Chapter 57: I Wanted You Before the World Fell ApartThe future wasn’t quiet. It roared.Screens glitched, cities blinked out in sections, satellites turned to falling ash. Drones collapsed midair like birds forgetting how to fly. Somewhere, deep underground, someone screamed into an unplugged mic, and no one heard.Above them, the last two old gods left standing tore through a burning sky.Vaethea’s body was steel and smoke, her breath humming with nanotech and fury, but Aphrodite moved like the world still bent for her — barefoot in the air, skin glowing, lips painted with war.“You should’ve stayed dead,” Vaethea snarled, dodging a wave of molten light.“And you should’ve stayed kind,” Aphrodite answered, voice soft, cruel, as she flicked her fingers and turned another skyscraper into sand.The city was ending around them. Civilians were running, drones malfunctioning, data towers imploding. Blood soaked every inch of pavement like the world was trying to warn itself too late.And
Chapter 56: Love Was Our Weapon. It Still Burned Bright Somewhere in the city, at the edge of a rain - drenched rooftop, Aria blinked into existence. She didn’t fall from the sky or rise from the earth. She was just… there. Sitting cross - legged on the gravel, as if she’d dozed off mid - thought. Her hoodie was damp, strands of hair clinging to her cheek, and the glow of a billboard nearby flickered over her skin in soft blues and pinks. She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm, heart pounding for no reason she could name. She didn’t remember coming here. She didn’t remember anything, really — not the walk, not waking up, not even the last thing she’d said aloud. Just a strange warmth in her chest, as if something had clicked into place and left her humming with quiet energy. The air shifted. Across the city, lights blinked out of sync. Traffic signals froze mid - cycle. A digital ad glitched, words melting into nonsense. And far below, in the subway tunnel beneath her, a
Chapter 55: Love Was The Sin. But We Did It Anyway The city didn’t sleep anymore. Not since the blackout swallowed the skyline. Not since the power grids fractured and the stars started moving in ways they weren’t supposed to. Phones still buzzed with flickers of reception, but messages looped, duplicated, or vanished. Streetlights stayed dark. Cameras blinked red even when unplugged. Somewhere, satellites failed — or maybe something tore through them. In the heart of that static silence, a girl opened her eyes. Aria. Not entirely alive. Not entirely dead. Suspended in a breath the world had stopped taking. Machines around her whirred, but they weren’t powered by electricity anymore. Jules had rerouted energy from an artifact stolen three timelines ago. Elara’s voice had been the last thing Aria heard before the veil pulled tight again. Selene had held her hand through the burn. Nova and Iris had sealed the room with runes. Athena paced outside, unable to help. But Aphrodite
Chapter 54: She Was Ice. I Was Already Melting Again Aria couldn’t sleep. Again. The gallery was still dark when she rolled over on the too - firm mattress, tangled in one of Selene’s oversized hoodies. It smelled faintly of frost and glacial air, sharp and crisp like winter moonlight. Notes of frozen pine and cold stone lingered beneath it. Of safety. Of something deeper, quieter — a secret Selene carried, one Aria could feel but not fully name. Her fingers curled over the hem. Across the room, Selene stood near the tall windows, backlit by glitching streetlights. Her reflection flickered in the glass like it wasn’t anchored. She was still in her coat, hood down, hair braided roughly. Her mouth was set in a hard line. Guard mode. Again. Aria sighed and closed her eyes. Just for a second. But that second became a reel — heat, lips, teeth. Elara. She felt it before she even saw it. The memory, or something like it, pressed into her from the inside. Elara’s mouth on her neck. H
Chapter 53: Born From Love, Marked By the Gods’ Betrayal The quiet stretched around them like gauze. Aria sat on the gallery floor, knees drawn up, back pressed against a cracked pillar. The cold should’ve bothered her, but she’d grown used to it — Selene’s kind of cold. The kind that didn’t sting but settled into her like a memory she couldn’t name. She was still holding the phone. Jules hadn’t texted back. Not that she’d expected her to. Not after the message she sent — final, clipped, just enough love to ache without giving too much away. Aria squeezed the phone once before slipping it into her jacket. She missed her. Missed the way Jules would tap her foot when thinking. Missed the way her voice softened when she said Aria’s name. Missed the before, even if it was a foggy, fractured thing now. But what scared her more was this new pull — the way her body didn’t flinch anymore when Selene reached for her. The way she leaned into her without meaning to. The way a kiss from Sele
Chapter 52: I Don’t Remember You. But I Still Stayed The storm didn’t let up overnight. It lingered like a breath held too long, whispering across broken glass and twisted steel. The gallery creaked around them, old wood groaning with the weight of wind and time. Outside, the city pulsed in half - light — that strange gray haze that makes everything feel like it’s underwater. Selene didn’t sleep much. She’d shifted once or twice, the faintest furrow between her brows, her fingers curling tighter around the hem of Aria’s shirt like her body remembered things her mind couldn’t say aloud. And Aria — she stayed still. Not quite awake. Not quite dreaming either. In that liminal space, memory teased her like static under skin. Flashes of warmth and screams and hands pulling away. A name she couldn’t place echoing like a prayer through smoke. Aria, run — Then silence. She exhaled slowly, not sure what parts of her were real anymore. The city had gone quiet in a way that didn’t feel sa