Chapter 100: NYMERIA, VALERIA AND LUMERIA

Mike's POV

As I stepped out of the ward, I hurried toward the exit, eager to catch up with Xender before he left. But the moment I stepped out of the elevator, I saw him already heading back inside—and Alda was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, I was coming to find you,” he said, stopping right in front of me.

“Yeah, you mentioned you wanted us to talk.”

“Yes, it's about Albert, Alda’s driver,” he said, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Let me guess, the court case isn't falling in his favor,” I said. Xender immediately nodded in response.

“We need to find solid evidence, something that can put the real culprit in the suspect's seat. I want to ask the court to grant us the opportunity to run an independent autopsy on the body that Seth is claiming to be Alda’s. Once we have that approved, I want you to be the one to handle the forensic test.”

I nodded, agreeing to help, but one burning question immediately crossed my mind.

“Why not just have Alda testify in court? She might be the only eyewitness willing to stand up and testify—at least for Albert’s sake.”

“No, it's too dangerous,” Xender replied sharply, his posture stiffening. “I won't have Seth on Alda’s tail again. He killed her parents, staging it all, and then took over her company while trying to pin the crime on another victim he couldn't quite eliminate. What makes you think he wouldn't come back to finish Alda off? Besides, having her testify without solid, undeniable evidence to back it up is like intentionally handing Alda over to Seth on a silver platter.”

I nodded slowly, the grim weight of his words sinking in.

“I understand. For a moment there, I forgot Seth was someone fully capable of murder. Just let me know as soon as the court approves the second autopsy. But don't you think doing this might still leave Alda exposed somehow?” I asked, worrying for her safety.

“I know,” Xender admitted, his expression grim. “But I need the world to know that the body being presented as Alda's isn't actually hers. That alone will place Seth directly in the suspect's seat, since he was the one who claimed to have found her body in the first place.”

I gave a supportive nod and gently tapped his shoulder.

“Call me whenever you're ready,” I assured him, and he gave a grateful nod.

“I'll see you tomorrow then.” Xender turned and walked away.

Once he was gone, I made my way back up to the second floor where I needed to scrub in and prepare a young patient for surgery. I needed to get this kid in and out of the operating room successfully, ensuring everything went perfectly so I could meet up with Elba one last time before she left my life forever.

Siofra's POV

Ever since I left the hospital room, I had been pacing and pondering within myself, trying desperately to figure out how to connect to the spirit goddesses.

The first time I had ever connected with them was at the festival, right after the gemstones selected me as their candidate. The second time was when Alma and that witch elf locked me in that horrific jar. Back then, there hadn't been any conscious effort on my part; the connection had just happened out of raw necessity.

But as I let my thoughts wander, I suddenly realized my feet had led me right back to that cliff. The exact same cliff where Alda had been pushed and fell to her death.

What the heck was I doing here again? First, it was Alda's tragedy, and now it was my haunting ground. I hated absolutely everything to do with this cliff.

The moment I realized how close I was standing to the edge, I immediately recoiled, drawing back in fear.

I turned to leave, but a second thought stopped me in my tracks. I needed answers.

The first time the goddesses spoke to me, they invited me and showed me what their realm looked like, so that doesn't count, I reasoned with myself. But the second time, I was in absolute danger. There was lightning, there was rain, and I desperately begged them to save me.

“Maybe if I put myself in that exact same life-or-death situation again, I can force the connection,” I muttered.

A surge of reckless excitement rushed through me, but it died the exact moment I jumped off the cliff and landed completely fine, squarely on my feet. Because of my spirit form, the fall did absolutely nothing to me.

Frustrated and angry, I marched back up the path to the top of the cliff, thinking I just hadn't done it right. I kept repeating the whole exhausting process, throwing myself off the edge over and over again, until what little energy I had left in me completely vanished. Only then did I stop. I practically collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily as I tried to catch my breath.

Lying there on the cold ground, my gaze wandered up to the dark sky. The stars were the only source of light I could find in the vast emptiness.

“I wonder where the moon went,” a voice right beside me remarked softly. I didn't even bother to turn my head to check who it was, assuming my mind was just playing tricks on me because I was so incredibly exhausted.

“Yeah, me too,” another voice chimed in from the other side, followed immediately by yet another voice.

“Maybe it went dancing with the clouds and should be back soon.”

My head instantly snapped to the left. My eyes met a pair of glowing green eyes staring right back at me from an unfamiliar, ethereal face.

Thinking I was completely losing my mind and imagining things, I whipped my head to the right, only to find another pair of green eyes lying right next to me in the grass.

A terrified scream tore from my throat as I scrambled to my feet, throwing myself backward. I stood trembling, staring wildly at the three figures as they slowly rose to their feet with effortless grace.

They were all dressed in flowing silk gowns that looked almost like liquid water, falling to their feet and casting a radiant, otherworldly glow over their perfect skin.

The first one on my right suddenly giggled at my reaction, giving me a playful wave.

“Hi! I'm Nymeria, the goddess of Nature, and I am your third spirit guide. These are my sisters,” she said, her brilliant green eyes flickering with amusement as she smiled.

“Valeria is the goddess of Strength, your second spirit guide,” she continued, gesturing to the one on my left, who gave me a small, reserved smile.

“And lastly… Lumeria is the goddess of Light. She is a healer, and she is the strongest of the three of us. She is your very first spirit guide. And we have been waiting here patiently for you,” she added, her face booming with another warm smile.

I stared at Nymeria, who was doing all the talking. While she was incredibly chatty and welcoming, the other two sisters carried a much colder, more detached aura—especially the last one introduced, the goddess of light.

“What took you so long to get here?” Lumeria asked, her voice sending a chill through me and leaving me entirely confused.

“We have been waiting here patiently for you ever since you were dragged by that lightning storm to this realm,” the goddess on my left added, which only left my mind spinning further.

What on earth were they talking about?

“Wait a minute,” I stammered, my voice shaking as I tried to process their words. “Are you trying to say that on that night, when I desperately begged to be saved, you weren't the ones who sent me here? You didn't put me into a human body to keep my spirit from fading?”

The other two goddesses went completely silent, their expressions turning grave. Only Nymeria spoke up, her dramatic gestures matching her words.

“No, we didn't. One minute you were there in Álfheimr, and the next minute, you were completely gone from our sight.”

A chilling, lingering realization settled into my chest. If my own spirit guides hadn't sent me here, how on earth had I managed to cross realms?