The skies above Forks had changed.
After the collapse of the Chronos Labyrinth, time no longer weaved its magic quietly in the background. Birds resumed flight, the winds returned to their unpredictable rhythm, and the forest resumed breathing. But with time's return… came echoes.
Echoes that awakened ancient forces.
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Volterra, Italy
Deep beneath the marble bastion of the Volturi, within the catacombs carved from centuries of secrecy, Aro stared into a black basin. The reflection shimmered unnaturally—like the surface of time had cracked.
Beside him stood Marcus and Caius, their crimson eyes smoldering like forgotten lanterns.
"Do you feel it?" Aro murmured, voice barely audible.
Caius growled. "The Labyrinth is no more. The protections around her… have shattered."
Marcus closed his eyes. "Time can no longer hide her. Raiko walks exposed."
Aro turned, the folds of his cloak whispering against stone. "She is a danger to our dominion. A goddess unbound."
Jane's eyes glittered dangerously in the shadows. Alec stood beside her, his tendrils of black mist restless.
Aro's voice deepened, his smile more predatory than ever.
"She must be destroyed—before her thunder silences the old world."
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Cullen Mansion – Forks, Washington
Raiko sat at the Cullen mansion's grand piano, her fingers ghosting over the keys. She didn't play. Instead, she listened—to the wind, to the silence, to the tension in the air.
Alice entered quietly, her dark hair dripping from a recent shower. She wore a silk robe, her energy soft but focused.
"You're thinking too loudly again," she said teasingly.
Raiko didn't look away from the keys. "There's something wrong with the silence. It's like the world is waiting to exhale."
"You're not imagining it," said Rosalie, appearing in the doorway. She walked to Raiko, sitting beside her and resting a gentle hand on her thigh. "Emmett's hunting trip was interrupted. By Volturi scouts."
Raiko turned sharply. "Where?"
"Near Olympic Ridge. They didn't engage. Just watched."
Alice frowned. "My visions are fragmented again. Like someone's jamming them. I saw Alec… Jane… and someone cloaked in red."
Raiko's expression darkened. "They're not just watching. They're preparing."
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A Stranger Appears
That evening, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, a rustle outside the Cullen estate stirred the air. Raiko, already on alert, rose from the piano before the first knock echoed.
A tall figure in a crimson cloak stepped from the mist. Her hair was long, black as a raven's wing, her eyes shimmering silver like a mirror to the soul.
The Cullen family gathered in defensive formation, but Raiko stepped forward. "Hold. She's not Volturi."
The stranger bowed. "I am Velina. I bring knowledge... and prophecy."
Inside the Cullen mansion, Velina drank from a glass of glistening springwater. Her voice flowed like liquid wind.
"Aro no longer seeks balance. He seeks conquest. Raiko, he sees you not as threat, but as rival godhood."
Rosalie's jaw clenched. "Let him come. He'll regret it."
"He plans to awaken the Crimson Eyes," Velina whispered.
Gasps.
Even Carlisle looked stunned. "The ancient ones? The vampires older than Volturi law?"
Velina nodded solemnly. "The Crimson Eyes are monsters, sealed long ago. Aro will awaken them and send them… here."
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A Call to Arms
Raiko stood in the forest behind the Cullen estate, her hair glowing faintly in the twilight, power humming from her fingertips.
"We can't win this alone."
Messages were sent across the world. To Denali. To Zafrina. To the Amazon coven. To the Romanian remnants. Even to the wolves.
Jacob arrived first, grinning as he leapt from the back of a howling wolf. "I've been waiting for the real war."
Raiko smiled, a rare flicker of amusement. "Welcome to it, Alpha Black."
Allies poured in. The Cullen grounds turned into a sacred battlefield in preparation—wards etched into soil, magical sigils protecting thresholds. Vampires trained alongside wolves. Crystals hummed. Thunder clouds gathered.
Alice, Rosalie, and Raiko stood atop the hill where they first watched Forks light up under lightning's touch.
"If anything happens to me—" Raiko began.
Rosalie pressed a finger to her lips. "Don't."
"I mean it."
Alice took her hand. "We're with you. If you burn, we burn too."
Rosalie's lips brushed Raiko's cheek. "Together."
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The Crimson Arrival
Two nights later, the sky bled.
A storm brewed without wind. The clouds turned red—then black. Thunder boomed like a war horn.
Figures fell from the heavens.
Dozens—perhaps more. Shrouded in mist. Eyes glowing like molten rubies. Ancient. Hungry.
Raiko stood at the edge of the Cullen barrier, sword in hand, the glow of her energy-pool casting violet shadows through the trees.
"They're here," she said softly.
The Crimson Eyes struck.
The battle exploded. Wolves lunged. Vampires dashed in streams of light. Electricity, fire, shadow—every force met in chaos.
Raiko fought like a living tempest.
She cleaved through the first monster with her blade, her power lashing out like a dragon's roar. Time twisted around her, but the old monsters couldn't match her lightning-born precision.
Alice spun beside her, eyes glowing. Rosalie smashed through two vampires with raw strength. They moved in perfect synchrony, a triad of divine force.
But then—
A voice thundered:
"ENOUGH."
Everything stopped. Time stuttered. Lightning froze midair. Wolves stopped mid-leap. Even Raiko faltered.
And through the burning mist emerged Aro.
His eyes were crimson storms. His cloak dragged the souls of the damned. Behind him floated a coffin wrapped in chains so dark they shimmered.
"You have danced long enough," Aro said, smiling like death. "But this symphony ends tonight."