The next morning came too quietly.
Rain clung to the windows of the underground sanctuary, falling like endless whispers.
Aiden woke to the faint hum of magic, soft like a heartbeat not his own.
Something warm rested in his palm.
He opened his hand and saw it.
A single drop of crystalized light, glowing faintly blue.
It pulsed once, twice, like it was alive.
Elias sat nearby, cleaning his sword. His shirt was torn, streaked with dried blood.
When he noticed Aiden stir, his gaze softened.
"You're awake."
"Barely," Aiden murmured, holding up the glowing tear. "This came from the statue. From him, didn't it?"
Elias's jaw tightened.
"It's what he left behind. The Tear of the First God. A fragment of divine grief."
Aiden frowned, turning the light between his fingers. "It feels warm. But sad."
"That's because it remembers everything," Elias said quietly. "Every soul the heavens ever broke."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Only the rain.
Only the faint sound of water dripping from the cracked ceiling.
Then, slowly, the tear began to dissolve in Aiden's hand, melting into his skin like light being absorbed into flesh.
Aiden gasped.
Flashes burst in his mind, not memories of this life, but of another.
He saw Ariselle, himself, standing on a battlefield beneath twin moons.
Her golden armor gleamed, her sword stained with blood not her own.
And before her knelt Elias, younger, unscarred, his wings still whole.
"I will protect you," the past Elias whispered. "Even if Heaven burns for it."
Then came the sound, the echo of a blade piercing through a heart.
Her heart.
Aiden's heart.
He jolted upright, gasping for air.
Elias was beside him in an instant, gripping his shoulders.
"Aiden. Look at me."
His voice was firm, grounding, but Aiden could still hear the echo of that vow.
"You said that before," Aiden whispered hoarsely. "Back then, when you were still..."
"An angel," Elias finished. "Yes."
Aiden's eyes widened. "So it was you. You're the one who..."
"Killed you."
The words came out quiet, almost reverent.
"Yes. But it wasn't by choice."
The truth hung between them, sharp as glass.
Aiden stared at him, trembling.
"Then why save me now?"
Elias's expression darkened.
"Because the moment I struck you down, I lost everything that made me human. Every part of me that loved you was burned from my soul. And yet,"
He reached forward, fingertips brushing the tears from Aiden's cheek.
"Here I am, breaking all over again."
The tear that had merged into Aiden's body glowed brighter, a gentle halo forming around them.
The air shifted, trembling with divine resonance.
"Elias," Aiden whispered.
"I don't know what this means. I don't even know who I am anymore."
"You don't need to," Elias murmured. "You just need to remember that whatever form your soul takes, I will always find you."
Their foreheads touched, breath mingling.
And for a fleeting moment, time itself seemed to pause.
But the heavens were watching.
Far above the clouds, within the fractured realm of the Seraphim, a ripple spread through the divine mirror.
Angels turned their gazes downward, toward Earth, toward the light that shouldn't exist.
"The Tear has awakened," one hissed.
"The Forsaken and the Flame are together again."
And in the depths of that realm, something opened its eyes, a being not of mercy or wrath, but of mourning itself.
Its voice echoed across dimensions, soft yet terrible.
"If the god's tear lives, then so must I."
The First Tear, once a blessing, had become a beacon.
And something ancient was following the light.