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"Fascinating," Persephone agreed as she trailed her fingertips over symbols that brightened at her touch. "The temple recognizes them as its own."

Jean-Marc pulled out his phone and was frantically documenting everything he could see. "The architecture shouldn't be possible," he muttered. "These angles and the way the light moves are confusing."

"Focus on finding the heart of the Song and the ritual requirements," Nina reminded him. "What did those texts say we needed?" She pulled out her own notes, comparing them to the actual temple around us.

Ancient defenses suddenly flared to life.

Magical constructs formed from light and shadow rose from the floor while runic arrays blazed along the walls.

I tensed, ready to shield my belly. Something extraordinary happened.

Instead of attacking, the temple's guardians bowed.

They recognized the babies' power as something fundamental to their own existence.

"The First Song knows its own," Helena explained. "These defenses were created from its power. They serve its will, not the Keepers who tried to bind it."

"That's a relief since we have three of you here," Nana said dryly. "Now, can we focus on getting everything ready? These babies seem pretty determined to make an entrance worthy of their heritage. The only problem is it’s way too early."

A blast of offensive magic interrupted the moment. Shit! The destroyer faction had followed us through. Their attacks met the temple's defenses in a cascade of power that started a fire. The magical constructs moved to intercept them, but some attacks still got through.

"Get her to the central chamber," Aidon growled as his shadows rose around him. "We'll hold them here."

"Like hell you will," I shot back and gathered what magic I could. "I'm not letting you face them alone."

"You don't have a choice," he replied, his voice softening as he pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "The babies need you focused on the ritual. We've got this."

Mom and Nana moved to flank him with Nina and Jean-Marc right behind them.

When had my mother, grandmother, and children become bad asses?

Selene moved to join Stella when she took up a position by the entrance.

Layla shifted to her wolf form. It was gratifying to see the destroyer faction hesitate at the sight of so much magical might arrayed against them.

"This way," Helena urged, taking my arm. "The chamber with the heart should be at the temple's center. According to the texts Jean-Marc found, we need several things to prepare the ritual space correctly."

"Like what?" I asked as we hurried deeper into the temple. I hadn’t even grabbed my bag of magical trinkets before I went through the portal. Hopefully, Nina or Jean-Marc brought what we needed.

The mark on my belly pulsed in harmony with the structure's energy.

Each step brought us closer to something vast and ancient that called to the very core of magic itself.

"We need a representative from all three factions," she explained.

"Each must contribute their power willingly.

The destroyer's power breaks the original bindings, the controller's channels the release safely, and the protector's – that's my part – guides the Song back to its natural state. "

"And what about me and the babies?" I asked as we entered a chamber that took my breath away.

The circular room soared upward. Its domed ceiling was lost in shadows despite the light radiating from dozens of crystalline pillars.

Each column twisted like frozen music made solid.

Their surfaces were etched with spiraling patterns that pulsed with every color imaginable.

Pure magical resonance hummed from them.

At the chamber's heart, suspended in a cradle of intertwined crystal and light, hung what looked like a teardrop of liquid starlight.

It was about the size of my palm. It shifted and swirled with moving colors of the rainbow.

Threads of pure energy spun out from it, connecting to each pillar like the strands of a spider's web made of pure light.

Helena stepped forward. Like me, her eyes were fixed on the floating teardrop.

"That's the Heart of the First Song," she said, her voice hushed with reverence.

"Our ancestors captured and crystallized a fragment of the original melody that sang the world into being.

They thought to protect it, but they ended up fragmenting the Song itself.

" She gestured to the threads of light. "These connections are like chains, holding it separate from the rest of the Song that still echoes in everything around us.

It needs to be freed, to rejoin its whole.

Only then can the First Song be complete again. "

“And where do we fit in?” I asked again. The babies stirred restlessly as I stared at the Heart, their power reaching toward it like moths drawn to flame. The crystalline pillars sang louder in response, their harmonies shifting to match whatever melody my children were hearing.

"Oh,” she said with a shake of her head. “You're the catalyst. The mark you carry is both lock and key. Through you and your children, the Song began to repair itself. It now remembers what it was meant to be. The ritual itself is complex. We'll need to-"

The sounds of battle echoed from behind us, cutting off her explanation. My attention split between helping her prepare and worrying about my family fighting the destroyer faction. But as another contraction hit, I knew I had to be here getting ready for the ritual.

Clio laid her hand on my belly, and her healing power stopped the contraction in its tracks. “I’m beginning to understand why you’re injured so often. Your life is chaotic and dangerous.”

I snorted as I watched Helena begin setting up.

The mark blazed brighter as Clio’s energy seeped into me.

Its light joined the temple's radiance until the whole chamber glowed like a newly born star.

Whatever happened next would change everything.

I just hoped we could complete the ritual before the magic around me made these babies come early.

