Sera's POV
Your divinity is returning. That shouldn't be possible.
Lyric's words echo in my head all night. I don't sleep. Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see my reflection silver light bleeding into my irises like spilled mercury.
The voice whispers constantly now: Let me out. Let me show you what we really are.
I ignore it. I have to.
Dawn comes. I'm sitting by the remains of the cabin when Caspian finds me.
You should be resting, he says quietly.
Can't. I show him my hands. They're glowing faintly, even though I'm not trying to use my power. It's getting stronger. I can feel it building inside me like pressure. Like I'm going to explode if I don't let it out.
Caspian kneels beside me. His face is drawn, exhausted. He looks worse than yesterday. Then we train. Now. Before you lose control.
Lyric appears from the forest, somehow looking fresh despite sleeping on the ground. Morning, sunshine! Ready to learn how to be a goddess?
I don't want to be a goddess, I say. I just want to control this so I don't accidentally kill someone.
Same thing, Lyric says cheerfully. Come on. Let's see what you can do.
We walk to a clearing far from any trees. Lyric draws a circle in the dirt around me. This is a containment circle. If your power gets out of control, it'll absorb the excess energy. Probably.
Probably? I repeat nervously.
Ninety percent sure. Lyric grins. Maybe eighty-five.
Caspian glares at her. If she gets hurt
She won't, Lyric interrupts. I did this for her two hundred years ago. I know what I'm doing. Trust me.
They stare at each other. Finally, Caspian nods and steps back.
Lyric turns to me. Okay. Lesson one: your power is connected to light. Specifically, dawn light. The moment the sun rises and darkness becomes day. That's your domain. Your specialty. Your whole thing.
How do I use it? I ask.
Feel it first, Lyric says. Close your eyes. Tell me what you sense.
I close my eyes. Immediately, I feel the power humming under my skin. It's warm and bright and eager, like a dog waiting to run.
It's there, I whisper. In my chest. Like sunshine trapped inside me.
Good. Now don't force it. Don't grab it. Just... ask nicely. Let it flow.
I reach for the power gently. Like dipping my fingers into warm water.
Light blooms around my hands.
I open my eyes and gasp. Soft golden light is radiating from my palms, warm and gentle. It doesn't hurt. It feels like coming home.
Perfect! Lyric claps. Now make it brighter.
I push a little more power into my hands. The light grows
and explodes.
A blast of pure white light erupts from me. Caspian throws up a shield just in time. The light hits it and scatters like fireworks.
I fall to my knees, gasping. Sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean
Stop apologizing, Lyric says firmly. That's normal. You're learning. Again.
For the next three hours, we practice. Over and over. I create light, lose control, and destroy the shield. Caspian rebuilds it. We start again.
Slowly, painfully, I get better. I learn to hold the light steady. To make small orbs that float above my palm. To dim them and brighten them without exploding.
You're doing great, Caspian says during a break. He's sweating from the effort of maintaining the shields, but he's smiling. Really great.
I destroyed your shield seventeen times, I point out.
And you rebuilt the orb eighteen times. Progress. He hands me water. Our fingers touch, and I feel a spark not magic, just connection.
I look at him really look at him. The dark circles under his eyes. The way he holds his side like his ribs hurt. The slight tremor in his hands.
You're in pain, I say quietly.
I'm fine.
Liar. I catch his wrist gently. Up close, I can see how pale he is. How thin. This is killing you faster now, isn't it? Being around me while I use power?
Caspian tries to pull away, but I don't let him.
Answer me, I demand.
He sighs. Yes. The more power you use, the harder it is to maintain the hiding spells. Even though they failed, my body is still trying to cast them. It's... draining.
Then stop, I beg. Stop the spells. Let them go.
If I do that, every god within a thousand miles will know exactly where you are.
They already know! Azrael found us!
He found us through dream-walking, Caspian corrects. Not divine tracking. If I drop the spells completely, they'll swarm us in hours.
But you'll live, I say desperately.
Caspian touches my face with his shaking hand. What's the point of living if you're gone?
The words break something in my chest. Before I can respond, Lyric interrupts.
As touching as this is, we need to keep training. Time's running out.
She's right. I can feel it something building in the distance. Something coming closer.
I stand and face Lyric. What's next?
