The cave breathed cold. The walls pulsed with a faint light, as if the very heart of the earth tried to warn them. Jeremy and Julie stood on the edge of a great circle, drawn long ago in blood and salt. In the center hovered an artifact — a crystal dark as night, flashing with pulses of unknown energy.
"Don't approach," Jeremy said as soon as he felt the shift in the air.
From the darkness emerged a silhouette. A shadow. It had no face, but its presence screamed. Inside it pulsed the voices of those who had tried to claim the artifact before and never returned. The past. Death. Brokenness.
"The guardian. Neither alive nor dead. Pure will of protection," Julie whispered, instinctively stepping back. "It doesn't want to fight. But it won't let us leave."
"Then we have to convince it we're worthy." Jeremy stepped forward.
The shadow twitched. In an instant, images flashed: Jeremy bowing over his mother's body. Julie sitting alone among the ruins of her childhood. Their mistakes. Their guilt.
The guardian pulled them out — turning them into weapons.
And then Julie reached for his hand.
"See? They're trying to break us with our own memories. But what really defines us... isn't the past."
She opened her other hand. A shard of light appeared — the essence of their shared power.
Jeremy added his.
The light struck the shadow.
The shadow trembled. It screamed. Or maybe it was them screaming inside themselves — through all the layers of pain and error?
But they didn't back down.
The light tore through the darkness.
The guardian's shadow exploded into a thousand fragments, and where it had stood, only the hovering crystal remained — no longer pulsing with unease, but calm.
The artifact accepted them.
Julie stepped forward first. Before Jeremy could say anything, she enclosed the crystal in her hands.
"One of three," she whispered. "Two more to go."
Jeremy looked at her, suddenly understanding something beyond the mission. He realized she was his balance. His link. Or maybe… something more.
*
Rosalie sat in an old theater she had turned into her lair — a throne made of burnt seats, a curtain of shadows and the glow of blood, and the stage light came not from spotlights, but from a floating sphere of energy.
Suddenly, the sphere shattered.
It broke into thousands of tiny particles that scattered over her body like sparks. Rosalie lifted her gaze, black eyes wide, a cold smile twisting her lips.
"They broke the first seal," she said quietly, her voice echoing through the empty hall.
From the darkness emerged Kael — her most faithful shadow, trapped in the body of a man whose soul had long since evaporated.
"Jeremy and Julie," he added, his tone void of emotion. "Their bond is becoming dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Rosalie rose slowly, and runes of protection flared around the stage. "I am Lucifer's daughter. Born of his wrath and cunning. They are not dangerous to me. But their hope… that disgusting spark they carry inside… " Her voice sharpened — "… that I must extinguish."
Kael remained silent. He felt Rosalie changing. Her powers growing unstable. More and more... inhuman.
"We'll lure them here," she suddenly declared. "But not to destroy them. Not yet."
"What do you plan?"
"I want them to feel they are winning. Let their faith grow. Let them be sure they can defeat me. And then..." Rosalie raised her hand, revealing a vision of a burning city. "...I'll turn that hope into a weapon. And make them pray for death."
*
The cold morning light poured through the broken windows of the old observatory. Julie leaned against a marble railing, staring at the horizon. Jeremy stood a little farther off, studying a sketch of a map with marked power spots. They were ready. Or so they thought.
"The second source is in the catacombs beneath the old church," he said without looking up from the map. "This place… doesn't exist on any modern map. It was hidden right after the fall of the guardians."
"And we just walk in like it's another tourist stop?" Julie asked sarcastically, moving closer.
Jeremy looked at her, his eyes shining with determination.
"We don't have time for doubts. Rosalie sensed us. This is a race now."
Julie nodded, though a chill ran down her neck. Something told her they were approaching something… bigger. More serious.
As they set out, the city seemed quieter than usual. The streets were empty, as if the world held its breath. Jeremy felt power pulsing inside him — as if his mother's diary, the artifact, and being close to Julie awakened something new.
Halfway there, crossing an abandoned playground, the sky suddenly darkened.
"She saw us," Jeremy whispered. "Rosalie."
Julie turned sharply as crows rose from nearby trees. Hundreds. A black cloud blocked the sun, their caws tearing the silence.
"Run?"
"No. It's just a warning. Not yet time for open battle," he said, grabbing her hand. "But it means we're close. And she already knows what we plan."
*
The catacombs beneath the old church bore no resemblance to anything Julie had seen before. The walls pulsed with pale light, like the breath of living matter. The air was heavy, swollen with unspoken words and muted screams of the past.
Jeremy walked first, leading her through corridors that shifted with every step. Sometimes they returned to the same place, even though they swore they had turned differently.
"It's an illusion," Jeremy said quietly, touching one wall. "This labyrinth lives. It reacts to our fears."
"How do you know?"
"Because I just saw my father, how he looked right after he was cast out of the city. Then... myself. But not who I am now. Who I could become. If I lose."
