Jeremy stopped suddenly, sensing something heavy sliding through the space around them. A chill struck him from within—not like ice, but like the memory of pain. He looked at Julie—and he knew. She felt it too.
Julie turned slowly. Her hands trembled, though not from cold. The surrounding air began to ripple—as if something invisible was combing through the air right next to their skin.
"Rosalie," she whispered.
Jeremy nodded. "Something has changed. Her power... has grown. And not just hers. I feel something... awakened. As if... she has summoned something ancient."
Julie looked into his eyes. They were full of fear, but also determination.
"We're changing too," she whispered. "You're stronger. I can feel it. But it won't be enough if we separate."
Jeremy cupped her face in his hands. "I will never let you be alone again. Not this time. Not after everything."
Julie smiled faintly, her eyes glistening with emotion. "What if it hurts me?"
"I'll be with you. Even through the pain."
For a moment, they stayed like that, wrapped in each other's touch, ignoring the unsettling darkness slowly closing in from all sides.
"Jeremy..." Julie hesitated. "In my dreams... I saw us... in flames. But we weren't burning. We were the fire. You and me."
Jeremy moved closer so their foreheads touched. "Because if we are the fire... Rosalie has nothing to extinguish us with."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We have to find the third artifact. Now. Before she takes control."
Jeremy nodded and reached for the map—now marked with a rune glowing brightly as soon as she touched it.
"Do you see it?" he asked.
"Yes." Her voice was firmer than ever. "It's not just an artifact. It's part of our past."
"Or the future," Jeremy added.
And they moved. Together. With hope. With power. And with a fire that was just beginning to blaze fully.
*
The forest path where Jeremy and Julie found themselves wasn't marked on any map. It was old—older than the town, older than human memory. Thick fog drifted between the trees, and the air carried a strange taste of ash and metal.
"This is it," Julie said, feeling the rhythm of the earth begin to sync with her own heartbeat. "This place remembers things it shouldn't."
Jeremy looked at her closely. "You feel it more clearly than I do."
"Maybe because I've been here before," she whispered, pointing to an overgrown path that radiated a faint light. "In dreams. She was there too."
Rosalie.
With every step, it became clear the third artifact wasn't hidden to protect it. It was hidden so no one would find it.
When they reached a fork, the trees began to part on their own. Branches creaked as if made of bones. A forest clearing opened before them, and in its center floated a stone circle with a strange black obelisk in the middle.
Julie took a step back.
"It's alive."
Jeremy stepped forward slowly. With every step, he felt as if he were walking on someone else's past. The ground beneath his feet pulsed.
The obelisk reacted to his presence. Runes began to glow, and the air filled with a dull sound—like a heartbeat from deep within the forest.
"It's the artifact of shadow," Julie said. "That which can grant power over the past."
Jeremy reached out his hand, but before he could touch it, laughter rang out.
Rosalie.
"Did you really think the third seal would let you defeat me?" Her voice echoed through the fog, through the trees, through their hearts.
In an instant, the sky above the clearing blackened, and shadowy figures emerged from the trees—distorted, their eyes glowing purple.
Julie moved closer to Jeremy, intertwining her fingers with his.
"If this is shadow... then we must be the light."
Jeremy nodded. "We won't give you this place, Rosalie."
"You don't have to. It's already mine."
Then Jeremy touched the obelisk. The world shook to its core, the runes exploded with light, and the earth beneath them cracked—opening more than just a path to power. Opening the past. The truth. And something that should never return...
*
Jeremy felt a wave of pure energy surge through his body. It wasn't a power like demonic rage or heavenly harmony—it was a primal force, raw, created by the very balance of the world.
The obelisk split down the middle, its interior glowing with a sparkling mist. From within emerged an object—the third seal: a small spiral of black metal, pulsing with radiant light.
Julie instinctively reached out. The moment her fingers touched the spiral, they were both thrown out of time.
A vision.
They found themselves amid ruins unlike anything they knew. Spirits drifted around—undead memories of ancient wars. In the center stood a figure.
Alison.
Younger, still with wings, surrounded by light and fire. And beside her—Jack, with blood on his hands, holding an infant.
Jeremy stepped back. "That's me."
Julie looked at him with wide eyes. "That was the first rupture. The moment the shadow Rosalie feeds on was born."
The vision vanished, and they fell to their knees in the forest clearing, before the cracked obelisk. The seal pulsed between them, as if choosing them both—as bearers of light and shadow.
But they were no longer alone.
The shadow took form. Rosalie appeared fully physical, without mask or illusion. Her eyes were black as the abyss, and around her swirled smoke-thick darkness.
"I knew you'd awaken her," she said coolly. "Only you don't know what you've just touched."
Jeremy rose, his eyes blazing with golden-red light. "I know one thing. It's enough to stop you."
Rosalie smiled. "Then try."
The circle exploded with light. The third seal opened a channel through which all dormant forces awoke—and Jeremy and Julie stood at its heart.
This time it wasn't just a test of courage.
It was a war for reality.