CHAPTER 93: THE FRACTURE BETWEEN WORLDS

The chamber still echoed with the aftermath of broken magic. Silver strands of light clung to the corners of the crystalline walls, like the last breath of a storm refusing to die.

Lira lay in Lucas’s arms, unconscious but alive. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, steady breaths. Lucas’s face was buried in her hair, the sharp angles of his features crumpled in exhaustion, grief, and shame.

But I had no time for grief—not anymore. My heart burned, steady and focused on only one thing.

"I need to go home," I murmured, my voice steady but hollow.

Lucas finally looked at me. His eyes were rimmed red from crying, the weight of everything pressing him down like a mountain on his back. "Athena..."

"No." I raised a hand before he could say more. "Don’t. Whatever excuse you think will make this better, don’t waste it."

I could see the guilt eat at him. The longing, the regret, the apology hovering in his throat. But none of it could fix what had broken.

"She’s alive," I added quietly, glancing at Lira’s pale face. "That’s all that matters now. You did what you thought was right."

Lucas clenched his jaw. "It wasn’t right. Nothing about this was right."

I walked toward the center of the crystalline chamber, where the runes embedded in the floor still faintly glimmered. The ancient portal stood dormant, cracked in some places from the wild magic unleashed earlier, but it still hummed faintly beneath the layers of dust and broken spells.

I lifted my hand, silver light crackling faintly over my fingertips. "I’m going to open it."

Lucas shifted, gently placing Lira down on the floor before standing. "Athena... you’re not strong enough yet. You’ve barely unlocked your power. You’ll burn yourself out."

I smiled bitterly. "Then I’ll burn."

The runes on the floor responded to my touch. Circles within circles illuminated one by one, the lines filled with liquid light, weaving like rivers of molten silver across the ground. The hum in the air thickened, pressing against my skin, tugging at something deep within me.

For a heartbeat, I felt the portal stir. The veil between worlds thinned—a tear in the fabric of existence starting to form.

Then pain.

A sudden, sharp stab behind my eyes. My knees buckled, and I caught myself with both hands on the floor. The magic recoiled, wild and unstable, fighting me like a wounded beast refusing to be tamed.

Lucas was beside me in an instant. "Stop. Stop before it kills you."

I pushed his hand away. "No. I’ve come too far for this to be where I break."

The hum of the portal shifted, unstable now, sparking arcs of silver lightning around the edges of the runes. The crack between worlds was forming—but only barely. My power wasn’t enough.

I screamed, frustration pouring out of me as I forced more of my magic into the ancient lines, every bone in my body feeling like it might shatter from the force.

"Let me hold you," Lucas said, kneeling beside me. "Let me help you stabilize it."

I flinched. Trust was such a fragile thing now.

"Why?" My voice was raw, sharp. "So you can betray me again?"

His face contorted with pain—not from the portal’s magic, but from my words.

"I swear to you—I didn’t want to betray you. I didn’t even know who you were at first. I just... I was desperate."

"Desperation isn’t an excuse to break someone." I glared at him. "It’s just weakness in prettier clothes."

He looked down at his hands, ashamed. "I deserve that. I deserve worse."

For a long moment, neither of us moved. The portal pulsed beneath us, unstable, like a living thing on the verge of death or birth. I felt the push and pull of both worlds—one calling me back, the other trying to devour me whole.

Finally, I sighed. "If you help me, you’re doing it for them. Not for me."

"I know," he whispered.

His hand hovered above mine, hesitant. But I didn’t flinch when his fingers finally touched mine, my magic colliding like two broken pieces of the same star. Where his energy was deep, steady, rooted in this world’s ancient magic, mine burned like wild moonlight—restless, untamed, divine.

The runes pulsed brighter under my power.

The crack widened.

Beyond it—I saw the faintest shimmer of my world. Familiar trees. The vague outline of mountains I once knew. But most of all... the sky. The sky of my world, not tainted with the odd purple hue of this realm, but rich and deep with moonlight.

Home.

I could almost taste it on my tongue.

But the strain was immense. My arms shook violently as I held the spell together.

Then—movement in the distance.

A sound, a ripple, a presence.

The king.

I felt him before I saw him. His magic, even broken and bruised, was still vast, stretching like storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

He stepped into the room slowly, his robes torn, his crown missing, but his eyes burning with venomous rage and cold calculation.

"Athena," he rasped, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. "You don’t get to leave."

Lucas moved instantly, sword drawn, but the king raised a hand—and Lucas flew backward, slamming into a pillar hard enough to make the stone crack.

"No!" I shouted, magic flaring around me.

The king limped forward. "You still don’t understand, do you? You belong here. You were always mine to control. Why do you think I built this entire realm around you? Why do you think I worked so hard to trap you? You were supposed to complete the prophecy. My prophecy."

"Your prophecy is broken," I spat.

He smiled, slow and bloody. "Never."

The portal flickered again—fading under the weight of his dark magic pressing down on it.

"I’ll kill you," I whispered.

"Oh, I believe you’ll try," the king mocked. "But even now, you’re too weak. That power you tasted, do you think that’s the limit of what you are?"

I stood fully, shoulders squared. "No. And that’s why you’re afraid."

