The aurora faded by dawn, but something lingered.
Not in the sky—but in the air between them.
It was a tension Selene couldn't name, but she felt it every time her children stood too close—or too far apart. Their connection no longer moved in harmony.
It pulled.
Elira toward the stars.
Theron toward the shadows.
And something inside Selene whispered—
> They were never meant to grow in the same direction.
---
It began with a glance.
Elira stood near the cliffs, tracing runes in the air. Her fingertips shimmered, trailing ribbons of golden starlight that hummed softly—gentle, warm, radiant.
Theron stood below her, by the firepit. But his hand clenched at his side, eyes fixed on the same runes.
When she cast one—his body jerked.
Selene saw it.
The light burned him.
---
Later that afternoon, Naeria pulled Selene aside.
"They're... opposites," the witch said. "Light and void. Star and storm. If their powers continue to evolve this way—"
"They'll destroy each other?" Selene's voice was brittle.
Naeria hesitated. "If they don't choose each other. Yes."
---
Selene found them in the old stone glade.
The place where she first saw Elira float.
Elira hovered now, hair billowing, body wrapped in slow-turning constellations. Her voice was soft, but distant.
"I can hear the stars now, Mother. They don't speak in words—but they sing of places we've never seen."
Theron sat on a stone below, arms crossed, his shadow lengthening unnaturally behind him.
"They call to you," he said bitterly, "but they don't know your name."
Elira looked down. "And the shadows? What do they offer you?"
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"They remember what you forget. That stars die, too."
---
Selene stepped between them.
"Enough," she said gently. "You're not enemies."
"We're not anything," Theron snapped. "She's not even here anymore."
Elira's glow dimmed. "You think I asked for this? That I wanted to be unrooted?"
"You like the way they look at you now. Like a goddess."
"And you'd rather they flinch? Like they do when you walk by?"
The words stung. For both of them.
Theron's jaw tensed. "I didn't want to become this. But I am this."
Elira looked at him—really looked.
And for a moment, Selene saw it: the raw ache between them. The bond fraying under power too big for either to carry alone.
---
That night, the storm came.
No warning.
No clouds.
Just a crack of thunder that split the air in half.
Selene raced to the ridge—where her children stood at the center of a ring of lightning.
Their marks glowed—Elira's white-gold, Theron's deep indigo.
And between them: a shattered crystal from one of Naeria's protective runes.
They'd broken it.
Together.
Or in defiance.
---
"Elira! Theron!" Selene screamed.
But they didn't hear her.
Not yet.
Their power surged—a storm of starlight and void crashing against each other in spirals of color and chaos.
And in the middle, their hands almost touched.
Almost.
---
Naeria and Rowan arrived breathless.
"What do we do?" Rowan shouted.
Naeria was already chanting, drawing a binding rune into the ground.
But it cracked under the pressure.
Selene stepped forward. Alone.
And whispered the only truth left.
> "Let me in."
---
She crossed the storm.
Every part of her burned.
Her memories twisted. Her soul sang in both voices—her daughter's light and her son's fury.
She saw Elira as a star reborn.
She saw Theron as a god in mourning.
And she saw herself between them.
Not as the queen.
Not as the chosen.
But as their mother.
---
She reached them just as the storm peaked.
Placed a hand on each of their chests.
And cried out—
"I love you both. Not for what you carry. Not for what you become. But because you are mine."
---
The storm shattered.
The wind fell.
The light dimmed.
And the twins collapsed—one in each of her arms.
---
When they woke, they remembered everything.
Each other. The bond. The pull.
The pain.
Elira touched Theron's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
He didn't speak.
But he held her hand.
And didn't let go.
---
That night, the sky was clear.
No aurora.
No prophecies.
Just the soft shimmer of two stars—side by side.
Not mirrors.
Not opposites.
Just family.
---