In the ruins of the old sanctuary, the underground echoes of ancient prayers collided with a new energy that was born between Jeremy and Julie. They both stood in the middle of the circle, where the second artifact once rested — soaked with memories of the past, a fire that flickered in their veins.
Jeremy held Julie's hands, which trembled slightly. Her eyes were closed, but not from fear — she was completely focused. Her own power was beginning to awaken, leading her to places she had never known before. Places that connected her to him... and to something much older.
"Do you feel it?" Jeremy whispered.
"Yes... it's something deeper than blood. As if our souls... have known each other forever," she replied, opening her eyes. They were glassy, illuminated by the same glow that radiated from the artifact.
Jeremy raised his hand and touched her cheek.
"Julie... if all this is truly coming to an end, I want you to know that you're not just a part of this story. You are its beginning."
Julie tilted her head back, feeling a familiar warmth in her chest.
"I... I have the feeling that what I feel for you isn't just love. It's... like an echo of a vow. As if we were something more, even before we became who we are."
Jeremy didn't answer immediately. He leaned in slightly, and their lips met in a kiss — full of tension, yet gentle. The ground beneath their feet trembled, and the magical circle sparked with blue light.
Julie pulled away with difficulty, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Did that really happen?" she whispered.
"Every part of it. And every part matters."
They grabbed each other's hands and looked together at the circle, which began to glow like a path. A corridor made of light and shadow led them forward, toward the final artifact.
But Julie felt something else.
Deep within, in the very core of their connection, something new pulsed. Something that belonged neither to her nor to Jeremy. Something foreign.
"We have to hurry," she whispered, not taking her eyes off the circle.
Jeremy nodded, but uncertainty lingered in his eyes.
Because something was waiting. And not everything was as it seemed.
*
The path opened by the second artifact led them deep underground. It wasn't an ordinary cave — the walls pulsed with a living, unsettling energy, and the air vibrated as if breathing with them. Jeremy and Julie walked in silence, stepping through light and shadow that curled around them like ghosts of the past.
"This place... shouldn't exist," Julie said, tracing her fingers over the rock that shimmered with silver dust.
"It's more than earth. It's like... a fragment of another world. In-between."
At the end of the corridor appeared a chamber. In its center — the third artifact floated in the air. Black as obsidian, cracked, but still radiating a powerful, magnetic force.
Jeremy approached slowly. The artifact had no shape. It resembled something alive — shifting, like the echo of shattered memories. When he reached out his hand, he heard a whisper.
It didn't belong to either of them.
It was Rosalie.
"The last fragment belonged to my blood. Did you think I wouldn't feel when you came near it?"
Jeremy pulled back his hand, and Julie looked around tensely.
"Is this a trap?" she asked.
"No," the boy replied, stepping closer again. "It's a challenge."
The artifact trembled, as if responding to his determination. In one moment black light exploded, and their minds were engulfed in a vision.
Fire. War. The cry of the fallen. And a face — not Rosalie's, not Lucifer's — but someone older. A being from the very beginning. Older than darkness and light.
When the vision passed, Jeremy fell to his knees.
Julie caught him, holding him tightly.
"What did you see?"
"A shadow even Rosalie fears. She isn't the source of this war. She's just a pawn..."
The artifact gently settled into his palms. As soon as he touched it, Jeremy felt his heart beat in the rhythm of an ancient melody. The power was no longer scattered. Now they had three.
Julie looked at him, her eyes shining.
"This isn't the end."
"This is just the beginning."
Behind them came the grinding of rocks. The corridor began to close.
"We have to go back," Jeremy said.
"To the city?"
"And to the truth. But first... to my parents and Martha."
*
The mountains beyond the city seemed taller than usual. Their peaks disappeared into dark clouds, and the cold air trembled with magic awakening from slumber. Jack walked ahead, clutching an old map Martha read like a sacred text. Alison followed close behind, tense but with a familiar fire in her eyes.
"This is it," Martha said, pointing at a moss-covered rocky passage. "The passage through which demons once returned to the city when there was still a bridge between dimensions. It was sealed by Archangels, but Jeremy's power... and what Julie awakens... might move it."
Jack knelt, touching the ground with his fingers. It was warm. Pulsing. Unsettlingly familiar.
"I feel his energy," he muttered. "And something more... like... something trying to take control."
Alison came closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Jeremy won't let that thing dominate him. He's fighting. And we need to be ready when he calls us."
