POV: Lia
Location: Echo Base – Core Reactor Chamber
She couldn't feel her legs anymore.
But she refused to fall.
The room around her was unrecognizable—walls shattered, floors half-melted by Genesis pulses. The core crackled behind them like a black sun.
Zeyren hovered inches above the ground, wrapped in a shifting cloak of Genesis energy, his body half-rebuilt by the power he claimed to control.
This was his final form—sleek, monstrous, with glowing circuits spiraling from his chest across his arms, and eyes that saw through everything.
And he still looked at her with something sickeningly close to love.
"You still don't get it, do you?" he said softly.
She raised her blade.
"I get enough. You're insane."
Zeyren smiled, taking one step forward.
"Insanity is a word people use when they fear truth. You were born from Genesis, Lia. You're not here to destroy it... you're meant to inherit it."
---
The First Clash
Lia launched forward, rage boiling.
Her blade collided with his arm—steel to Genesis.
The explosion flung her back into a pillar.
Zeyren caught her mid-air and set her down gently.
"Stop fighting me. I don't want to hurt you."
She spat blood.
"I'm not afraid of pain. I was born in it."
She charged again.
And this time—he fought back.
---
The Real Battle Begins
Every blow was like a lightning strike.
He was too fast. Too strong.
But Lia didn't stop.
Even when her ribs cracked. Even when she felt herself slowing.
She got in close—slammed her fist into his jaw.
And he staggered.
A drop of his own blood fell onto the floor.
He touched it, stared.
"…You made me bleed," he said, almost in awe.
Lia wiped her mouth, grinning through the pain.
"Looks like I'm not your puppet after all."
---
Zeyren Unleashes His Power
The air turned black.
Genesis tendrils erupted from his back, thrashing like serpents.
His voice echoed in her skull now. A whisper inside her DNA.
"I don't want to kill you, Lia. I want to ascend with you."
She screamed and drove her blade into the floor, releasing a shockwave that cleared the field between them.
Their eyes locked again.
And Zeyren whispered, "I love you."
Her voice came out like a whisper of thunder.
"You don't get to say that."
---
End Scene Tease:
They lunged.
One to embrace.
One to destroy.
And somewhere deep in Lia's blood… something woke up.