She woke up choking.
Not on air, on memory.
Hands around her wrists. Cold chains biting into her skin. A voice above her, calm and disappointed.
Why won't you obey?
She bolted upright with a broken gasp.
"Hey."
His voice. Low. Immediate.
She looked around wildly. Night. Fire embers. His cloak around her shoulders. She was shaking so hard her teeth rattled.
He was kneeling in front of her, hands open, not touching her yet.
"You're safe," he said. "I've got you."
She laughed once, sharp, ugly. "Don't lie to me."
Something flickered in his eyes, but he didn't argue.
"Tell me," he said instead. "What did you see?"
She swallowed. Her throat burned.
"Heaven," she said. "Not the sky. Not clouds. A place." Her fingers dug into the cloak. "They weren't fighting me. They were… waiting."
He stayed silent.
"They've always been there," she continued. "Watching. Measuring. Like I was never a person. Just something unfinished."
Her voice cracked.
"They said I was chosen."
His jaw tightened.
"That word again," he said.
"It wasn't a blessing," she whispered. "It was a leash."
The fire popped. Sparks flew. She flinched.
He reached out this time, slow, deliberate, and took her trembling hands in his. His grip was firm, grounding.
"You didn't submit," he said. "That matters."
Her eyes filled. "They said that's why people around me suffer. Because resistance has consequences."
That landed.
He exhaled through his nose, anger barely contained. "They're lying."
She shook her head. "No. They showed me. Every time I loved someone. Every time I tried to choose for myself. Something went wrong."
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "They said you're next."
The silence that followed was heavy. Not dramatic. Just real.
Finally, he said, "Look at me."
She did.
His face was scarred now, fresh burns from lightning, blood crusted along his collarbone. Proof of what standing beside her cost.
"You think I don't know the risk?" he asked quietly. "You think I didn't see Heaven's hand closing around us?"
Her lips trembled.
"Then why are you still here?" she asked.
His answer was immediate.
"Because I chose you."
Her breath stuttered.
"No fate," he continued. "No prophecy. No god told me to stand between you and lightning."
His thumb brushed over her knuckles. "I did."
Tears slipped free. She didn't wipe them away.
"They said you'd break," she whispered. "That mortals always do."
A corner of his mouth lifted. Not a smile. Something harder.
"Then Heaven doesn't know me."
She leaned forward suddenly, forehead pressing into his chest. Not graceful. Not romantic. Just need.
He stiffened for half a heartbeat—then wrapped his arms around her fully.
She felt it then.
His heart. Steady. Furious. Alive.
"If I lose control…" she said into him. "If I hurt you, "
"You won't," he said.
"You don't know that."
"I know this," he replied. "If Heaven wants to use you, they'll have to go through me every time."
She pulled back, searching his face. "That's not protection. That's defiance."
"Yes."
"Defiance gets you killed."
His eyes darkened. "So does obedience."
Something inside her broke open at that.
Not power. Permission. The sky shifted.
The air tightened. He felt it before she did. His body tensed.
"They're here," he said.
Not the gods from before.
Something worse.
The world bent—not violently, but precisely. Light folded inward, forming a narrow corridor in the air.
From it stepped a figure dressed in white and gold. No armor. No weapons.
Just authority.
The Immortal Queen.
She looked almost kind. Almost human.
"My moon," she said gently. "You're hurting yourself."
Her knees weakened.
He stepped in front of her without thinking.
The Queen tilted her head. "You again."
"She doesn't answer to you," he said.
The Queen smiled. "She answers to balance."
Her gaze slid past him, locking onto the girl. "Do you know why you were spared when others weren't?"
The girl shook her head.
"Because you can endure what others can't," the Queen said. "You bend without breaking. That is why Heaven needs you."
"For what?" the girl demanded.
The Queen's smile faded.
"To end a war that will consume realms."
The ground seemed to tilt.
"You want to use me," the girl said hoarsely.
"Yes."
"To kill?"
"To choose," the Queen corrected. "Someone must burn so the rest may survive."
Silence roared.
The Queen looked at the man. "And he is the variable."
The girl's breath caught.
"He is not meant to be here," the Queen continued. "His existence disrupts the thread. If he remains by your side, the future collapses."
The man laughed, short, incredulous. "So this is an ultimatum."
The Queen's eyes were cold now. "It is mercy."
She turned back to the girl. "Stay with him, and Heaven will take him from you."
Her voice softened. "Step away, and he lives."
The words carved into her chest.
She shook her head violently. "No. I won't.."
"You already know the truth," the Queen said. "Your power responds to sacrifice. It always has."
The girl looked at him then.
Really looked.
In the blood. The scars. The way he stood between her and eternity without hesitation.
Her heart shattered.
"Don't," he said softly, seeing the change in her eyes. "Whatever you're thinking, don't."
Her hands fisted in his clothes.
"They're right," she whispered. "Every time I resist… someone pays."
He grabbed her face. "Listen to me."
She was crying openly now.
"I can't lose you," she said. "I can't be the reason you die."
His voice broke for the first time.
"And I can't live in a world where I let them take you."
The Queen raised her hand.
"Choose," she said.
The sky cracked.
The girl closed her eyes, and pushed him away with a surge of silver light.
Not violent.
Final.
His name tore from her throat as he was thrown backward, the ground swallowing him in blinding radiance.
"No!" he roared, reaching for her.
Light consumed him.
When it faded,
He was gone.
The Queen lowered her hand.
Tears streamed down the girl's face as she collapsed to her knees, scream tearing free from her chest.
The Queen looked down at her.
"Good," she said quietly. "Now you're ready."
Far away, in darkness,
The man opened his eyes.
Chains burned into his wrists.
And a voice whispered from the void,
Welcome to Heaven's prison.