The first thing Lucia felt was cold.
Not the kind of cold that came from winter air.
The kind that felt like it had existed before the world itself.
She opened her eyes slowly.
The room was gone.
The warm walls.
The soft bed.
The sunlight.
Everything had disappeared.
She stood in the middle of an endless space filled with silver mist. There was no ground beneath her feet, yet she remained standing.
Lucia looked around in confusion.
"Where am I?"
Her voice echoed.
But no one answered.
She looked down at her bracelet.
The blue light was still glowing.
"You brought me here."
The bracelet pulsed.
A strange feeling filled her chest.
It wasn't fear.
It was recognition.
As if a part of her had always known this place.
A whisper traveled through the mist.
"Lucia."
Her breath stopped.
That voice.
She knew that voice.
Even though she had only heard it once.
"Mother?"
The mist began moving.
A figure slowly appeared in front of her.
A woman.
Long silver hair.
A familiar presence.
Lucia's heart raced as she stepped forward.
"Mother!"
She reached out.
But the moment her fingers touched the figure...
The image shattered.
Not a person.
A memory.
Lucia froze.
The figure transformed into thousands of glowing fragments, surrounding her like stars.
Then another voice spoke.
Not Vanteen's.
Someone else.
"You are not ready to see her yet."
Lucia immediately turned around.
"Who are you?"
A shadow stood at the edge of the mist.
Hidden.
Watching.
"Show yourself."
The figure remained silent.
Lucia clenched her fists.
"I have spent my entire life being told who my mother was. I was locked away because of her name. I lost everything because of her enemies."
Her voice trembled.
"So if you know the truth... you will tell me."
The shadow moved closer.
"You sound just like her."
Lucia froze.
"Like who?"
A pause.
Then:
"Vanteen."
The name hurt differently now.
Before, it carried shame.
Now...
It carried love.
The shadow finally stepped into the light.
Lucia stared.
It was not a monster.
Not a warrior.
Not a villain.
It was an old man.
His appearance was faded, almost like he was not completely present in this world.
"I was one of the few people who knew the real Vanteen."
Lucia studied him carefully.
"Who are you?"
The man looked at her bracelet.
"I was her guardian."
Lucia's eyes widened.
"The guard?"
A sad smile appeared on his face.
"She told you about me?"
"No."
Lucia looked down.
"I remember you."
The man looked surprised.
"You were there."
She swallowed.
"The night she was taken."
Silence filled the space between them.
The guardian lowered his head.
"I failed her."
"No."
Lucia's answer came immediately.
The man looked at her.
"You saved me."
His expression changed.
For the first time, Lucia saw pain in his eyes.
"She would be proud of you."
Those words hurt more than she expected.
Because a part of her had spent years wondering if her mother ever truly wanted her.
Now...
A stranger was telling her that she was loved.
"Why did the bracelet summon you?" Lucia asked.
The guardian looked toward the endless mist.
"Because your mother knew there would come a day when you would search for answers."
"Then why not let me see her?"
His expression became serious.
"Because Vanteen's story is not finished."
Lucia frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The moment she was sent to the mortal realm, she didn't disappear."
A chill ran through Lucia.
"She's alive?"
The guardian didn't answer.
And that silence was enough.
Lucia stepped forward.
"Where is she?"
The mist around them began shaking.
The guardian looked at her sadly.
"You cannot find your mother until you understand why she was taken."
The world started fading.
Lucia reached toward him.
"Wait!"
But his voice followed her.
"Remember this, Lucia..."
"The greatest deception is not when someone lies to you."
"It is when they convince the world to hate someone who saved them."
The light swallowed everything.
Lucia woke up suddenly.
She was back in her room.
The bracelet was still on her wrist.
The letter was still beside her.
For a moment, she wondered if it had all been a dream.
Until she noticed something.
A new sentence had appeared on the letter.
A sentence that wasn't there before.
Her hands trembled as she read it.
"The first person you must find is the one who betrayed me."
Below it was a name.
A name that made her blood run cold.
Jaden.
Lucia stared at the paper.
Her mother's greatest love.
Her father's name.
The man who destroyed everything.
And the first person she needed to find.