SPELLBOUND

When he watched her standing there, looking at herself through the mirror and getting more and more translucent as he was just there beside her, lying on the bed and staring up at the mirror, Gideon felt his heart stop beating. He knew that it was coming. The time she had left here was coming to an end. And he was afraid of how watching that moment when she finally disappeared would end him. It would just break his mind. He had a strong feeling that it would. He was not going to be able to take it, watching her soul disappear and having no chance in the afterlife.

But as though the god of mercy had taken pity on him, he began to see the memories heading toward a different direction. He saw her soul starting to leave his side and appearing somewhere else… in a library.

Gideon started to breathe again, his heartbeats began to race hard and loud in his ears. Then he saw his mother looking at her, going to the books Leah was pointing at and reading them.

It dawned to him then that his mother could see her.

The events continued and he started to see the King getting involved in the matter as well. He began to reach out for Leah's thoughts again, but he could not access it anymore as she was becoming more and more translucent. She was reaching her time limit and her powers were diminishing rapidly.

So he had to rely on the things his parents were talking about to find out about what was happening. He had heard about their plans that they were going to look for a vessel that would be able to accept Leah's soul, so her soul will not disappear. This was the only way for her soul to overcome the penalty of her choice in choosing to stay back in soul form.

That shocked Gideon so much that he could not even react. He just stood there, in utter speechlessness and disbelief. Did… Leah… she appeared to the queen to help her find a vessel to prevent her soul from disappearing?

His body continued shaking but not due to extreme fear anymore. Hope had quietly blossomed in the cold ashes of his heart… and that had replaced the fear that had initially consumed him. And he found himself holding his breath. He just wanted one thing now, to be able to see her soul being saved. He did not care how or who the vessel was. He just wanted to have Leah's soul not disappear just like that. Because if not, he would not be able to take it. He won't be able to forgive himself, and this world… for being too cruel to him, to her…

But he watched them fail in their search for the perfect vessel to contain her soul, and Gideon felt the darkness rose inside his heart. Dark thoughts began to invade him. He could still see her, desperately fighting, never giving up. But he… knowing how cruel fate was to him, he had thought what he was hoping will never happen just from drawing a comparison to his unlucky fate. That fate was going to destroy whatever hope he had and disappoint him once again. 

That darkened his heart.

In the outside area of the circle, everyone, even the queen began to feel unspeakable chills in the air surrounding them.

The beautiful show of light just a while ago had changed. The lights darkened until there were two colours that were left, one white and the other black. The darkness swirled and everyone felt the extreme emotions clinging onto the darkness that began to kill of the lights. Fear, rage, hate. All these negative emotions were pulsating and growing stronger as time passed.

Gavriel and Evie had long felt that a moment ago and they knew that something was terribly wrong. These emotions were just too strong… too dangerous. Once this condensed power blasts out, they all knew it would give birth to a new disaster. An unthinkable one. 

Evie reached out to hold onto Gavriel's hand as he had already moved in front of her, shielding Evie fully with his body.

"Evie…" Gavriel called out softly, "if I tell you to leave, will you obey and do what I say?" he asked in a low voice as he looked over his shoulder. "Something's going to happen here, with Gideon, and you know it'll be something massive and unimaginable."

He saw his wife already glowing, already more than prepared. "You already know my answer to that, right?" she replied and Gavriel's jaws clenched. "Don't worry, Vera's there. I trust her. She's not going to let this ritual turn into a nightmare. This is to be the happiest day of her life."

Evie's confidence made Gavriel smile helplessly, and he faced the circle that was now shrouded with darkness.

"You are right. I forgot about her for a moment there." He mumbled and Evie smiled, returning her gaze to the circle as well. 'Vera…' she whispered.

…

Back inside the circle, Gideon continued watching the memories going into a hopeless path. His animosity was rising, getting more uncontrollable now. And he knew the moment he watched her finally disappear completely, he was going to lose it. And he knew he could not do anything about it. Even he was helpless to his own growing anger now.

Then suddenly, Vera's face began to appear in his mind. But all he felt was guilt now. After all the things he had seen, how could he still… still continue on loving someone else? He knew it was no longer possible. Both guilt and rage continued consuming him in an endless cycle of confusion.

"I'm so sorry…" Gideon mumbled, tears falling from his eyes. "I can't stop this… I'm going to break… I'm sorry, Vera… I'm…"

His words trailed off when he saw his father, the king brought Leah's dying soul to the surface as a last-ditch attempt in finding that perfect vessel for her soul. Everything within his chaotic internal world seemed to have stopped. His heartbeat, his mind, his breathing… it all came screeching to a halt as he watched what unfolded before his eyes next.

A bleeding woman appeared within the memories in his mind. He did not recognise her, nor did he know her. But… he saw Leah's soul being pulled into the woman's body… more specifically, into her womb.

HAPPY NEW YEAR SPELLBOUNDERS!! Thank you for all the love and support! Hope all of you will continue to be with me again this 2022. Love you guys! ♡