Lucian sat alone in his dimly lit chambers, the faint glow of candlelight flickering against the darkened walls. The book before him was ancient, its pages worn and brittle, the ink faded yet still legible. His trembling hands rested on the open tome, his crimson eyes fixed on the spell etched across its yellowed surface.
He drew in a shaky breath, the weight of his decision pressing down on him like an iron shroud. Tears streaked his pale cheeks, cascading silently as he began to chant, his voice quivering yet resolute:
"⧆⟊⟒⦘⟂⟗ ⟑⦴⟇ ⦶⧂⧉ ⦾⦕⟂⟐, ⦷⟔⦰ ⦻⧀⦳⟅ ⧀⟊⟃⦷⟅ ⦺⟆⟗⟔⦴."
The words, laced with ancient magic, resonated through the room, their meaning etched into his mind:
'Through death's embrace, my soul shall tether, To the first who finds me, bound forever. Their life, my life, intertwined in heart, Till Life Do Us Part.'
As the chant progressed, the air around him grew heavy. A dark purple aura began to coalesce, swirling around his trembling form. The temperature in the room plummeted, and the faint hum of magic filled the air. A glowing symbol appeared beneath him, intricate and pulsating with an eerie light.
Lucian's tears fell faster now, his chest heaving with the weight of emotions he could no longer suppress. 'Adrian, my Adrian,' he thought, his mind conjuring the image of the man he loved. The thought brought a bittersweet smile to his lips even as his tears continued to flow.
"It's you," he whispered, his gaze shifting to the door. He could hear the faint sound of knocking, steady and insistent. He knew it was Adrian. He had made sure no one else would disturb him tonight. "We'll be together now. I'll make sure you fall for me."
His hand tightened around the hilt of the ceremonial dagger lying beside the book. Its blade gleamed ominously in the dim light, sharp and unforgiving. He positioned it over his stomach, the cold metal pressing against his skin. There was no hesitation now, no fear. Only determination.
"I love you," he said softly, his voice breaking as he stared at the door one last time. With that, he plunged the dagger into his abdomen.
The magic circle beneath him flared to life, the aura around him surging with violent intensity. The pain he had anticipated never came. Instead, a wave of warmth and euphoria washed over him as the spell finalized, his blood dripping onto the glowing symbol. He could feel his heartbeat slowing, the rhythmic thud in his chest growing weaker and weaker.
Lucian's vision blurred, his body collapsing to the ground with a soft thud. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was the door he had hoped Adrian would walk through. A faint smile lingered on his lips even as his heartbeat stilled.
It was dark.
An endless, suffocating void surrounded him, pressing in from all sides. Time lost all meaning in this empty space. It could have been seconds or centuries; Lucian couldn't tell. It felt like an eternal sleep, devoid of dreams, of sensation, of anything.
Then, suddenly, he felt it—a breath.
His chest rose and fell, the sensation startling and alien. Awareness flooded back into his mind, and with it, a question that burned in his thoughts: 'Did it work?'
Lucian's eyes fluttered open, his vision swimming as he adjusted to the light. He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. This wasn't his room. The elegant furnishings and imposing décor told him he was somewhere else entirely. His heart raced with excitement. It had worked. It had to have worked.
But as he took in the room, his gaze landed on a tall figure standing a few feet away. The man's dark hair framed his sharp features, and his crimson eyes burned with an intensity that made Lucian's breath catch.
It wasn't Adrian.
It was Cassian Valenor.
The realization hit Lucian like a blow to the chest. His mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing, the pieces refusing to fit together. Cassian was staring back at him, his expression a mixture of shock and confusion.
"What the fuck?" Cassian blurted out, his voice sharp and disbelieving.
"What the fuck?!" Lucian echoed, his own voice rising in pitch as panic set in.
"What am I doing here? Where's Adrian?" Lucian demanded, his voice sharp as he sprang from the bed. His accusatory finger pointed directly at Cassian. "Did you kidnap me?!"
Cassian, however, seemed even more stunned than Lucian. His eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost—an apt reaction, though Lucian hadn't realized it yet. Instead of answering the question, Cassian let out another yell, his voice raw with disbelief. "What is this?!"
He raised his palm abruptly, and to Lucian's shock, a molten, lava-like substance ignited in Cassian's hand. Without hesitation, Cassian hurled the fiery magic toward Lucian.
Lucian's eyes widened in panic as he instinctively tried to dodge, but the blazing magic passed through him harmlessly.
The realization hit him like a thunderclap. His breath caught, and his hands trembled.
"I'm dead? I'm... dead." His voice wavered, the weight of the words pressing down on him.
"Yes, you're supposed to be dead!" Cassian snapped, his voice laced with exasperation and disbelief. "I saw it with my own fucking eyes."
"You saw—Oh Gods. No, no, no!" Lucian's voice rose, his panic spiraling. He stomped toward Cassian, anger flashing in his eyes. Reaching out, he attempted to grab Cassian by the shirt, but his hands slipped through the fabric, his touch like mist.
Cassian shuddered visibly at the contact, a chill running down his spine.
"You were the one who saw my body?" Lucian asked, his voice breaking as his luminous form quivered.
"Yes," Cassian said tersely, his tone clipped. "I was the one who found you. Dead."
"Just... just you? You went inside? You? Not Adrian?"
Cassian's expression twisted with irritation at the mention of Adrian's name. "Adrian? Him again? Why would he even go to you? How many times do I have to tell you, he is never going to—" Cassian abruptly stopped, his eyes narrowing as something clicked in his mind. "Wait."
His gaze sharpened, studying Lucian's despairing expression. "You don't seem too shocked that you're... a ghost."
Lucian's face paled further, if that were even possible in his spectral form.
Cassian's tone darkened, his voice low and threatening. "What did you do, Faelith?"
Lucian didn't respond immediately. His knees buckled as he sank to the floor, his hands trembling as they hovered over his chest. Tears spilled from his eyes, streaking his translucent face as he stared down at his glowing, incorporeal form.
'Adrian... didn't come for me,' he thought, the words echoing in his mind like a cruel taunt. His heart—or what remained of it—felt like it was shattering into pieces.
"I did all of this for nothing," he whispered, the words barely audible. "Even when I said I was going to kill myself... he... he didn't come."
"What did you do exactly?"