The night was thick with the scent of burning cinders and broken promises.
Aria stood on the edge of the ruined village—once known as Valmere, a name now lost to smoke and silence. The air was still, unnaturally so, as if the earth itself mourned. Behind her, Mira and the others gathered in quiet formation, their faces painted with soot and uncertainty. No survivors had been found. Only charred foundations and fragments of scorched memories.
She tightened her grip on the sword hanging at her waist. It wasn't the Crimson Blade. Not yet. But it hummed faintly beneath her fingers, as though remembering the flames it once wielded.
"Why would they burn an entire village with no warning?" Mira whispered, voice trembling.
"They weren't after the village," Aria said quietly, her violet eyes narrowed. "They were after someone inside it. Or something buried beneath."
From the ashes of Valmere, something stirred.
A sudden tremor rippled through the ground, and cracks split across the village square. From the center of the ruin, a black obelisk pushed up from the earth—tall, ancient, and marked with glowing runes in a forgotten language. It pulsed once, and every instinct in Aria's soul screamed.
Seraphina's voice echoed in her mind.
No… that seal should never have been broken…
---
Flashback – A Memory Awakens
Pain surged through Aria's skull as memories flooded in.
A great hall beneath the earth. Golden banners flapping in magical winds. Seraphina stood before a circle of stone, etching runes into the floor with her own blood, while the Shadow King's laughter echoed from beyond the veil.
She hadn't just sealed him.
She had sealed a part of herself with him.
A fragment of her soul—a sliver of her fury, her hatred, her darkest instincts—was locked away as the price of victory.
---
Back in the Present
The obelisk cracked open.
From within emerged a figure shrouded in fire and shadow—a being with Aria's face, but eyes of blazing red. Her movements were graceful, deadly, and inhuman. She looked at Aria with a smile full of malice and longing.
"You finally came back to me," she whispered. "I am the part you left behind."
---
The Birth of the Flame Twin
Aria stumbled backward, breath catching. Her companions were frozen. Even Mira reached for her blade, unsure whether to defend or flee.
The creature stepped closer. "You sealed me to win your war. But I am you—your wrath, your vengeance, your hunger for justice. And now, thanks to the fools who burned this village, I am free."
She raised a hand and summoned a blade of pure crimson flame—an echo of the original Crimson Blade, but corrupted and wild.
"You cannot defeat me, Aria," she said, voice resonating with both power and sadness. "You will become me. Or I will consume you."
---
The Battle Within and Without
Aria's knees buckled. Her sword clattered to the ground. Inside her chest, her soul churned, pulled toward the creature—her own essence calling back.
She felt Seraphina trying to rise, to fight—but Aria held her down.
"No," she whispered. "I won't let the past dictate who I become."
The corrupted Seraphina lunged.
What followed was a battle both external and internal. Steel clashed in the real world while memories, emotions, and regrets collided within Aria's heart.
---
Mira's Intervention
Just as Aria faltered, a silver arrow sliced through the enemy's flame. Mira stood beside her, defiant.
"You're not alone in this," Mira said fiercely. "I don't care if you were a warrior queen in another life. You're Aria now. And Aria's my friend."
The words anchored her. Light burst from Aria's chest, and for a moment, Seraphina's full soul emerged—golden, radiant, and torn between past and present.
---
The Fusion of Flame
Instead of rejecting her dark self, Aria embraced it.
"I don't fear you anymore," she said. "You are my pain. My rage. My guilt. But you are also my strength."
With a scream that echoed through both spirit and stone, Aria drew her new weapon—a reforged Crimson Blade, now forged from both wrath and resolve.
In one final strike, she cut through the shadowy twin—not to destroy it, but to reclaim it.
---
Aftermath: The Shattered Seal
As the dust settled, the obelisk crumbled to dust. But its damage was done.
Far away, in a chamber of obsidian and bone, the true Shadow King stirred. His eyes opened for the first time in centuries.
"She's awakening," he whispered. "And so shall I."
---