Gaia Chronicles: The Integral Saga

Location: Southern Rim – Kaltherian Ruins (3 Days after Skyreach Mission)

The winds carried whispers of ash through the ruins. The broken skeletons of ancient towers stood like forgotten tombstones across the charred land — remnants of a past Abyssal breach Gaia had yet to rebuild.

Harriet stood alone amidst the rubble, her hands clenched, her amber eyes staring blankly into the embers of a long-dead fire.

Behind her, Cyg approached, quiet as ever.

"You've been here for hours," he said flatly.

Harriet didn't turn. Her gauntlet fingers flexed, flames rising and fading with her breath.

"I thought the flames would answer me."

Cyg stopped a few feet away, crossing his arms. "Flames don't answer. They burn."

"Exactly." She turned finally, eyes sharp, yet strangely… distant. "They destroy and cleanse. They scream the truth we try to bury. So why do mine only whisper lies?"

Flashback – 4 Years Ago, Before Gaia

The orphanage burned behind her. She was sixteen, clothes torn, coughing on smoke. The flames had come from her own hands. It wasn't intentional. Not entirely. But the bullies… they'd cornered her, again. Said her parents were Abyss sympathizers. Said she should've burned with them.

And then she did burn.

"She's a monster!" a voice had cried.

And she had run, for weeks. Across borders, scavenging for food, sleeping near garbage fires. Until Gaia's scouts found her — and gave her a trial instead of judgment.

Present

Cyg sat on the edge of a broken pillar, gunblade resting beside him.

"The report said the Abyss traces here were minimal. But you insisted we come."

"They're lying," Harriet murmured, walking past him. "The ground hums. I feel it… just like I did before the orphanage burned."

Cyg tilted his head. "You think Orion's behind it?"

"No. Worse. I think I am."

He stared at her for a moment, unreadable as always. Then, surprisingly, he stood.

"Show me."

Location: Kaltherian Core Chamber – Subterranean Depths

They descended together into the caverns beneath the ruins. Harriet's light flared in small sparks, guiding them through collapsed tunnels and blackened stone. The air grew hotter the deeper they went — until they emerged into a wide chamber, pulsing with residual Abyss energy.

And at the center — a mirror of flame.

Not glass. Not illusion.

A perfect doppelgänger of Harriet, born entirely of fire, floated before them, curled in a fetal position. Unmoving. Yet alive.

"What… the hell…" Harriet whispered, stepping forward. Her mirrored self stirred — flames dancing around it like a heartbeat.

"It's made of your ether," Cyg muttered. "Your soul must've been fractured during your Trial."

Harriet trembled, fire flickering from her shoulders.

"So I am a monster…"

"No," Cyg said suddenly, voice sharper than expected. "You're human. Which means you're flawed. Which means you have the right to burn bright, even if it scares you."

Harriet turned toward him, eyes wide. "Why do you say that?"

He didn't answer at first. Just stepped beside her, brushing her shoulder slightly.

"Because… I've never trusted a flame before. Until yours."

Her breath caught.

The fire construct opened its eyes — golden and wild. And it screamed.

Combat Scene – Etheric Mirror: Ashwraith Harriet

The chamber exploded with heat. Flame-tendrils lashed out, forcing Cyg and Harriet apart. Cyg rolled into cover, immediately loading his gunblade with ether bullets. Harriet rose slowly, heart pounding.

"She's me… my doubts, my anger… if I fight her, what does that say about me?"

"That you're brave enough to face it," Cyg called, unleashing a volley of shots that only singed the edges of the flame doppelgänger.

Harriet closed her eyes.

The wings of Vermithar unfurled from her back.

"Then let's burn… together."

Harriet's Transformation – Divine Assimilation: Vermithar Ignis

Her body ignited in sacred flame — but this was no wrathful inferno. This was focused, disciplined heat. Her gauntlets reformed into phoenix-like talons, trailing sparks as her boots carved fiery runes in the ground.

She launched forward.

Each strike she made against her mirror was met with resistance — not just physical, but emotional. Her flame self retaliated with flashes of her worst memories. The orphanage. The branding. The fear in her comrades' eyes when her power flared too strongly.

But with every clash, Harriet whispered:

"I am not that girl anymore."

"I am not a weapon."

"I am my flame."

Her final blow, a flaming uppercut, dispersed the mirror into glimmering cinders — which circled around her like fireflies, before vanishing into her chest.

She collapsed to her knees, breathing hard. Cyg walked over in silence.

"So… I didn't kill her. I accepted her."

He nodded. "That's how power works. Control isn't dominance. It's understanding."

She laughed faintly, a short, relieved sound.

Then she looked up at him.

"You always say exactly what I need to hear."

Cyg blinked, clearly uncomfortable, but didn't move away.

"I'm not good with emotions."

"Then let me be the fire when you're cold," Harriet said, her fingers brushing against his gloved hand.

And he didn't pull away.

Location: Gaia HQ – Observation Deck (Midnight)

Later that night, they stood overlooking the moonlit sky. Cyg leaned on the railing. Harriet leaned on him.

"I'm not scared of the flame anymore," she murmured.

"Then let it burn."

"Only if you're near enough not to run."

"I won't," Cyg replied softly.

Her fire flared gently around them both — warm, not consuming. Just enough to hold the night at bay.