Chapter 97: THE PANDORA’S CODEX ARC; Betrayal

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: THE PANDORA’S CODEX ARC; Betrayal

Lyra’s voice was raw with terror. She scrambled forward on her hands and knees, ignoring the weakness in her limbs, ignoring the exhaustion that still weighed against her body. She reached him and dropped to the ground beside him, her hands hovering over the wound as though she might somehow stop the bleeding through sheer desperation.

"Big Brother, no, no, no," she sobbed, pressing her palms against his stomach. Blood seeped between her fingers, warm and unstoppable. "Stay with me. Please stay with me. You promised. You said you wouldn’t die."

Theon’s breathing was shallow and irregular. He turned his head toward her with visible effort, his gaze finding her tear-streaked face. He tried to speak, but only a faint rasp emerged from his throat.

Lyra leaned closer, pressing her forehead against his.

"Do not leave me," she whispered brokenly. "I cannot do this without you."

Noel stood over them, his sword dripping with blood. He looked down at Theon’s broken form without any trace of mercy or regret.

"The Flame Empress," he said suddenly, his voice carrying across the clearing. "You were planning to summon her, weren’t you? That was your final hope. The legendary entity that supposedly resides within your sister. You believed she would save you both."

Lyra lifted her head, her tear-filled gaze shifting toward him.

Noel’s smile was cold and mocking.

"Go ahead," he taunted. "Try to call her forth. Let us see if your precious savior will answer."

Lyra’s hands trembled. She turned back to Theon, then closed her eyes and reached inward, searching for the presence she had felt before. The warmth that had occasionally flickered within her chest during moments of extreme emotion. The power that had manifested in the form of the Flame Empress during previous crises.

She called upon it now with everything she had left.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, pushing harder, desperate to feel even a spark of that legendary power. She begged silently for the Flame Empress to emerge, to protect Theon, to save them both from the horror unfolding around them.

Still nothing.

The warmth remained dormant. The presence stayed silent. It was as though something had wrapped around her magic and sealed it away completely.

Lyra’s breath caught in her throat. She opened her eyes and looked at Theon, seeing the realization dawn in his fading gaze.

He understood.

The barrier was not merely suppressing their magic. It had also been designed specifically to prevent the Flame Empress from emerging. Someone had studied Theon’s abilities, his strategies, his desperate reliance on Lyra’s hidden power, and had crafted this suppression field with precise knowledge of what he might attempt in his final moments.

Noel watched their expressions with evident satisfaction.

"You see it now," he said softly. "This barrier was not created by chance. It was built for you. Every aspect of it was designed to counter your specific strengths. Your magic is suppressed. Your sister’s legendary entity cannot emerge. Your sacrifices mean nothing here."

Theon’s hand moved weakly, reaching for Lyra’s. She grasped it immediately, holding it tightly against her chest.

"Who..." Theon’s voice was barely audible, strained by pain and blood loss. "Who told you?"

Noel’s smile widened.

"Someone very close to you," he replied cryptically. "Someone who knows your patterns. Your weaknesses. Your attachments. Someone who understood exactly what you would do when faced with the choice between your own survival and your sister’s safety."

Theon’s grip on Lyra’s hand tightened despite his fading strength. His mind raced through the possibilities, searching for anyone who might have betrayed him. Friends. Allies. Mentors. People he had trusted. People he had confided in about Lyra’s power, about the Flame Empress, about the strategies he had developed to protect her.

The list was not long.

But it was enough to plant seeds of doubt that cut deeper than any blade.

Lyra felt his tension, the way his body grew rigid despite his injuries. She looked up at Noel with growing fear and confusion.

"Who are you talking about?" she demanded, her voice shaking. "Who betrayed us?"

Noel did not answer immediately. He studied them both with an expression that suggested he was enjoying their torment far more than he should have.

"You will find out soon enough," he said finally. "When the time is right, the truth will reveal itself. And I wonder, Theon... I wonder how it will feel to discover that the person who destroyed you was someone you called a friend."

Theon’s breathing grew more labored. His vision continued to fade, the edges of the world dissolving into shadow. But one thought remained clear in his mind despite the encroaching darkness.

Someone close to him had provided the information that led to this moment.

Someone he had trusted.

Someone who had watched him protect Lyra and decided to use that knowledge against him.

The betrayal cut deeper than the wound in his stomach.

Who could have done this?

Who among the people they knew would willingly lead them into a trap designed to kill them both?.

The questions hung in the air, unanswered and terrifying, as Theon’s grip on her hand grew weaker and the darkness closed in around them.

Then later on theon thought about another thing again as he barely managed to rise up to his feet.

*Why does he want to kill me so much*

Noel stood opposite him, eyes burning with something far older than anger. Betrayal had carved lines into his expression that Theon had never noticed before—maybe because he hadn’t wanted to see them.

Then Theon finally said something.

"Why?" his voice came out rougher than he intended. "After everything I did for you... after I trusted you enough to want to help you... why are you so determined to kill me?"

Noel’s hand clenched at his side, fingers digging into his palm until the knuckles turned white.

"I told you a story," Noel said, each word measured, cold. "About my family. About what happened to them."

Theon’s brow furrowed. "What are you—"

"No." Noel’s voice snapped like a whip. "the story wasn’t fully explained."

Theon froze.

Noel’s gaze never wavered. "The noble who came for me. The one who captured my family. The one who turned my home into a grave and my people into prisoners." He took a step forward, the ground seeming to shrink beneath his feet.

"It was Duke Aldric."

The name hit Theon like a physical blow.

His breath caught. His heartbeat stuttered. For a moment, the forest, the barrier, even Noel himself seemed to fade into the background, leaving only that name echoing in his skull.

Duke Aldric.