Illusion of Family

Illusion of Family
The next morning, Nicole stopped when she entered the room.
The table was covered with gifts.
Boxes were stacked on top of one another, each wrapped in ribbons and expensive paper.
Nicole stared at them. “Are you serious? Is all of this for me?”
Vander leaned against the table with a proud grin. “Of course. We already gave Alicia hers. These are yours.”
“All of them?”
“Every single one,” Javier said, taking a sip of tea.
Nicole looked at her brothers. “You two…”
Before she could say anything else, Father’s sharp voice came from behind her.
“You two rascals.”
Nicole turned.
Father stood with his arms crossed, glaring at Vander and Javier. Stepmother looked just as angry, while Alicia had her hands on her hips.
Javier raised an eyebrow. “What did we do?”
Alicia pointed at the gifts. “You cheated!”
Vander frowned. “Cheated?”
“We all agreed to give Nicole fair gifts so no one would get jealous. But you two went behind our backs and bought all this!”
Stepmother nodded. “She's right. Why would you break the agreement?”
Vander shrugged. “It's not our fault you were too slow. Maybe you should cheat next year.”
Father's face darkened.
“Nobody stop me.”
He reached for a vase.
“I'm going to teach these two fools a lesson.”
Alicia immediately pointed at Vander. “Start with him! I know he was the one who made Javier do it.”
Vander's eyes widened. “What? No! It was Javier's idea!”
He turned to his brother. “Tell them!”
Javier calmly took another sip of tea.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Vander stared at him. “You backstabber!”
Father raised the vase.
Vander ran.
“Wait! Father, listen to me!”
He darted around the table while Father chased him.
“You ungrateful child!”
“It wasn't me!”
Javier remained in his seat, watching the chaos with a faint smile.
Nicole burst out laughing.
Alicia tried to hold back, but soon she was laughing too. Even Stepmother's anger disappeared as Father chased Vander out of the room.
For a moment, everything felt warm.
Nicole watched them with a smile.
Her family.
Her parents.
Her brothers.
Alicia.
And Zandro.
She had everything she had ever wanted.
Everything was finally perfect.
“Are you sure about that?”
The whisper came so close to her ear that Nicole froze.
Her smile disappeared.
She looked around.
No one was near her.
“Who said that?”
Her family continued laughing, unaware of anything wrong.
Nicole slowly touched her ear.
Maybe she had imagined it.
Then the voice came again.
“Remember, Nicole.”
Her body went cold.
“Remember who you are. Remember the promise you made to yourself.”
The laughter around her began to sound distant.
“Remember the trauma. The hardship. Do not forget your deaths.”
Nicole's fingers trembled.
“You lived nine times…”
Her breathing stopped.
“…and died nine times.”
The room spun.
“Do not mistake this illusion for the life you wanted.”
Nicole looked at her family.
Their smiling faces blurred.
Then everything changed.
She saw a little girl.
The child was small and frightened, clutching a ragged doll against her chest.
Then she saw a teenager.
Her eyes were empty. Bruises covered the skin beneath her sleeves.
Another figure appeared.
A Luna stood with a crown on her head, her face cold and proud despite the blood running down her cheek.
Then came the last one.
A warrior stood covered in wounds, a blade buried deep in her stomach.
Four versions of Nicole.
Four lives.
Four deaths.
They all had the same black-and-white hair and the same blue eyes.
They stared at her without saying a word.
Nicole's breath shook.
The memories came rushing back.
The pain.
The betrayal.
The deaths.
All nine lives.
All the times she had believed that things could be different.
All the times she had been wrong.
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
“So that's what this is.”
The family in front of her began to blur.
Nicole looked at them again.
“I don't have a family.”
Everyone froze.
Stepmother stared at her. “What?”
“I don't have a family.”
Father's expression changed.
Alicia stepped closer. “Nicole, what are you saying?”
Nicole pulled her hand away when Stepmother tried to touch her.
“You heard me.”
Alicia shook her head. “No. We're your family.”
Nicole looked at each of them.
They looked so real.
Their voices sounded real.
Their love felt real.
But she knew better now.
“I will build a family one day,” she said quietly. “But it won't be with you.”
Alicia's face crumpled.
“Nicole, please.”
She grabbed Nicole's dress with trembling fingers.
“Did we do something wrong? Tell us what we did. We'll fix it.”
Nicole looked at her.
For a moment, she almost wanted to believe her.
Then she remembered the nine lives.
The nine deaths.
She gently pulled herself free.
“It's too late.”
