Chapter 330: Bend he will...
Selene did not move at first.
Her eyes kept sweeping the cavern.Sharp.Restless.As if expecting something to lunge out of the shadows at any second.
Then, slowly... a breath left her lips.
"I would have never..." she murmured, voice barely more than a thread in the dark, "...been able to come this far..." Her fingers brushed against the damp stone wall beside her as she took a cautious step forward. "Not unless the timelines were altered." She took in a deep breath,eyes closed as if relishing something delicious. "Hmm!This place reeks of power.Even the air smells like the original darkness...the beginning of all things..."
Even her words lingered in the air like a secret not meant to be spoken aloud.
Selene glanced over her shoulder again.
Empty.
Still.
But her body didn’t relax.
If anything, the awareness sharpened.
She turned forward and began walking deeper into the cavern.
Each step was measured.Careful.Her head kept turning—left... right... behind... above—as though she could feel eyes pressing into her from every direction.
"This place..." she whispered, almost in awe now, "...it remembers...hhhmmm," Selene bit her lips. "It has its own memory.Interesting!"
The ground beneath her boots grew smoother as she advanced, the natural rock slowly giving way to something carved... shaped... deliberate.
Older.The relics of an ancient time unknown to anything living,anything alive.
Selene’s breathing steadied, but her senses heightened.She moved like a predator in unfamiliar territory—quiet, precise... ready.
Then—She stopped.
Abruptly.
Her head tilted slightly.
Her nostrils flared.
Once.
Twice.
She inhaled deeper this time.And something shifted in her expression.A slow... creeping smile began to form."Oh..." she breathed.
Her eyes darkened with recognition."There you are."
The fear that had clung to her until now twisted into something else entirely.
Hunger.
Selene took a step forward.Then another.Slow.Deliberate.Her movements changed—shoulders lowering slightly, steps becoming softer, almost prowling.Like a hyena catching scent after a long hunt.She inhaled again, eyes fluttering for just a second as if savoring it.
"Such a sweet... scent," she murmured.Her lips curled.The cavern seemed to close in around her as she followed it, deeper and deeper, weaving between the jagged stone pillars.
The darkness thickened.The silence grew heavier.But Selene moved through it with growing certainty now.Closer.Closer.Her grin widened with every step.Until finally—She stopped.
Completely still.For a heartbeat, she simply stared.And then—Her smile broke into something wicked.
"There you are..."
Right in front of her—
Suspended in the air—
Three glowing orbs floated in perfect stillness.
Soft, pulsating light shimmered around them, casting faint reflections across the cavern walls.
Inside each orb—were each of the children.
Curled.Sleeping.As if untouched by time itself.As if cradled in a womb that never intended to let them go.Tiny forms rising and falling in slow, rhythmic breaths.Peaceful.Unaware.
Selene took a step closer.
Her eyes gleamed with something dark and fascinated."Well..." she whispered, voice dripping with quiet delight, "aren’t you precious."
The orbs flickered faintly in response.
Or perhaps—
it only seemed that way.
Because the moment stretched...Still.Silent.It felt like even the air felt the change.
Selene did not rush.She stepped closer... slowly... as though savoring every inch of the moment.
The faint glow of the three orbs painted her face in shifting light — soft gold, pale blue, dim silver — each flicker catching in her eyes and turning them into something almost unalive.
For a moment, she simply stood there.Watching.Listening to their synchronized heart beat.Breathing them in.
"Jasper..." she whispered, her voice low and curling, tasting the name,pointing at the first orb.Her fingers lifted.Hovered.Then—She touched the surface of the first orb.A ripple spread instantly from the point of contact. "Did I tell you how grateful I?I really adore your foolishness.Had it not been because of you,I would never be enjoying such privilege.Thank you for being your mother’s son!An utter fool!" She let out a heavy,sarcastic chuckle.
Inside, the small curled body jerked.A faint tremor passed through the child.
Selene froze—And then her lips slowly parted into a smile.
"Oh..."
She pressed her fingers a little firmer this time.
The orb quivered.
And inside—
Jasper recoiled.
Not fully awake... not conscious... but something deep within him felt her,heard her insults..Felt the intrusion.Selene let out a soft, delighted breath."You can feel me, can’t you?" she murmured, tilting her head. "Even in there... even like this..."
She dragged her fingertips lightly across the surface.The orb shuddered.Jasper’s tiny form curled tighter onto himself.
