I stared at my hands, waiting for the void to consume me
But then it happened.
A spark of purple electricity danced across my knuckles. I felt a sudden, violent rush of heat as the energy flooded back into my veins. Dalten hadn't taken it. Not permanently. My eyes had been drained to the marrow to power that rift, and the mirror had only skimmed the surface.
"I'm not powerless," I whispered, the relief washing over me. "It was just a drain. A side effect."
"So you can actually defend yourself next time," Aubrey said, her voice tight with a mix of fear and hope.
Karr paced the room. "Maybe it's a side effect of the eye-combination. You've never pushed it that far, Noah."
I nodded, but my mind was already elsewhere. I was thinking about Babican. The sand-like fur, the mismatched eyes—he was gone, sucked into that silver mirror. The grief was starting to bubble up again, thick and suffocating.
I excused myself and went to the bathroom. I looked into the mirror, activated both eyes, and performed the move. The sadness vanished. The memory of Babican's whining in the cave became a distant, unimportant fact. I felt better. I felt empty.
As I reached for the doorknob, a massive surge of energy rocked the house. I stumbled back into the living room, where Karr, Aubrey, and Flora were already standing.
A brilliant white aura erupted from all of us. It looked like thousands of tiny fireflies swirling in the air, glowing with a pure, blinding light.
Seconds later, the glow faded, but the feeling remained—a strange, buzzing vibration in my skin.
"What was that?" Karr asked, staring at his own hands.
"I have no idea," I replied.
THE DARK REGION
Dalten stood on the highest balcony of the obsidian castle, his scarred eye fixed on the horizon. The mirror in his hand was still warm, pulsing with the stolen essence of a King.
"It is done," Dalten murmured. "From this moment forward, the human race is immortal."
Magnus stepped up behind him. "Every human? Even the cattle on the main continent?"
"Everyone," Dalten confirmed. "Death has been evicted from this realm. But our work isn't finished. We must find Zero's son and kill him."
Circel frowned. "If the world is immortal, why does one boy matter?"
"Because his fighting style is an echo of his father's," Dalten said, his voice dropping to a low growl. "He is the only one who can reverse what I have built. Even if he is immortal by age, he can still die by the blade. And I intend to be the one who wields it."
THE FARMHOUSE
The white aura felt wrong. I activated my right eye and scanned my friends. Instead of the thin black outlines that usually marked living things, Karr, Aubrey, and even little Flora were surrounded by a thick, shimmering white light.
"I need to go," I said suddenly.
"Where?" Aubrey asked.
"I need to find my dad. He sees everything that happens in our realm. He'll know what this is."
Karr looked uneasy. "You're going back there? Now?"
"My left eye can see beyond this world," I said, already focusing the energy. "I'll be back with an answer."
THE DEAD REALM
I tore open the rift and stepped through, landing in the same jagged wasteland. My father was there, standing near the pile of ash where the Devil's throne once sat. He looked like he had been waiting for me.
"Dad!" I shouted.
He turned, his spectral form flickering. "Noah? Why did you return so soon?"
"I ran out of energy last time," I explained, catching my breath. "But something happened. A white aura. It surrounded everyone back home. It looked like fireflies."
My father's expression shifted from curiosity to a deep, heavy seriousness. "He did it," he muttered. "But how? Noah, do you still have your power?"
"Yes, all of it. Why?"
"Then where did he get the spark?" my father asked, his eyes searching mine.
"He grabbed my leg when I was in the rift," I said. "His mirror appeared, but I kicked him and got through. I thought I kept everything."
"He didn't take it, Noah. He borrowed it. Usually, that mirror is a one-way trip, but you're his blood. The energy must have looped back to you after the ritual was triggered."
My father stepped closer, his gaze turning piercing.
"Now, it's my turn for a question. Why are you using your power to ignore your feelings?"
I froze. I should have known I couldn't hide it from him.
"I can't take it anymore," I whispered, looking at my feet. "Every time things get bad, I think of you. I think about how you aren't there to fix it. I can't focus like that."
My father lifted his hand. A swirling red and black aura gathered in his palm.
"Rend," he commanded.
The aura struck me like a physical blow. I felt the mental block I had built—the synthetic happiness—shatter into a million pieces. The grief for my father, the terror of Dalten, and the loss of Babican hit me all at once. I fell to my knees, sobbing into the dark sand.
"You can't hide, Noah," my father said gently. "If you try to bury your heart, you will eventually collapse. You need your emotions to stay human."
I looked up at him, my face wet with tears. "How can I fight if I'm distracted by the pain?"
"Think of the people you love," he said, a small smile touching his lips. "Aubrey, right? Think of her when you fight. If you fight for someone else, the pain becomes a weapon instead of a weight."
I snickered despite the tears. "Is that how you did it? Is that how you blocked out the sad stuff?"
"I thought of everyone special to me," he admitted.
The aura of the Dead Realm began to swirl around me, signaling the end of my energy.
"You're at your limit," my father said. "Remember, Noah: I passed my power to you and my strength to Flora for a reason. Your mother is as strong as I ever was. She will protect you until the end."
THE FARMHOUSE
The world shifted, and I was back in the living room. Karr and Aubrey were staring at me.
"You were gone for an hour," Karr said. "What did he say?"
I stood up, wiping the last of the tears from my face. I felt raw, but I felt like myself again.
"Dalten did it," I said, my voice steady.
"Done what?" Aubrey asked.
"He made the world immortal. No one will ever die of old age again."
The room went silent as the weight of my words settled over them. We were living in a world without an end, and the man who built it was dangerous.