(Cassandra’s POV)
“The Smoke Remembers”
The Vault is gone.
But the smoke? It lingers.
It clings to my clothes. Coats my lungs. Crawls inside my memory like mold on old bones.
I should feel lighter. Freed. We burned the Ministry’s tethered minds. We set the children free.
Instead, I feel... haunted. Hollow.
Ezekiel’s hand still lingers in my palm. Not from love. From need. The kind that binds you to your past like an ankle chain.
I turn back to the ruins once, just once. A grave of stolen minds and whispered secrets.
Ashes can’t lie.
But they can still accuse.
---
(Ezekiel’s POV)
“This Is What Freedom Feels Like”
Burning the Vault should’ve been the end.
But freedom doesn’t come with trumpets. It doesn’t come with banners or tears.
It comes with silence. With questions.
Cas
