Flashback – Aurelio, Age 9
The old Santoro villa smelled of lemon oil and old stone. The kind of place where voices echoed for hours and secrets hid in the spaces between breaths.
It was storming outside. Lightning painted the hallways silver.
Young Aurelio sat at the foot of the marble staircase, hugging his knees, listening to the muffled voices coming from the study. His father's voice was thunder—deep, angry, and unfamiliar. And someone else… softer. Frantic. Terrified.
His mother.
"Giacomo, he's just a child."
"No," his father growled. "He's not. He lit the chapel candles without touching them. They flickered awake. He was singing in the old tongue."
"He doesn't know what he's doing."
"That's what makes him dangerous."
Aurelio's breath hitched. He remembered the chapel. The warmth. The way the flames had danced when he sang that strange lullaby—words that came from nowhere, yet felt like home. The candles had lit for him.
He hadn't meant to frighten anyone.
He hadn't meant to be different.
---
Later that night, his mother found him sitting in front of the fireplace, staring into the embers.
She knelt beside him, wrapping him in her silk shawl.
"You're not bad, tesoro," she whispered. "You're… old. You came from something ancient. Something sleeping. But when it wakes, it'll hurt if you don't learn to control it."
"I didn't mean to light them," he whispered.
"I know," she said softly. "But fire doesn't care if you mean it. It just burns."
She pressed her fingers to his chest.
"You have fire in here," she said. "And when it burns the wrong way… it becomes wrath. But when it burns for the right reason? It becomes protection."
That was the first night he dreamed of wings made of flame. A circle of light in the sky. A voice whispering, "You were never meant to sleep forever."
---
Back to Present – Aurelio
He stood in the rain, Marone's words still ringing in his ears.
But all he could see was his mother's face.
And Luna's glowing palm.
The fire wasn't just his legacy. It was his burden.
His weapon.
And now… it was awake.