The rain had started just after sunset.
It wasn't heavy — more like a silent drizzle falling from a weeping sky. The streets outside Addie's home shimmered with faint puddles, and the wind whistled gently against the windows.
She sat on her bed, wrapped in a warm blanket, holding a hot cup of tea that had gone cold long ago.
Mira had insisted she rest, but sleep refused to come.
Ever since she returned from the hospital, nothing had felt the same. The house. Her reflection. Her body.
Even the world around her felt… too quiet.
Almost like it was waiting.
---
She looked down at the pendant.
It hadn't glowed since she woke up.
But tonight, it felt heavier. Warmer. As if it knew what was coming.
Suddenly, the lights in her room flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
The air shifted — no longer warm and still, but cool… alive. A breeze brushed past her skin though the windows were shut tight.
Then she felt it.
That presence.
The same one from her dreams.
She slowly turned.
And there he stood.
Right in her room — as real as the walls around her.
---
He was even more breathtaking in person.
Tall, graceful, wrapped in flowing white robes with silver details that shimmered with every movement. His silver hair floated softly as if gravity didn't bind him, and those eyes — those crystal-clear eyes — looked at her like she was the only star in his sky.
Addie couldn't breathe.
"You…" she whispered. "You're real."
"I told you I would come for you," he said gently.
She stood up, slowly, almost afraid she was still dreaming.
"How did you—?"
"I never left your side," he said. "Your soul called out to me the night your powers awakened. The seal is weakening."
"My… seal?" she asked.
He stepped closer, and the light in the room dimmed to a soft glow.
"You were betrayed," he said softly. "By your own sister. She sealed your power and cast you into the human world. But your heart refused to forget."
Tears rose in Addie's eyes.
She remembered the blade now. The betrayal. The fall.
And her daughter's cry.
"Is she…" she couldn't finish.
"She's waiting," he said. "She hasn't smiled since the day you vanished."
Addie clutched her chest.
The ache. It had always been there. Ever since she was a child. A deep, strange emptiness no one could explain.
Now she knew why.
> It wasn't just a dream.
It was a memory. A life taken away.
---
A knock sounded on the door.
"Addie?" Mira's voice came through. "You okay?"
Addie panicked. She turned toward the man. "She can't see you—"
"I exist beyond her perception," he said calmly. "Only you can see me now."
Addie ran to the door, cracked it open. "I'm fine! Just… tired."
"Okay," Mira said. "Dinner's ready."
"Give me a few minutes."
She shut the door again and turned back to him.
"You want me to leave everything," she said. "My family. My friends. My life here."
"No," he replied. "I want you to return to the life you lost. To the daughter who waits for your voice. To the people who need their queen."
Addie felt like her chest was being torn in two.
"My mother just cried beside my hospital bed for days. My brother still thinks I'm not okay. And Mira… she saw it all. She believes me."
"Then say goodbye," he said softly. "And when you are ready… I will take you home."
---
She turned to the window.
The rain had stopped.
The sky was still.
But deep within her, a storm raged.
She didn't ask how.
She didn't ask what would happen next.
Instead, she closed her eyes… and whispered:
> "Take me back."
---
The man stepped forward, gently placing his fingers over her pendant.
The feather glowed.
A circle of soft white light formed beneath her feet. The room shimmered around them like rippling water.
Addie felt her body grow lighter, her heart heavier.
She turned back for one last look — her books, her photos, her bed. Her life.
And then…
She vanished into the light.
---
Far above, in a skyless world...
She opened her eyes to a place made of stars and glass, standing once again on a glowing floor.
But this time — she wasn't dreaming.
She looked down.
And there she was.
A small girl with golden hair and wide teary eyes.
> "Mommy?"
Addie fell to her knees, arms wide open.
The girl ran into them, crying, laughing, shaking.
"I missed you so much," the child sobbed.
Addie held her tightly, kissing her head, rocking her gently.
"I'm here, baby," she whispered. "I'm so sorry I left."
And behind her, the silver-haired man watched… eyes soft, heart finally at peace.