The air in Aetherion shifted.
Subtly.
But unmistakably.
Eriol felt it before she saw it.
A disturbance… not of chaos but of connection.
She stood alone in the palace corridor, her fingers brushing lightly against the glowing walls.
Then she stopped.
Closed her eyes.
And reached out.
There it was.
Two energies.
Entwined.
Not clashing.
Not consuming.
But… binding.
Her eyes snapped open.
"…No."
Eriol moved quickly, her steps echoing through the halls as she followed the pull.
It led her to the garden.
She stopped just before entering.
And saw them.
Ayla and Ryker.
Standing close.
Too close.
Hands intertwined.
Foreheads nearly touching.
Their energies,flowing into each other.
Eriol's breath stilled.
"…A soul bond," she whispered.
Ancient.
Rare.
Dangerous.
She stepped forward.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Ayla turned sharply.
"Eriol?"
Ryker stepped slightly in front of her.
instinct.
Protection.
Eriol noticed.
"Of course she did"
"You've bound yourselves," she said, her voice calm but tight beneath the surface. "Your powers… your lives… your fates."
Ayla frowned. "We didn't do anything."
"You did," Eriol replied. "You chose each other."
Ryker didn't flinch.
"I'd choose her again," he said.
That did it.
Something in Eriol cracked.
Just slightly.
But enough.
"You think this is romantic?" Eriol said, her voice sharpening.
"You think this ends well?"
Ayla stepped forward now.
"What aren't you telling us?"
Eriol hesitated.
For the first time since they'd met,
She hesitated.
Then she exhaled.
Slow.
Heavy.
"…I've seen this before."
The air grew colder.
"There was another," she said.
"Someone I trained. Someone powerful."
Her gaze drifted
not at them
but through them.
Like she was seeing something else entirely.
"Her name was Lysara."
Ayla's breath caught.
Because she knew that name.
Not from memory
But from the vision.
The battlefield.
The queen.
The dragon.
"That's…" Ayla whispered. "That's who I saw."
Eriol nodded once.
"Yes."
"She was like you," Eriol continued softly.
"Powerful beyond measure. Chosen by Aetherion itself."
Her eyes darkened.
"And like you… she wasn't alone."
She looked at Ryker.
"He had someone too."
Ryker stiffened.
"A boy," Eriol said. "Gifted. Rare. Like you."
Ayla's grip tightened.
"What happened to them?"
Eriol didn't answer immediately.
Because the truth
wasn't easy to say.
"They fell in love."
"And I thought…" Eriol continued, her voice barely above a whisper,
"I thought it would make her stronger."
Her jaw tightened.
"I was wrong."
"The bond between them grew too fast. Too deep."
"Her power fed on emotion. On pain. On fear."
"And when the war came…"
Eriol's voice broke.
Just for a second.
"She lost control."
Ayla's heart pounded.
"…What happened to him?"
Eriol looked at her.
And this time
she didn't soften it.
"She killed him."
The words hit like a blade.
Ayla stepped back.
"No…"
"She didn't mean to," Eriol said quickly. "But it didn't matter."
Her voice hardened.
"Power without control doesn't care about intention."
"That vision you saw?" Eriol continued.
"The queen on the battlefield?"
Ayla nodded slowly.
"That was the moment everything ended."Eriol's eyes locked onto hers.
"She destroyed the enemy…"
"…and everything else with it."
The dragon.
The kingdom.
Herself.
"All because she couldn't control what she felt."
"That," Eriol said quietly,
"is why I pushed you."
Her voice softened now.
Not cold.
Not distant.
Just… honest.
"I failed her."
A long silence followed.
"I thought I had more time," she admitted.
"I thought I could teach her slowly."
Her eyes flickered
pain, regret, guilt.
"I won't make that mistake again."
Eriol stepped closer.
"To both of you."
"If your bond grows unchecked…"
"It will amplify everything."
"Love."
"Fear."
"Pain."
"Loss."
She looked at Ryker.
"And when the moment comes"
Her gaze shifted to Ayla.
"You will either save each other…"
"…or destroy each other."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Then Ryker stepped forward.
"Then we learn," he said simply.
Eriol blinked.
"We don't run from it," he continued.
"We don't break it."
He took Ayla's hand again.
Firm.
Certain.
"We control it."
Ayla looked at him,fear still there.
But something else too.
Resolve.
"I won't become her," she said quietly.
Eriol studied them both.
For a long moment.
Then finally she nodded.
"…Then training starts now."
Far beyond Aetherion…
In the shadows of a broken kingdom someone smiled.
Because fate
was beginning to repeat itself.