Note that if something is in italics it's either Talia's thoughts or her reading someone's mind. ***
Talia shot upright with a violent gasp, her lungs burning like she had clawed her way back from the grave. Instinct took over before thought could catch up. Her hands flew to her chest, searching for the wound, for the sword that had been driven through her before darkness swallowed her whole. But there was no blade. No blood. No battlefield. Only the frantic thunder of her heartbeat and a room she didn't recognize staring back at her in the pale morning light. Her eyes swept over the unfamiliar walls, the strange furniture, the quiet normalcy of it all, and the words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. "What the hell?"
Before she could make sense of anything, a voice drifted through the door. It struck a strange chord in her mind—familiar and unfamiliar all at once, like a memory heard underwater. "Talia sweetie, get up; you and Bella have a flight to catch in two hours."
Talia swung her legs over the side of the bed, the floor cold beneath her feet as the name echoed through her head. She lowered her voice to a whisper, sharp with confusion. "Bella? Who the hell is Bella?" Then the answer came like a storm breaking loose inside her skull. Memories that were not hers flashed through her mind in brutal, dizzying fragments—two girls growing up together, a mother's face, a quiet town, the name Bella attached to a life she had never lived. Piece by piece, the truth slammed into place. Bella. Natalia. Swan. Her breath caught as the impossible became undeniable, and realization sharpened into horror. "I am in freaking Twilight? How is this real?" More memories surged forward, filling in the gaps with terrifying clarity. Within minutes, Talia knew everything Natalia Swan had known—and more importantly, she knew exactly where this day was leading. This was the beginning. The day Bella, and now Talia, would leave for Forks, Washington, to live with Charlie, their father. The first move in a story she had never been meant to enter.
When the rush of foreign memories finally eased, Talia forced herself to breathe. Panic would not help her. Fear would not save her. She had survived Lian Yu, death, and whatever cosmic mistake had thrown her into this world. Now she needed to know what had come with her. Slowly, she lifted a trembling hand and reached for the power coiled beneath her skin, praying it had not been left behind with her old body.
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Relief moved through her like the first breath after drowning when crimson light sparked to life in her palms. The energy gathered there in a slow, pulsing glow, painting her skin red and casting sharp shadows across the room. Power hummed beneath her fingertips—familiar, dangerous, hers. A faint smirk tugged at her mouth as the magic curled around her hands. "So I still have my powers... nice. At this point, I wouldn't be me without them."
The moment shattered when Renee's voice cracked through the house like a warning bell. "TALIA!" Renee yelled at her again, making the redhead roll her eyes.
Talia let the magic fade, closing her fingers around the last flicker of red before it vanished into nothing. "I'm up, Mom, just getting ready; give me five minutes," the now Swan girl called out. She crossed to the closet, moving with the practiced confidence of someone who had learned to armor herself long before this life. Black skinny jeans. A red top. Her signature red leather jacket. Combat boots. Piece by piece, she dressed herself like she was heading into battle instead of an airport. She ran a hand through her hair, letting the red waves fall naturally around her shoulders, then grabbed the suitcases waiting by the door and headed downstairs.
