Aurelia sat in the middle of the clearing, her eyes distant and her expression hardened. The other immortals formed a silent circle around her, watching closely, sensing that something deep and unresolved was stirring within her. They had all carried the weight of their immortality, but for Aurelia, there had always been a darkness she never spoke of—until now.
She inhaled slowly, then finally broke the silence with a voice heavy with both grief and fury. "As you all know, I became immortal after my mother, a priestess of the Empire of Pyrrhos, begged the Fire God to save me."
Her tone darkened, and her eyes reflected a flicker of something—pain, anger, or perhaps both. "But what none of you know," she continued, her voice a bitter rasp, "is what I saw before I was granted this cursed immortality. What I lived through."
She paused, as though pulling the words from the deepest recesses of her memory. The others remained still, waiting.
"My empire," she began, her hands curling into fists, "was a beacon of strength. Pyrrhos was the envy of every kingdom—our cities glittered with gold, our armies unmatched. But then the invaders came. An army more brutal than any we had ever faced. They swept through the empire like a plague, slaughtering everyone in their path."
Her voice grew softer, her gaze distant. "I saw it all. I watched as the invaders stormed through the capital, killing my people, my friends. I heard the screams of families being torn apart, saw the flames that devoured homes, temples, everything." Her breath hitched slightly. "I saw my mother, the strongest person I had ever known, standing in the heart of the temple, summoning the Fire God with her last breath. She offered her life, her soul, to save me."
Aurelia's face twisted with anguish. "She… she burned. Right in front of me. I watched her flesh melt away in the flames as she prayed to the god to grant me the gift of immortality. And I couldn't do anything. I just stood there… watching her die."
The silence in the clearing was thick and suffocating. The others could feel the raw emotion emanating from her, the depth of the wounds she had never allowed to heal.
"She saved me," Aurelia continued, her voice hardening, "but what kind of life did she save me for? I didn't know how to control my power. I didn't understand what I had become. So, I wandered. Alone, lost, desperate."
Her fists clenched tighter as the next memory surfaced. "I found a village. Simple people, kind. I thought… maybe I could start over. Maybe I could do something good. But the fire inside me—it was wild. I couldn't control it. And because of me… the village burned. I tried to help, but instead I unleashed the fire within me, and it destroyed everything. Every man, woman, and child—gone."
Aurelia's voice was now filled with bitterness. "I watched them die. Again. Just like I watched my empire burn. The flames consumed their homes, their lives, and all I could do was stand there, powerless. I was their death sentence."
The others remained silent, though several of them shifted uncomfortably. Elara, who sat closest to Aurelia, looked as though she wanted to say something but held back.
"I left," Aurelia continued, her gaze fixed on something far beyond the clearing. "I couldn't bear to look at the ashes. I couldn't bear to face what I had done. So I ran. For years, I wandered from place to place, but the fire followed me. Every time I tried to make a difference, every time I thought I could make things right… the fire took control. It consumed everything. More villages. More people."
She looked up at them now, her eyes blazing with the pain of centuries. "And the worst part? I knew it was me. I was the danger. I was the reason they all died. No matter how much I wanted to help, no matter how hard I tried, I was always the one who brought destruction."
Aurelia's voice grew colder, a tremor of rage creeping into her words. "So, I stopped trying. I stopped caring. What was the point? Every time I tried to make a life, the fire ruined it. I was alone. I am alone. Because I can't escape what I am. I am fire. I am destruction. I am everything I hate."
Her voice trembled with the weight of her confession, but her face remained stone-like, locked in a battle between grief and fury. The others exchanged glances, unsure of what to say. They had known Aurelia for centuries, but this was a part of her they had never truly seen before.
As the moments passed, the air around Aurelia seemed to change. Something dark and oppressive began to fill the space. The ground beneath her feet trembled ever so slightly, and a strange sensation prickled the skin of those nearby. They could all feel it—an energy stirring, something they had never sensed from her before.
Aurelia's eyes narrowed, and her voice, once broken with sorrow, now hardened with fury. "Do you know what it feels like? To watch everything you care about be destroyed—and to know it's your fault? To know that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you're the reason for their suffering?"
The anger that had been simmering within her began to rise, and with it, a flicker of flame. Black flames. They appeared at the tips of her fingers, curling and crackling with a cold, eerie energy. The immortals gasped in unison as the dark fire began to spread, surrounding Aurelia in a growing, writhing vortex of shadows.
"You all pity me, don't you?" Aurelia's voice was filled with venom now, her anger no longer suppressed. The black flames grew larger, twisting around her like dark tendrils of rage. "You think you understand my pain. You think you know what it's like to carry this burden. But you don't. You don't know what it's like to be a monster."
Lucius took a step back, his eyes wide with shock. "Aurelia… what is this?"
The others exchanged worried glances, their faces filled with fear and confusion. But it was Elara who stepped forward, her expression calm and steady despite the chaos unfolding before her.
"I told you," Elara said softly, her voice cutting through the growing storm of black fire. "I told you that you could do this."
Aurelia looked up at her, the flames flickering wildly around her, but there was a momentary pause in her rage as Elara's words sank in.
"This is your power, Aurelia," Elara continued, her voice soothing yet firm. "This is the fire you've kept locked away for so long. It's the pain, the anger, the hatred you've buried deep inside. And now, it's out. But it's your fire. Not the fire of destruction, not the fire that takes life. It's the fire of your past. And it doesn't define you."
Aurelia's breath came in ragged gasps as she struggled to control the flames, the weight of her emotions threatening to overwhelm her. The others watched in awe, too afraid to approach, but unwilling to leave her side.
"Don't be disturbed by your past," Elara said, kneeling beside her. "It's over. It's gone. There's an old saying in my homeland: 'The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.' What happened to you is not who you are now. You're not a destroyer, Aurelia. You're stronger than that."
Aurelia's eyes widened as she looked at Elara, the flames still dancing around her but no longer growing. Slowly, as if coming to a realization she had long denied, Aurelia began to calm. The black fire crackled and hissed, but it no longer seemed wild or untamable.
With a trembling breath, Aurelia closed her eyes, focusing on the flames. She could feel them—feel the pain, the anger—but she didn't push them away. Instead, she accepted them, letting the fire become a part of her without allowing it to consume her.
"I… I can control it," she whispered, her voice filled with both wonder and exhaustion.
Elara smiled gently. "Yes, you can. But remember, the past is just that—the past. You are not bound by it anymore. You are more than your pain, Aurelia."
The flames began to die down, slowly retreating back into Aurelia's body, leaving only a faint glow around her. She opened her eyes, and for the first time in centuries, there was something different in her gaze. The pain was still there, but now, there was also something else—resolve.
"I'm not… a monster," Aurelia said softly, as though convincing herself.
"No," Elara replied. "You never were."
As the last of the black fire faded into the night, Aurelia sat in silence, her body trembling but her mind clearer than it had been in centuries. The others watched, unsure of what to say, but knowing that something profound had changed.
And for the first time in a long while, Aurelia felt the faint flicker of hope amidst the ashes of her past.