Raven
The moment she saw Viero, something inside Raven recoiled—and recognized.
His voice stirred a memory she couldn't place. A lullaby from a dream. A whisper from a prayer.
She entered the rooftop cautiously, the early light catching on her wild hair, eyes narrowed.
"You," she said to the stranger, "knew his mother?"
Viero bowed his head. "And I knew yours."
Silence dropped like a guillotine.
"What did you just say?" Raven whispered.
Viero turned toward her fully. "Your mother, Evelina di Lux, was one of the last recorded eclipse-born. She was marked but unawakened. She chose a quiet life. She chose to love."
Raven stepped back, shaking her head. "That's not true. My mother was ordinary. She was a schoolteacher—"
"She was hiding," Viero said softly. "From the order. From the ones who believed your bloodline should be extinguished."
Isabella appeared at the stairs, holding the prophecy scroll in her hand. "It's true, Raven. You were always meant to be the tether. The one who grounds the gate."
Raven's knees nearly gave out.
She sank onto the stone, tears burning in her eyes. "So Luna didn't just inherit this from Aurelio."
Viero nodded. "She is the child of both bloods. Fire and eclipse. Vessel and key. If she is opened—if the power consumes her—she could become the most dangerous force our world has ever known."
Aurelio's voice cut through the air. "Then we make damn sure no one gets close enough to light that fire."
---
Luna
She was dreaming again.
But this time, she wasn't afraid.
She stood in a field of obsidian grass. The sky above her was black, yet lit with stars that flickered like heartbeat signals. Before her stood a massive stone door—covered in carvings that moved when she blinked.
The woman from before was there again.
Soft, radiant. Familiar.
"You are not a weapon," the woman said gently. "You are a choice."
Luna tilted her head. "Are you real?"
The woman knelt. "I am a memory. One that lives in your blood. But soon, Luna… you'll have to choose whether to open the gate—or keep it closed forever."
Luna stepped closer to the door. Her fingers reached out.
And then—
Pain.
A searing flash in her shoulder.
She woke with a scream.
---
Aurelio
He was through the chapel doors in seconds, fire already forming in his fists. Raven behind him. Viero at his side.
They reached Luna's bed.
She was thrashing, glowing, fever-hot.
A burn mark was spreading across her skin in the shape of a seal.
Aurelio grabbed her hands, whispering, "I've got you. Papa's here."
The fire inside him responded—rising up, matching hers. Raven took her other hand, whispering her name, grounding her.
Viero stood beside them, murmuring an ancient rite.
And then—the mark cracked.
The light burst upward.
And for the first time, Aurelio saw the door in his daughter's mind.
Saw her standing there.
And beside her… a second figure cloaked in red.
Not the woman from the flame.
A man.
With eyes like his father's.
Watching.
Waiting.