The forest quieted after the fate lines dissolved, as if holding its breath around Aira. The silver-eyed man sagged against her, exhaustion pale on his features.
"We need shelter," he muttered.
Kael nodded reluctantly. "The Oracle lives close. She'll help… if she still remembers you."
Aira stiffened. If she still remembers?
How many people knew her?
How many mourned her?
They moved through the glowing forest, the ground humming with each step. Aira felt the air shift—thicker, older, charged with an energy that whispered secrets in her ears.
The silver-eyed man leaned heavily on her. "Aira… don't trust what the Oracle says. Her visions come with a price."
Kael shot him a dark look. "Better than your half-truths."
Aira sighed. "Both of you—just stop."
They reached a small clearing where a stone shrine stood, ancient and cracked. Vines of silver flowers wrapped around its pillars. Soft lantern-like orbs floated around it, glowing with pale light.
Kael stepped forward. "Oracle… she's here."
The air shimmered, and then Aira felt something… watching her.
A woman emerged from the shadows—tall, ageless, her hair white as moonlight and her eyes blind yet piercing.
"Aira," the Oracle whispered, voice trembling. "Child of the broken threads… you return."
Aira froze. "You know me?"
The Oracle's lips curved sadly. "I knew every version of you. Even the one who died."
The silver-eyed man took a step forward, wincing. "Oracle. We don't have time for riddles."
The Oracle ignored him and approached Aira, fingertips brushing the air near her face as if sensing her aura.
"It has already begun," the Oracle whispered. "The shift. The unraveling. Fate tries to correct itself… and fails."
Aira swallowed. "What does that mean?"
The Oracle reached out and touched Aira's hand.
A violent surge of visions struck—screaming skies, collapsing worlds, two men reaching for her from opposite ends of a battlefield… a shadowed figure placing a crown of thorns on her head… her own reflection shattering into a thousand fragments.
Aira jerked back, heart pounding.
Kael caught her shoulders. "What did you see?"
The Oracle answered instead.
"Her true fate."
The silver-eyed man's voice tightened. "Don't."
But the Oracle only turned her blind gaze toward him.
"You cannot protect her from what she is."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Oracle. Tell her the prophecy."
The Oracle inhaled deeply, her voice resonating through the clearing.
"The girl who shattered the world returns to choose its end.
Two hearts bound to hers.
One will save her.
One will doom her.
And she…"
Her voice cracked.
"…she will either restore fate—
or burn it with her final breath."
Aira's blood ran cold.
"I don't want any of this," she whispered.
The Oracle's expression softened. "Fate never asked what you wanted."
Kael stepped closer to Aira. "Whatever the prophecy says, I won't let you die again."
The silver-eyed man pulled her toward him protectively. "And I won't let fate take her from me."
The Oracle raised her hand for silence.
"You both misunderstand."
The wind stilled.
"The danger… does not come from fate."
Her blind eyes turned toward Aira.
"It comes from her past self."
Aira's breath hitched.
"My… past self?"
The Oracle nodded, voice grim.
"The girl you once were is not gone."
She lifted a finger, pointing directly behind Aira.
"She is returning."