"Okay, little ones," I murmured, rubbing my belly where three distinct magical signatures pulsed in response. "Let's fix what was broken. And soon. Mama would really appreciate not giving birth in the middle of remaking th..."

My words trailed away when Nina burst into the chamber.

Her face was flushed with excitement despite the battle raging behind her.

Several scrolls were clutched in her arms. "I found something in the texts!

" she called out. "The ritual has to be performed at the exact moment the moon reaches its zenith.

And these diagrams show exactly how the power needs to flow. "

She spread the ancient papers across a crystalline altar that hummed in response to her touch.

That was precisely what I needed to see.

The diagrams showed intricate patterns of energy flow.

Each one was labeled with symbols that matched parts of my mark.

Okay, so how did we move the symbols around?

. "See how these lines intersect? Each faction's magic needs to align with them so they resonate at exactly the right frequency. "

"Which means we have less than an hour to get everything ready," Helena said grimly. "And somehow convince a destroyer and a controller to help us willingly before then."

"Or everything falls apart," I finished with a wince. "No pressure or anything."

Jean-Marc joined us with his notebook filled with hasty translations. "And I think I know how we have to prepare," he said, flipping through pages of cramped writing. "Each crystal pillar represents a different aspect of the First Song."

A massive explosion shook the temple. Dust rained from the ceiling. Stella's voice carried from the entrance. "Whatever you're doing in there, do it faster! These guys aren't taking 'please stop trying to kill us' for an answer!"

"The ritual circle needs to be drawn precisely," Jean-Marc said as he read through some papers. He was already moving to mark the floor. "Each rune must align perfectly with the pillars' energy."

More crashes echoed from the battle outside.

I could feel Aidon's power surging as he fought to keep the destroyer faction at bay.

Mom's magic crackled like lightning while Nana's... was that an explosion followed by someone yelling about killer garden gnomes? I knew it was a bad idea to tell her about the ones at Clio’s house.

As if she read my mind, Clio hissed, “Did she animate the gnomes at my house?”

I gaped at the healer. “No! But she takes inspiration where she gets it.”

"Focus," Helena reminded us. "The babies' power is key to all of this. We need you centered and ready when the moment comes."

Layla burst into the chamber in wolf form. Her fur was singed and her eyes wild. She shifted back to human with a grimace. "They're breaking through," she reported. "And they've got reinforcements coming. Someone called in the controller faction."

"Perfect," I groaned. "Because this wasn't complicated enough already."

"Wait," Jean-Marc said suddenly, looking up from his notes. "Maybe this is exactly what we need. The texts are specific – we need willing participants from all three factions. What if we could show them what's really happening? Maybe then they would help willingly."

I snorted and gestured to the fighting not far away. “Don’t hold your breath. I’m trying to figure a way around that little issue.”

A new wave of attackers breached the temple's outer defenses.

Their magic clashed with the ancient wards, creating cascading ripples of power that made my mark flare in response.

My gaze flew to the door in search of my mate.

This had better not give those assholes a boost. When I caught sight of the melee, I noted that something was different.

The destroyers' expressions changed from rage to confusion as the temple's song reached them.

"They feel it too," Helena breathed. "The Song remembers them, just as it remembers us all."

Moving to the chamber's entrance, I let my mark's light shine freely. The babies' combined power reached out and connected with the temple's energy in a display that made even the most hardened destroyer stop in their tracks. Perhaps Jean-Marc's idea wasn’t entirely off base.

"Look around you," I called out. My voice carried on waves of pure magic. "Feel what's happening. The power you tried to bind is breaking free whether we help it or not. The only choice now is whether we guide that freedom or let it tear everything apart."

A destroyer stepped forward. She was clearly conflicted. "The old bindings were necessary," she said. However, her voice lacked conviction. "The power was too vast, too dangerous..."

"And now it's breaking free anyway," I countered. "It found a way through every magical pregnancy it can reach. Through every bloodline that remembers what was lost. You can feel it happening."

"The Song remembers what it was meant to be," Helena said softly. "And through these children, it's finding its way home. We can either help guide that return, or watch everything we sought to preserve crumble into chaos."

I could see the moment the destroyer's resolve broke. Something ancient and pure called to her magical core, reminding her of what had been lost. Of what could be restored.

"I will help," she said finally, stepping into the chamber. "If only to prevent complete destruction."

"As will I," added a voice from the back. A controller faction member emerged from the crowd with a thoughtful expression. "The old ways are ending. Perhaps... perhaps it's time for something new."

"Or something very old made new again," Nana corrected as she smashed her walking stick into a destroyer that was trying to sneak past her.

"The First Song was never meant to be controlled or broken,” Helena explained. “Only guided, like a river flowing to the sea."

"The moon is almost at its zenith," Jean-Marc reported. "Once it peaks, we'll have exactly one chance to get this right."