Chapter 12: Shadows of the Past

The stars shimmered dimly overhead, indifferent to what had transpired below. In the aftermath of the envoy's descent and the brutal battle that followed, the world remained frozen, eerily still. Time, once suspended by the will of a higher being, resumed its flow only after the envoy had been banished, her form dissolved into motes of darkness that scattered like ash in a gust of wind.

Aria stood at the edge of the hill, breathing heavily, her blackened coat torn, blood clinging to the edges of her sleeves like a fading memory. She had won. She had survived. But the price had been steep.

Ren lay a few feet behind her, gazing up at the night sky with unreadable eyes. He hadn't said much since the envoy's defeat. He hadn't needed to. The shock still clung to the air like smoke.

Aria turned her eyes to him, her thoughts sharpened by fatigue and confusion. The envoy's words echoed in her mind.

"You are the anomaly. You do not belong."

Aria had heard those words before—in dreams, in fleeting whispers that vanished before she could understand them. But never so clearly.

And then there was the title the envoy had used: Envoy of the Unseen.

She had assumed, of course, that the Unseen referred to the Entity—the great, incomprehensible being that hovered just beyond the veil of reality. The source of her curse. The source of her power.

But if that was true, then why did the envoy attack Ren? Why did she see him as a threat?

"You're too quiet," Ren finally spoke, breaking her reverie.

Aria's gaze slid back to him. "And you're still breathing."

He smirked faintly. "Thanks to you."

She turned away, unable to answer that. She didn't do it for him. Not really. She just hated interference. And he was hers. A rare variable in a world of equations she'd solved too many times.

Ren sat up slowly, the bruises still fresh on his skin. "What do you think she meant? The envoy."

"It doesn't matter," Aria said coldly. "She was weak. She lost."

Ren raised a brow. "She had more mana than you. You almost died."

A flicker of irritation sparked in her eyes. "But I didn't."

He studied her for a moment, his expression unreadable. "You protected me. Again."

Aria met his gaze, her voice sharp. "You're an anomaly. That makes you mine to control. No one else gets to erase you until I say so."

Ren smiled faintly. "Right. I'm your favorite toy."

She hated how accurate that sounded.

Aria turned from him, walking back toward the ridge where the night's cold wind blew harder. Her mana had stabilized. The surge from the last torture—one hundred thousand souls trapped and tormented in the Black Cage—had been enough to hold off the backlash. For now.

But she needed more.

She always needed more.

The power had begun to grow unstable. The Entity—the Unseen, she reminded herself—had given her this curse. It demanded pain, endless pain, in order to function. And when she failed to provide it, her own body turned against her, burning with internal fire.

She gritted her teeth, feeling the embers of that pain even now.

She had enough for now. But only just.

"You're going to do it again, aren't you?" Ren asked, slowly rising to his feet. "Another mass torture."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because if I don't, I die."

He nodded solemnly, but then asked something else. "Why me? Why do you keep me around?"

Aria didn't respond at first. She stared ahead, her voice finally emerging in a whisper. "You're a deviation. Something different. You don't feel pain, and yet you haven't broken. That makes you... interesting."

"Or dangerous?"

She turned back to him, her eyes gleaming in the dark. "Maybe both. But until I understand what you are, you're mine. And no envoy, no unseen force, is going to take you."

A silence settled between them, heavy and unspoken. Then Ren looked out at the horizon. "You think she'll come back?"

Aria narrowed her eyes. "They always come back."

She raised her hand, summoning the beginnings of a new dimensional rift. It shimmered faintly in the air, the threads of reality unraveling under her command.

"Where are we going?" Ren asked.

"To build another cage," Aria replied. "And fill it. I need more mana. And next time the envoy shows her face, she won't leave in pieces."

And with that, they stepped into the dark.