Julie shuddered hearing footsteps — exactly like her own. She looked into the shadow and saw... herself. Only this other version had darker eyes, a smiling mouth, and a gaze so cold it burned.
"Illusions want to break us," she whispered, turning quickly. "Don't look them in the eyes. That's not us."
Jeremy pulled her close, their foreheads touching briefly, as if they needed that physical anchor.
"We'll get through this together."
After several minutes, they reached a central chamber. Its walls were covered in runic symbols, and on a glass pedestal lay the second artifact — the Key of Salvation. It looked like a fragment of a wing, covered in silver and red, pulsing with light.
Jeremy stepped forward but stopped halfway.
"Julie. This time, it's yours."
"What?"
"This place… senses you. You're part of something bigger. I thought I was supposed to find it. But this artifact is for you."
Julie looked at him uncertainly but took a step. Then another. When she touched the key — time stopped.
The chamber trembled. The walls melted away, and fiery circles appeared around her like seals. Her eyes filled with tears as something inside her… unlocked. Ancient memory. Power hidden in her blood.
Jeremy called her name, but she stood still, and the key began glowing brighter, recognizing a long-forgotten legacy.
And then… a voice. Female, hoarse, dark:
"Now I know who you are. And I won't give him to you." — Rosalie.
But it was too late. Julie held the key in her hands, and her figure began radiating bright light. Tears flowed from her eyes, but not from fear.
She understood.
"Jeremy... I am not just human, either."
*
As soon as Jeremy and Julie emerged from the catacombs, daylight hit their eyes like a sword. The air was tense — as if every particle trembled in anticipation.
Rosalie was already there.
She stood a few steps from them, in the shadow of a huge tree whose roots entwined ancient ruins. Her figure was calm, too calm — unmoving, like a statue. But her eyes… they burned. With something more than anger.
"Beautiful," her voice was silky but steel hid beneath it. "You touched the key. And I thought you, Julie, were just a toy. An accessory to his story."
Jeremy instinctively stepped in front of Julie.
"You'll hurt her, and…"
"And what?" Rosalie stepped toward them. The ground beneath her feet rustled like burning ash. "You're strong, Jeremy. But you're not ready. And you know it perfectly well."
Julie slipped out from behind him. Her face did not tremble. The key in her hands still shone, but now its light was cool, controlled.
"I'm not an accessory. Never was. You just lived too long believing you're the only one allowed to decide. But you're no longer the center of this story."
Rosalie narrowed her eyes.
"You found part of yourself. But you don't yet know who you really are." Her gaze rested on Jeremy. "And you? You think when your parents return, everything will be fine? That a ritual, artifacts, and your love will be enough?"
The ground shook lightly, as if responding to her rage.
"I don't want to kill you. Not yet. But I warn you: if you get in my way... I won't hesitate."
"You won't hesitate?" Jeremy stepped forward, his voice calm but his eyes aflame. "Rosalie, we already got in your way. Like it or not, you're building your own cage. Because you stop seeing people. You see only control."
Rosalie smiled — a terrible, cruel smile.
"And one day," she whispered, "you'll understand that cages are sometimes the only way to survive."
*
On a hill outside the city, among ancient stone columns, Jack, Alison, and Martha formed a triangle. The ground beneath them was marked with runes. Old signs — a mix of angelic seals, demonic spirals, and something only Martha fully understood.
Between them flickered a light — alive, trembling, as if ready to flee at any moment.
"This is all I managed to recover," Martha said, sitting cross-legged. Her eyes were tired, but full of determination. "Fragments of energy from the time when the barrier was still intact. When Rosalie was just a child."
Jack knelt beside her, his fingers tracing the earth until they touched a symbol he had once seen in dreams.
"Do you think it will be enough?" he asked quietly.
"No. But it's the first step. If Jeremy really gathered two artifacts, you won't find the third without balance. And only you can restore it — you and Alison."
Leaning against a column, Alison finally spoke. Her voice was soft, but anger simmered beneath it.
"I still don't understand why our power doesn't fully return. Jeremy called us. I feel it in my bones. Yet… we are only echoes of our former selves."
Martha looked at her intently.
"Because you won't regain your power until you accept a new version of yourselves. That world is over. There will be no more of those same wings, that same fury. But you can become something more."
Jack looked up.
"What?"
"Something that connects. Something that creates something new. Jeremy and Julie… they are no accident. Their bond changes reality. You, as their parents, must be the balance. Not the power, not the strength. But the foundation."
For a moment, silence fell. The evening grew colder. Ravens circled in the distance.
"What if Rosalie beats us to it?" Alison asked.
"Then… everything will burn." Martha turned her head toward the city. "But that won't happen. Not yet. Because this time, it's you who can save something, not just destroy."
Jack looked at Alison. Their hands met in the twilight. For the first time in years, they truly felt together.
"So?" he muttered. "Shall we try standing on the side of the light again?"
"Maybe not the light," she answered, "but life."
Martha closed her eyes and whispered ancient words. Light burst around them. Not blinding. Warm. Alive.
For the first time in years — something awoke.