Creation, Lyric says. You're not just about destruction. You create. You bring light to darkness, hope to despair, and life to dead things. Show me.
How? I ask helplessly.
Lyric points at a dead flower by my feet. Make it bloom.
I stare at the withered plant. I don't know how.
Yes, you do, Lyric insists. You've done it a million times. Your body remembers even if your mind doesn't. Just feel the life in it and... Ask it to grow.
I kneel beside the dead flower. Touch its dried petals. Close my eyes.
At first, nothing happens. Then I feel it a tiny spark of life still buried in the roots. Waiting. Hoping.
I pour light into it. Gently. Carefully.
The flower trembles. Green spreads up the stem. Petals unfurl, pink and perfect and alive.
I open my eyes and laugh. I did it!
You did it, Caspian echoes, and when I look at him, there are tears in his eyes.
Why are you crying? I ask.
Because that's what you did, he says softly. Before everything went wrong. You brought life and beauty to the world. You made people happy. Watching you do it again... it's like seeing you come back to life.
Our eyes lock. Something passes between us understanding, maybe, or the beginning of something deeper.
Lyric clears her throat loudly. Okay, lovebirds. One more exercise. The big one.
What big one? I ask nervously.
Create a sunrise, Lyric says. A real one. Just a small one. In your palm.
That's impossible, I protest.
You're the Goddess of Dawn, Lyric says. Creating sunrises is literally your job. Show me.
I look at Caspian. He nods encouragement.
I take a deep breath and cup my hands together. I think about sunrise the way darkness becomes light, the hope of a new day, the promise that no matter how dark the night, morning always comes.
Light gathers between my palms. But this time it's different. Not just white light, but colors pink and gold and orange and purple, all swirling together.
The light takes shape. Becomes a tiny, perfect sunrise spinning slowly above my hands.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever created.
Perfect, Lyric breathes.
I look up at Caspian and see tears streaming down his face.
You remember, he whispers. Part of you remembers.
The tiny sunrise glows brighter, and I feel something shift inside me. A door opening. Memories flooding back
Standing on clouds, painting the real sky, feeling joy and power and purpose
Konstantin's face, laughing as I created a private sunrise just for him
Azrael's rage when I refused to create darkness for his wars
The memories hit too hard, too fast. The sunrise in my hands explodes.
But this time, the explosion doesn't scatter. It condenses. Transforms.
Into a person.
A woman made of pure light stands in front of me. She looks exactly like me, but older. Wiser. Wearing a crown of sunlight.
Hello, Seraphine, she says in my voice. I've been waiting for you to remember me.
Caspian and Lyric stare in shock.
What... I whisper. What are you?
The woman smiles. I'm you. The real you. The goddess you used to be. I've been trapped inside you for two hundred years, waiting for you to become strong enough to let me out.
The voice in my head suddenly makes sense. It wasn't some evil force. It was me. My divine self, locked away, trying to communicate.
I don't understand, I say.
The gods didn't strip your divinity, the woman explains. They couldn't. You're too powerful. Instead, they locked it away inside you, hoping you'd never find the key. But you did. You fell in love. You felt hope. You created light. And now I can finally emerge.
She steps closer. We can be whole again, Seraphine. Divine and mortal together. Powerful beyond imagination. All you have to do is accept me.
She reaches out her hand.
I look at Caspian. He's pale, shaking. Don't, he whispers. Sera, if you merge with your divine self, you might lose everything that makes you human. You might forget me. Forget this life.
Or, the goddess-me says, you might finally become who you were always meant to be. Powerful enough to protect the people you love. Strong enough to defeat Azrael. Free enough to choose your own destiny.
Lyric's eyes are wide. This is unprecedented. I've never seen a divine self-separate like this.
Take my hand, the goddess urges. Let's be complete.
Behind her, the sky darkens. Storm clouds gather from nowhere.
And in those clouds, I see faces. Divine faces. Watching. Waiting.
They know what's happening. They're coming.
I have seconds to decide: Stay human and weak, or merge with my divine self and risk losing everything I'm starting to remember about being mortal.
The goddess smiles. Choose quickly, my dear. They're already here.
Lightning strikes the ground twenty feet away.
Azrael steps through the smoke, and this time, he's brought an army.