Collide: The Memory of Stars

Third Person's POV

The battlefield had gone silent, but the weight of despair was deafening.

Selene's breath came in shallow gasps as she knelt amidst the ruin, her body trembling from exhaustion and the crushing realization of her failure.

Around her, the bodies of her companions lay motionless—Axel barely conscious, blood trickling from his lips as he struggled to move.

Tyra and Khael, their forms unmoving, the flicker of life within them faint but present.

And Aldric… he was gone.

Selene felt the sting of tears behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Her fingers curled into the dust-covered ground, her nails digging into the cold, unyielding earth as she forced herself to remain upright.

Then, she heard the footsteps.

Slow, deliberate, echoing in the hollow ruin of Eldoria's heart.

She didn't need to look up to know who it was.

"How tragic."

Vherezoth's voice slithered into the air, smooth as silk yet drenched in mockery.

"All that fighting. All that suffering. And what did it bring you? Nothing."

Selene forced herself to look up, her vision sharp and clear despite the haze of pain clouding her mind.

Vherezoth stood before her, her crimson eyes gleaming with something dark—satisfaction, amusement, and something deeper, more unsettling.

The void queen was untouched by the battle. Not a single scratch marred her porcelain skin, her long, silken black hair flowing like ink in the windless abyss.

She was beautiful, devastatingly so, as if the passage of time had only refined her presence into something beyond mortal comprehension.

"You're stronger than I thought," Vherezoth mused, tilting her head as she regarded Selene with the gaze of a predator watching its prey struggle.

"But strength means nothing if you cannot protect what matters."

Selene's breath hitched.

Vherezoth gestured around them. "Look at them, Selene. Your precious friends. Your beloved Axel. They are fading. Their lives hang by a thread. And you? You stand alone, just like I once did."

Selene gritted her teeth, pushing herself to her feet despite the ache in her body.

"I will not fall for your lies."

Vherezoth chuckled, soft and knowing. "Lies? Oh, my dear, I speak only the truth. The truth you are too afraid to see."

She stepped closer, closing the distance between them with slow, unhurried steps.

"You and I… we are the same."

Selene stiffened, but Vherezoth continued, her voice a gentle whisper now, almost tender.

"You feel it, don't you? That void inside you. The emptiness, the hunger. No matter how much you try to resist, it calls to you. Just like it once called to me."

She reached out, a single elegant finger tracing the air between them.

"You were not meant to fight me, Selene. You were meant to be with me. To become me. Together, we can end this suffering. No more pain. No more loss." Selene shook her head.

"You just want to use me. Like they used you." Vherezoth's smile faltered, just for a second. A flicker of something—pain?—crossed her gaze before it was gone.

"I was betrayed," she admitted, her voice quieter now. "I was cast aside, turned into a monster because they feared me. Just as they fear you." Selene clenched her fists.

"They will never accept you, Selene," Vherezoth pressed.

"They will turn on you, just as they turned on me. And when that happens, what will you do? Beg for their love? Cry for their mercy?"

She leaned in, her lips near Selene's ear.

"Or will you stand by my side, where you truly belong?" A shiver ran down Selene's spine, but she forced herself to remain still.

"You're wrong."

Vherezoth pulled back slightly, studying her. Then, she smiled, slow and knowing.

"Am I?"

She turned slightly, gesturing toward Axel's barely breathing form.

"Say the word, Selene. Say yes, and I will save them. I will heal them. I will return them to you, whole and unharmed. All you have to do… is let me in." Selene's heart pounded.

Vherezoth extended her hand.

"Be mine. Be what you were meant to be."

For a moment, the world felt still. Selene could hear her own heartbeat, loud in her ears. The weight of her exhaustion, the pain of watching her friends suffer, the temptation of the void's promise—it was all crushing her, suffocating her.

And yet…

She remembered.

A warm hand reaching for hers. A voice, strong and steady, calling her name.

"Selene, run—" Axel.

Selene took a deep breath. Her body ached. Her soul trembled. But she lifted her chin and met Vherezoth's gaze, unwavering.

"No."

The void queen's expression shifted—surprise, then irritation.

"No?"

Selene clenched her fists. "I am not you. And I will never be."

Vherezoth stared at her for a long moment. Then, slowly, her lips curled into a smirk.

