CHAPTER 65: TEAR OF THE DEAD BRIDE

My body shivers lightly, the hair on my arms standing on end. The cold seeps into me, and those eyes... well, eye sockets, if we’re being very specific here, feels too eerie; it’s hard to say whether it’s her or not...

Ahem. Where was I? Ah, right.

"State your name, mortal..."

The familiar voice strikes me like a bolt of lightning. It’s her. But... why does it feel so different this time? Is it because I’m actually dead now?

No problem. Time to activate Quill Charm 2000 and secure this girl, bring her back with me. I laugh inwardly, feeling a little arrogant. Is that bad? Probably. But hey, ObservantReader is always cursing me about my absurd luck with women. What can I say? Hehe.

"I’m Quill," I say proudly, my eyes locking with hers. I show no fear. She seems harmless enough to me, and besides, I have my author powers with me this time. Nothing bad should happen.

"Quill..." Amara’s voice trails softly. Could it be she hasn’t fully lost her memory? My heart jolts at the thought. But... that can’t be, right?

The air tastes different now, sharp and heavy. I watch as her skeletal body trembles for a moment before settling, the faintest echo of something human flickering through her form.

Her signature mist pours out of her body, swallowing me in an instant. I feel it creep toward my heart, freezing it little by little as if a cold hand were caressing it, coaxing it into sleep. The sensation terrifies me.

I summon my quill as fast as I can, scribbling into the air:

{Freeze the death in front of me, making her unable to attack or defend}

The letters dissolve into the air and streak toward her. A moment later, the mist scatters. Amara’s hollow sockets blaze with a fierce blue light in retaliation, but she can’t move against me.

And now... what do I even do? This isn’t exactly how I pictured our first date after so long. Hmm... I wonder... could I give her memories back?

No... to give someone their memories back, I’d need to have them first. And I don’t. I have no idea what she was truly thinking back then... oh boy... this is—

Think, Quill. Think. How did it all work last time?

Ah, right. I remember now. We got married by the old tradition.

I take a step forward, then hesitate. My chest tightens.

Do I really want this? I mean... Amara is incredible, perfect in every sense, even if she is Death itself. But... is this truly the right choice?

What am I even saying? I already killed myself just to reach her.

So I step forward again, this time letting myself collapse into the skeleton’s arms.

She told me once, this was how we became one. How we were bound. So let it happen again. Let history repeat itself.

For Amara.

Her arms are hard, bony; she thrashes against me, struggling to break free. But bound as she is, she can’t move far. And then, something shifts. Something inside her snaps. She stills, standing perfectly calm, no motion left in her.

I tilt my head up to meet her gaze. The sockets that blazed with blue fire moments ago are hollow now, empty... and yet—

A tear. A single tear slips down from the right socket, rolling slowly until it strikes my skin.

And in that instant, it feels as though the whole world crashes down on me.

The darkness ripples, shifting into a brilliant light, so bright, so ethereal that it shatters everything I thought I understood about this realm.

When I come back to myself, I find my feet on white grass: bright like snow, yet without the glimmer of sunlight on ice. It feels painted, as if someone brushed it carefully across the ground, unreal but flawless.

"Hello, my love."

The voice drifts in from my right, familiar enough to shake me to the core. I turn, and there she is—Amara.

She stands far away, her figure draped in a flowing white dress, her beauty so precise it feels carved by the hand of the most masterful sculptor. Yet even now, even in this form, she doesn’t reach for me.

I try to speak, my chest swelling with the pure joy of seeing her again, but... no sound escapes. My throat strains, yet nothing comes. It’s as if this realm itself has stolen my voice.

"Don’t push it. You’re not strong enough to do that yet." Her words carry gently, her smile so radiant it seems to light this entire place on its own.

I don’t understand. Instinctively, I reach for my quill, but nothing answers. My author’s power won’t come. It’s like it doesn’t even exist here. My heart sinks. Could this realm truly exist outside my jurisdiction?

"This is my inner world, Quill. No matter who you are, no matter what you can do elsewhere... here, I control the outcome. You could even call this place heaven. That’s what mortals named salvation, isn’t it?"

I stand in a daze, trying to make sense of all this. I bet the readers are just as confused as I am.

I take a step, then another. Yet no matter how far I walk, the distance between us never closes. Does she not want me to reach her? I search her eyes, but all I find is a smile that feels both warm and unreachable.

"Give up, Quill. I realized back then that my fate was never meant to be with you. The mortal realm weakened me. The powers I gave up left me empty... useless. And you... you wield some mysterious force that can even suppress me. How marvelous. But I can’t follow someone like that. I would only hold you down."

Her words cut into me like a sharpened blade, stirring something I’ve never felt toward her, or toward any woman before. Anger. How dare she decide that on her own?

In that instant, my very essence feels like it splinters. Or maybe... I’ve splintered something else. Because with every surge of anger rising inside me, I feel my author’s power returning, piece by piece.

No matter what you say, Amara... I’m taking you back with me.