Chapter 14 – The Ruins of Her Truth
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Scene 1 – Journey into Silence
The morning mist clung to the earth as Kris and Zagan rode side by side, their cloaks fluttering with each gust. The path ahead twisted through silent woods and weathered stones, the trees like watchful sentinels.
Neither of them spoke.
After what they'd discovered about the Blooming Destroyer, and Serena—whoever or whatever she truly was—words felt like fragile things. Ill-suited for the weight they carried.
Finally, Zagan broke the silence. "You sure you're ready to see this?"
Kris's jaw tightened. "Was I ready when Vinam showed up and saved us? When he sliced that demon in half with a sword glowing like heaven and hell combined?"
He let out a breath. "No. But I've been catching up."
Zagan nodded, casting a side glance. "You always do."
They crested a hill, and below them sprawled the ancient ruins of Aria'thel—a temple lost to time, tangled in vines and silence. Faint glyphs shimmered on its broken archways like echoes of a forgotten age.
Kris narrowed his eyes. "This is where she left her truth."
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Scene 2 – The Temple of Her Name
The descent was steep. Vines tugged at their boots, stones shifted beneath them. The temple seemed to resist their presence.
Inside, cold air wrapped around them. The chamber opened wide, half-lit by beams of sunlight filtering through broken stone. Dust floated like ghosts.
A sealed door waited at the end. Made of obsidian and etched in symbols neither of them fully recognized.
Zagan reached into his coat, pulling out a glowing sigil. "Kris stole this from the Moon Order. I refined it."
Kris smirked. "Borrowed."
The sigil touched the door. A tremble. Then light raced through the runes like lightning across a stormy sky.
With a groan, the door opened.
The temple breathed them in.
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Scene 3 – The Golem of Balance
A crack echoed.
From the far end, stone moved. A guardian.
A massive golem emerged—part stone, part metal, ancient and immense. Emerald eyes flared with unnatural fire.
"IDENTITY UNCONFIRMED," it thundered. "YOU ENTER THE DOMAIN OF THE WARDEN. STATE YOUR INTENTION."
Kris stepped forward, palms raised. "We came for truth."
Zagan whispered, "And we'll fight for it, if we must."
"THEN YOU SHALL BE WEIGHED."
The golem charged.
Kris dove to the left, light bursting from his fingertips. Zagan vanished into motion, twin daggers humming with carved runes.
The chamber shook with each blow. Stone cracked, pillars fell. Zagan slashed at joints and weak points while Kris focused bursts of radiant energy at its core.
"Now!" Zagan shouted.
Kris raised both hands and released a searing beam of divine magic into a gap Zagan had opened.
The golem froze.
Then collapsed into rubble.
They stood, chests heaving, the silence deafening after the chaos.
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Scene 4 – The Testament of Serena
Where the golem had stood, a pedestal now pulsed with light. Atop it, a book. Its cover was lavender leather, etched with a golden bloom.
Zagan approached it slowly. His fingers hovered before finally lifting it open.
> "She was meant to scatter love like petals across worlds… not to bury her heart in a mortal soul."
The words shimmered.
Kris stood still, as if the sentence pierced through the fog inside him.
> "Serena was once a Warden. She was never mortal, nor fully divine. Her task was to echo harmony, untouched by desire. She broke that task."
> "She fell."
> "And the boy she loved fell with her."
Kris looked to Zagan, voice tight. "They erased him from time, didn't they?"
Zagan turned the page.
> "To love a god is to defy order."
> "The Blooming Destroyer was forged not to destroy—but to seal her memory, or bring it back. One blade. Two wills."
Kris murmured, "That boy was Vinam."
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Scene 5 – The Mural of the Bloom
Behind the pedestal, an ancient mural stretched across a fractured wall.
Serena stood painted in divine ink, wings split—half radiant, half shadow. Opposite her stood a cloaked boy, blade in hand, eyes hidden.
The sword shimmered blue and red. Between them: a flower blooming, cracked down its stem.
Zagan's voice was low. "The blade wasn't meant for war."
Kris added, "It was meant for her."
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Scene 6 – Return to Solareth
Nightfall bathed the castle in amber light. Kris and Zagan returned in silence, the book clutched in Zagan's arms.
Jessica met them at the gates.
"What did you find?" she asked, voice cautious.
Zagan handed her the book. "Everything."
She opened it.
Her eyes widened at the first line.
"She really wasn't one of us," she whispered. "But Vinam..."
Kris nodded. "He loved her anyway."
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Scene 7 – Vinam at the Graveside
He laid his hand on the soil. Raindrops kissed his skin.
"They found your book," he whispered. His voice was soft, barely carried by the wind. "The truth you left behind… it's out now."
The breeze curled around him like a sigh, brushing through his tousled hair as he sat back on his heels. His cloak soaked in the drizzle, but he didn't move.
"They know who you were. What you meant to do."
His eyes drifted closed, and for a moment, the air around him trembled—barely perceptible, but real. A ripple, like memory stirring in the earth.
He swallowed hard.
"They'll blame you. Or maybe… they'll blame me." He gave a quiet, bitter laugh. "Maybe they're right."
A soft flash flickered at his side—Heavenbloom awakening for a breath, casting a faint blue hue over the grave. Then it dimmed, falling silent again.
"I remember the way you smiled," he said, his tone now more fragile, vulnerable. "When we danced in the floating gardens. When we made that stupid wish at the Solarian well. You told me love could heal gods."
He looked up. The clouds were beginning to break apart, sunlight gently piercing through.
"You were wrong," he said. "But you also weren't."
He stood slowly, brushing mud from his knees. "They'll come for me now. Maybe even Zagan. Kris is starting to see it… what I really am. What I'm not."
The boy looked down one last time at the grave.
"You fell for me. And I'll fall for you again if it means fixing this world."
He turned to leave—but paused.
"I won't let them erase you again. Not from memory. Not from time. Not even the gods."
And with that, Vinam vanished into the mist, the grass swaying gently in his wake.
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End of Chapter 14