"Very well."

The air around Selene felt heavy, oppressive, as if the very atmosphere was charged with the weight of untold forces. Her surroundings had dissolved into the void, an endless abyss where nothing remained but her, Vherezoth, and the presence that stirred deep within her.

Her heart pounded as the shadow materialized before her—dark, twisted, yet unmistakable.

It was herself, or rather, a version of herself. The same shape, the same essence, but corrupted, distorted.

This was the fragment—the manifestation of her lost power, the guardian of the force that slumbered within her.

A version of herself that had once been lost, cast aside to make room for the fragile, weaker part of her soul to exist.

The shadow smirked at her, its voice echoing with mockery.

"You think you can defeat her, Selene? You can't even control your own power. You need me." Selene's breath caught, but she stood tall, facing this dark reflection.

"No. I don't need you."

The shadow laughed, cruel and bitter.

"You have always needed me. I am the true you, the one who holds the power you fear. All this time, I've been waiting—waiting for you to stop running from your true self. You can't defeat Vherezoth alone, Selene. You know this."

Selene shook her head, steadying herself.

"You are not me. You're a part of me I've locked away because I'm not ready to be what you are. You're the darkness I've kept at bay, but I've learned something. You don't define me."

The dark version of herself stepped closer, its eyes glowing with the void.

"You're wrong. I am the power you've hidden from the world. You cannot win this battle without me." Selene's fists clenched at her sides. She could feel the truth in the shadow's words—the darkness inside her was strong. But she also knew that this version of herself wasn't the answer.

The power Vherezoth wanted to use—it was a corrupted, twisted version of strength. It was the path to destruction, to becoming something monstrous.

"You are the version of me I've rejected, the side of me that would have fallen to the void long ago. I'm sure I've kept you buried for a reason," Selene said, her voice firm, though her heart was heavy with the weight of truth.

The shadow's laugh was darker now, tinged with bitterness.

"You're so afraid of what I represent. But you know deep down—without me, you are weak. You cannot save them. You cannot save yourself."

Selene's eyes narrowed as she lifted her chin, the remnants of the battle and the anguish of her friends' suffering tugging at her heart.

"I don't need to be you to win this battle. I just need to be whole. The real me. Not this shadow. Not the void."

For a long moment, the shadow was silent, studying her. Selene could feel its gaze, like a pressure against her chest. It wanted to break her, to force her to embrace it once more, to take control, to let it consume her.

But she would not let it. She wouldn't be the monster it wanted her to become.

The shadow growled low, its form flickering with anger. "You cannot defeat me. You are me."

Selene stepped forward, her resolve solidifying.

"No. I'm more than you. And I'm more than Vherezoth. I am the keeper of my own destiny."

The darkness hissed, but it was no longer as powerful as it had been. Selene felt the connection to this fragment of herself beginning to weaken, the pull of its shadowy influence dissipating. With every word, with every breath, the power of the void faded, and the light within her grew stronger.

Then, in an unexpected moment of clarity, Selene spoke the words that sealed her own fate.

"I let you go."

For a split second, the fragment's form trembled, its eyes wide with disbelief. It was as if it couldn't fathom the loss of control over Selene. It lunged, trying to reclaim what it once had, but Selene stood firm, her light now blazing brightly enough to push it back.

"No more." Her voice was a steady command, her power surging with confidence.

And just like that, the shadow shrieked and crumbled.As the last remnants of the dark presence remained, the air grew still, and the void that had once threatened to consume her was gone and became an ordinary guardian to her hidden powers.She was whole again but just a bit. She had rejected the darkness. She had rejected the path that Vherezoth sought to force upon her.

But it wasn't over.

The ground shook, and Selene's vision snapped back to the battle in front of her. Vherezoth stood, her eyes burning with fury, her form now swirling with raw, destructive energy.

"You dare defy me?" Vherezoth's voice was low, laced with venom.

Selene straightened, meeting the void queen's gaze without fear, her power now stable and certain.

"Yes. I do."

With that, the fight began anew. Vherezoth's laughter filled the air, dark and deadly, but Selene felt the light within her pulse with life. The battle for her soul, for her world, had only just begun.

But this time, Selene was no longer afraid. This time, she would face the void, and she would win.

To be continued.