The rain continued to fall relentlessly, blanketing the land with an endless, watery shroud. Beneath the surface of this world, a story was unfolding—a story that had already begun centuries ago, in another life, and was now repeating itself, as it had done countless times before.In the small village of Eryndor, nestled in a valley far from the ruins of Drathil, a baby girl cried under the pale moonlight, her cries rising above the sound of the storm. The night was still, as though the earth itself held its breath. The winds had shifted, the skies darkened, and something ancient stirred—an echo of the past, a shadow of a soul that had once been a king.Selene, the infant girl, was born under strange and unnatural circumstances. Her birth was marked by an inexplicable sense of foreboding, an omen whispered about by the village's elders. When the rain had begun that evening, thick and violent, no one had thought to question the unusual timing. The wind had grown cold, and the moon had been obscured by clouds, as though the heavens themselves were hiding their face.Her mother, Lyanna, was a simple woman, known for her kindness and quiet beauty. She had been in labor for hours, but when her daughter had finally been born, it was as though the storm had carried with it the weight of something far heavier than a mere storm. Lyanna's heart stopped for a moment when she first looked into her daughter's eyes. They were the color of embers, burning orange with a flicker of something ancient—something that unsettled her."Is she... is she alright?" Lyanna whispered, her voice shaking. She had never seen such eyes in her life, and the sight of them left a chill in her bones. But the child in her arms was perfect in every other way—small and delicate, her tiny hands grasping the fabric of her mother's cloak as though she already knew what the world would bring."She is perfect," the midwife had said, though her own voice trembled. The midwife couldn't have known then, but Lyanna felt something deep within her soul—the child was destined for something far greater than anyone could fathom. Something beyond her control.As the months passed, Selene grew strong, more beautiful than her mother had ever imagined. Her golden hair shimmered in the sunlight, her smile was like the first bloom of spring, and her laughter was a balm for the hearts of all who heard it. But with every passing day, there was something about her that made the villagers uneasy. There was a sharpness to her gaze that seemed too knowing for someone so young. And the way she spoke—softly, as if she were speaking to something, or someone, invisible—left the elders whispering behind closed doors.By the time Selene was five, the villagers had grown used to her oddities, dismissing them as the strange whims of youth. But Lyanna could never forget the way her daughter would stare into the sky, as though searching for something among the clouds. She had once asked her, "What do you see, my child? What is it that you seek?""I see fire," Selene had replied one evening, her amber eyes glowing like the coals of a dying flame. "And wings. Wings that stretch across the sky, bigger than anything, bigger than the world itself."Lyanna had laughed, thinking it just a child's fancy. But there was a part of her that wondered—wondered if there was more to the girl than anyone realized.One fateful night, as Selene lay in her bed, her dreams were filled with shadows and flames. In her sleep, she murmured the words that had plagued her for as long as she could remember: "I was once a king, and I failed."Her words made no sense to her, but they echoed with an eerie familiarity. For reasons she could not explain, she knew the sorrow in those words. She knew it in the deepest part of her being. In her dreams, she stood in a grand hall, surrounded by fire and destruction. She could see her face—though it was not hers, but the face of a man, regal and broken, his eyes filled with remorse. She could hear the whispers of the Phoenix, its voice like a dying ember, calling her name."Caelus," it whispered. "The price has been paid. You are bound to me, forever."Selene woke with a start, her breath coming in sharp gasps. The room around her was still, but her mind was a whirlwind. The images were so vivid, so real. And the name, the name that had come to her—Caelus—it felt like her own, yet it was not. It was the name of someone who had lived, and perhaps died, long before she had been born.In the days that followed, Selene could not shake the feeling that something had changed within her. It was as if a door had been unlocked in her mind, and she was beginning to recall things that made no sense—a war, a kingdom, a great betrayal. Pieces of a life that had never been hers, yet she felt them as her own.Her mother noticed the shift in her behavior. Selene had always been a quiet child, but now, her silence seemed laden with something deeper. She would stare out into the distance, her eyes clouded with a sadness that did not belong to a child of her age.One evening, as the sky turned a deep crimson, Selene wandered from her home, drawn by an unknown force. The path led her through the forest, beyond the village's borders, until she reached a clearing. There, standing in the middle of a weathered stone altar, was a symbol—carved into the rock with meticulous precision. A symbol she had seen in her dreams: the mark of a phoenix.Selene's heart skipped a beat. The symbol seemed to hum with an energy that reverberated through her entire being. She reached out, her fingers brushing against the cold stone, and in that instant, a flood of memories crashed into her mind.She saw herself—not as a girl, but as a king. She was standing in a palace, holding a crown of gold, surrounded by soldiers, advisers, and courtiers. She was Caelus. She was the ruler of Drathil, a kingdom now lost to the ravages of time. And she remembered—she had failed. She had summoned the Phoenix, used its power to destroy her enemies, and in doing so, had destroyed herself, her people, her kingdom.A flash of heat surged through her body, and she collapsed to her knees on the ground, her mind reeling with the weight of the truth. The Phoenix's curse had bound her, dragged her soul through countless lifetimes of pain and suffering. She was Caelus, reborn. And the cycle had begun again.But now, in this life, she had a chance to make it right. She had to. There was no other choice.As the wind howled around her, Selene stood, the resolve settling in her chest. She was no longer just a girl from a small village. She was something far older, far more dangerous. And she would not let the mistakes of her past define her any longer.The Phoenix had cursed her, yes. But it had also given her a chance—an opportunity to atone for her sins, to break the cycle of death and rebirth that had shackled her soul for so long.She had to find the Phoenix. She had to find a way to break the curse. And to do that, she would need to confront the one who had set it all in motion—the one who had betrayed her so many lifetimes ago.Vespera.