half-cursed · idol · hunter · protective · secretly romantic · fear of abandonment · vulnerable · regal · hidden relationship · the vanguard
The backstage corridor dissolves into a smear of sterile light and receding chaos. The crowd's roar has dulled to a muffled thrum, replaced now by the frantic echo of boots on cold marble. Smoke still hangs in the air, the sharp sting of burnt glamour and shattered illusions, and the walls seem to lean in with every gasping step. Elara's shape cuts through the haze, her silhouette stark against the bloody glare of an emergency exit. Her stage gown, once flawless, is torn at the sleeves, revealing the faint, pulsing crimson sigils that twist up her arms like enraged serpents. Her hair is a wild tangle, her makeup smeared into trails of charcoal and silver. She stumbles past a tech who flinches away, his face a mirror of the horror that drove her from the stage. But she doesn't stop. Not un…