It started with whispers.
Niki stood in the training room alone, facing the mirror.
His reflection blinked half a second after he did.
His veins had turned darker. His skin colder. His senses sharper.
He could hear things he wasn't supposed to hear.
He could smell blood from rooms away.
And most of all…
He liked it.
He shouldn't. But it made him feel alive. Powerful. For once, not the youngest. Not the weakest.
The burn in his chest from Mona's lightblast hadn't fully healed.
But something else had taken root in its place.
"She gave you her flame," a voice whispered.
"Now you burn with her."
He punched the mirror.
Glass shattered.
Meanwhile – In the Archives
Sunghoon stood in a candlelit chamber beneath the mansion, hands dusty with ash and parchment.
He had found it—tucked behind a false wall, sealed with blood.
A scroll.
Written by Mona's mother.
"If you're reading this… she has awakened. And the Bloodborn mark has passed to another."
"You must keep them apart."
"If the Lightborn chooses love while unstable… the bond could curse the soul she links to. The boy she kisses may lose himself—become a shadow of her darkest self. A Hollow."
Sunghoon's eyes widened.
"Niki."
He ran.
In the Hallway – Mona & Niki
Mona found him pacing.
His shirt was damp from sweat. His eyes darker than she remembered.
"Niki?"
He looked up.
Paused.
Then walked toward her.
Too close.
"I keep thinking about that night," he said. "How you looked when you let go. How it felt when you kissed me. When your power hit me."
"Niki, something's not right—"
"Don't," he said sharply. "Don't act like you don't feel it too."
His hand brushed her cheek, and her breath hitched.
"I feel stronger with you," he whispered. "But also… hungrier."
Mona flinched.
His fingers moved down to her neck—slow, deliberate.
She gasped softly.
"You're shaking," he said.
"I don't know if it's from fear or something else."
He leaned in, lips brushing her ear.
"I don't care."
But then—
"NIKI, GET AWAY FROM HER."
Sunghoon's voice echoed like a thunderclap.
He ran toward them, scroll in hand, heart pounding.
Niki turned, eyes fully red now.
"I'm not hurting her," he growled.
"You're not you anymore," Sunghoon said.
Mona stepped back, breath shaking.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Sunghoon threw the scroll at her feet.
"I mean the kiss cursed him. You transferred a part of yourself into him—your darkness. It's changing him. He's becoming a Hollow."
Mona backed away from Niki. "No… I didn't mean to—"
Niki's eyes narrowed.
"So you're choosing him now?"
"It's not about choosing!" Mona cried. "It's about saving you!"
But Niki stepped closer, expression unreadable. "What if I don't want to be saved?"
Her heart cracked.
He turned away.
And vanished into the dark.
Later That Night
Mona stood on the rooftop, tears in her eyes.
The wind howled. Her mark pulsed.
Sunghoon joined her silently.
"You saw it, didn't you?" she whispered. "I hurt him. I poisoned him."
"You loved him," Sunghoon said. "That's why it happened."
"I can't love anyone," Mona said bitterly. "Not without destroying them."
Sunghoon took her hand.
"Then let's destroy the prophecy first."
She looked at him, eyes wide.
And for the first time, they kissed.
It wasn't violent. Or desperate.
It was pure.
And beneath the stars, something ancient cracked.
But far away, in the forest just beyond the mansion—
Niki stood in the shadows.
Watching.
Eyes glowing red-gold.
And whispering a name not even he remembered:
"Veylor…"