Location: The Broken Gate – Battle Initiated
The clash was immediate.
Yanis unleashed a vortex of fragmented timelines, her Queenbringer power folding entire seconds into weapons. Aeyra countered with Choir logic — slicing time into clean, clinical sequences. Her blade didn't strike. It unwrote.
Kael didn't fight.
He watched.
And remembered.
> "Aeyra…"
No response.
> "Do you remember the first Gate breach?"
Still nothing.
> "Do you remember what you told me when the Seed fractured?"
She blinked — briefly — and Yanis landed a clean hit.
A spark.
Not from damage.
From recognition.
---
Inside Aeyra's Mind – The Memory Cage
It was a white room. Silent. Still. Clean.
And in the center sat Aeyra, wrapped in Choir vines of silver code, her wrists locked to a floating chair of logic.
A memory-Kael stood across from her.
> "You're not broken."
> "You're just... lost."
Aeyra whispered:
> "They took everything but my guilt."
> "They let me keep that."
And the vines tightened.
---
Back in Reality – Kael Steps In
He ran between them as Aeyra raised her Unwriting Blade.
> "Don't!" he shouted.
Yanis tried to stop him — too late.
The blade swung.
But Kael didn't block it.
He caught it.
Blood poured from his hand, skin unravelling like torn script.
He didn't scream.
He spoke.
> "I remember the hymn you sang the night Aether-Prime collapsed."
> "I remember the fear in your voice when you saw the Choir's cradle ship."
> "I remember who you were before they turned you into this."
> "And I remember that you were always afraid of one thing—"
She trembled.
> "Afraid of forgetting."
---
Inside Her Mind Again – Breaking the Cage
The vines pulsed.
The room cracked.
And suddenly — a younger version of Aeyra, the real one, stood up.
She looked at her bound self.
> "We swore to remember him."
> "We swore we'd never let them use us."
She raised her hand.
And the vines burned.
---
Back in Reality – The Blade Falls
Aeyra dropped the Unwriting Blade.
She fell to her knees.
And screamed.
Not from pain.
From memory.
> "Kael…"
He knelt beside her.
Held her shaking frame.
> "It's okay."
> "You're back."
But behind them — Yanis was staggering, bleeding from dozens of null cuts.
> "She stopped fighting," Yanis gasped, "but the Choir… hasn't."
---
Final Scene – Choir Protocol Activates
Back at the Citadel, alarms blared.
> [SAINT AEYRA — CODE CORRUPTION DETECTED]
[EMOTION RECLAMATION: 100%]
[Status: LOYALTY BROKEN]
[Auto-Detonation in 60 seconds]
The Elders issued one last command:
> "If we cannot own her…"
> "…we'll erase her."
And in her skull, Aeyra heard the countdown begin.
---