Amariel's eyes—burning sapphires despite the stillness of her body—pierced through Amina's soul.
"You're too late," she repeated, her voice both distant and alive, echoing like a memory burned into time.
The flames around the throne dimmed.
Kai stepped forward. "But… you're dead."
"I was," Amariel answered, her voice not from her lips but from the very mountain itself. "But death is not the end for those who once held the Flame."
Amina's heart pounded. The woman on the throne was everything she feared—and everything she had become.
Valec's jaw clenched. "If this is some trick, say it now."
Amariel's lips curled faintly. "I am no illusion, Valec. I am the first fire. And I made you."
His breath caught.
"What?" Amina asked, voice a trembling whisper.
"I forged Valec from the remnants of a war that should never have begun. I bound his soul to the last flicker of rebellion so that I might return—through him."
Valec's flames flared in wild confusion. "You lied to me."
"I gave you purpose," Amariel replied. "You were broken. You begged for meaning. I gave you my fire… my pain… and my vengeance."
"But I was just a boy."
"And I was just a god," Amariel snapped, her tone cracking like thunder. "And even gods die when no one remembers them."
---
Truths Unveiled
Kai shook his head. "So all of this—the seals, the trials, the awakening—you orchestrated it?"
"I planted the seeds," Amariel said. "But you watered them with your choices."
Amina's fingers trembled. "Then what do you want now?"
"To finish what I began," Amariel replied. "To burn the Celestials who turned their backs. To raze the order that caged me. And to ascend again… through you."
"No," Amina said, voice cold. "You chose wrath. I won't."
Amariel's head tilted. "Then you'll die in denial."
The sky cracked open. From the void, dozens of fiery figures descended—Amariel's lost legion, reborn in flame.
Kai's blade sang free.
Valec stepped between Amina and the throne. "I don't know who I am anymore… but I know what I won't be. Your weapon."
Amariel's body twitched.
And then, she stood.
Flesh rotted, but eyes immortal.
"You were never meant to choose," she hissed.
Amina gritted her teeth. "Then I'll rewrite fate."
---
The Battle Begins
The flames erupted. Amariel's legion screamed into the skies.
The arena shook as the Celestials began to fall back—watching, no longer judging.
Kai charged, spinning like a comet of light.
Valec launched upward, crashing into the legion like a tidal wave of blue inferno.
And Amina?
She drew no blade.
She closed her eyes—and let the flame within rise.
---
Far Below
In the ancient ruins below the mountain, a chamber lit up—one no one had touched for thousands of years.
A stone figure opened its eyes.
A voice boomed softly:
> "The end has come. But so has the choice."
Chains shattered.
Something older than Amariel stirred.