Scene 1: Evening by the Fireplace
The fire whispered across the old brick hearth of the Andrews sitting room. Tiffany sat curled in an armchair with a wool blanket, while Jeremiah leaned against the back of the couch, mug in hand. Across from them, Ezra Andrews stared long into the flames, lost in a time long past.
"It's time you knew who she truly was," he began, "and what we had—your mother and I. Before everything shattered."
The room seemed to quiet, as if even the air leaned in to listen.
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Scene 2: Love in the Time of War
> Thirty years ago…
Ezra was a young Earthborn commander—confident, reckless, bleeding from his third skirmish in two days—when he first saw Aurora Hallow. She walked through the Peace Accord summit like a ripple of calm in a storm, clad in blue ceremonial robes, eyes sharp with wisdom far beyond her years.
"She put me in my place within five minutes," Ezra chuckled. "Called me a warmonger with more brawn than brains."
But something between them ignited.
Over secret meetings near waterfalls, twilight sparring beneath the moons, and shared laughter amid political chaos, they fell into a dangerous love. Her command over water rivaled his control of earth, and together, they were elemental harmony.
"She believed peace was possible," Ezra said, voice thick. "And with her, I did too."
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Scene 3: The Fall and Separation
But the world did not forgive cross-faction love.
Aurora's clan came under threat from within—accused of harboring traitors. When Ezra refused to betray her location, he was branded disloyal. Aurora fled to protect him.
"We planned to meet again," Ezra said. "At the Temple of Echoing Waters. But… it was burned. I thought she died there."
His voice cracked.
"I searched. Gods know I searched. But she vanished… and I lived in that silence for decades."
Tiffany's breath trembled.
"She wasn't lost," she whispered. "She just chose to survive."
Ezra looked at her then—really looked. "You're what she left behind. You're proof of her strength."
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Scene 4: Tiffany's Turning Point
Later that night, unable to sleep, Tiffany wandered into her mother's old room.
Dust clung to the corners, but the scent of lavender still lingered. There, tucked in a wooden chest beneath the window, was a leather-bound journal. Aurora's.
The first page read:
> "To the child I may never know—
If you're reading this, then the river carried my voice to you after all…"
Tiffany's hands trembled. She closed the book, hugging it to her chest.
She stood before the window as moonlight flooded in.
"I'll find what's left of her people," she whispered. "If I have her gift… I'll carry her legacy. Not just her sorrow."
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Scene 5: Hearts and Threads
Elsewhere in the estate, Katherine sat with Jeremiah under a canopy of starlight on the upper balcony. She rested her head against his shoulder, her fingers tracing idle lines across his wrist.
"She was brave," Katherine murmured. "Your mom."
Jeremiah nodded. "And so was my dad. I just never saw it before."
"You know," she added, "you're kind of amazing too."
He looked at her, surprised.
"I'm just saying," she shrugged, "Aurora left behind two legacies. One heals. One listens."
He kissed her forehead, smiling.
---
In a quiet wing of the Academy dorms, Marcus sat near Lyra's bedside. She stirred faintly, her body still recovering, but her mind—he could feel it—was awake inside.
She blinked once. "Marcus…?"
His eyes widened. He grabbed her hand. "I'm here."
"I saw you… in a dream."
He smiled faintly. "You're awake now."
Her fingers curled into his. "Don't leave me again."
"I won't."
Their foreheads touched, breath shared. A bond reforged in silence.
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Scene 6: The Obsidian Rising
Deep beneath the Obsidian Citadel, Veronica moved like a shadow through a brutal gauntlet of fire and steel. She shattered a stone pillar with a punch and landed in a crouch, sweat dripping from her brow.
A Seer entered the chamber. "The girl. The waterborn one… her gift has awakened."
Veronica's face hardened.
"Tiffany Andrews," she said. "Daughter of Aurora Hallow. Half Earthborn, half traitor."
"She may carry the Gift of the Depths," the Seer warned. "The prophecy aligns."
Veronica unsheathed a blade of black ice.
"Then we strike soon," she whispered. "Before she realizes who she truly is."
The invasion clock began ticking.