The moment of complete silence after Aeris's words was deafening as a stillness so rich it seemed to choke the air from the room. Lian stood quite still, his mind barely comprehending the enormity of those few words. The dancing shadows around her were no longer just a mere threat but part of her, intertwined into the very core of her being.

  

  "Aeris," he breathed, barely loud enough to hear. "You have to stop. Whatever this is-it's not you."

  

  But Aeris had stopped listening now. Her eyes were now almost entirely black, shining with the weird energy of the artifact. She looked at Lian, but it seemed as though she saw something else, much beyond flesh and blood. Her voice was soft when she spoke again, but it carried an unsettling weight.

  

  "I can see everything now, Lian. The past, the future-it's all connected through the relic." Her gaze drifted back to the altar, her hand tracing the glowing runes carved into the stone. "This is what we were meant to find. This is our destiny."

  

  Lian shook his head, taking a step closer. "No, Aeris. The relic is manipulating you. It's using you."

  

  With his words, the shadows stirred and Aeris's face set hard.

  

  "You don't understand, Lian," she said, her tone cutting. "I've seen things-things you can't even begin to understand. This relic isn't just a tool of power. It's a key."

  

  "A key?" Lian repeated, his heart racing. "To what?"

  

  A dark certainty swirled in the glimmer of Aeris's eyes. "To everything.

  

  The shadows coiled closer around her, wrapping her in a black shroud. Every moment lost more of Aeris into that thing, bonding her with the relic second by second. Lian could feel it, how the pull of the shadows, the weight of this smothering ancient power emanated from that altar like an aura. It was eating at her bit by bit.

  

  He needed to put an end to it. Now.

  

  Lian drew his sword and took a step towards her. A hiss issued from the shadows, who launched themselves forward, trying to cut off his path. He cut through them, though, his blade slicing through the darkness like a shaft of light.

  

  "Aeris!" he screamed, his voice full of urgency. "This isn't you! Fight it!"

  

  For a moment, her eyes flickered, like something deep inside her wrestled for release. In that same heartbeat, darkness snatched hold again, and Aeris's face turned cold and distant.

  

  "The relic is more than just a weapon, Lian," she said with a low voice. "It's alive. It's part of something far greater than we can understand."

  

  Lian's grip on his sword tightened. "Then we destroy it."

  

  With these words, the shadows exploded, and the room shook with the bursting of ancient energy. The glowing runes on the altar flared higher and the darkness around Aeris turned thick to form a barrier between them.

  

  "You can't destroy it," Aeris said, her voice echoing with the power of the relic. "It's eternal. And now, so am I."

  

  Lian's heart tightened. This wasn't Aeris-not the Aeris he knew. The relic had twisted her, consumed her. But he couldn't give up on her. Not yet.

  

  With a battle cry, Lian plunged forward, his sword shining with the light of the relic's power. The shadows whipped at him, tentacles curling around his arms and legs, but he fought through them, slashing at the darkness with all his might.

  

  As he reached Aeris, he grasped her arm, tugging her toward him. "You're stronger than this, Aeris. I know you are."

  

  For just a moment, something stirred in her eyes-something human. Her lips parted like she was going to say something, then the shadows surged again, the tugging always pulling her away from him.

  

  "I'm sorry, Lian," she whispered, no louder than a gentle hum over the roar of the shadows. "But this is the only way."

  

  And with that, the darkness consumed her utterly.

  

  Lian just stood there, his sword hanging limply by his side, heaviness in his heart at the weight of failure. The power of the relic had taken her, and now she was lost to the shadows.

  

  But as the darkness roiled, churning around him, Lian felt something inside him shift-a flicker of hope, shining out in the overwhelming blackness.

  

  He wasn't giving up. Not yet.

  

  The fight for Aeris's soul was only just beginning.

  

  ---

  

TO BE CONTINUED