Selene’s smile deepened.
Slow.
Satisfied.
She pulled her hand away— Only to move to the next.
Freya.
Selene circled slightly, her bare feet making almost no sound against the stone as she moved around them. Her body swayed faintly with each step, as if she were dancing to a rhythm only she could hear.
Her hand lifted again.
Gentle.
Almost tender.
She touched Freya’s orb.
This time—The reaction was sharper.A visible tremble.A ripple of light that flickered erratically across the surface.Inside, Freya’s small body twitched, her head turning faintly as though trying to escape something in a dream.
Selene’s shoulders rose slightly with a quiet, pleased inhale."There it is..." she whispered. "That fear..." She closed her eyes again as if relinquishing, "Yes,this is the power of fear.This is what they had been talking about.The ultimate darkness that rises from fear...savoury,not sweet,nor sour...ahh...I can literally taste it in here.This place is amazing..."
Her fingers spread against the orb, pressing more deliberately now.Freya recoiled further.
Even in sleep,even in suspension,her finger tips moved a fraction,she was desperately trying to get away.
Selene laughed softly.A low, breathy sound."Oh, you are going to be fun.You are as reactionary as your brother...how delicious is that!"
She withdrew her hand again, almost reluctantly, her nails lightly scraping across the glowing surface before she moved on.
Willa.
Selene approached her last.
Slowest.
Her gaze lingered longer this time, something more calculating flickering behind her eyes.
"Hmm..."
She crouched slightly, lowering herself so she was level with the orb.Her long hair slipped over one shoulder, strands falling forward as she leaned in.For a moment—She didn’t touch.
She only watched.
Studied.Then her fingers lifted again.And pressed.The reaction was immediate.
The strongest yet.
The orb pulsed violently.
Willa’s small form jerked, curling in tighter on itself as if trying to disappear entirely.
Selene’s grin widened.
Wicked.
Predatory.
"Yes..." she breathed, her voice dropping to a whisper edged with delight. "Yes, that’s it...you are the one with the dark streak.You are definitely going to be interesting...oh,I love this...Kieran,your children are amazing.Each one with their own flavour.Delicacies."
She pulled back slowly, rising to her full height again.
Then she began to move around them.
In a slow circle.
One step... then another...
Her fingertips brushing against one orb... then the next... then the next again.Each touch deliberate.Lingering.Teasing.The children trembled in response each time.Small, helpless movements inside their glowing prisons.Trying to retreat.Trying to hide.
Selene watched every reaction.
Drank it in.
Her chest rose and fell slowly, satisfaction settling deep into her bones.
"Look at you...my foolish boy...disturpting an entire timescape,fracturing the so called balance your mother keeps fighting to protect...facade..." she murmured, pacing around them again. "All tucked away... safe... hidden...in here...what a funny paradox..."
Her hand brushed Jasper’s orb again.He flinched.She smiled.
"Did you think coming back in time would save you?"
Her tone shifted then.Sharpened.Something darker slipping through.She stopped walking.Turned to face all three of them at once.Her eyes hardened.
"Your father..." she said slowly, the words heavy with restrained irritation, "has tested my patience far too much."
Her jaw tightened slightly.A flicker of anger crossed her face.But it didn’t explode.It simmered.Controlled.Dangerous.Selene resumed walking again, circling them once more, faster this time.Her fingers kept reaching out.
Touch.
Flinch.
Touch.
Tremble.
Again.
And again.
And again.
"You feel that, don’t you?" she whispered, almost taunting. "Even like this... you know something’s wrong..." She paused behind them, her voice lowering further. "He should have listened."
Her hand pressed flat against Freya’s orb again.A sharp ripple.A deeper recoil.Selene exhaled slowly, eyes fluttering for just a second in satisfaction."But since he didn’t..." She straightened.Silence stretched for a moment.Then—Her lips curled again.Decisive.Cold."That’s alright."
She stepped forward, standing directly before the three orbs, her gaze sweeping over them like a collector admiring her prize."I will just... take what matters."
Her voice softened again.Almost sweet."Until he learns to obey...to listen to reason..." She tilted her head slightly. "And when he does..." A pause.A faint smile. "He’ll come to me." Selene lifted her chin slightly, her posture settling into something assured... inevitable."He will see sense."
Her eyes gleamed."And he will bend."
A beat.
Then, softer—
"To my will completely."
