The air was cold. Not the kind that brushed your skin — but the kind that crept into your bones and whispered memories you never lived.
Liana woke to silence. No sound of the storm, no echo of battle — only the stillness of something beyond the mortal world.
Her eyes fluttered open, but instead of marble walls and torchlight, she found herself standing in a sea of mist. Shadows drifted around her feet like ghosts lost between dreams.
"Where… am I?" she whispered.
Her voice didn't echo. It vanished, swallowed by the endless fog.
Then, she heard it — a faint hum, soft but sharp, like glass vibrating. The air shimmered, and before her appeared a mirror — cracked, ancient, and pulsing with faint light.
In its reflection, she didn't see herself.
She saw Amara.
The girl in the mirror wore the same face, but her eyes were hollow, rimmed with gold. Chains wrapped around her wrists, bleeding light instead of blood.
Amara smiled.
"You finally came back."
Liana's breath caught. "You're… me."
"I was you." The reflection's voice was calm, melodic — terrifyingly tender. "But you buried me beneath your fragile life. You ran from me, from us, from what we were meant to be."
"I'm not running," Liana said through trembling lips. "I'm fighting."
"Fighting?" Amara tilted her head, her golden eyes gleaming. "Against destiny? Against him? Against yourself?"
The mist swirled, forming visions — her childhood, her rebirth, Han Jian's hand reaching out, Qing Feng's tearful smile, the Immortal King's cold gaze. All of them collided, overlapping like shards of glass.
Liana pressed her hands over her ears. "Stop—"
But the whisper crawled closer, slipping through her skin.
"You remember the cage, don't you?" Amara's voice sank lower. "The vow you made… the blood that sealed it?"
Liana's heart pounded painfully. Her mind flashed with broken images — a white altar, her knees bleeding, hands trembling as a crown of thorns rested on her head. And a voice whispering, 'For eternity, you are mine.'
The Immortal King's voice.
She gasped, falling to her knees. "No… that wasn't me. That was you!"
Amara's reflection began to crack — yet her smile only grew wider.
"Me? You think you can separate us that easily?"
The mirror shattered. And from its fragments rose black smoke — twisting, wrapping around Liana's arms and throat.
"Every choice you make, every fear you hide…" Amara's whisper now came from everywhere, all around her. "They feed me. You're not defying destiny, Liana. You're completing it."
Liana screamed, clutching her chest. Her light flickered — white and gold, bleeding into the dark mist.
But somewhere beyond that chaos, she heard another voice — faint, rough, but real.
"Liana—!"
Han Jian's voice.
She gasped, turning toward the sound. The mist parted, and through it she saw a faint light — his silhouette reaching out, his body trembling, but his eyes burning with desperate hope.
Liana stumbled toward him, whispering his name. "Han Jian…"
But as she reached out — the world shattered again.
---
The mist cracked like broken glass.
Liana fell through the void, her scream echoing in endless darkness. The shards of the mirror spun around her, reflecting a thousand versions of herself — crying, bleeding, burning, smiling. Each reflection whispered a different word: bride, curse, destiny, key…
Then — silence.
She landed on cold stone.
The air here was heavy, thicker than smoke. The dim light of a thousand floating candles flickered in the blackness, and the scent of old incense filled the air — sweet, but suffocating.
At the far end of the chamber stood a throne.
And upon it — Amara.
No longer a reflection. No longer a whisper.
She sat in a gown of woven shadow and gold threads, her hands folded elegantly, her eyes gleaming with the same calm cruelty that once belonged to the Immortal King.
Liana rose slowly, her breath trembling. "You… brought me here."
Amara smiled faintly. "I didn't bring you. You followed the sound of his voice — again."
Liana flinched.
Amara's tone was laced with a sadness that felt too real. "You always chase him. Every lifetime, every rebirth — it's always the same. You reach for him, and he breaks you."
"That's not true," Liana whispered. "This time… I chose differently."
"Did you?" Amara stood, descending the steps slowly. "Tell me, Liana — if you strip away the memories, the faces, the love — what remains? Me. The one who made the vow. The one who was left behind."
The candles flared violently, throwing shadows across her face.
Amara's hand brushed against Liana's cheek — soft, but cold as frost.
"I waited for him too. The Immortal King. I was his bride. His sacrifice. I bore the weight of eternity so you could forget."
Liana's eyes filled with tears. "I didn't ask for this!"
"No," Amara said quietly. "You only asked for freedom. But freedom always costs something, doesn't it?"
For a moment, both stood in silence — two souls staring at each other across lifetimes of pain.
Then the chamber trembled. The air shifted.
From behind Amara, silver light spilled — the symbol of the Immortal King's seal. His voice echoed faintly:
> "The bride cannot exist without the vow. Return to me."
Amara's eyes softened. "He calls us both."
Liana stepped back, shaking her head. "No. I won't go back. I won't be his."
Amara smiled sadly. "Then you must destroy me."
The floor cracked beneath them. Shadows and light surged upward, swirling like a storm. The two women stood at its heart — one glowing, one shrouded.
Liana raised her trembling hand, white flames blooming from her palm.
Amara spread her arms, the darkness answering her call.
"Show me," Amara whispered. "Show me that you deserve to be free."
The chamber exploded in light and shadow.
Their powers clashed — every burst a memory, every scream a lifetime. The walls melted into visions of the past — Amara kneeling before the Immortal King; Liana reaching for Han Jian; the moment destiny split them apart.
"Why are you fighting me?" Amara cried. "I am you!"
Liana's tears burned through the light. "Because you were his. I am mine!"
A burst of energy rippled outward, tearing through the chamber. Amara's body flickered, fading into gold dust, her expression both pained and proud.
"You've grown strong," she whispered. "But remember… the vow never dies."
The last of her light disappeared into Liana's chest.
Silence fell once again.
Liana collapsed to her knees, gasping. Her heart pounded like a thousand drums. Around her, the world shimmered — reality calling her back.
She looked at her hands, trembling, glowing faintly. For the first time, they didn't shake from fear — but from power.
Han Jian's voice echoed faintly through the mist, closer now, desperate.
"Liana! Wake up! Please!"
Her lips parted, whispering through the still air.
"I'm coming back…"
A final tear slid down her cheek, glowing gold as it fell — and the mist broke.
---
❓️❓️❓️❓️❓️
Now that Amara has faded, will Liana truly be free — or has the vow merely changed its form, waiting to be claimed again?