The earth quivered.
Far beneath Forks, in a fissure no mortal eye had seen, something stirred. An ancient breath—sour, bitter, primordial—escaped into the bedrock, sending a low-frequency vibration across the ley lines.
The creature known only in dead tongues as Nyxothar had awoken.
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In the Cullen estate, Raiko stood on the balcony, arms crossed, electricity trailing from her fingertips like restless serpents.
"I felt it," she murmured. "The first pulse."
Alice joined her, her golden eyes scanning the distant woods. "The anomaly in the rift is collapsing. It's bleeding into this reality."
Rosalie came behind them, wrapping her arms around Raiko's waist. "How long do we have?"
Raiko's gaze hardened. "A week, maybe two. Then Nyxothar becomes corporeal."
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At the reservation, Jacob and the elders chanted under the moonlight. The artifact dagger now rested in the center of a chalk-drawn sigil, glowing faintly with thunder-energy.
"Raiko's power binds it," Jacob said. "But we must awaken our ancestors' spirits. Their knowledge of this Devourer is all we have."
From the mist, ghostly silhouettes began to form — translucent wolves, spectral warriors, and a cloaked matriarch who spoke no words but burned her knowledge into Jacob's mind.
He staggered.
And he remembered.
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In Raiko's dreams, she stood in a plane of shifting amethyst clouds, lightning veining the sky like fractals. The memory-ghost of Ei — Raiden Shogun's original self — appeared before her.
"You carry my power," Ei said. "But your soul is your own. If Nyxothar consumes this world, it won't stop. It will devour Teyvat. Then Celestia. Then beyond."
Raiko bowed her head. "Then I'll be the lightning that never yields."
Ei smiled. "Then accept the final gift."
Raiko's body surged with violet flame. An omega seal of eternity carved itself across her back — seven concentric circles containing lightning kanji.
When she awoke, she could feel time.
And she could bend it.
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The Cullens watched as Raiko demonstrated her new ability.
She stopped a falling droplet of rain.
Held it mid-air.
And shattered it into light.
Carlisle was the first to speak. "You're beyond vampire. Beyond elemental. You're something else."
Raiko turned, her hair flowing like a sentient galaxy.
"I'm a singularity."
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Later that night, Raiko, Alice, and Rosalie lay together in bed, hearts syncing through their soul-bond.
Alice rested her hand on Raiko's cheek. "Do you think we'll survive this?"
Raiko nodded. "Survive? Yes."
Rosalie smirked. "Thrive? Absolutely."
They kissed as thunder rolled overhead, echoing the heartbeat of the storm goddess reborn.
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In the hollow earth, Nyxothar uncoiled one of its many void-tendrils.
And it touched the dream of a sleeping Volturi guard.
Their eyes shot open, blood blackened.
The corruption had begun.