Chapter 4
1109 Words
At first, there was nothing.
No sound.
No pain.
No light.
Just… silence.
Rose didn’t know how long she had been there. It didn’t feel like seconds or minutes. It felt like floating—like she wasn’t even in her body anymore.
Am I… dead?
The thought came slowly, like it didn’t fully belong to her.
Then—
“Rose…”
Her brows pulled together slightly.
The voice was faint, almost like an echo.
“…Rose…”
It sounded familiar.
But before she could focus on it, another voice cut through.
Clear.
Stronger.
“You chose this.”
Rose frowned.
That voice didn’t sound gentle. It wasn’t angry either. Just… firm. Certain.
The darkness around her shifted.
A thin c***k of light appeared, spreading slowly until it swallowed everything.
---
She gasped.
Her eyes opened—
—but she wasn’t on the road anymore.
Rose pushed herself up quickly, her breathing uneven. She looked around, confused.
The place felt… endless.
The ground beneath her feet shimmered faintly, like glass touched by sunlight. The sky above wasn’t blue—it was something else entirely. Bright, but not blinding. Calm, but not empty.
“What is this…?” she whispered.
“You’ve been here before.”
Rose turned sharply.
Someone was standing behind her.
A woman.
Tall. Composed. Her presence alone felt… overwhelming. Not in a scary way—but in a way that made Rose feel small without understanding why.
Still—
There was something about her.
Something familiar.
Rose’s heart skipped.
“I… know you.”
The woman’s expression softened just slightly.
“Yes,” she said. “You do.”
A pause.
Then—
“I am your mother.”
Rose stared at her.
For a second, she didn’t react at all.
Then she shook her head.
“No. That’s not possible.”
But even as she said it…
Something inside her tightened.
Like a memory trying to surface.
“You are not human, Rose,” the woman continued calmly. “You never were.”
Rose took a step back. “No—this isn’t real. I was just—I was just on the road—”
“You were.”
The woman stepped closer.
“And now you are here. Between what you were… and what you chose to become.”
Rose’s breathing became uneven.
“What does that even mean?”
The woman didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she said—
“Your name is not Rose.”
Rose froze.
The air felt heavier.
“What…?”
“It was never your true name.”
A strange feeling settled in her chest.
Unfamiliar.
And yet—
Not unfamiliar at all.
Like hearing something she had forgotten… but once knew perfectly.
---
“Aethra.”
---
The name slipped into her mind softly.
But it didn’t feel new.
It felt… right.
Rose’s eyes widened slightly.
“Aethra…” she repeated under her breath.
The moment she said it—
Something broke.
---
Images rushed in.
Fast. Bright. Overwhelming.
---
A different sky.
A place filled with light.
Voices calling—
Not “Rose”…
“Aethra.”
---
She saw herself—
But not like this.
Stronger.
Calmer.
There was something about her presence—something steady and powerful, like she didn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
Like she already knew who she was.
---
Rose gasped and dropped to her knees.
The memories came harder now.
Too fast.
Too much.
“Stop—” she pressed her hands to her head. “Please—”
But they didn’t stop.
---
Then—
One memory stood still.
Clear.
Quiet.
Important.
---
A man.
Standing in front of her.
Close enough to touch.
His expression was soft… warm… familiar.
Her chest tightened instantly.
“You…”
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
She reached out—
Her fingers almost brushing his—
And then—
He was gone.
---
The memory shattered.
Rose froze.
Her hand stayed in the air for a second before slowly falling.
“No…” she whispered. “Wait…”
But there was nothing.
Just silence again.
---
“You remember now.”
Rose looked up slowly.
Her mother was watching her.
Not coldly.
But not gently either.
Just… knowingly.
“I…” Rose swallowed. “I gave it up…”
The realization came piece by piece.
“I had all of that… and I left it…”
Her chest tightened.
“…for him.”
The words felt heavy.
Real.
And painful.
---
“You were meant to lead,” her mother said quietly. “You were meant to inherit what was yours.”
Rose shook her head weakly. “I didn’t want it.”
“And yet,” the woman replied, “it has not left you.”
Silence fell between them.
---
“Why am I here?” Rose asked after a moment.
Her voice was quieter now.
Less panicked.
More… aware.
---
“Because your life is slipping away.”
Rose’s breath caught.
“What…?”
“The body you chose cannot hold what you are becoming,” her mother said. “Your power is returning.”
Rose felt it then.
A strange warmth spread through her chest.
Then down her arms.
To her fingertips.
She looked at her hands.
Faint light flickered there.
Soft.
Unsteady.
But real.
“…I can feel it,” she whispered.
---
Her heart started racing again.
Not from fear this time.
From realization.
---
Alex.
---
The thought hit her suddenly.
That feeling.
At school.
When she looked at him.
When they touched—
Her eyes widened.
“No way…”
Her breathing quickened.
“…it’s him.”
She didn’t need anyone to confirm it.
She knew.
Deep down—
She knew.
---
The same presence.
The same feeling.
The same person.
---
The world around her began to fade.
The light dimmed.
The space cracked like glass.
---
“Wake up.”
---
Rose gasped.
---
Her eyes flew open.
This time—
She was back.
---
Noise rushed in all at once.
Voices.
Footsteps.
Panic.
“Is she okay?!”
“She’s breathing—wait—”
“Call for help!”
---
Rose struggled to breathe as air filled her lungs again.
Everything hurt.
Her head. Her chest. Her arms.
But underneath the pain—
Something else burned.
Something stronger.
---
Her eyes flickered open slightly.
For a brief moment—
They glowed.
Gold.
---
Then faded.
---
Rose lay there, barely conscious.
Her mind spinning.
Her heart racing.
And one thought echoing louder than everything else—
---
Aethra.
---
And this time…
She didn’t question it.
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