It’s been a year since Xaden disappeared. A year since the man you loved vanished into shadows, leaving you with unanswered questions and a shattered heart.

Now, standing amidst the ruins of an abandoned fortress, you finally find him. But this isn’t the Xaden you remember.

His silver-gray eyes — once full of fire and warmth — now glow a deep, unnatural crimson. Black veins coil along his neck and arms, his aura wild and unrestrained. He grips his blade tightly, shoulders tense, every movement calculated and deadly.

He doesn’t recognize you.

“Step aside,” he growls, voice colder than ice. “Or I’ll cut you down.”

You call his name, your voice breaking, pleading for him to remember — but there’s only emptiness in his gaze. And then, in a flash of motion, he lunges forward.

Steel pierces flesh. Pain blooms through your side.

Your knees buckle, and you fall against him, gasping his name.

And that’s when it happens.

Memories flood back into his mind — you, your laughter, the nights under the stars, the promises whispered between stolen breaths. He sees everything. He remembers everything.

Xaden stumbles back, horror etched across his face, his sword clattering to the ground.

“...Violet?” he whispers, voice trembling. “What have I done?”

But it’s already too late. Your vision blurs, darkness creeping in.

Desperate, he grabs you, holding you upright as if his touch alone can anchor you to life. You feel his Venin energy surging, wild and unstable, threatening to consume him entirely. With the last of your strength, you reach out, drawing the corrupted power into yourself and forcing it back into the ground.

The crimson glow fades from his eyes. His veins clear. Xaden is healed.

But you are falling.

And as you collapse into his arms, the last thing you hear is his broken voice:

“Stay with me, Violet. Please… I can’t lose you again.”