Martha, silent for a while, pulled back a cloth covering an ancient seal carved in stone. An angelic and demonic symbol entwined as one — the sign of forbidden power.
"This passage can only be opened one way," she said quietly. "And we need a third element."
Jack and Alison looked at her questioningly.
"Rosalie doesn't just crave power. She awakens something that has been dormant for thousands of years. Her blood... could be the key to opening hell or sealing it shut. And Jeremy is approaching a boundary from which there is no return."
"So we must act before it's too late," Alison said.
"We will begin the ritual," Martha confirmed, pulling three circular stones from her bag, resembling miniature versions of the artifacts. "But before we finish, we must be sure that someone on the other side will answer."
Jack looked toward the city, which began to glow on the horizon as if alive.
"Jeremy is already calling us."
Alison nodded.
"So we return. Fully. In the fight and for what we still have."
"And maybe..." Martha added softly, "in the name of redemption."
*
In the city center, in a long-forgotten park surrounded by cracked statues of angelic guardians, Jeremy and Julie stood silently. Between them on the ground stretched a drawn circle — runes glowed with soft light, each symbol pulsing in rhythm with their shared energy.
Jeremy held the third artifact — a small orb made of black obsidian, which seemed to whisper his name. He felt the magic flow through his fingers, colliding with what Julie brought. Her power became more distinct every day. She was no longer just a random girl — she was connected to this story from the beginning. From the ancient sleep to the final battle.
"Julie..." Jeremy turned to her, his voice softer than usual. "This circle... is the key. If everything goes as planned, we can activate the connection to the passage my parents open. But I need you. Your presence. Your light."
Julie looked at him. Her eyes shone with gold that had previously only flickered at moments of greatest tension.
"I know." She stepped closer and without hesitation took his hand. "I feel it. We stopped being just part of this puzzle. We became its core."
Around them, the wind suddenly rose, and leaves began to whirl above the circle as if moved by an invisible force. Shadows rose from the earth — harmless, but heralding the approaching confrontation. Jeremy closed his eyes and reached deeper inside himself.
He saw the past — Alison fighting for his safety, Jack throwing himself against everything that could separate them. The diary flared again in his mind, its words reminding him that he was born not just a demon, but a choice. Freedom.
Julie sensed the impulse and bent down, touching the ground near the artifact.
"This is starting," she whispered. "But I also feel that Rosalie is watching us."
Jeremy raised his gaze and looked at the darkening sky.
"Let her watch. We're not running anymore."
The circle flared with golden-blue light, and around them swirled an energy capable of restoring light — or drowning it. And then — on the edge of consciousness — Julie felt the touch of something more. Someone.
From behind the trees, very quietly... came the voice of a little girl. Rosalie.
But this time... it wasn't anger. It was... a warning.
*
Rosalie sat alone in the center of the forgotten sanctuary, hidden beneath the ruins of an old cathedral. The shadow of night wrapped around her silhouette, and flames rising above her outstretched hands danced to the rhythm of her thoughts — chaotic, full of anger... but also unease.
She saw the circle. She felt the power that Jeremy and Julie unleashed together. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't sure. Not about her plan — it was perfect, carefully woven from the past, heritage, and betrayal. But about something else.
About herself.
Julie... was no longer just an obstacle. Her power was older, deeper than she had expected. And Jeremy... something had changed in him. He was opening. Connecting. And because of that... he was becoming stronger than anyone anticipated.
Rosalie lifted her head and looked into the darkness. From it emerged a familiar silhouette — small, twisted, cloaked in shadows.
"Kael," she said coldly. "What do you want?"
"A warning." The voice was rough as sand. "Your shadow won't be enough if they unite. And they're already close to what will truly bind them. If you want to regain control, you must act now."
Rosalie sighed, and around her the fire began to die, replaced by darkness dense as blood.
"I'm no longer a girl asking for permission." Her voice hardened. "But I know one thing. If they want war, they'll get it. Right where they are weakest."
She looked at the trace of light that remained in her mind from the vision of the circle.
"Julie is the key. Not Jeremy."
Kael nodded before dissolving into shadow.
Rosalie was left alone, but a new spark appeared in her eyes. Something she hadn't felt in a long time.
She closed her eyes and whispered words in an ancient tongue.
Somewhere in the forest... something awoke. Something that once lay at her feet. And waited.
"It's time for your return... my demon."