Chapter 123 Forbidden Otherworld Journey
POV: Luna
Three days after the sigil incident, I made a decision.
I needed answers. Real ones, not fragments and theories.
And there was only one place to get them.
The otherworld.
I waited until Nova was asleep, then slipped out of bed.
Cole was supposed to be escorting me everywhere, but I couldn't bring him into the otherworld. That required a level of magical connection he didn't have.
I left a note on my pillow. Just in case.
Gone to find answers. Back soon. Don't freak out.
Then I settled on the floor, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes.
Entering the otherworld while awake was harder than doing it in dreams. It required active effort, a conscious decision to pull myself across the barrier.
I reached for my mark, for the connection that lived there.
The otherworld responded immediately.
The transition was jarring. One moment I was in my dorm room, the next I was standing in the familiar clearing where I usually met Miguel.
But something was different.
The otherworld felt darker. Heavier. Like pressure building before a storm.
"Miguel?" I called out.
No answer.
I started walking, following my instincts. The otherworld was vast, endless in ways the physical world wasn't. But my mark guided me, pulling me in a specific direction.
I walked for what felt like hours but might have been minutes. Time worked differently here.
Eventually, I reached a place I'd never seen before.
A massive door.
It was carved from black stone, covered in symbols that hurt to look at directly. Chains wrapped around it, glowing faintly with silver light.
Eclipse magic.
This was it. The seal Malachar wanted to break.
I approached carefully. The closer I got, the more my mark burned.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
I spun around.
Malachar stood behind me, his red eyes glowing in the otherworld's dim light.
"How are you here?" I demanded.
"The same way you are. Magical projection." He gestured to himself. "My body remains in my sanctum. But my consciousness can travel here."
"You can't break the seal from here. You need physical access to my mark."
"True. But I can study it. Learn its weaknesses." He moved closer to the door, running a hand along the chains. They hissed at his touch. "Your ancestors did good work. These seals have held for centuries."
"And they'll keep holding."
"Will they?" He turned those burning eyes on me. "You feel it, don't you? The door wants to open. The magic trapped behind it is tired of being contained."
I did feel it. A pulsing from beyond the door, like a heartbeat. Something alive and aware.
"What's behind it?" I asked.
"Power. Pure, unfiltered, ancient power. The kind that existed before wolves, before humans, before the world took its current shape."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I'm giving." He smiled coldly. "But I'll tell you this much. If the seal breaks, you'll gain access to that power. You could reshape reality itself."
"Or destroy it."
"Possibly. But imagine what you could do. Bring back the dead. End suffering. Create paradise."
"Nothing's that simple."
"No. But it's tempting, isn't it?" He moved closer to me. "You could bring back Miguel. Not as essence in your mark, but fully alive. Flesh and blood."
My heart stuttered. "You're lying."
"Am I? The power behind this door can manipulate life and death. It's part of why the seal exists. Your ancestors feared what would happen if anyone accessed it."
"Then why do you want it?"
"Because I'm not afraid." His form flickered, becoming more solid. "I've spent my entire life pursuing power. Learning secrets. And this is the ultimate secret. The source of all magic."
"You're insane."
"Perhaps. But I'm also right." He gestured to the door. "This seal isn't keeping danger out, Luna. It's keeping us limited. Weak. Your ancestors made a choice out of fear, and we've been paying for it ever since."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him he was wrong.
But part of me wondered if he had a point.
What if the seal wasn't about protection? What if it was about control?
"I can see you're thinking about it," Malachar said. "Good. That means you're smarter than your ancestors gave you credit for."
"I'm not opening the door for you."
"You will. Eventually." He started to fade. "Because the alternative is watching everyone you love die while you have the power to save them locked away behind a door."
Then he was gone.
I stood there, staring at the seal, my mind racing.
Could I really bring Miguel back? Fully alive?
The thought was intoxicating and terrifying in equal measure.
"Luna."
Miguel's voice. I turned and saw him materializing, barely visible.
"You shouldn't be here," he said. "It's dangerous."
"I needed answers."
"And did you find them?"
"More questions, actually." I looked at the door. "Malachar said the power behind this seal could bring you back. Is that true?"
Miguel was quiet for a long moment. "Yes."
My breath caught. "Then why haven't you told me? Why haven't we—"
"Because the cost would be too high." He moved to stand beside me. "That power isn't meant to be used, Luna. It's raw, chaotic, ancient. Using it to bring back one person might work. But it could also unravel reality. Kill thousands. Destroy the balance between life and death."
"So we just accept that you're gone? Forever?"
"I'm not gone. I'm here. In your mark. Part of you."
"It's not the same!"
"I know." His voice was gentle. "But it's what we have. And it's enough."
"It's not enough for me."
Tears burned my eyes. The unfairness of it all crashed over me.
Miguel was right here. So close. But not real. Not alive.
And I had the power to change that, locked behind a door I was supposed to protect.
"Luna, look at me."
I did.
"I love you," he said. "And because I love you, I'm telling you not to open that door. No matter what Malachar promises. No matter how tempting it is."
"Why?"
"Because you're needed here. In this world. Alive and fighting and making a difference." He touched my mark, his hand barely substantial. "Opening that seal would destroy you. Maybe not physically, but the person you are? She'd be gone. Consumed by power too vast to control."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been watching. Learning. Talking to the other spirits here." He gestured around us. "This place, the otherworld, it exists because of that seal. It keeps the living world and the world of magic separate but connected. Break it, and both worlds collapse into chaos."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to find a loophole.
