The hidden sanctuary beneath the temple was carved from ancient stone, its walls etched with glowing sigils that pulsed gently, like the heartbeat of the mountain itself. Crystalline roots twisted overhead, casting reflections of moonlight through the space, painting everyone in shifting hues of silver and sapphire.
It was a rare moment of stillness.
Aria knelt beside Ren, dabbing the blood from a deep gash on his side while Elder Vaughn prepared a poultice.
"Ow, gentle hands, moonflower," Ren winced, flashing his signature crooked smile. "Unless you are trying to punish me for something I probably did not do."
Aria rolled her eyes. "This is not the time for jokes, and you are lucky it was not your ego that got slashed."
"Sadly, that is still intact," Kael muttered from a stone bench nearby, wrapping a fresh bandage around his arm.
Dax, leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed, his sharp gray eyes on Aria, chimed in. "Are we having a sarcastic show now?"
"So," Ren butted, stretching, "anyone want to talk about the light show earlier? Aria turning into a semi god? No? Just me?"
"Shut up, Ren," Kael said flatly.
"I mean, I have seen explosions. But that? That was more like…." Ren mimicked the blade roaring, complete with hand gestures. "Pheeeewk, BOOM. I nearly fainted. You are welcome, moonflower, for still looking hot while terrified."
"Stop talking," Kael growled.
Dax murmured, "You are glowing again, by the way."
Aria blinked. A soft shimmer still clung to her skin like stardust, the bone blade warm at her side, runes faintly pulsing.
Then…
Footsteps echoed from the corridor behind them. They tensed.
"Wait," Aria whispered, standing, eyes narrowing.
Liora stepped into the sanctuary, her long curly ginger hair half-loose, her tunic torn at the edges, but otherwise unharmed. Her boots barely made a sound.
"Liora?" Aria said, surprised.
Everyone turned. Alpha Thorne's eyes narrowed like a blade.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
Without flinching, Liora bowed slightly. "I was sent by Elder Vaughn. He needed herbs."
Kael snapped his head to Elder Vaughn. "Again? With the herbs?"
Elder Vaughn coughed pointedly and nodded. "Yes. I, ah, did ask for… more."
Thorne grunted, not convinced, but moved on.
Liora's eyes met Ren's briefly, too briefly. A flicker of something passed between them.
Moments later, Liora pulled Aria aside into a narrow alcove where the sigils glowed brighter, wrapping them in a cocoon of pale magic.
"I am so glad you survived that fight," Liora said softly. "What is going on with Lyra?"
"I do not know, but Sue does not look sane earlier," Aria replied.
Liora leaned in. "I have something you need to hear. And only you."
Aria nodded. "I am listening."
Liora held up a tiny scroll, its edges ancient and flaking. As she unrolled it, the air itself stilled.
"This is what the scroll from the ruins spoke of. I found more… beneath the temple."
Aria looked at her, "why is everyone dropping scrolls at my feel like I am a library?"
Liora responded, "Because that is how you will get answers, from the past"
She recited softly, her voice threading into the hum of the sanctuary:
"Three pieces of one cursed soul,
Bound to the Goddess's daughter.
Only one road leads to life.
Two routes lead to death.
The chosen brother lives,
The others become shadows.
The circle repeats…
Until the curse is broken."
Aria's heart stilled.
Liora continued, "If we were to analyze this, then it means… the triplets; Kael, Ren, and Dax, they were once a single soul. Fractured by a vengeful deity who hated the Moon Goddess. One soul, torn into three, forced to fight for one mate; over and over. Always doomed to repeat."
Aria's throat tightened. "Let's say that's true, then what is the only way to break it?"
"You," Liora whispered. "The Daughter of the Moon. You choose. But your choice… will kill two of them. For good."
"No." Aria shook her head. "There has to be another way… wait. The Daughter of the Moon? Me? I know my parents, there's no way my mother is the worshipped Moon Goddess"
Liora interjected, "Stop talking, from what I have read so far, what is happening points you to be the reincarnation of the Moon Goddess's Daughter, and talking about another way to break the curse… There isn't. That's the curse. The soul cannot be made whole unless one piece survives."
Aria staggered back. Her eyes burned. "Why me?"
"Because your blood carries hers. The Moon Goddess chose you. Your choice… ends it. Or repeats it."
A beat of silence.
Liora and Aria might think no one heard them, but the triplets did.
Ren's voice drifted from the main chamber. "I am just saying, if we are cursed soul fragments, I should clearly be the heart."
Kael replied, "You would be the ego."
"I will take that."
"Dax is the silence. I'm strong. That makes sense."
"Then what is Aria?" Ren asked.
Kael went quiet.
Dax's voice came, soft but sure. "She is the key."
Aria stared down at the blade. The runes were glowing again, faint, warm, insistent.
Liora looked at her. "I think the answer to all these cryptic messages is to… Break the chain… choose the wound that bleeds most true.
Aria and Liora looked at each other in silence for a while, then Aria voiced out "You know, I still do not understand what is going on but I think I get the hang of it and thank you Liora for looking out for me. Let's go meet the others."
When Aria and Liora returned, the triplets were arguing again, mostly Ren being obnoxious and Kael pretending not to care.
But Dax met her eyes. Held them.
And for a second, she saw it.
The curse.
The soul behind the eyes of three wolves, longing to be whole.
Above them, the sanctuary's ceiling shimmered as moonlight pooled through crystal veins; silver, sacred, and bleeding.
And Aria knew, the time to choose was coming.
And someone would not survive it.