The soft beeping of machines filled the hospital room.
Addie lay motionless on the narrow bed, her face pale and damp. The doctors had said it was a seizure. Maybe exhaustion. Maybe brain trauma caused by stress.
But Mira knew better.
She sat at the edge of the room, arms tightly folded, staring at her sister's body. Addie looked peaceful—but there was something off. The air around her felt… charged. Like a storm was quietly building under her skin.
Mira remembered the night before.
The light.
The glowing wings.
The shimmer in the air like magic.
And most of all—her sister's words:
> "I'm not just Addie…"
Mira swallowed the lump in her throat. Their mother had been crying on and off since morning, whispering prayers to every god she could think of. Zac was asleep on two plastic chairs pushed together, hugging his old game console like it was a teddy bear.
The doctor had said they'd run a few more tests. Brain scans. Bloodwork.
But no test could explain why a feather had turned to dust in Mira's hands this morning.
No test could explain what she saw in Addie's glowing eyes.
---
Meanwhile…
Somewhere far from the hospital—far from machines, tubes, and whispered prayers—Addie opened her eyes.
But she wasn't in her room. Not even in her body.
She stood barefoot in a place too quiet to be Earth. The floor beneath her shimmered like glass, glowing softly with every step. Above her, the sky was an ocean of mist and stars—slowly shifting like breathing clouds.
The air smelled like wind and memory. She felt weightless, as if gravity didn't matter here.
"Where... am I?" she whispered.
Her voice barely echoed before she heard another.
> "Seraphielle."
She turned sharply.
There he was.
The man from her dreams.
Tall, regal, calm. His silver hair fell around his shoulders, gently moving in the quiet wind. His crystal eyes met hers like they had been searching for her forever.
Addie froze.
"I've seen you before," she said. "In my dreams."
> "Because dreams were the only place I could reach you," he replied. "Until now."
She stared at him. "Who are you?"
> "I'm your husband."
The words nearly knocked her breath away.
"You're… what?"
> "Your name is not Addie. It's Seraphielle. You were the Queen of the Angel Realm. Light obeyed your voice. Stars knew your name."
> "And I…" he stepped closer, his voice gentler, "...was your king."
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She felt like the ground beneath her wasn't real anymore. Her heart pounded. Her skin felt electric.
"Why don't I remember?" she whispered.
> "Because your powers were sealed. Your memories shattered. Your soul was sent into the human world by someone you trusted."
Suddenly, images hit her like lightning:
A child laughing in her arms.
A throne of silver and gold.
A sister standing behind her.
A blade.
Pain.
Falling.
Addie staggered. Her knees nearly gave out. She held her chest.
"I… I was betrayed."
> "Yes," the man said softly. "By your own blood. And when you fell... you forgot who you were."
> "But I never stopped looking for you."
---
Back in the hospital room...
Addie's body remained still.
Her eyes didn't open.
But the pendant on her chest began to glow softly. A gentle white light pulsed from it, barely visible under the blanket.
Mira noticed it first.
She leaned forward, heart racing.
"Mom," she whispered, shaking her shoulder. "Look—her necklace. It's glowing again."
Her mother looked, stunned.
"What is happening to her?"
"I don't know," Mira whispered. "But I don't think she's in this world anymore."
---
Meanwhile… in the angel realm…
Addie stood before the man who claimed to be her husband.
"I had a life," she whispered. "A mother. A brother. A boyfriend."
> "You still have them," he said. "But your daughter—our daughter—is waiting. She hasn't smiled since you fell. Her light is fading."
Addie's heart squeezed.
"I… I don't remember her."
> "You will."
She stared into his eyes.
"What if I don't want to come back?"
He didn't argue. He only looked at her with deep sorrow.
> "Then she will die."
> "Because she's linked to you. She was born of light. And her light cannot survive without her mother's."
Addie looked down at her hands.
They weren't glowing now. But something inside them... ached. Something in her heart whispered: You left someone behind.
"Take me to her," she said quietly.
> "I can't," he said. "Not until you choose."
> "Come back, Seraphielle. Come back to who you were."
---
Back in the hospital, the glowing pendant dimmed.
Addie's lips parted slightly, like she was trying to say something.
But no sound came.
Only one feather remained under her pillow.
White. Pure. Still untouched by time.