101. The price before salvation

101. The price before salvation
The dark room reverberated a cold that did not come from the wind, but from the presence that lived there. Pandora breathed deeply, sitting in the center of the circle traced by Persephone, while the bluish flames of candles danced, trembling as if they feared what was about to happen.
Lady Mourn stood in the shadows of Pandora’s mind, like a slender figure who never belonged to this world. His eyes were wells of emptiness, and his voice, when he came, was a whisper that seemed to slide under the skin:
"Something will be lost... before it is saved. And it will be you who will choose what must crumble."
Pandora gasped, clenching his fists against the ground. The words came in deep, not as simple sounds, but as chains that bound themselves in his soul.
"What... do you mean?" your voice came out trembling.
Lady Mourn only bowed her head, her long and ethereal hair falling like rivers of darkness.
 "Everything has a price, little fairy. The heart that desires to unite worlds must first accept loss. Love will be tried. Fate broken."
The words repeated themselves, stronger, until Pandora’s mind broke into disjointed images: Raven on her back, walking away; Thiely, crying in a silver lake; Persephone shouting her name; Amy disappearing in a mist; Morgana falling to her knees, bleeding.
Pandora screamed, taking his hands to the head, as if he could pull out those visions. The circle of candles broke with a sudden wind and she collapsed on the stone floor.
Raven was the first to reach it. His arms wrapped around her without hesitation, holding her against her chest.
"Pandora!" called, almost in despair, the firm tone of his voice broken by anguish. "I am here... look at me."
The fairy, pale, breathed slowly. The violet eyes moved in delirium, as if still attached to the images.
Raven squeezed her harder. "I won’t let her get lost. Not to Mourn, not to anyone."
 His heart beat fast, as if every pulse was a silent promise.
When Persephone and Morgana approached to help, Raven raised his face, hard as stone:
"Call Melindra. Now."
Minutes later, the hall was almost empty, the friends away by the urgency of the order. Raven still held Pandora in her lap, stroking her hair like someone trying to tame a storm.
"You won’t leave me, understand?" he murmured near the fairy’s ear, though he knew that Pandora was semi-unconscious. "I won’t let her."
The sound of footsteps echoed and Melindra entered, her flowing dress reminiscent of a fragment of solid moonlight. His eyes landed in the scene with the gravity of those who already expected it.
She approached slowly, putting her hand on Raven’s shoulder.
"The shadows inside her test her," he said, serious, in a low tone. "But what I see here is deeper."
Raven looked up, red by the effort to hold control.
 "What do you see, Melindra?"
The woman smirked a slight sad smile.
 "What anyone would see, if they looked closely: their feelings. They no longer fit in silence."
Raven staggered, as if a blade had pierced his invisible armor. He hugged Pandora harder, not knowing whether to deny or confess.
Melindra took a deep breath and completed:
 "If you want to fight for it, fight. But not with jealousy or fear. Fight with a clean heart, Raven. Or you will lose it before you even have it."
The silence fell heavy between the three, broken only by the fragile sound of Pandora’s breath, which rested as an enigma about to awaken.
Raven remained silent for a few moments, eyes fixed on the sleeping face of Pandora. It was as if all the weight of the world were there, resting against his chest.
Melindra observed her, patient, as one who understands the pain even before it is said. Finally, she knelt before the two and gently touched the vampire’s hand.
"Raven... you have always fought with claws, always sheltered behind walls of shadow. But love is not a battlefield. It’s a path of surrender."
Raven closed her lips, tensed jaw.
 "And if, by giving me, I lose?" his voice sounded low, hoarse, charged with a fear that rarely let go.
Melindra tilted her face, approaching like an older sister who offers comfort.
 "Fear is a prison. I’ve lived it."
His eyes were lost for a moment in the void, and Raven could see there a reflection of distant memory.
"I once loved someone," Melindra confessed, her voice shrunk. "But pride made me shut up, and fear made me back off. I believed I would have time... but time does not forgive. When I decided to fight, it was too late. All I have left is the longing and certainty that my own shadows robbed me of the chance to be happy."
The words echoed in the hall, slicing Raven from the inside like a subtle blade. She pressed Pandora more against herself, as if instinctively wanted to protect her from the same fate.
Melindra smiled tenderly.
 "I don’t want you to repeat my mistakes. If you love Pandora, fight for her, but not as a warrior trying to beat a rival. Fight as one who desires only to be present, even if her heart is shared."
Raven looked up, red eyes sparking between pain and hope.
 "Do you think she can really... choose me?"
"It’s not a matter of choice, Raven." Melindra lightly stroked the face of the sleeping fairy. " Pandora is a river that flows through several ways, and each one who loves her is a part of this course. What matters is not to be the only one, but to be true. If you give yourself whole, without fear, she will always find her way back to you."
The silence continued, full of weight and meaning. Raven breathed deeply, as if every word of Melindra had opened cracks in his armor.
Finally, she murmured, almost to herself:
 "I... don’t want to lose her."
"Then don’t lose her," answered Melindra, firmly. "But remember: it’s not about winning. It’s about staying."
Raven lowered her head, landing a light kiss on Pandora’s forehead, like a silent oath. For the first time in a long time, she felt that she did not need to hide from her own truth.
Melindra stood up, his clothes fluttering like silver mist.
 "I’ll stand guard while she recovers. Go breathe, Raven. Release that weight before pride and fear consume her as they consumed me."
Raven hesitated but nodded, rising cautiously. Once again he looked at Pandora, the heart in conflict, and then walked away, carrying with him the newly planted promise of fighting with light, not shadows.
Alone in the hall, Melindra sighed, staring at the sleeping fairy.
 "May your light be strong enough to guide them all, little Pandora..."