AT THE SAME TIME
XAVIER'S POINT OF VIEW:
I awoke to darkness and a chill that crept beneath my skin. My head throbbed, and for a long, disoriented moment, I thought I'd slept beneath that ancient oak. Instead, I found myself in a damp, cavernous space. The rough stone around me and the echo of distant dripping water told me I was inside a cave, not the open forest I remembered. At first, I couldn't believe my eyes. Her hair, dark as night, framed a face that was strikingly familiar yet completely changed. Instead of the warm amber I'd known, her eyes shone a piercing, icy blue that seemed to glow in the gloom.
"Wanessa?" I whispered, my voice rough with shock and uncertainty.
She didn't immediately answer. Instead, she continued to stare, her expression a complex mix of sorrow, determination, and something unidentifiably other. My heart pounded as I took in every detail, the slight quiver of her hands, the way her posture was both regal and resigned. It was as if I were looking at a version of her I'd never imagined existed. At last, her voice, soft and echoing in the quiet cave, broke the silence.
"Xavier." She said simply, the sound of my name hanging heavy in the air.
I stepped forward, unable to tear my eyes away.
"What... what happened to you? Where are we?" I demanded, trying to steady my racing thoughts.
Her gaze dropped to the floor for a moment before returning to mine.
"I don't know." She admitted, and the vulnerability in her tone made my heart ache. "I woke up here, and I feel… different. I feel… divided. I think now one of us is having control around the other one."
Her eyes, those brilliant blue eyes, flickered for an instant, briefly, I saw a glimmer of amber, as though two souls were struggling within one body.
"Divided? Wanessa, are you saying-"I started.
She interrupted me with a tremulous laugh that carried both regret and defiance.
"I am not just the Wanessa you knew. Something inside me has shifted, fractured. I feel as though I contain two selves one that belongs to the world we're in, and one that comes from somewhere… else." Her voice dropped to a whisper, weighted with a pain I could hardly bear. "I… almost died in my old world, Xavier. I can't say I remember everything, but I feel it the pull of a life I lost."
Anger and protectiveness surged in me.
"You were never meant to be lost, Wanessa. I I won't let you vanish again." I said, my voice low and fierce. "I know you're hurting, and I know you're scared. But you must trust me."
Her eyes, blue now and softening just a fraction, met mine with an intensity that nearly broke me.
"I'm so afraid, Xavier. Afraid of what I might become if I let this other part take over entirely." She paused, swallowing as tears shimmered in the corners of her eyes. "I, I need help, but I don't know if I can handle to be found."
"I'm here." I said, voice trembling. "I'll help you. I won't let you go, no matter how lost you feel."
For a long, silent moment, the only sound was our ragged breathing echoing off the cave walls.
"Stay with me, Xavier… please."She whispered.
"I will." I said and kissed her hand softly.
I held Wanessa close, my heart heavy with every word she whispered about her confusion, her fear, and the duality within her. Her eye so briefly split between blue and amber had left us all unsettled, a painful reminder that she was no longer completely the Wanessa I remembered. For a long moment, she stared off into the darkness, as if weighing the meaning of my words. Then, almost imperceptibly, I noticed something the unnerving blue in her eyes began to fade. Slowly, steadily, that intense, unfamiliar blue softened. In its place, her eye color has returned to their warm amber hue, glowing softly in the dim light.
"Wanessa, your eyes… they're changing."I whispered.
She blinked, her gaze flickering between confusion and relief.
"I—I feel… lighter." She murmured, her voice barely audible. "Like a burden has been lifted."
"What eye color is you, Wanessa?" I asked.
"I had blue eyes, your has amber. I afraid you fell in love with a wrong one."She said.
I chuckled lightly.
"I don't care, my Luna. I love both of you."I whispered and kissed her forehead softly.
I stood in the dim light of the forest clearing, my heart pounding as I watched Wanessa. Her transformation was almost complete her blue eye had finally turned fully amber, and her entire face, still carrying that unmistakable wolfish edge, now shone with a soft, resolute light. Yet even as her eyes stabilized, her gaze grew hard and distant whenever Priestess Isabella's presence was mentioned.
"Xavier." Wanessa murmured, her voice a mix of defiance and uncertainty, "I can't go back to the castle with her… I can't bear the way she intrudes on everything that's mine."
I clenched my fists, anger and protectiveness surging through me. Isabella's meddling had driven her away, and now she was caught between her own fragile identity and the suffocating expectations of the castle. I couldn't allow that to continue.
"Listen to me." I said softly, stepping closer until I could see the conflicted light in her newly amber eyes. "I know you're scared of what she represents, but you are not alone. You belong with us, with your family, not in a place where that priestess makes you feel unwanted."I said gently.
She trembled, her tail flicking anxiously, her wolfish features contorting between vulnerability and anger.
"I don't want to face her... or be controlled by her influence." She whispered, voice quivering.
"That's why I'm taking you home." I declared firmly. "We'll go to the family house, away from her meddling, where you can be yourself. I'll even send a letter to the castle so that no one worries about you."
Wanessa looked at me, eyes searching mine for reassurance.
"You'd do that for me?" She asked softly.
"Always." I replied, wrapping an arm around her as I guided her gently. "Tonight, we leave this place behind. You deserve to be safe, and free."
I kept hugging her. I knew that I do everything for her no matter if my brothers or others would stop us.