Golden Melody (Editing)

Chapter 112

Miexha lay motionless on the bed—skin pale, breath gone, heart still. The cables that had been keeping her alive now dangled uselessly from the unplugged life support machine.

In the corner, the man responsible sat quietly, as if he had been there for hours. The faint moonlight touched his mask before he lifted it away, revealing the face of Damian Duke.

He did not speak. His expression was unreadable—just a weary calm that came from centuries of waiting. His tentacles extended silently, sealing every door and window, weaving an invisible trance through the room so that no sound, no spirit, could enter.

Outside, Sarah pounded on the locked door.
"Damian! Damian, please—let me in! My daughter—something's wrong with my daughter!"
Her voice broke into sobs. But Damian didn't answer. He muted the world with a snap of his finger.

Then—movement.

Miexha's fingers twitched. Her eyes opened, glowing a deep, unnatural green that reflected off the silver instruments beside her bed.

But it wasn't Miexha. The body belonged to her, but the presence inside was ancient. The Mother of Zenips, and the one who had cursed all her children for Damian's crime—had awakened within the fragile vessel.

Damian dropped to his knees immediately.

"Mother..." he whispered.

Her voice was layered, like the echo of galaxies collapsing.

"So... you've done it. You've summoned me into a mortal shell."

Damian bowed lower, trembling. "Forgive me, Mother. I had no choice."

Her gaze burned through him. "You slaughtered your father. You shattered my heart. You destroyed your world. And now you desecrate another by calling me into this... weak body."

Damian's voice broke.
"I know. And I have suffered for it for all my life. For a thousand years, I waited for Sarah to bear a child  to hold your essence."

He lifted his eyes, tears falling. "Bring back Liana's soul."

The room darkened further, the air thickening like smoke. The Queen's presence seemed to stretch across the walls, her power distorting the space.

"Liana..." she murmured. "The human who ruined you."

"She saved me," Damian said. "And now she's fading. I've forced her to reincarnate ten times. The eleventh—Ofreigha Sebastian—barely holds her essence. If she dies, Liana will vanish forever. Please, Mother. Help me..."

The Queen's expression softened for the briefest moment before hardening again.
"You've grown weak, Damian. You beg like a human."

A long silence. Then the Queen rose from the bed, still inside Miexha's form. Her green eyes glowed brighter, her voice resonating like thunder in a storm.

"Then listen, my son. To cross timelines is to strip yourself of power. You will wander as a powerless being, unable to die, trapped between worlds if you fail."

"I accept."

She stared at him—this once-fearsome king now reduced to a desperate man.
At last, she extended her hand. A black orb materialized in her palm, swirling with stars and shadows.

"Find her soul fragments across every world she has lived in. Each one you recover, seal it inside this orb. When it is full, find this girl and you may come back again to this world. But if you fail..."

Her eyes flickered toward Miexha's reflection in  the glass. "Both of you will be lost. This girl will die, and you will remain trapped in the void forever." just