LOGIN(Rex’s POV)The moment that memory began glowing, every other light in the Heart seemed to dim.Not completely.Just enough that the difference became impossible to ignore.Thousands of memories floated in the darkness around us, yet only one shone brighter with each passing second.The forgotten memory.The hidden memory.The one the Builder never wanted anyone to find.Another impact slammed into the door.The Heart shook violently.Cracks raced through the darkness.The shadow smiled.Closer now.Far too close.But for the first time since arriving here, it wasn’t watching Isabella.It was watching the memory.And it didn’t look pleased.That alone told me how important it was.The girl noticed too.“Quickly.”Her voice trembled.“Hurry.”Isabella didn’t hesitate.She ran.I ran beside her.The glowing memory drifted through the darkness ahead of us like a star.The closer we got, the brighter it became.Around us, memories continued shattering.Entire pieces of history disappearin
(Isabella’s POV)The crack spread across the darkness like lightning.A thin line of golden light split the Heart from top to bottom.Then another appeared.And another.The entire space seemed to groan.Not like stone.Not like metal.Like something alive struggling to hold itself together.The girl stumbled backward.“No, no, no…”The panic in her voice immediately set my pulse racing.Until now she’d seemed calm.In control.Like she understood things the rest of us didn’t.Now she looked terrified.And that scared me more than the crack itself.Another impact slammed into the door.The entire Heart shook violently.Memories scattered around us.Thousands of glowing fragments spinning through the darkness.Some burst apart completely.The moment they did, I felt it.Not physically.Emotionally.Like pieces of a person disappearing forever.The realization hit me hard.Those weren’t just memories.They were pieces of her.Pieces of the Builder.Pieces of the life she’d lived.The gi
(Rex’s POV)The moment the shadow smiled, every instinct I possessed screamed that something was wrong.Not dangerous.Not threatening.Wrong.Like seeing a reflection blink before you did.Like hearing footsteps in an empty room.The darkness surrounding the Heart seemed to recoil from it.Even the memories flickering around us dimmed further.The girl who looked like Isabella stopped smiling entirely.Her attention locked onto the distant shape.For the first time since meeting her, she looked small.Not physically.Emotionally.Like someone standing before something far bigger than themselves.“Can it see us?” I asked.The girl’s answer came immediately.“Yes.”My grip tightened.That wasn’t reassuring.At all.The shadow remained impossibly far away.Yet somehow I felt its attention.Focused.Patient.Ancient.It wasn’t staring at me.Or the girl.It was staring at Isabella.The realization made my wolf restless.Beside me, Isabella hadn’t taken her eyes off the darkness.“What is
(Isabella’s POV)I froze.The darkness around us felt endless.No sky.No ground.No walls.Just blackness stretching in every direction.And a voice that sounded exactly like mine.Behind me.Rex moved instantly.I felt him step closer, placing himself slightly between me and whatever was there.The gesture should have been impossible in a place like this.Yet somehow it made me feel safer.“Stay behind me,” he said quietly.A laugh echoed through the darkness.My laugh.Or something close enough to it.“He’s protective.”The voice sounded amused.Not threatening.Not kind either.Something in between.The sort of tone that made it impossible to guess someone’s intentions.I slowly turned around.For a second, I saw nothing.Then a figure stepped forward from the darkness.My breath caught.It was me.Not similar to me.Not someone who looked like me.Me.The same face.The same eyes.The same height.The same everything.Except for one thing.Her eyes glowed gold.Brilliant gold.Li
(Isabella’s POV)The world returned with a violent jolt.I stumbled forward and nearly fell before Rex caught my arm.For a moment, everything blurred together.The balcony.The city.The pendant.The brother’s smile.The last good night.It all spun through my head like pieces of a puzzle that refused to fit together.When my vision finally cleared, we were standing inside an enormous chamber.The Gate chamber.I knew it immediately.Not because anyone told me.Because every part of me recognized it.The room was massive, carved into the heart of a mountain. Silver pillars stretched toward a ceiling so high it disappeared into darkness. Symbols covered every surface. They glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat.And at the center stood the Gate.I stopped breathing.It wasn’t a door.Not really.It was a tear.A crack in reality itself.Suspended in the air.Beautiful.Terrifying.Wrong.Colors shifted inside it that didn’t seem to belong in our world. Light twisted and folded in im
(Rex’s POV)The plaza faded.Not completely.Just enough for the memory to shift.The cheering crowds blurred into streaks of color. The music softened. The sunlight dimmed.The mountain was taking us somewhere else.Somewhere important.The next thing I knew, Isabella and I were standing on a balcony high above the city.Night had fallen.Thousands of lights glowed below like stars scattered across the streets.The city was beautiful.Painfully beautiful.Because now we knew what was coming.The Builder stood alone at the balcony railing.She wasn’t working.Wasn’t planning.Wasn’t saving anyone.She was simply staring at the city.Watching it.Memorizing it.The realization made my chest tighten.A few moments later, a door opened behind her.The brother stepped onto the balcony.Neither spoke immediately.The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable.It was familiar.The kind shared by people who had spent a lifetime together.Eventually, he walked over and stood beside her.For s
(Isabella’s POV )We didn’t move for a while after that.Not because we agreed.Because nobody liked the idea enough to argue it properly.Even Rex.And that scared me more than the Hollow King’s voice.The cavern kept shifting in slow, ugly pulses beneath our feet. Like the world was breathing wro
(Rex’s POV )“Now I understand why the Axis chose you both.”The words didn’t sit right in the air.They sank.Like something heavy settling into water that was already too deep.I stepped closer to Isabella instinctively.Not because I was scared of the thing in front of us.But because I didn’t l
(Isabella’s POV)Silence.Not normal silence.The kind that crushes the air out of your lungs.“She already opened the seal once.”Rex slowly turned toward me.And I swear that hurt more than the Hollow King’s voice.Not anger.Not betrayal.Confusion.Like he was trying to decide whether to believ
(Rex’s POV)“There’s someone standing behind you.”Every instinct in my body snapped tight instantly.I turned.Nothing.Just darkness stretching across the cavern behind me, silver light flickering across broken chains and ancient stone.But Isabella, she looked terrified.Not confused. Not uncert







