Aurelia woke to warmth.
Not the gentle kind—this heat pressed against her skin, heavy and alive, like standing too close to a flame that did not burn. Her breath caught as she tried to move.
She couldn't.
Her body felt suspended, weightless, as though the concept of ground no longer applied to her. When she opened her eyes, light flooded her vision—golden, endless, stretching in every direction. There was no sky. No floor. Only a vast expanse of radiance that pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat.
"Do not struggle."
The voice did not come from one direction.
It came from everywhere.
Aurelia froze.
The light shifted, folding in on itself until a figure emerged—tall, unmistakably human in shape, yet wrong in every other way. Their form shimmered, edges blurring between male and female, youth and age. Symbols moved beneath their skin like constellations rearranging themselves.
A god.
Her mind supplied the word before she could stop it.
"You are calm," the being observed. "That is… unexpected."
"I don't feel calm," Aurelia said hoarsely.
"Your body does not. Your soul does."
She swallowed. "Where am I?"
The god studied her, head tilting slightly. When their gaze met hers, Aurelia felt exposed—every thought, every fear laid bare.
"Between," they answered. "Not your world. Not yet another."
Her heart hammered. "You took me."
"Yes."
There was no apology in the word.
"Why?" she demanded, anger pushing past fear. "The Awakening isn't for three days."
At that, the god's light dimmed—just slightly.
"That is precisely the problem."
The space around them rippled. Images bloomed in the air: the two moons, drifting closer than they ever should have been. Cracks of energy spidered between them, unstable and violent.
"Your world's Awakening cycle is failing," the god said. "Powers are manifesting too early. Too strongly. Or not at all."
Aurelia shook her head. "That doesn't explain me."
"No," the god agreed softly. "It does not."
They stepped closer. The heat intensified, yet her skin did not burn. Instead, her hair lifted, glowing fiercely, threads of gold responding to the god's presence like they recognized something familiar.
The god's eyes widened.
"…So it is true."
"What is?" Aurelia whispered.
"You are not awakening," they said. "You are **remembering**."
The word sent a chill through her.
"Remembering what?"
The god hesitated.
And for the first time, they looked uncertain.
"You were never meant to be born under the moons," they said at last. "Nor awaken as the others do. Your soul predates the cycle."
Aurelia laughed weakly. "That's impossible. I'm just—"
"—a girl?" the god finished. "Yes. For now."
The light around them darkened at the edges, shadows pressing inward.
"There are other gods," they continued. "Not all of them agree with what you are. Some would destroy you before you return. Others would use you."
Her breath caught. "Return?"
The god met her gaze.
"You will go back," they said. "But not unchanged."
The space trembled.
"Your Awakening will not wait for the moons," the god whispered. "And when it begins… the fairies will know."
The light exploded.
Aurelia screamed as power tore through her—not fire, not lightning, but something deeper, older. Something that felt like sunlight breaking through stone.
And somewhere, far above the heavens—
The gods began to argue.
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✨ End of Chapter 2