Pearl found herself in a place unknown to her, yet strangely, it felt like home. She was inside a shimmering cage—not one meant to imprison her, but rather to protect her. The surroundings were ethereal, an endless expanse of cascading lights and celestial flora, their glow pulsating like a heartbeat. Everything here was unfamiliar, and yet, an unexplainable warmth settled in her chest, telling her she belonged. She reached out, her fingers brushing against the shimmering barrier, feeling its energy swirl around her.
As she marveled at the beauty of this strange sanctuary, a voice disrupted her thoughts.
"Are you okay now?"
Pearl turned sharply, her eyes locking onto the familiar yet enigmatic figure before her—Miraculas. She remembered him from Damsel, from the day she had first arrived there. But there was something deeper, something more profound. It was as if she had known him far longer than just that single encounter. As though he had been a lingering shadow in her forgotten past.
A whirlwind of memories rushed through her, but before she could untangle them, another thought took hold of her heart. Her breath hitched, and her voice trembled as she uttered the only question that truly mattered.
"Is Ambrose… okay?"
Her eyes glistened with unspoken fear and guilt. The pain of her uncontrollable power still ached in her veins, but none of it compared to the torment of not knowing if she had hurt him beyond repair.
Miraculas remained silent, his gaze unreadable.
Pearl's chest tightened at his lack of response. "Take me back to Damsel!" she demanded.
"No," Miraculas answered immediately, his voice firm.
The denial sent a wave of fury through Pearl. Her power, still unstable, surged forward, crackling like wildfire beneath her skin. She clenched her fists, her entire body trembling as the storm within her spiraled out of control.
"Take. Me. Back!" she roared, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Before Miraculas could react, she lashed out, an explosion of raw energy surging toward him. The impact sent shockwaves through the space around them, shaking even the unshakable.
Miraculas staggered back, the golden lines on his robes darkening where the energy had struck him. He gritted his teeth, gripping the hilt of power that swirled around him. With a swift movement, he countered, suppressing her raging force.
Pearl gasped as the overwhelming strength of Miraculas bore down on her. She struggled, but the more she fought, the more she was consumed. Within moments, the battle ended, and Pearl collapsed, unconscious once more, the remnants of her fury fading into the void.
Meanwhile, in the ruined remains of Damsel, chaos reigned.
Queen Veliean was losing her composure. Ambrose, in a dangerously weakened state, refused to replenish his energy. His body was crumbling under the weight of his exhaustion, yet he stubbornly rejected every attempt to restore him.
"He's draining himself!" Veliean whispered, horror lacing her voice. Her normally serene face was twisted with grief and desperation.
King Blaze stood beside her, watching his son with dark, unreadable eyes. Right now, the only way to save Ambrose was for both him and Veliean to combine their powers and channel the energy into him. But Ambrose would not come to them. If anyone tried to force him, he would retaliate, using what little power he had left to destroy. And in doing so, he would only weaken himself further.
"Ambrose!" Veliean finally snapped, her voice breaking as she turned to Blaze. "I want my son back! I want everything to be normal again!"
Her words hung in the air, a desperate plea to a reality that no longer existed. A reality that, perhaps, never would again.
King Blaze, the ruler of destruction, found himself standing in the ruins of everything he had ever built, watching as his wife and son crumbled before him. For the first time in his existence, he felt utterly… powerless.
The fires within him burned, an inferno of wrath and despair. He wanted to tear everything apart, to destroy the cause of his suffering. But here he stood, unable to do a thing.
In the distance, the sky crackled with instability, and the very foundation of Damsel trembled under the weight of its impending doom.
And then, elsewhere, far beyond the ruined kingdom, Miraculas stood once again in the void, speaking to an unseen figure.
"I tried to fix things," he admitted, his voice void of its usual authority. "But it's all slipping further into chaos."
The presence before him remained silent.
Miraculas exhaled slowly, closing his eyes before uttering words that sent a chill through the darkness.
"Now, we have only two choices. Either we save everything... or we destroy everything. Because if this continues, everyone—everything—will vanish. There will be no sign of life left."
The void shifted. The silence deepened.
And then, in that breathless moment, the unseen figure finally spoke.
A single whisper.
A single truth that shattered the very balance of fate itself:
"The end was never meant to begin this way."