The room cracked.
Alicia's eyes widened.
“No!”
Her body began to break apart, turning into dust.
“Nicole!”
Father reached for her.
Stepmother cried out.
Vander and Javier stood frozen as their bodies began to fade.
Nicole watched without moving.
The family disappeared.
The room disappeared.
The gifts disappeared.
Everything melted away like frost beneath the sun.
Then Nicole found herself standing in the snow.
Silence surrounded her.
She looked down.
There was nothing left.
No family.
No gifts.
No illusion.
Only snow beneath her feet.
Nicole took a slow breath.
Then a voice came through the silence.
“Nicole.”
She turned.
A massive white wolf stood in the swirling snow.
Her white fur shimmered under the pale light, and her blue eyes glowed with an otherworldly calm.
The wolf looked directly at Nicole.
“You passed my trial.”
Nicole stared at her.
“Zirah…”
Nicole had imagined meeting Zirah again many times.
She had wondered what she would say, whether she would apologize, or if she would even have the courage to look at her.
Now that Zirah stood in front of her, Nicole could not find a single word.
The white wolf watched her with those familiar blue eyes.
“You're quiet,” Zirah said. “Are you ashamed to face me?”
Nicole let out a small laugh. “Still so blunt.”
“Still so weak.”
Nicole frowned. “I just passed your trial.”
“You took long enough.”
“You wiped my memory clean! How was I supposed to know I was inside an illusion?”
Zirah's tail flicked.
“I needed to know if you were still capable of opening your eyes and changing your future.”
Nicole's expression became serious.
“And?”
Zirah stepped closer until her fur brushed against Nicole's hand.
“You're different now.”
Nicole looked at her.
“You no longer want to live for people who will only hurt you,” Zirah continued. “You're ready to change your fate, even if it costs you everything.”
Nicole's eyes softened.
Zirah lowered her head.
“Because of that, I accept our bond again. I will become your wolf.”
Her forehead touched Nicole's.
A warm light rushed through Nicole's body. The last traces of the illusion disappeared, and the connection between them became clear again.
Nicole smiled and threw her arms around Zirah.
“I missed you.”
Zirah sighed.
“If I counted our age by the number of times we've died and returned to the past, we'd be more than two thousand years old. Yet you still behave like a child.”
Nicole laughed against her fur.
For the first time in many lifetimes, having Zirah beside her again felt right.
After a moment, Zirah pulled away.
“The trial is over. You should return.”
Nicole nodded.
“I'll see you again.”
“I'll be waiting.”
A glowing door appeared nearby.
Nicole walked toward it, then looked back one last time before stepping through.
When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the large rock in the temple forest.
Moonlight covered the clearing.
Nicole sat up.
“Zirah?”
“I'm here.”
Her voice came clearly through their bond.
“This time, we won't die. We will survive, Nicole. We will make everyone who looked down on us regret it.”
Nicole smiled.
She jumped from the rock and landed lightly on the ground.
Then she noticed something watching her.
A white fox stood at the edge of the clearing.
Its golden eyes were fixed on her.
Nicole studied the creature for a moment. She had never seen a fox like this before.
Curiosity won over caution.
She reached out with her mind.
The connection came instantly.
“You can read my mind, can't you, child?”
Nicole froze.
The voice was deep and ancient.
The fox turned its head toward her.
“This is not your first life.”
Nicole stared at him.
“How do you know?”
The fox's golden eyes narrowed.
“You look like her.”
“Who?”
“The last Moonborn.”
Nicole's heart stopped.
The fox continued.
“She was reckless when she was young, but she became one of the most disciplined and powerful Moonborn I have ever known. Her spiritual power was pure.”
Nicole could barely breathe.
Her mother.
He was talking about her mother.
No one had spoken about her in years. She had died giving birth to Nicole and Alicia, and after that, Father had never spoken her name.
The fox looked at Nicole again.
“But your spiritual power is even stronger than hers.”
Nicole's expression changed.
“Stronger?”
“Yes.”
The fox's gaze became serious.
“Your existence could either save the world or destroy it.”
Nicole stood completely still.
The fox turned away.
“I wonder which one you will choose.”
He walked into the forest and disappeared among the trees.
Nicole remained where she was.
Her mother's name had been forgotten by almost everyone, but this creature knew her.
And now he had told Nicole that her power was greater than her mother's.
Nicole looked toward the dark forest.
She needed answers.
But first, she had something more important to do.
She turned toward the temple.
This time, she would not let anyone decide her fate for her.