Chapter 201 - Opening Of Old Scars

Chapter 201 - Opening Of Old Scars
ADELINE
Ivan reached out, his hand steady despite the tension in his voice. He helped me to my feet and brushed the dust off my trembling hands.
“You’re here to use your powers,” he said quietly.
I frowned, confused. “My powers?”
Ivan nodded, his gaze unwavering. “Yes. You’re going on a journey… to communicate with your Helix.”
I blinked, my voice shaking slightly. “My Helix? What does that mean?”
“It’s the voice inside you,” Ivan explained, his tone deepening. “The one that’s been trying to reach you… the same one that spoke when your mark hurts, when the sword moved. You’ve been hearing her, haven’t you?”
I hesitated, then gave a small nod. “How do you know all this?”
“There’s no time to explain,” Ivan said firmly, glancing at the cracks forming on the walls as distant rumbling echoed from outside the castle. “Lykos is at war. The spirit beasts have breached the border. You need to speak with your Helix and ask her to open the Abyss, to send the beasts back where they came from.”
My brows furrowed, fear flickering behind my eyes. “Will that even work?”
“Yes,” Ivan said, with conviction that almost sounded borrowed. “If you play your cards right.”
Kieran, who had been silent until then, took a step forward. His jaw tightened. “And if she does this… will she survive?”
Ivan turned to him, his expression calm but determined. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “I trust her,” he said softly. “She’s stronger than you think.”
Then he turned to me. “Stand right there.”
I obeyed, stepping into the center of the cold stone floor. Ivan knelt and pulled a small pouch from his coat, sand from Liora’s grave. With practiced care, he poured it out, his hand tracing symbols and patterns: a circle within triangles, ancient runes spiraling outward. The scent of earth and iron filled the room.
When the sigils were complete, Ivan straightened and extended a hand toward Kieran. “The sword,” he said.
Kieran’s eyes narrowed. “What for?”
“It’s hers,” Ivan replied simply. “Liora’s sword. It should be part of it.”
For a long moment, Kieran didn’t move. Then with a heavy sigh, he drew the Helix sword from its sheath and handed it over. The blade hummed faintly, glowing with a pulse that matched my heartbeat.
Ivan gripped the sword carefully in one hand and reached for Kieran’s other. “Give me your palm,” he said.
Kieran looked uncertain but obeyed. Ivan drew the edge of the blade lightly across his skin, just enough for blood to flow and guided the drops to fall onto my wrist where my mark glowed faintly beneath the skin.
I gasped as the blood touched my mark. The runes on the floor flared to life in a pale blue glow, and the air began to vibrate with low whispers, voices from somewhere far and deep.
“Now,” Ivan murmured, chanting under his breath, the ancient language twisting the air.
My body lifted gently from the ground, suspended in a halo of shimmering light. My hair drifted as if underwater, and the Helix sword slipped from Ivan’s grip, rising on its own to rest across my chest, its tip glowing like a heartbeat.
Kieran took a step forward. “What now?” he asked, his voice low.
Ivan didn’t look at him. His eyes were locked on the floating figure of his sister. “Now,” he said, his voice almost a whisper, “we keep the beasts away… and pray she finds her Helix.”

In my illusion, I stood before a mirror in an unknown realm. My reflection blinked back at me, same body, but not same face. The reflection’s eyes burned with something older, deeper.
“Is that—” I began, but before the words could form, the world shifted.

I appeared in a chamber, looking like Kieran's. I sat again before a mirror, this time dressed in silk and moonlight. This definitely looks like a past memory of who I think it is. A maid standing behind me, weaving silver ribbons through my hair.
“You look beautiful, Lady Liora,” the maid said with a warm smile.
I froze. I knew it.
Lady Liora.
I whispered the name. “Liora?”
A sharp pain lanced through my skull, flashes of laughter, the scent of roses, candlelight, and the faint hum of a ballroom orchestra, then darkness swallowed me.

Now I stood on a high cliff, a small purse clutched in my hand, filled with glowing tokens that pulsed faintly, familiar as heartbeats.
Then the memories hit, falling, betrayal, blood on her hands.
I staggered, clutching my head. “Stop… please stop…”
An unseen force shoved me from the edge—
I crashed again into Kieran’s bed, gasping. Before I could breathe, the same force hurled me backward through the window—
I landed in a small, quiet cottage. Everything was frozen in time, a flickering fire held mid-spark, dust suspended in air.
At the center stood a little girl, probably young Liora. Her eyes were pitch black, her tiny hand raised, choking a woman suspended mid-air.
A man, frozen in motion, ran toward her.
I stepped closer, trembling. “No… this can’t be real…”
I stepped inside the cottage and saw Kieran lying on the bed beside young Liora, his chest barely rising.
“They were… lovers.”
Pain flooded my head. The memories were clawing through my skull.
Then fire erupted. The cottage burned, devouring the air. The figures vanished.
I was looking for a way out then I heard a low whimper I turned and saw Liora pregnant trying to breathe properly. 
I screamed, “Liora!” and rushed forward, then it shift—

I stumbled back into Liora's aunt’s parlor. Mallory.
A slap struck my across the face, sharp, burning.
“You wretched witch!” Mallory’s voice thundered. “How dare you kill the knight!”
I froze. My hand touched my stinging cheek. “I… killed the knight?”
My chest rose and fell rapidly. “I’m Liora?” I whispered. “I’m… remembering.” The world shifts again. 

The ground trembled with the sound of clashing steel and fire.
I saw myself, Liora, standing amidst the chaos, eyes glowing, hand outstretched as power spiraled around me.
My fingers curled, invisible force choking someone in the distance.
I looked up… 
It was Kieran.
My eyes widened. “No…”
I dropped my hand, the magic breaking—
A searing pain shot through my head then everything vanished.