Melissa opened her eyes as the sun's rays fell across her face. "Mom, close the curtains. Let me sleep a little longer," she said sleepily, stretching her hands out to reach for the curtains and close them.

  She found her hand wrapping against something solid—a strong rod, she tried to gauge. It felt sturdy and robust, yet beneath a layer of cloth was human skin.

  "Aaaaaaahh!" she screamed in fear, snapping her eyes open to find her head resting on Lucien's back, her right hand touching his arm.

  She immediately backed away and raised both her hands, while Lucien turned to look at her.

  "Did you sleep well?" he asked sharply. His voice held none of the warmth her parents' voices always carried.

  Melissa looked around and saw they were passing through streets lined with multi-storey buildings, shops on either side, and people bowing as they passed. Even the shopkeepers stepped out of their stores to bow, directing their respect to Lucien while casting curious glances at her, as if trying to understand who she was.

  "Umm, I did not mean to sleep on your back. Your back was quite warm and str—" she began, but quickly clapped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from continuing. She did not need to say everything aloud; some things were better kept to herself.

  Lucien had already turned his head forward, making her feel as though he did not care about her answer, though she knew he had heard her clearly. She felt herself growing flustered, her cheeks turning bright red.

  The gazes of the people only made it worse, leaving her with the unsettling feeling that they were imagining all sorts of things about her flushed face.

  ***

  Before long, beneath the watchful eyes of countless people, Melissa found herself entering the Duskbane Palace. It was grandiose beyond words, sprawling across so much land that it was three times the size of her entire village. She had always known her village was small, but to realize it was dwarfed by someone's home was humbling. The palace gleamed in pristine white, with massive domed pillars stretching toward the sky. There were fountains, gardens, and flowers so beautiful she had seen their likeness only in books.

  All the knights guarding the palace bowed deeply to them—no, to Lucien. She walked under the watchful eyes of maids and servants.

  Melissa found herself in a vast bedroom with an enormous bed at the center. The room was aesthetically decorated, with tapestries hanging from the walls and beautiful paintings adorning the ceiling and walls, their beauty dawning on her as she looked around.

  And on the bed lay a woman whose skin had become so pale and thin that it looked almost translucent. Her black hair fell in waves to either side of the bed, carefully tended even now. Her silver eyes barely opened to see Lucien standing beside her, and for the first time, his face revealed true fear and worry. The eyes that usually masked every emotion now seemed to tremble as he looked at his mother, who appeared to be moments from death.

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  Melissa hurried to the bedside and examined the woman closely. A black mass of swirling smoke covered her belly in a circle; her core was damaged beyond repair, filled with the black mass that was eating away at her and yet, somehow, she was still clinging to life. But she was close to death. Very close.

  "You can heal my mother, right?" Lucien asked. For the first time, he seemed unsure of Melissa's capabilities. Before, he had always appeared so confident that she could help.

  "I've never healed someone with something so dark eating away at their core. What is this?" she asked in return.

  "That is black miasma. You should be able to heal it with your powers since yo-" Lucien answered, but he stopped mid-sentence; he was hiding something from her.

  "Let me try. Give me some space and do not disturb me," she said as she took the woman's hands in hers.

  ***

  Lucien backed off towards the door. He found himself growing tense, looking at Melissa and his mother.

  His mother, Margaret Duskbane, was barely holding onto life. Her face was so thin that her cheeks were sunken within her cheekbones, yet she opened her eyes and looked at him tenderly. She was worried for him.

  Lucien felt turmoil inside, a sadness that seemed to haunt his soul. His body was on the verge of breaking down, and he wanted to cry. He could hardly bear to see his mother so broken. Knowing she would die today made everything even worse.

  He had to save her, and only Melissa could do it; if not her, then no one in the world could. The black mass eating away at his mother's core was the black miasma she had contracted when they were traveling to the stronghold base to meet with his father. Some beasts from the forest had broken through the wall and attacked them. She had nearly died protecting him, and that was when she came into contact with the black miasma that was now slowly destroying her core. She had not been powerful before, and that only made things worse. They had called many medics and healers, but all of them had only managed to stop the miasma from spreading to the rest of her body. Every week, healers would come and try to stop the miasma from consuming her completely.

  They were unable to heal her completely; only the chosen one of the Goddess of Light could save her.

  Even though Melissa had not fully awakened her powers, she was the chosen one, so she should be able to do it. Since the dormant power hides inside her, it only needs a catalyst to be activated.

  Lucien gazed at Melissa, whose brows were knitted together, lines forming on her forehead. She was radiating golden light from her hand and guiding it to his mother’s core. The black mass swirling around in her belly seemed to diminish, and the black miasma was slowly being pushed back and erased.

  It was slow—painfully slow. Melissa seemed to struggle; sweat began to bead on her face, and she collapsed to the floor, yet she did not let go of his mother's hand.

  Melissa kept her eyes tightly closed as the black miasma fought back. Lucien clenched his fists and tightened his jaw.

  If Melissa failed—no, she could not fail. She was the chosen one, was she not? He tried to reassure himself.

  NO, no, not now, black miasma started overpowering her, the golden light was being pushed back from the core, the black pattern on her belly was getting bigger, it’s light was being eaten by black miasma, it was devouring the light completely, black miasma started spreading out from her core, the small patch of black circle started to get bigger.

  It could not be—surely the future saintess could not lose like this. What would happen to his mother? The thought terrified him, but Melissa was being pushed back. He ground his teeth in frustration.

  “Aarrgh”, Melissa cried out in pain. The black miasma was trying to reach her core; it was moving towards her through his mother’s hand that she grabbed.

  Melissa was in intense pain, her body arching back, and yet she did not let go of his mother's hand.

  Lucien did not know what to do. He had no healing powers, but he dashed toward Melissa—he had to do something, anything.