Theme: Confrontation, Temptation, and the Cost of Power
The void was endless. Not darkness, not light something in between. A limbo made from forgotten oaths and twisted hopes.
Vivi hovered there, her feet not touching anything solid. Her skin glowed faintly, veins pulsing gold like threads of a dying star. She didn't know if she was dreaming… or burning alive from the inside out.
Then she heard the voice again.
"So beautiful," Viper said, stepping from nothingness as if the shadows parted just for him. "And yet so cursed. Just like your mother."
Vivi turned slowly. She didn't flinch. "You're the one she made a deal with."
He smiled. "Oh, many deals, little flame. Some for protection. Others for power. But all of them led here. To you."
She stared at him. His eyes shimmered like oil — never still, never warm. "Why are you here?"
"To offer you a choice."
Viper raised one hand. The space around them changed — fire turned to a memory. The royal gardens. Vivi as a child, laughing, running barefoot. Her mother watching from the balcony, tears in her eyes. A moment from a life that never truly belonged to her.
"You want to protect this world," Viper said softly, stepping beside her. "But what has it done for you? For your mother? For Haken?"
"You don't know me," Vivi whispered, watching the memory dissolve.
"I know your blood," he said. "I know the fire in it. The Gate has marked you. You've already started changing."
She clenched her fists. "I won't let it turn me into a monster."
"But it already is," he said, smiling again. "The people will fear you. Haken may try to love you — but one day, even he will look at you and see what you've become."
She turned away. "You're lying."
"I'm not," he said, suddenly behind her. His voice coiled around her like smoke. "But I can help you control it. No more breaking. No more burning. No more fear. Just power."
He held out a hand.
"No chains," he said. "Just understanding."
Meanwhile…
Haken stepped into the ruins of the Temple of the Four Moons.
The air was thick with forgotten magic. He had followed her scent — not her physical one, but her soulprint — deeper than the forest, past mortal realms.
He placed his hand on the altar. Shadows surged.
A whisper echoed in his head.
She is not alone. But she is surrounded.
"Hold on, Vivi," he growled. "I'm coming."