“When blood is offered, fate answers. But whose blood decides whose fate?”
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The Arora Estate – The Blood Circle
Moonlight pierced through stained-glass windows, illuminating the crimson circle etched into the marble floor. The Arora matriarch stood at its center, hair unbound, face painted with ash and vermillion. Around her, ancient chants rose in a tongue older than fire.
Meher’s name was carved into the scroll.
So was Rashi’s.
And so was the unborn child’s.
“She thinks she can sever the bond?” the matriarch whispered, hands trembling. “Then let her feel what it means to carry blood that disobeys.”
She raised the blade.
A drop of her own blood fell into the center of the circle.
The earth beneath the estate groaned.
And far away—Meher screamed.
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Meher – The First Flame Awakens
Her back arched unnaturally as power surged through her. Not hers—not welcomed.
Rashi’s ritual had begun to purge the darkness from their bloodline… but it was a bond not made to be broken without resistance.
And resistance had found Meher first.
She saw visions—her younger self, wide-eyed and afraid. Her hands burning as she healed a bird, only to be punished for using light. Her father’s voice thundered: “We are shadows, not stars.”
But the child in the vision looked up at Meher now.
“Choose again,” it whispered.
Meher, sobbing, reached forward—and touched her own younger hand.
A blinding light erupted around her.
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Monastery – The Severing Ritual
Rashi's breath came in short gasps.
The Binding was almost complete—but not without sacrifice. Her fingers trembled over the runes. Salt burned her skin as dark energy clawed to stay inside her.
“She’s in pain,” she murmured.
Gabriel knelt beside her. “It is working. The curse is unraveling… but they’re pushing back. You need to finish it.”
Rashi’s vision blurred. She saw her mother, her father, their greed. She saw Meher burning from the inside out.
Then—Raghav’s hand reached hers.
She blinked.
He wasn’t physically there.
But he was there—his soul beside hers, like a vow kept across centuries.
“You're not alone,” his voice whispered in her mind.
That was enough.
She traced the final symbol.
The Severing was complete.
A shockwave rippled through the room.
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Raghav – The Sword Beneath Memory
In the crypts, the Forgotten Order watched as Raghav stepped into the circle of light.
The sword lay embedded in stone—old, rusted, and yet humming with energy.
“Elijah brought you,” the elder monk said. “But your hand must remember before it can wield.”
Raghav closed his eyes.
He saw fire.
A city burning. A girl screaming. His past life—a warrior of light—falling to protect someone with green eyes.
Rashi.
He reached forward.
The sword responded.
Flames burst from the blade—not to burn, but to illuminate.
“Let this be my oath,” Raghav said. “To protect them—both.”
The stone cracked.
The sword was his.
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Meher – The Choice
She opened her eyes.
The room around her had changed. The flames were gone. The pressure lifted.
The child—her younger self—stood near a mirror.
“Go,” the child whispered. “Protect the ones who gave you a second chance.”
Meher stood slowly. Her hands were no longer darkened by her family’s curse.
Instead, a faint glow lit her palms.
The matriarch had tried to break her—but in doing so, she had awakened her instead.
“I’m coming, Rashi,” she whispered. “We end this together.”
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Final Scene – The Aroras Prepare for War
The matriarch reeled as the blood circle snapped in two, the spell recoiling with a scream that shook the house.
“She completed it?” she gasped.
Their father stepped forward, silent and grim.
“Then we change tactics,” he said.
He handed her a vial—filled with thick, black liquid.
“The bloodline has been cleansed… but the body still bleeds. We don’t need Rashi to fall. We just need the child.”
The matriarch’s eyes narrowed. “Then let it begin.”
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