded grimly. "The piece that chose darkness willingly. The part that seduced death."
"And if we find it?"
Sareth stared at her. "You'll face the true price of what it means to bring back a man who once begged to be destroyed."
Kael looked to Aira. "Still want to go through with this?"
She swallowed hard.
"Yes."
Because the truth was, she had to know.
Had she saved a man worth saving?
Or was she risking all their lives for a love cursed from the beginning?