The Midnight Key

The ruins cracked, then collapsed.

Not in a natural way—not in the way time and decay should have broken them—but as if something had reached into reality and erased their very existence.

Dust and shadows swirled. The whispers in the air grew louder.

Rene held Rena close, her heart pounding. "What did you do?"

Rena didn't answer.

She only watched the crumbling ruins with those too-knowing silver eyes.

Lucien grabbed Kieran's collar, slamming him against the last standing pillar. "What the hell did she mean?" His voice was raw, edged with something Rene had never heard before. Fear.

Kieran, unbothered, smiled lazily. "Oh? You don't like when the truth comes knocking, little brother?"

Lucien's grip tightened. "Enough with your games. What is she talking about?"

Kieran's golden gaze flickered to Rena. "Not my story to tell."

Lucien cursed, pushing him away.

But Rene barely noticed.

Because Rena was looking at her now.

And when she spoke, it wasn't the voice of a child.

It was the voice of something older.

"…You don't remember either."

A chill ran through Rene's spine. "What?"

Rena reached up, her tiny hand brushing Rene's cheek.

And suddenly—

Pain.

A sharp, piercing ache in her skull.

Images flashed through her mind.

A gate.

A locked door.

A hand reaching for her.

Silver eyes—her own—watching from the darkness.

And a voice, echoing from the depths of something she couldn't comprehend.

"You should not exist."

Rene gasped, stumbling back.

Nyra grabbed her. "Rene! What happened?"

Rene could barely breathe. She looked down at Rena, eyes wide.

The baby—no, the being—in her arms tilted her head.

"…Do you see now?"

Lucien's voice was sharp. "See what?"

Rena exhaled.

Then—

"The first time you sealed me away… she was there."

Silence.

Rene's blood ran cold.

Nyra whispered, "…Who?"

Rena looked at Rene.

And spoke a name that shattered the air itself.

"Rene."

The world stopped.

Lucien stiffened.

Adrian and Adriel froze.

Nyra's grip on her sword tightened.

Rene?

No. That wasn't possible.

She had never been here before.

She had never known about the sealed soul.

Never seen these ruins.

Never—

Her heart pounded.

But deep inside—

A voice whispered.

"You are lying to yourself."

No.

No, that wasn't true.

She wasn't—

She wasn't—

Kieran chuckled. "Well, well." He crossed his arms. "Now that is interesting."

Lucien's golden eyes burned as they locked onto Rena. "Explain. Now."

Rena blinked. "She was there when the seal was made."

Rene's breath came shallow. "That's—"

Rena didn't let her finish.

"She was meant to stay locked away too."

A gust of wind howled through the ruins, thick with unseen whispers.

Lucien's hands clenched into fists. "That's impossible."

Kieran, for once, wasn't smiling.

His golden eyes flickered between Rene and Rena.

Then, softly—

"…No. It's not."

Rene felt like the ground beneath her had disappeared.

Everything she knew—everything she was—

Was it all a lie?

Nyra stepped in front of her. "No." Her voice was firm. "She's not connected to this. I don't care what magic tricks you're using—Rene is Rene."

Rena looked at her.

And smiled.

A soft, sad smile.

"…That's what they wanted you to believe."

Nyra froze.

Lucien's voice was deadly. "Who. Are. You."

Rena reached out a small hand.

And touched Lucien's forehead.

Golden light flared.

And suddenly—

Lucien remembered.

He staggered back, gasping, as memories he should not have came flooding into his mind.

The locked door.

The silver-eyed girl standing beside it.

The voice whispering, over and over—

"If she wakes up… everything ends."

Lucien's breath came ragged. He looked at Rene.

At the girl he had fought beside.

The girl who had risked her life for her family.

The girl who had always felt different, even before she knew why.

And suddenly—

It all made sense.

He whispered her name.

And this time, it wasn't just a name.

It was a truth.

"…Rene."

She stared at him, eyes wide, lips parted in a silent question.

But before she could speak—

The sky above them ripped open.

A soundless scream filled the air.

The shadows lurking in the mist moved.

Something was coming.

Something that had waited too long.

And now, it had found her again.

Lucien turned sharply to Kieran. "What happens if she remembers everything?"

Kieran's golden gaze darkened.

"…Then she will finish what she started."

Rene's heart stopped.

She whispered.

"…What did I start?"

Kieran's lips curved into a slow, knowing smirk.

And then—

"The end of everything."

To Be Continued…