The locket pulsed with faint light as Amara lay curled on the couch in Nyla's chambers. Rain tapped against the windows, softer now, like a lullaby trying to soothe the tension in the room.
Elara stood by the fire, arms crossed, watching Amara as if afraid she might disappear.
"She slept with a god," Nyla said in a hushed tone. "Not willingly—but the bond was sealed. It explains why the god chooses her as the vessel. It's not just blood… it's legacy."
Elara turned. "We can't change the past. But we can change what happens next."
Nyla nodded. "And that locket—it's the key. Your mother didn't just trap the god's essence. She carved a piece of her own soul into that trinket to keep it locked. That's why the god couldn't fully rise in you."
Amara stirred at the sound of their voices. Her eyes opened slowly, and for a moment, they shimmered with silver light before fading back to brown.
"I heard everything," she murmured. "Even in my sleep… it whispers. Beneath my skin."
Elara knelt beside her, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. "We'll silence those whispers. I promise."
Amara's lips twitched into a faint smile. "You keep promising impossible things."
"I keep delivering, don't I?"
They sat in silence for a moment, soaking in the warmth of the fire. But Amara's peace was short-lived.
"I saw something in the crypt," she said quietly. "Not just my mother. Not just the god. I saw a girl… my age. In chains. Crying. Bleeding. She looked… like me."
Nyla went still. "That… that's not possible."
"She had the same eyes. And when she screamed, I felt it in my bones."
"There are rumors," Nyla began carefully, "that the god creates echoes of its vessel—mirror souls. If you die before it fully possesses you, the god keeps a version of you locked inside its essence. A backup. A failsafe."
Amara's blood ran cold. "You mean… if it kills me, it'll still have me?"
"Not just that," Elara said. "It could use your echo. Live again through it."
Amara sat up. "Then I have to destroy the god. Not trap it. Not run from it. Destroy it completely."
"That's not easy," Nyla said. "The only thing that could kill a god is another god. Or…"
"Or a human with god's blood and a soul forged in defiance," Elara finished.
They looked at Amara.
She sighed. "Of course it's me."
That night, they planned.
The god's essence was still buried deep beneath the school, but the tether—the locket—kept it from rising. If they could draw it out, lure it into the chapel, and bind it within a circle carved from celestial ash and blood magic, they could weaken it. Long enough for Amara to sever the link between them.
But it would mean opening herself again.
Inviting the god to rise through her.
"Are you sure?" Elara asked. "If you lose control, it might never let you go."
"I'm sure," Amara said. "This ends with me. No more echoes. No more vessels."
Two nights later, the trap was ready.
They carved the runes in silence, each stroke precise. The circle around the altar glowed with dull red light. The air buzzed with ancient magic—wild, unstable.
Amara stood at the center, locket clasped in both hands.
Elara stood just outside the circle, dagger ready.
Nyla waited in the shadows, watching.
Amara closed her eyes.
And called to him.
The change was instant.
Pain arced through her spine. Her veins lit with fire. Her eyes turned silver, then black. Her voice echoed in a language older than time. The chapel trembled.
The god was rising.
Through her.
Elara shouted the binding spell.
The runes surged.
The god screamed.
Amara dropped to her knees, body convulsing, but she held the locket tight. She saw the girl again—the echo. Reaching for her. Mouth open in a silent scream.
"NO!" Amara shouted. "You don't own me!"
She hurled the locket into the center of the runes. It shattered—light exploding from it in a wave.
The god shrieked.
And then—
Silence.
Amara collapsed.
The chapel walls cracked.
But the darkness… lifted.
Elara rushed to her side, heart thudding. "Amara—Amara!"
Amara opened her eyes.
They were brown.
Human.
"It's… gone," she whispered. "I can't feel him anymore."
Nyla stepped forward, eyes wide. "You destroyed the essence. The god… is dead."
Amara smiled faintly. "Told you. We'd end it."
And outside, for the first time in weeks, the moon shone bright and clean.
No curse.
No whispers.
Just light.