Chapter 98 Reality
LUCA
After reaching Arya, hearing her voice and feeling her presence fill our bond again, nothing in this world was going to stop me from getting her back. Bardon didn’t have to ask again for me to tell him we were getting started on getting my immortality back.
It took four days of complex spellwork, dangerous magic, and pain that made my bones feel like they were being torn apart and reassembled. In all my eight hundred years, I’ve never felt anything like it before.
They kept arguing over whether this would work or kill me.
“It’s ready,” Bardon finally announced, looking exhausted and uncertain. “Or as ready as it can be. Your Majesty, I need to be clear, this has never been attempted before. The immortality you gave to Arya has become part of her. Extracting it might kill her. It might kill you. It might kill both of you and Mordecai and collapse the void entirely, creating a reality-destroying singularity.”
“Comforting,” I muttered sarcastically.
“I’m trying to be honest.”
“I know. And I appreciate it. But I’m doing this regardless.” I lay down on the ritual circle they’d prepared. “If I die, tell her I love her. If she dies…” My voice cracked. “If she dies, don’t bother bringing me back.”
“Your Majesty—”
“I mean it. Without her, I don’t want to exist. Mortal or immortal, it doesn’t matter. She’s what makes life worth living.”
Bardon nodded, understanding in his eyes. “Then let’s make sure neither of you dies. Everyone, take your positions!”
A dozen magic users surrounded the circle, all channeling their power into the spell. I felt the magic building, pressing against me like a physical weight.
“This is going to hurt,” Bardon warned.
“It already hurts. She’s not here. Everything else is just noise.”
He began chanting in the old language. The others joined in, their voices creating a harmony that resonated through my bones.
Then the pain hit, even worse than losing my immortality had been. This was like having my soul torn in half, then having the pieces shredded and rewoven. Every cell in my body screamed. My Lycan howled in agony.
But I held on with the image of Arya on the other side, hopeful and waiting for me.
Through the bond, I felt something shift. Felt the immortality I’d given her being pulled back, drawn through our connection like water through a straw.
'Luca?' Her voice in my head, weak and confused. But just hearing her gave me a burst of energy. Suddenly, the pain wasn’t all that bad anymore. 'What are you doing?'
'Coming for you. Hold on.'
'No! The immortality—if you take it back, I’ll—'
'You’ll be mortal again. Like we were supposed to be. Together.' I gritted my teeth as another wave of pain crashed over me. 'But I need it temporarily so I can survive in the void long enough to get you out.'
'You can’t! It’s too dangerous!'
‘Nothing is dangerous when it is for saving you. This is the least I can do for you. You’re my life.'
A sharp pain hit me in the chest as the immortality snapped back into place inside me. I gasped as eight hundred years of accumulated life force flooded my system. My mortal limitations burned away. My Lycan roared with renewed strength.
I felt eternal again. Unbreakable. REAL in a way that I was starting to forget.
“It worked!” Bardon’s voice was awed. “He’s immortal again! Quick, before the spell destabilizes, open the void!”
The magic users scrambled to execute the second part of the ritual. A tear appeared in reality, dark and terrifying and exactly what I needed.
“Your Majesty, once you’re in there, we won’t be able to communicate with you. You’ll be completely cut off until you find a way back out.” Bardon pressed something into my hand. “This is a reality anchor. It’s a piece of the Moonwell crystallized. As long as you hold it, you’ll retain your connection to our dimension. Don’t lose it.”
“I won’t.”
“And Luca—” He gripped my shoulder. “If you can’t find her, if Mordecai is too strong, if the void is too vast, come back. Don’t sacrifice yourself for nothing.”
“It wouldn’t be for nothing. It would be for her. And that’s everything.” I stepped toward the rift. “If I’m not back in seven days, seal the void permanently. Better trapped forever than letting Mordecai escape.”
“Seven days,” he bobbed his head in understanding.
I nodded, then stepped into the void.
Immediately, I understood why mortals couldn’t survive here.
The void wasn’t just empty. It was actively anti-existence. Every moment, it tried to erase me. To unmake me. To reduce me to the same nothingness that surrounded me.
But I was immortal. I couldn’t be unmade. The void pushed, and my immortality pushed back, creating a bubble of reality around me.
It was exhausting. Like holding up a building with my bare hands. But it worked.
“ARYA!” I shouted into the nothing. “WHERE ARE YOU?”
My voice echoed strangely, bouncing off the absence in ways that shouldn’t be possible.
“Here!” I heard her voice distant. “Luca, I’m here!”
I moved toward her voice, though movement in the void was strange. There was no direction, no distance. I thought about going toward her, and I moved. Maybe. It was hard to tell.
“Keep talking!” I called. “I need your voice to navigate!”
“You shouldn’t be here!” She sounded closer now. “It’s too dangerous! If you die—”
“If I die, at least I’ll die trying to save you instead of living without you!” I pushed harder against the void. “Keep talking! Tell me anything!”
“I—” Her voice wavered. “I don’t know what to say. My mind is fuzzy. The void makes it hard to think, to remember—”
“Then I’ll remind you! Your name is Aeliana Moonborne! You’re Luna of the Unity Council! You’re my mate! You’re brave and stubborn, and you sacrificed yourself to save everyone because that’s who you are!”
“Luca—” Her voice was stronger now. “I can see you! There’s light! You’re creating light in the void!”
I looked down. She was right. I was generating a soft glow, pushing back the nothingness, which was creating a space where reality could exist.
And at the edge of the light, I saw her.