The world did not return to normal after the voice faded.
That was the first thing Liuxue noticed.
The sky remained dim, clouds hanging unnaturally low as if weighed down by something unseen. The ward stones around the courtyard flickered, struggling to stabilize, their glow uneven and faint.
Refusal had not erased the threat.
It had alerted it.
Liuxue sat on the stone steps outside the main hall, wrapped in a heavy cloak Yining had forced around her shoulders. Her hands still trembled, no matter how tightly she clasped them together.
Across from her, the Starborn man knelt, fingers pressed against the ground as he traced complex sigils into the stone. Silver light flowed from his hands, spreading outward in slow, deliberate patterns.
"These wards will not last long," he said quietly. "The resonance has been established. You have been marked."
The word made Liuxue's stomach twist. "Marked how?"
"Not like prey," he replied after a pause. "More like a claim."
Yining stiffened. "Claimed by whom?"
He did not answer immediately. Instead, he finished the final sigil, the light sinking into the stone before fading completely. Only then did he rise to his feet.
"By what you were," he said.
Liuxue swallowed. "So my past self is… alive?"
"Not alive," he corrected. "Not dead either. It exists as an echo sustained by unfinished will."
Yining frowned. "That sounds dangerously close to possession."
"Yes," he said simply.
Liuxue closed her eyes. The cold in her chest deepened.
"That voice spoke about a throne," she said softly. "And a beginning I never finished."
The Starborn man's gaze sharpened. "Do you remember anything else?"
Liuxue shook her head. "Only feelings. Power. Loss. Anger."
He nodded slowly. "That is how it starts."
Yining crossed her arms tightly. "Then what happens next?"
He looked between them. "Now the heavens will respond."
Liuxue's eyes flew open. "The heavens?"
"You refused reintegration," he said. "That is not an outcome they prepared for."
Yining scoffed weakly. "Of course not."
Liuxue's seal pulsed once, painfully. She gasped, clutching her chest.
The Starborn man moved instantly, kneeling in front of her. "Easy. Breathe."
She followed his voice, dragging air into her lungs until the pain dulled.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"A consequence," he said. "Your seal was designed to open or break. Refusal forces it into a third state."
Yining's eyes widened. "A third state?"
"Yes," he said. "Evolution."
Liuxue stared at him. "That does not sound safe."
"It is not," he replied honestly. "But it is unprecedented."
Her pulse raced. "So what do we do?"
He hesitated.
Then he said, "We leave."
Yining blinked. "Leave where? This is the safest compound for a hundred miles."
"It was," he said. "Before you were heard."
Liuxue felt a chill crawl down her spine. "You think they are coming here."
"They already know where you are," he said. "They are simply deciding how much force is necessary."
Yining cursed under her breath.
Liuxue pushed herself to her feet, legs unsteady but firm. "Then we go before they decide."
The Starborn man studied her, something like pride flickering briefly in his eyes. "You adapt quickly."
"I do not have a choice," she said.
He nodded. "We will depart before nightfall."
As they prepared, Liuxue moved through the compound like someone half awake. Servants whispered as she passed. Guards watched her with uncertainty and fear.
She could feel it.
The shift in how the world responded to her.
When she paused at the edge of the courtyard, her reflection caught in a shallow basin of water. For a moment, the face staring back at her looked… unfamiliar.
Her eyes seemed brighter.
Sharper.
Not cruel.
But no longer uncertain.
A flicker of gold passed through her reflection and vanished.
Liuxue staggered back, heart pounding.
The Starborn man was suddenly beside her. "What did you see?"
"Myself," she whispered. "And someone else."
His expression darkened. "That means the echo is strengthening."
Yining grabbed her arm. "We need to go. Now."
As if summoned by the words, a horn sounded in the distance.
Low.
Resonant.
Wrong.
The Starborn man's head snapped up. His eyes burned silver.
"That is not one of ours," he said.
The ground shuddered.
From beyond the outer walls, a presence pressed inward. Not violent. Not loud.
Certain.
Liuxue's seal burned sharply.
The Starborn man grabbed her hand. "No matter what happens," he said urgently, "do not answer any voice that knows your true name."
Her breath caught. "Do you know it?"
He squeezed her hand once.
"Yes."
Fear and something else twisted in her chest. "Will you tell me?"
"Not yet," he said. "If I do, the heavens will hear it."
Another horn call echoed, closer now.
The ward stones cracked.
Yining drew a blade she barely knew how to use. "I hate divine politics."
Liuxue almost laughed, hysteria bubbling up.
Almost.
The Starborn man pulled Liuxue toward the hidden passage beneath the hall. As they descended into darkness, Liuxue felt the air shift behind them.
A presence brushed against her back.
A whisper touched her ear.
"So you run again."
Her seal flared violently.
She stumbled, heart pounding.
The Starborn man turned sharply. "Did you hear that?"
Liuxue nodded, fear coiling tight in her chest.
"Yes," she whispered.
"And it's following us."