"The 'original' Seraphine was a shadow," Alex said, and for the first time, I heard a trace of bitterness in his Titan voice. "She was a puppet of a script that didn't care for her. You? You are the one who gave me back my mind. You are the one who looked at a 'monster' and saw a man worth saving."
He lowered his head until we were almost eye-level. "The world calls you Seraphine. The Gods call you Ehra. To me... you are the light that pierced the Agro territory. I do not care which name you claim. I follow the spirit, not the title."
I felt a fresh wave of tears prickling my eyes. "It's a lot of pressure, Alex. This dungeon, the Under Realm, the Supreme God wanting pizza... I feel like I'm making it up as I go. If I mess up the 'ending,' everyone I love dies. Again."
"Then we will change the ending," he stated with a finality that made the earth tremble. "You are a 'novel addict,' are you not? You know the tropes. You know how the heroes fall."