The silver glow blazed anew beneath my skin, brighter now, fuller, filling the cracks of my broken bones, my tired soul, my bruised heart.

The king raised his hands to crush the portal with a spell but Lucas was there first.

With a roar of fury and regret, Lucas flung himself into the king, their bodies colliding in a brutal crash of limbs and magic. Their struggle sent arcs of violent energy spiraling through the chamber, splitting the marble floor, ripping into the walls. It was chaos, beautiful and terrible.

I didn’t hesitate.

I pushed.

All the magic I had left surged into the runes, forcing the crack between worlds to stabilize. The silvery tear widened fully, a roaring wind howling out of it as the two realms strained against the connection.

Then—

A shadow on the other side.

Shapes moving.

My people.

I could hear the faintest cries of wolves, the clash of battle, the unmistakable war-song of my kind locked in desperate battle against something terrible.

And then I heard a voice.

"Athena..."

Kieran.

His voice, carried by the winds of magic, rough, hoarse, but unmistakably alive.

My hands trembled. Tears blurred my vision.

"I’m coming," I whispered.

A powerful blast sent both the king and Lucas sprawling across the shattered floor, their battle leaving both bloodied. The king coughed, dragging himself upright with trembling arms.

But I didn’t care anymore.

I stepped into the light of the portal, half in this world, half in the next.

"Athena!" Lucas called after me, voice raw. "Don’t go alone!"

I paused only long enough to look over my shoulder.

"I’ll say this only once," I murmured. "I’ve always been alone."

And then I stepped through.

The portal closed behind me like the final note of a song played centuries too late.

The weight of one world lifted.

The burden of another fell.

And I was home.

But what waited for me on the other side...

Was war.

Lucas POV

Silence was a strange thing after violence. It felt too loud now.

The portal’s hum had faded, the runes cracked and dormant. The silver light that had filled the crystalline room was gone, swallowed by Athena’s departure, leaving only scorched marble, broken pillars, and the acrid scent of burned magic behind.

And me.

Kneeling beside Lira, I could barely breathe. My chest felt caved in, not from wounds, but from everything I had done to get here.

Lira stirred in my arms, her eyelashes fluttering weakly against pale cheeks. She blinked up at me, disoriented, then the panic came rushing in like floodwaters. "Lucas..."

I caught her face between my hands gently, afraid even the smallest touch might shatter her all over again. "It’s me. I’m here. You’re free."

Tears welled instantly in her eyes. She tried to sit up, hands pushing weakly against my chest. "The king—what happened? I remember... I remember everything."

"I know," I murmured. "I’m so sorry."

Her fingers twisted in my tunic, fragile and shaking. "You—why would you make that kind of deal? You nearly destroyed yourself. You... you betrayed her."

Guilt surged through me like poison. I lowered my head, unable to meet her gaze. "I wasn’t thinking about anyone else but you. I just wanted you safe."

"I didn’t want that at her expense," Lira whispered, voice breaking. "Not like this."

I lifted my gaze slowly, and for the first time in too many years, I really looked at my sister—not as the girl I’d once tried so hard to protect, but as the woman she’d become. Tired, broken, wiser. There were shadows beneath her eyes that no dream-world could hide now.

Her next words sliced me deeper than any blade could.

"Does she know who you truly are, brother?"

I opened my mouth to speak—but stopped. The truth was a stone in my throat.

"She doesn’t," I finally answered. "And she doesn’t need to know either."

Lira’s eyes searched mine. I didn’t know if it was judgment or pity I saw reflected back. "She’s lost all trust in you already, hasn’t she? And wouldn’t it break her more if she knew everything?"

I gritted my teeth. "That’s why I won’t tell her. Not yet. Maybe not ever."

Lira sat straighter, despite the tremble in her limbs. "So you’ll just follow her like a ghost? Always behind her, never beside her?"

I swallowed hard. "If that’s the only way to make it right, then yes."

She reached for my hand. Her grip was weak, but her voice wasn’t. "Then I’m coming with you."

I stared at her in surprise. "Lira—"

"I didn’t fight my way back just to sit here in the ruins of a broken lie." She gave a faint, trembling smile. "I may be weak, but I’m done being powerless."

For a moment, all I could do was stare at her, my throat too tight to speak. All those years I’d tried to keep her safe, and I’d failed. Maybe by letting her stand beside me now, I was finally making it right.

"Okay," I breathed. "We’ll go together."

Her expression softened, the way it used to when we were children.

"I need to follow her quickly," I said hoarsely, glancing toward the cracked remnants of the portal’s frame. "She’s walking into war alone."

Lira squeezed my hand gently. "Not alone."

I rose carefully, helping her to her feet. She swayed once, but steadied herself with quiet pride. The silver residue of shattered spells clung to the hem of her dress, faint embers glowing in her dark hair like scattered stars.

We stood side by side in the wreckage of the crystalline hall, two survivors of too many betrayals, too many mistakes—but not broken yet.

"We’ll get to her," Lira said softly, her voice carrying the weight of both hope and fear.

I nodded once, my jaw set.

"Together."

And with that, we stepped toward the remains of the broken world toward whatever waited for us next.

Toward her.