It started at dawn.
A ripple in the air—soft, sweet, nostalgic.
Lucius felt it first.
The warmth of a presence that should've been gone.
Not the faint echo he summoned.
But her.
Breathing.
Alive.
Whole.
He rose slowly, blade humming at his side.
Claire stirred, already uneasy.
Velda looked up from her scrolls and whispered, "Lucius… something's wrong."
Zara and Lilith were already armed.
They felt it too.
---
Then she stepped from the trees.
Same red-flame hair.
Same silver eyes that once saw everything in him and never flinched.
Same smile.
Same voice.
"Lucius?"
---
Everyone froze.
Even Lucius.
Because this wasn't a memory.
Not an echo.
Not a flicker.
This was a living girl.
Wearing her name.
Wearing her heart.
---
> [System Alert: Inconsistency Detected – Entity matches all physical, magical, and emotional signatures of Arielle Elthwyn]
Error: This version of Arielle should not exist.
Analysis: Slumbering Court Forgery.
Purpose: Psychological dismantlement.
---
She ran toward him.
Threw her arms around his chest.
"I found you! I found you again!"
Lucius didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Because for just a second—
He wanted it to be real.
---
Claire flinched.
Lilith's aura flared.
Velda cursed under her breath.
Zara looked like she was two seconds from swinging.
Lucius stepped back.
Gently.
And looked her in the eyes.
"…What was the last thing you whispered to me before you died?"
The girl blinked.
Then smiled.
Too perfect. Too rehearsed.
"I told you I loved you."
Lucius's eyes hardened.
"No," he said. "You said, 'Don't forget me.'"
---
The girl's smile cracked.
Her eyes glitched.
For one moment—just one—she flickered.
A shimmer of void.
A fragment of something monstrous wearing her skin.
Zara didn't wait.
She lunged.
Lucius caught her wrist.
"No," he said.
Then turned to the false Arielle.
"I want her to see this."
---
He stepped forward.
Drew the real Blade of the Last Name.
The false Arielle backed away—too fluid. Too controlled.
Lucius held the blade out.
"You wear her smile, her voice, her warmth.
But you forgot the one thing no god can fake—"
He slashed the air once.
The blade howled.
"Her pain."
---
> [Skill Activated: Eidolon Flame – Judgment Cut]
Forgeries cannot withstand echoes of true love and true loss.
---
The false Arielle screamed as the flames erupted around her.
Not fire—
But memory.
Burning through her perfect skin.
Erasing every lie.
Until nothing was left but a whisper:
"He still loves you…"
Gone.
---
Silence.
Lucius turned.
Looked at the girls.
No words.
Just truth.
Claire walked to him first.
Took his hand.
"You passed," she whispered.
Zara nodded.
Lilith smiled for the first time in days.
Velda tilted her head. "Still want that anime moment where she gets reincarnated into a soft slice-of-life world though."
Lucius almost smiled.
Almost.
---
> [Bond Integrity Reinforced]
Forgery Rejected.
Soul Stability: High.
Flame of the First Bond now purifies all mimicry and divine illusions.
---
Somewhere far above, in the black citadel of the Slumbering Court—
A god whispered:
"…So he remembers her too well."
Another replied:
"Then next time… we send the real one."