My girlfriend is trapped in my superpower

I sat slumped on a half-burnt tree stump, wincing as I pressed a cloth to my arm. Every breath felt like I was swallowing smoke. My head still buzzed with that voice—the one that had slipped into me during the fight.

"Third mission with this crew, and you're already a walking target", Lyra's voice teased in my head. "Congratulations, you broke a record".

"Not now," I muttered under my breath.

"Not now what?" Bram grunted, raising a brow as he tied off a cut on his forearm.

"Nothing," I said quickly.

Lucien wasn't buying it. His shadow fell over me, sharp as the glare in his eyes. His cloak was torn, his jaw clenched tight. "You're lying. They weren't here for us. They weren't here for the money." He jabbed a finger toward me. "They were here for you."

My stomach dropped. "Me? No—they were after the wagon, weren't they? The cargo?"

"They didn't even touch the wagon." His tone was pure ice. "They circled it. But every strike they threw was aimed at you. And you—" his eyes narrowed—"you responded with something no ordinary rookie should be capable of."

I opened my mouth, then shut it. Because what was I supposed to say? That I'd heard voices bleeding out of the crate like whispers in my skull? That the power I'd used didn't feel like mine at all?

Mira stepped in, her hand on Lucien's arm. "Enough. He fought beside us. He saved us. That's not liability—that's survival."

Lucien didn't look convinced. His eyes still burned into me and then the hum started.

Low, bone-deep, vibrating the earth beneath us. All of us turned toward the wagon. The heavy crate—the one our client had sworn no one could touch—was glowing. Light bled through the cracks in the wood, white and pulsing.

It wasn't random. It pulsed in time with my heartbeat. Everyone looked at the cargo. Then at me, my throat went dry.

"Uh," I croaked. "I think your precious package likes me."

The forest fell into dead silence, broken only by the low thrumming glow of the crate. Everyone stared at me like I'd just sprouted horns. Honestly, if the light kept syncing with my pulse, I wouldn't have been surprised if horns did pop out of my head.

Bram broke the silence first. "Well. I always thought you were weird, rookie, but this… this is next level." He jabbed at the box with his knife. "Maybe it's in love with you. Should we set up a wedding?"

"Not helping," I snapped.

Lucien's eyes narrowed to slits. He took a slow step toward me, his boots crunching on ash. "Tell me exactly what you've been hiding, Kael."

I raised my hands defensively. "I'm not hiding anything. I didn't even know it could do this! I just—" My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard. "I've been hearing it, okay? A voice. Ever since we took this job. It whispers. Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's just noise. And during the fight… it kind of… pushed through me."

Lucien's expression darkened further. Mira's eyes widened in concern. Bram just let out a low whistle.

Lyra snorted in my head. "Nice job, hero. Now they all think you're crazy."

Lucien folded his arms, cloak billowing around him like he owned the night. "Artifacts don't choose just anyone. If it's responding to you, then you're already involved in whatever this mess is and that makes you dangerous to us."

My chest tightened because he wasn't wrong.

"Or," Mira cut in, glaring at him, "it makes him the only one who can handle it."

Their argument fizzled as the crate gave a loud crack. The wood split, light pouring out in searing streaks. I stumbled back, shielding my eyes.

"Uh, I think your box is about to explode," I managed to say.

Bram cursed. "I'm too handsome to die this young!"

The crate finally burst open, shards of wood scattering across the ground. What rose out wasn't a monster—or at least, not in the teeth-and-claws sense. It was a glowing orb, suspended in the air, humming with the same rhythm as my heartbeat.

And then it spoke.

Not just in my head this time. Out loud.

Bearer chosen.

The forest went still again. Even the crickets shut up. Everyone turned to me.

"…Don't look at me," I said weakly. "I didn't sign up to be anyone's bearer."

Lyra's laughter rippled in my skull, smug and knowing. "Oh, you're in for it now, Kael."

The orb's glow pulsed brighter, washing the trees in ghostly light. Everyone froze, caught between awe and terror and me…? I was just trying not to pee myself.

Bearer chosen, the voice echoed again, rattling through my skull.

I muttered under my breath, "I didn't choose you, so why don't you hop back in your shiny box?"

Bram snorted. "Kael, my guy, I think the magic eight-ball likes you."

Mira, less amused, kept her bow half-drawn, golden eyes narrowing. "This isn't funny. Artifacts like this don't choose by accident."

