Seraphine didn't sleep that night.
She sat on the rooftop, staring at the mark on her wrist. It glowed faintly — more than usual. Every time Elias used the Spark, it responded.
She remembered the night her hometown vanished.
She was six. There was light. There was screaming. And then… nothing.
STRATUM found her wandering the ruins. They said she survived a cosmic event. They said she was lucky.
She didn't feel lucky.
The mark had appeared days later. No one could explain it. STRATUM monitored it, studied it, feared it. But they never understood it.
Now, Elias was triggering it.
She looked down at the street below. Elias was walking, hands in his pockets, trying to look normal. He wasn't. Not anymore.
She jumped down from the rooftop, landing beside him.
"You're glowing again," she said.
He sighed. "I know."
They walked in silence.
Then Seraphine stopped.
Her mark flared.
She gasped, clutching her wrist.
Elias turned. "What's wrong?"
She dropped to one knee. Visions slammed into her mind — stars collapsing, voices whispering, symbols burning across the sky.
Elias knelt beside her.
"Seraphine!"
She looked up, eyes glowing faintly.
"I saw them," she whispered. "The Aetherion. I saw their fall."
Elias froze.
"What?"
She grabbed his hand.
"We're connected. You and me. The Spark… the mark… it's the same energy."
Elias felt the truth settle in his bones.
They weren't just allies.
They were part of something ancient.
And whatever had chosen him… had touched her first.