CHAPTER 45: OLD MEMORIES

The air inside the hut thickened, heavy with the scent of burnt herbs and forgotten time. The carvings etched into the old wooden table flickered once, then dimmed, their light withdrawing as if consumed by the darkness that pooled in every corner.

Only one object resisted the encroaching shadow, a book, ancient and half-buried beneath decades of dust. Its faint, pulsing glow bathed the air in an eerie golden hue.

Something in that glow reached toward Ahce, unseen yet undeniable, like invisible threads of energy winding around her wrists, drawing her closer. She hesitated, her pulse quickening, but curiosity, or perhaps fate, guided her steps.

As her hand brushed away the dust, the cover beneath revealed itself. Cracked leather, scarred by time, its edges worn and brittle. At the center, a name glimmered in faded gold, a whisper from the past that made her breath hitch.

Archmage Devon Albert.

The moment her lips shaped the name, the air trembled. A low vibration rippled through the floorboards, up her legs, and into her chest, resonating deep within her bones. It was as if the very name held life, a spirit long sealed, now stirring.

Ahce sat slowly before the table, her trembling fingertips tracing the engraved letters. The leather hummed faintly beneath her touch, responding as if recognizing her. When she opened the book, its yellowed pages exhaled a faint breath of warmth and age. The ink shimmered faintly, alive, almost liquid, like veins pulsing with ancient light.

The writings were not mere words. They carried rhythm, purpose, and weight. Each symbol seemed to hum with hidden meaning, every line carved with intent. Then, nestled between those measured incantations, she found a different hand, uneven, jagged, desperate.

"To the destined one who finds this book, know this... the Archmage’s power chooses not by birth, but by soul. Take heed. The moment you read these words, the inheritance begins."

Before she could react, the page pulsed violently. A surge of golden light shot through her fingertips, racing up her arms like liquid fire. The force threw her backward. The book fell open on the floor, spilling radiance that engulfed the room.

Pain tore through her, searing, consuming, yet beneath the agony lay something else. Memory.

Images burst through her mind like shards of glass.

A narrow apartment window blurred by rain.

A knock at the door.

A young man, drenched, shivering, smiling shyly as she handed him a towel.

"Jing," her soul whispered, before her lips could.

Then the laughter, the clumsy spill of coffee, the warmth of lamplight painting their faces in amber. The late nights. The conversations that stretched into dawn. The unspoken pull between them, too reckless, too right.

And then the fracture, sirens, betrayal, the Division’s experiments, the scent of iron and smoke. His blood. His silence. The moment she thought she had lost him forever.

Ahce screamed as the memories collided, light and darkness intertwining until her body convulsed. The hut seemed to dissolve, the floor rippling beneath her like water. She fell through the white blaze until silence swallowed everything.

When the world finally steadied, she was lying on the floor. The book rested beside her hand, its glow fading, its warmth still alive against her palm, like a second heartbeat.

Tears blurred her vision before she even realized she was crying.

"Jing..." The name escaped her in a trembling whisper. "What did we really uncover?"

Outside, the wind howled against the old hut, clawing at the windows as if something unseen demanded to enter. The forest beyond murmured faintly, voices, indistinct yet achingly familiar.

"Boss... remember what you promised."

Her hand pressed against her chest, where the remnants of golden light still pulsed beneath her skin. The realization struck her cold. This was no simple inheritance. The book had not only awakened the Archmage’s power, it had torn open the sealed vault of her past. The past she had buried with him.

Then the world shifted again.

The hut blurred. The air shimmered. And before she could blink, the forest dissolved into light.

She stood on a battlefield. Flames devoured the horizon, smoke curling into the blood-red sky. Her body was no longer her own, it was older, stronger, and cloaked in robes that glowed with runes of celestial power. Around her, ash fell like snow. And beside her, clad in black armor streaked with blood and soot, stood him.

Richard Jing.

He was not the man from her memories. He was something more, an echo of countless lives. His presence radiated power, sorrow, and inevitability. Their eyes met through the smoke, and the bond, ancient and unbreakable, ignited once more.

"Even if death takes me," his voice rang through the inferno, deep and steady, "I will find you again."

The words tore through centuries, through lifetimes. Ahce felt them resonate in every cell of her being. A curse, a vow, a love that refused to die.

Flashes assaulted her mind.

A scholar and a warrior beneath the falling petals of a forgotten empire.

A healer cradling a dying prince beneath a blood moon.

A hacker and a soldier beneath crimson skies, running from the same fate.

Each story ended the same.

Love found, love lost.

Destiny fulfilled, only to reset the cycle.

She gasped and collapsed, clutching her chest as her heart thundered against her ribs. The vision shattered, and she was thrown back into the hut, her breath ragged. Sweat slicked her skin. The book lay open again, its pages fluttering like wings in the wind.

A new passage had written itself in glowing script.

"The bond between light and blade is eternal. In each age, they meet to rewrite the fate of the world. But to remember is to awaken the curse."

Her lips trembled.

Light and blade.

She was the light. He, the blade.

Their reunion in this life was no coincidence, it was the echo of prophecy.

The tears that fell now were not from pain, but understanding. Richard was not just her partner, her husband, her lost love. He was the other half of a divine tragedy that spanned lifetimes. A bond that defied gods, time, and death itself.

But love that eternal came with a price, and in that trembling silence, Ahce knew the debt was already coming due.

I finally remembered us... Jing.