The Abyss trembled.
Not with sound, not with motion—but with will.
Seraphine stood at the edge of eternity, suspended between life and death, motherhood and monstrosity. Before her, Aeloria watched with eyes that held galaxies, her expression unreadable.
The air was thick with silence.
Heavy with finality.
Seraphine's body ached—not just from the physical strain of carrying something ancient inside her womb, but from the weight of what she now understood.
Aeloria had never been a child.
She had never been meant to be born.
She was summoned.
Bound.
Fed by fear, desire, desperation.
And now, she was ready.
"It's time," Aeloria whispered.
"Make your choice."
Seraphine swallowed hard.
"I don't want to choose."
Aeloria tilted her head.
"Then I will choose for you."
Seraphine clenched her fists.
"No."
"I will decide."
Aeloria smiled faintly.
"Good."
***
The space around them shifted.
They were no longer in the Abyss.
They stood in the Palace of Eternal Night—its obsidian towers reaching toward a sky stained black with stars that pulsed like dying hearts.
Before them lay three doors.
One made of bone.
One made of fire.
One made of light.
Aeloria gestured toward them.
"Each door leads to a different fate."
"Choose wisely."
Seraphine stepped forward slowly, her heart pounding.
"What do they mean?"
Aeloria pointed.
"The first is destruction."
"The second is birth."
"The third is transformation."
Seraphine's breath caught.
"Transformation into what?"
Aeloria met her gaze.
"Something new."
"Neither mother nor daughter."
"But both. Forever."
Seraphine turned back to the doors.
Behind the bone door, she heard whispers—echoes of unborn children, pleading to be forgotten.
Behind the fire door, she felt heat, pain, and release. A promise of freedom—for both of them.
Behind the light door…
Silence.
Peace.
And something deeper.
Something older.
Something waiting.
***
Memories surfaced unbidden.
Kael's voice, steady and resolute.
"I won't fail you."
Lady Nyxara's hands, tracing protective wards into the earth.
The Wombstone's pulse beneath her fingertips.
The Heart of the First Vampire's slow, rhythmic glow.
And above all—
Her own voice, whispering in the dark.
"I wanted a daughter."
Now, she had one.
Just not the kind she had dreamed of.
Seraphine turned to Aeloria.
"You said I gave you life."
Aeloria nodded.
"You did."
Seraphine took a step closer.
"Then why does it feel like I've lost everything?"
Aeloria studied her carefully.
"Because love is a prison."
"And you built mine yourself."
Seraphine closed her eyes.
Tears streaked her face.
"I didn't know."
Aeloria reached out, brushing a hand through Seraphine's hair.
"You still don't."
She leaned in close.
"But you will."
***
Seraphine approached the doors again.
Bone.
Fire.
Light.
She placed a trembling hand on the handle of the bone door.
Inside, she saw visions.
Her body lying broken, hollowed out, her blood soaking into the stone floor.
Nyxara kneeling beside her, weeping.
The Crimson Council standing victorious.
And Aeloria stepping free from her chest like a flower blooming from rot.
Seraphine pulled her hand away.
That door led to death.
For both of them.
She moved to the fire door next.
This time, she saw the world burning.
Virelle reduced to ash.
The Blood Forest screaming as its roots twisted into agony.
And Aeloria standing atop a throne of skulls, smiling as the world bent to her will.
Seraphine gasped.
"She would destroy everything."
Aeloria's voice came softly.
"Only what stands in my way."
Seraphine turned sharply.
"You're not just taking my life. You're taking the world."
Aeloria tilted her head.
"You gave me hunger."
"What else would I do with it?"
Seraphine's hands trembled.
"There has to be another way."
Aeloria's smile faded.
"There isn't."
Seraphine looked toward the last door.
The one made of light.
She opened it.
***
The world changed.
No palace.
No throne.
No battlefield.
Only endless white.
Seraphine stood alone in the void, surrounded by echoes of voices too distant to understand.
Aeloria appeared beside her.
"This door leads to fusion."
"To becoming something neither alive nor dead."
Seraphine frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Aeloria stepped forward.
"We remain together."
"Always."
"You will not die."
"I will not be born."
"We will simply… exist."
Seraphine stared at her.
"You mean I'll carry you forever?"
Aeloria nodded.
"Yes."
"Bound in flesh and spirit."
"Queen and Devourer."
"Mother and Child."
Seraphine's voice broke.
"But I'll never be free."
Aeloria studied her.
"Freedom is an illusion."
"Power is real."
"Immortality is real."
"Love is real."
"Even if it hurts."
Seraphine turned away.
"I wanted to raise you."
Aeloria's voice softened.
"You did."
"In your own way."
Seraphine closed her eyes.
"I wanted to teach you how to love."
Aeloria stepped closer.
"You taught me how to hunger."
Seraphine's breath hitched.
"That's not what I meant."
Aeloria touched her shoulder gently.
"But it's what I needed."
Seraphine turned to her.
"I can't let you destroy the world."
Aeloria tilted her head.
"Then don't fight me."
"Join me."
Seraphine's lips parted slightly.
"You want me to rule with you?"
Aeloria smiled.
"Rule?"
"No."
"I want you to become ."
Seraphine swallowed hard.
"And if I say no?"
Aeloria's expression remained calm.
"Then you die."
"And I rise."
Seraphine's knees nearly buckled.
"This isn't fair."
Aeloria's smile widened.
"Life wasn't fair."
"Why should death be any different?"
***
Back in the waking world, Lady Nyxara watched Seraphine's unconscious form with growing dread.
The queen's veins glowed faintly red beneath her skin.
Her breathing was shallow.
The Wombstone pulsed weakly beside her, drained of power after the failed attempt to seal Aeloria.
The Heart of the First Vampire thrummed in warning.
Nyxara whispered under her breath.
"Please, Seraphine. Choose wisely."
From within Seraphine's womb came no voice.
No laughter.
No lullaby.
Only silence.
Waiting.
Watching.
Deciding.
***
In the light realm, Seraphine looked down at her hands.
They shimmered faintly, as if she were dissolving into mist.
She turned to Aeloria.
"If I choose this path…"
Aeloria nodded.
"We will be one."
"Forever."
Seraphine swallowed.
"And the world?"
Aeloria smiled.
"Will change."
"As it always does."
Seraphine exhaled shakily.
"And if I refuse?"
Aeloria tilted her head.
"Then I will be born."
"And you will die."
"And the world will burn."
Seraphine's heart pounded.
She thought of Kael.
Of Nyxara.
Of the people of Necrosia.
Of the kingdom she had ruled.
Of the life she had tried to protect.
She thought of the girl who could have been.
The daughter who laughed in sunlight.
The child who called her Mother without malice.
And then she made her choice.
***
Aeloria watched her closely.
"Tell me."
"Which door?"
Seraphine lifted her chin.
"I choose the light."
Aeloria's eyes gleamed.
"Are you sure?"
Seraphine closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Aeloria stepped forward.
"Then come."
"Let us become what we were always meant to be."
She extended her hand.
Seraphine hesitated only a moment before placing hers in it.
The light exploded outward.
Filling the void.
Consuming everything.