But deep down, I knew he was right.
"This sucks," I said.
"Yeah. It really does."
We stood in silence, staring at the door that held impossible promises.
"How do I stop Malachar?" I finally asked.
"You find a way to anchor yourself. Ground your power in something stronger than the temptation he's offering."
"Like what?"
"Your friends. Cole. The people who need you here and now."
"He said I could save everyone. End suffering."
"And create new suffering in the process. You can't fix the world by breaking it, Luna."
He was fading again, his form becoming more transparent.
"Wait," I said. "Show me how to anchor my friends' energy. Like you anchor mine."
"That's dangerous. If you bind yourself to them and something goes wrong—"
"Show me anyway. I need every advantage I can get."
Miguel hesitated, then nodded.
He placed his barely-there hand over my mark. I felt a tingle of energy.
"The connection has to be mutual," he explained. "They have to agree to let you anchor to them. And it creates a bond that works both ways. You can draw on their strength, but they can feel your pain."
"I can work with that."
"Here." He guided my hand to my mark. "Focus on the person you want to bond with. Picture them clearly. Then push a thread of your Eclipse power toward them. If they accept, the bond will form."
I practiced with Miguel's fading essence. It was easier than I expected, the power flowing naturally through my mark.
"Good," he said. "But be careful who you bond with. Each connection takes energy to maintain."
"I will."
His form flickered. "I have to go. The otherworld is pulling me back."
"Miguel—"
"I'll always be with you, Luna. Even when you can't see me." He smiled. "Now go. Before Malachar comes back."
He disappeared completely.
I stood alone in front of the sealed door, feeling the weight of everything I'd learned.
Then I turned and started walking back the way I'd come.
But I wasn't alone.
I felt them before I saw them. Dark presences, moving through the otherworld.
Malachar's servants. Or extensions of his consciousness. I wasn't sure which.
They materialized around me. Shadow figures with glowing red eyes, just like their master.
"The Eclipse wolf," one hissed. "Trespassing where she doesn't belong."
"I was invited," I lied.
"Liar." Another shadow moved closer. "Master wants you captured. Brought to him."
"Good luck with that."
I shifted, my wolf form emerging easily here in the otherworld.
The shadows attacked.
They moved like smoke, impossible to grab. My claws passed right through them.
But when they struck me, I felt it. Cold, burning pain where they touched.
I tried using my Eclipse power, flooding the area with light from my mark.
The shadows recoiled, hissing.
That worked.
I pushed more power out, creating a barrier of light around myself.
The shadows couldn't penetrate it. They circled, looking for openings.
I started moving, keeping the barrier up while running toward where I'd entered the otherworld.
More shadows appeared ahead, cutting off my path.
I was surrounded.
"Give up," one said. "Master will be merciful if you surrender."
"I don't surrender."
I gathered my power and released it in a burst.
The light exploded outward, washing over the shadows.
They dissolved, screaming.
But more took their place immediately.
I couldn't fight them all. There were too many.
I needed to get out. Back to the physical world.
I closed my eyes and focused on my body. On my dorm room. On Nova sleeping peacefully.
The otherworld resisted. The shadows were holding me here somehow.
Panic started to build.
Then I felt it. A warmth in my mark that wasn't mine.
Cole.
He was trying to reach me. To pull me back.
I grabbed onto that connection and pulled.
The otherworld shattered.
I gasped and opened my eyes.
I was on the floor of my dorm room. Cole was kneeling beside me, his hands on my shoulders.
"Luna! Thank god. I thought—" He pulled me into a fierce hug. "Don't ever do that again."
"How did you know?"
"Your note. And I felt something. Like you were in danger." He pulled back to look at me. "What were you thinking, going into the otherworld alone?"
"I needed answers."
"And did you get them?"
"Yeah. Terrible ones."
I told him everything. The sealed door. Malachar's offer. Miguel's warnings.
When I finished, Cole was quiet.
"He can really bring Miguel back?" he finally asked.
"Maybe. Miguel said the power could do it. But the cost would be too high."
"And you believe him?"
"Yeah. I do."
Cole studied my face. "But you're tempted."
"Of course I'm tempted. Wouldn't you be?"
"Probably." He took my hands. "But I'm glad you're choosing not to take the risk."
"Miguel made it clear. Opening that seal would be catastrophic."
"Then we make sure Malachar never gets the chance."
Nova stirred in her bed. "Can you two have your dramatic conversations at a reasonable hour? Some of us are trying to sleep."
Despite everything, I laughed.
Cole helped me back to bed. "Get some rest. Real rest this time. No otherworld journeys."
"Yes, sir."
He kissed my forehead and left.
I laid down, exhausted but wired.
The sealed door haunted my thoughts. The promise of bringing Miguel back. The threat of destroying everything.
Nova's voice cut through the darkness. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Just processing."
"Malachar offered you something, didn't he? Something big."
"How did you know?"
"Because you've got that look. The one you get when you're debating doing something stupid for the right reasons."
"He said I could bring Miguel back."
Nova was quiet. "And you're not going to do it."
"No. Miguel made me promise not to."
"Good." She rolled over to face me. "Because I'd hate to have to kick your ass for ending the world."
I smiled in the darkness. "Thanks, Nova."
"Anytime."
I closed my eyes and finally let sleep take me.
This time, I didn't dream.