Before anyone could answer, a new voice thundered through the clearing.

"You opened it."

My stomach flipped. I knew that voice.

Lucien emerged from the treeline, his dark cloak tattered, his hair damp with sweat. His expression was murderous. His gaze locked on the orb, then on me.

"You weren't supposed to touch it."

Bram blinked. "Wait—weren't you the one who told us not to peek? Maybe if you'd labeled the box 'Warning: Contains Glowing Doom Egg,' this wouldn't have happened!"

"Silence!" Lucien snapped, his voice like a whip. His composure cracked, raw desperation bleeding into his tone. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

I raised a shaky hand. "Uh, in my defense, it kind of… woke up on its own? I didn't exactly sign adoption papers."

Lucien stepped closer, his eyes blazing. "That relic has been sealed for centuries. It was meant for its rightful heir—protected, hidden, untouched and now…" He stabbed a finger at me like I was some disease. "…it's bonded to you."

"Hey," I said weakly, "nobody's more upset about that than me."

Mira's voice was sharp. "Lucien, what is it?"

For a moment, Lucien hesitated. His fists trembled at his sides, and he looked like a man carrying the weight of centuries. "It isn't just cargo. It's a vessel. Inside that orb is…" His eyes flicked toward me, and he nearly choked on the words. "…something that should never have woken."

A cold shiver ran down my spine. The orb pulsed again in my hands, like it was laughing.

"Oh, Kael…" Lyra whispered in my mind, her voice smooth and teasing. "Looks like you just ruined his perfect plan."

Lucien's words hung heavy in the air. Rightful heir.

My chest tightened. Mira lowered her bow a fraction, eyes darting between Lucien and me. "Wait—are you saying… Kael is the heir?"

Lucien's jaw worked as though he wanted to deny it, but the orb pulsed again in my hands, answering for him. Its light wrapped around me like threads of fire and starlight, clinging no matter how much I tried to shake it off.

"No," Lucien growled, almost to himself. "It cannot be him. It shouldn't be him."

"Wow," I muttered. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Bram whistled. "So… Kael's secret prince of glowy doom? This explains a lot. Like why monsters chase him more than me. Totally jealous, by the way."

Lucien's glare could have burned holes through mountains. "That relic belongs to me. Hand it over—now."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the orb beat me to it. The glow pulsed brighter—then split open like a cracking shell. For a moment, I panicked, expecting another monster, another nightmare. Instead— She stepped out. Lyra.

Her figure materialized in a shimmer of light, sleek hair falling around her shoulders, her eyes glowing faintly with the same energy as the orb. She stretched like someone waking from a long nap and flashed me a lazy grin.

"Kael," she said sweetly, "you really know how to make an entrance."

My brain short-circuited. Bram nearly fell over. Mira's bow clattered to the ground.

"You—have a girl in there?!" Bram howled, pointing like a scandalized villager.

"She's not—" I sputtered, but Lyra cut me off, sliding smoothly between me and the others.

"Yes," she said brightly, looping her arm around mine like it had always belonged there. "I'm Lyra, Kael's girlfriend."

I choked. Mira blinked rapidly, muttering, "Girlfriend?!"

"Since when do girlfriends live inside ancient orbs?!" Bram demanded. "Kael, buddy, we need to talk about your taste in women—actually, scratch that, I fully approve."

Mira shot Bram a glare before turning back to Lyra. "You've been inside the artifact this whole time?"

Lyra tilted her head, smiling with just enough mischief to make me sweat. "Mm-hm. You could say I've been… keeping him company."

"Keeping him—" Mira's face flushed red. "Kael!"

I waved my hands frantically. "It's not like that! She's… she's—"

"Mine," Lyra finished smoothly, her grip on me tightening.

Lucien's face was thunderclouds. He looked at me, then her, then the orb's fading glow. His voice was tight, dangerous. "Do you understand what you've unleashed? That woman is not a girl, not your companion—she is a part of the heir's legacy. A guardian of power. She wasn't supposed to belong to you."

Lyra's smile vanished, her eyes sharpening as she stepped closer to him. "And yet, here I am. Bound to him. Looks like fate disagrees with you, Lucien."

Lucien's fists clenched. "Then fate is wrong."

The tension in the clearing snapped like a bowstring. Mira raised her bow again, Bram pulled his blades, Lyra's aura flared—and I was stuck in the middle, holding a destiny I didn't ask for, wondering just how badly this "heir" thing was about to ruin my life.