A Heart Reclaimed (Beginning)

Elara could not look away from the moon. Its glow pressed into her eyes until tears pricked at the corners, though she barely noticed. To think she had once asked to lose her soul—it didn’t feel possible. She had spent so many years searching for the missing piece of herself, and now she was being told that she had given it away willingly.

The weight of that truth made her legs weak. She sank onto a moss-covered stone, clutching the pendant. Its crystal burned faintly in her palm, as if reacting to her confusion.

Caelum stood a few steps away, watching her. His face was shadowed, unreadable, but his voice was quieter now. Almost gentle. “The moon doesn’t steal. She only grants what people beg of her. To lose your soul is not a punishment—it is a choice made in desperation.”

Elara shook her head. “But why would I ever choose this emptiness?”

His gaze flickered. “Because sometimes emptiness hurts less than memory.”

The words settled heavily in her chest. A memory stirred—blurred, fleeting. The sound of a voice she once loved. The sight of someone walking away under moonlight. Her stomach twisted, but the image slipped from her grasp before she could hold it.

Elara looked up at him sharply. “You know, don’t you? You know what I asked to forget.”

Caelum’s silence was answer enough.

Frustration burned through her. “Then tell me!”

For the first time, emotion cracked his calm mask. He stepped closer, shadows clinging to him like loyal companions. “If I tell you, then the choice is no longer yours. You must remember on your own. That is the law of the moon.”

Elara’s breath came fast. She wanted to scream at him, to demand the truth, but deep down she knew he was right. If she wanted her soul, she had to face what she had hidden from herself.

The forest grew eerily still. Only the silver thread glowed, wrapping them both in its strange light.

Caelum lowered his voice. “But know this—when you remember, you will feel everything you tried to bury. The grief, the fear, the love. All of it will come rushing back. And it may break you.”

Elara looked at him, truly looked, and for the first time she saw the weariness in his eyes. It wasn’t just duty that bound him here. It was sorrow. A curse he carried like a second skin.

“Then why help me?” she whispered.

His expression softened, just barely. “Because maybe if you succeed… you can free me too.”

Something stirred in her chest that had nothing to do with the silver thread. For years she had been numb, untouched by warmth or longing, but now… standing before him, she felt the faintest spark of both.

It was dangerous. Impossible. And yet, in that moment, Elara knew one thing with absolute clarity—her journey was no longer just about reclaiming her soul.

It was about saving his as well.

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