The city waited.
Élise stood beneath the silver glow of the frozen moon, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure even the shadows could hear it. The marked figures around her remained still, their empty eyes fixed on nothing—on what she might become.
Adrien stepped closer, his voice low and urgent. "Listen to me. If you choose me, there's no going back."
Her throat tightened. "And if I don't?"
"You wake up," he said. "You forget all of this. You live your life. Alone."
The word cut deeper than she expected.
The presence behind her shifted, vast and patient.
"Choose," the city whispered. "One heart. One fate."
Élise looked at Adrien—really looked at him. The guilt he carried. The fear he hid. The way he had tried to protect her even when it cost him pieces of himself.
"You said you survived," she said softly.
Adrien's eyes darkened. "I survived because I lost someone else."
Her breath caught.
"I won't do that again," she said.
He shook his head. "Élise—"
She stepped forward and took his hand.
The contact sent a shock through her body. The crescent on her wrist flared, burning hot, its light spilling across his skin. Adrien gasped, his own faded mark igniting in response.
"I choose him," Élise said clearly. "Take me instead."
The city laughed.
Not cruelly. Not kindly.
"Brave," it murmured. "But incomplete."
The shadows surged, wrapping around them like living smoke. Élise felt something ancient press against her thoughts—memories not her own, streets she had never walked, nights she had never lived.
"You may keep him," the city continued. "But you will belong together."
The ground vanished beneath them.
Pain exploded through Élise's wrist, racing up her arm and into her chest. She cried out, gripping Adrien tighter.
"Élise!" Adrien shouted. "Let go!"
"I won't," she whispered through the pain. "Not again. Not ever."
The light intensified—then snapped.
Silence.
Time lurched forward.
Élise collapsed to her knees, gasping. The city street was gone. The frozen moonlight faded into dawn.
She was back in her apartment.
Adrien knelt beside her, pale, shaken—but real. Still there.
She laughed weakly, tears spilling down her cheeks. "You're here."
He touched her face, hands trembling. "You did this."
Her wrist throbbed. The crescent mark had changed—no longer thin and distant, but deep, intertwined with another symbol.
Adrien rolled up his sleeve.
His mark had changed too.
Mirrored.
Linked.
His expression darkened with realization. "They didn't free us."
"No," Élise said softly, standing on unsteady legs. "They bound us."
Outside, the city stirred awake.
Somewhere, a clock struck twelve.
Adrien met her gaze, equal parts fear and devotion in his eyes.
"Then whatever comes next," he said, "we face it together."
Élise nodded.
Because the city had made its choice.
And so had she.