CHAPTER 332: THE PATHS OPEN (I)

Leo was confused when he saw chains of shadow and blood binding him to place in the middle of the street.

Then came the smell. A thick cloying metallic scent that was nauseating. It was then that he noticed it.

The bodies!

There was dozen of corpses scattered around Leo. Not a single corpse was whole and each one of them had suffered horribly or died a gruesome death.

Nausea quickly followed and Leo struggled with the urge to not throw up. Who could have done something so horrible! Penny and Rachel were shaking from exhaustion as they struggled to maintain the binding.

"Rose. Nyx. What happened? Why are you binding me?!"

Leo shouted out in confusion as Penny gave him a strange but terrified look.

"You really don’t know what you did?! Look at your hands!" Penny shouted with a tremble.

The way she looked at him filled Leo with dread. With a trembling gaze, he slowly looked down.

He was drenched in blood and there was only one explaination that made any sense. He had killed them. Every single corpse was his fault. He was a murderer! He had tried to justify it with Elise and the others. But this? This was something else.

each beat feeling heavier than the last.

"I don’t... I don’t remember," he muttered, his voice hoarse.

Rachel’s eyes narrowed, her voice cold and shaken.

"You were out of control. We tried calling to you, but it was like you weren’t even there. You didn’t stop until there was no one left."

"I didn’t... I swear, I didn’t mean to..."

Leo’s voice trailed off as a wave of dizziness slammed into him. He winced, pain stabbing into his skull like someone had driven nails into it.

Then Leo remembered the starry world. The one where he had been chained to the ground and watched different versions of himself vying for control. At least the dark version had. The light had sought ’balance’.

The memory made his stomach twist. That hadn’t been a dream. It hadn’t been symbolic or metaphorical. It had been real. As real as the corpses around him. As real as the chains currently binding his limbs.

"I wasn’t in control," Leo said, more to himself than to them. "That thing... it wasn’t me."

Rachel stepped closer, her shadow magic pulsing slightly as she reinforced the bindings.

"Look into my eyes and say that again."

Leo turned his gaze to Rachel who immediately took a step back in horror when she saw it. His emerald coloured eyes had become distorted and what she saw was 2 stars floating behind his eyes.

Some said that the eyes were the window to the soul and for Leo it couldn’t be any more true.

Rachel stumbled back, her breath catching in her throat as she stared into his eyes.

"What the hell is this...?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Her reaction wasn’t just fear. It was recognition. Something ancient and terrifying stared back at her through Leo’s gaze. The stars behind his eyes pulsed softly, not with light, but with presence. She felt it in her bones. A pressure. A weight. Something celestial.

Leo didn’t understand what she saw. All he knew was the way her expression had shifted. She wasn’t looking at him like a friend anymore. She was looking at him like he was something else. Something dangerous.

"Rachel?" he asked softly. "What do you see?"

"I....I see two paths."

Rachel’s voice trembled as she spoke, eyes fixed on the stars behind Leo’s emerald gaze.

"One path is darkness. It is the way for those willing to shed blood, even their own, to move forward. The other path is light. It is for those who seek to protect life and will do whatever they must to preserve it."

She paused, her breath catching as a heavy silence filled the space between them.

"I don’t know which path I should choose," Rachel admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

Leo’s heart hammered in his chest as he watched her hesitate, unsure of what she would decide.

Finally, she took a slow, steadying breath.

"I will choose the path of light."

Her words hung in the air like a fragile promise.

Rachel’s shadow magic around the chains softened, but the bindings held firm.

"I don’t know if it is the right choice," she said quietly, "but it is the one I have to make."

Leo looked up at her, the stars behind his eyes pulsing softly in response, as if acknowledging her decision.

Then all of a sudden, a beam of light shot out from Leo’s right eye and struck Rachel’s heart. She stumbled but didn’t fall. There was no pain, only a warmth that began to fill every corner of her body.

Penny looked extremely worried as Rachel suddenly stumbled without any warning or sign.

"Rachel. Are you okay?!"

She shouted, still clearly afraid of letting Leo go free.

Rachel steadied herself, her hand clutching the spot where the light had touched her chest. The warmth spread through her like a quiet promise. The chains of shadow around Leo softened slightly, responding to her choice.

Penny’s eyes narrowed, a sharp smile tugging at her lips despite the tension. "Oh great. You see the light now? That’s just lovely! I am only going to say this once! Don’t go into the light and Please don’t die on me. I really don’t want to have to handle Mr. Murder McMurderface over here by myself."

Rachel blinked, surprised by Penny’s bluntness. Then a thought struck her. The light Rachel had chosen wasn’t just about Leo. It was about the direction of their bond itself.

Before she could say anything, five more beams of light shot out from Leo’s eyes. They split quickly, shooting off into different parts of the city like searching fingers of light.

Leo’s body went limp, collapsing against the blood and shadow chains.

Rachel’s eyes followed the beams, and something about them caught her attention. Two of the beams glowed pure white, calm and steady. The other three burned dark, shadowed and restless.

Her breath caught.

"That means..." Rachel whispered. "Three of the others must have chosen the path of darkness."

That only left one question she didn’t know the answer to.

Who?