Until the World Falls Down

Chapter 11

11

T he betrayal in Enver’s expression drove me to twist around and try to fight my way back through the darkness to him. “No, wait, bring me back?—”

Light suddenly enveloped me, and I blinked to adjust my vision, my mouth falling open as I took in the grand ballroom I’d ended up in. Chandeliers sparkled above me, casting a golden glow against polished marble floors and stained-glass windows. An enchanting melody filled the air, and my gaze turned toward an orchestra of musicians dressed in elegant attire. Past them, a sea of finely dressed men and women in beautiful ball gowns twirled around on a dance floor, a myriad of colors blending together as they gracefully glided around each other.

“Woah,” I said, their effortless dancing distracting me from my previous panic.

“You don’t belong here.”

A deep, commanding voice from behind me caused me to startle, and I turned away from the swaying couples on the ballroom floor toward the direction of the sound. Standing before me was a young man with soft features that were offset by the way his deep brown eyes narrowed at me in suspicion and how his lips twisted into a frown. His jet-black hair fell around his face in an unruly manner, reaching down to his broad shoulders, a section of it tied back with a ribbon. Pointed ears poked out from behind his mane, sharper, wider, and longer than a normal human’s, covered with… fur ?

I blinked, wondering if I was seeing things, but then they rotated, much like a fox’s ears did when it was listening intently to something. Actually, his ears resembled fox ears entirely. Then, a motion behind him caught my attention, and I noticed a fluffy tail. I nearly jerked backward but managed to keep myself still. Was he some sort of fox creature? Was I the only human doing the labyrinth?

When our gazes met, his expression faltered momentarily. Distrust melted into disbelief, his eyes widening. “Cas?” he whispered, a swirl of emotions clouding his tone. Hope. Sorrow. Confusion.

“Cas?” I repeated.

And then suddenly, it was all gone, tension creeping back into his body. “No. You’re not Cas. How did you get here?” he demanded, a gloved hand subtly moving down to the hilt of a sword.

My eyes followed his movement, and I brought my hands up immediately, trying to show I was harmless. “The labyrinth!” I said quickly, hoping that the labyrinth had deposited me amid someone else’s challenge like before. “I’m also doing it!”

His hand didn’t move from the hilt, but he also didn’t make a move to unsheathe his sword. “No one else has ever appeared here before.”

“I don’t know why I appeared here either,” I told him.

I didn’t think it was a coincidence anymore, though. This was the third time I’d ended up in someone else’s labyrinth. And most likely, my challenge would be tied with this man’s again. What was my goal in them, though? To help the others? Based on the last two, it seemed that way, but I couldn’t say for sure. Or why it would be that way. Enver had said the labyrinth would give me what I craved most in the end— love . Yet, I wasn’t finding love in these challenges. Was I supposed to be finding something else instead? If so, what?

The suspicion in the man’s eyes didn’t let up, but he let his hand drop back to his side. “I suppose I will believe you. Introduce yourself.”

“I’m Nell,” I said, holding my hand out to him.

He didn’t move to take it and instead gave me a curt bow. “Aki.”

Not knowing what to do, I gave a bow back before straightening out. Maybe handshakes weren’t the custom here. As I stood upright again, I took in his outfit. Every piece he wore was white as snow, from the tailcoat adorned with pearls on the lapel to the pristine trousers tucked into ankle-length boots. It contrasted against his black hair and ears.

While I inspected his clothing, his gaze traveled my form, too. “This won’t do,” he said shortly.

I made a mental note to add that to the things I never wanted to hear after someone clearly checked me out. “Um, sorry?”

“I won’t have someone dressed as a beggar at my ball.”

“A what?”

“Come,” he demanded, turning his back to me. “Everything needs to be perfect. And that includes you.”

I grimaced but followed him. So far, following the other participant ended up with me succeeding in my challenge, so I’d continue to do that. But…

Now that I thought about it, Enver hadn’t received any emotion when I’d completed my first challenge. Had Neima not actually completed her labyrinth? Had she not found her happiness and ended up leaving Paloma after all? What did that mean for me? I’d gone up a floor in the castle, so that had to mean I passed, right? Did the other participant not have to complete their challenge for me to succeed?

Nothing made sense about this damn labyrinth.

I frowned as Aki led me out of the ballroom and down a marble hallway to a tall set of double doors. We entered, and he brought me into a walk-in closet that left my mouth open in awe. Suit after elegant suit lined the walls in varying colors and fabrics. Other pieces filled the space between—shirts, slacks, coats, vests. Aki put a hand on his chin as he considered me for a moment, then dug through the finery.

“Do you collect these or something?” I asked, touching a midnight blue coat with shimmery crystals beaded into the trim.

“They’re a gift for someone.”

My eyebrows raised. “All of these?”

“I create one every time I miss him,” he responded, his voice softening.

“You must miss him a lot,” I said, running my fingers over a velvet suit vest as I took in the sheer number of pieces in the closet again. “You’re also very talented. These are beautiful.”

Aki plucked out a suit and returned to my side, handing it over. “Here.”

From the feel of the velvet, I could tell it was something expensive. While he wore all white, the suit he handed me was pure black—even the barely noticeable embroidery stitched on the lapel of the tailcoat. “You want me to wear this?” I asked.

“Yes. Take off that drab attire. I’ll wait outside.”

He exited the closet before I could get another word in. I stared down at the suit in my hands for a moment before sighing, deciding to do as he said. I peeled off the clothing Enver had given me and stepped into the smooth slacks. They fit better than Enver’s, which I considered a plus. I slipped my arms through the dark shirt, swiftly buttoning it up, and placed the vest on top. It fit tight against my chest, and I could feel myself already growing warm from the velvet. I debated leaving the jacket off but finished the ensemble.

I left the closet, trying to smooth out my hair. “All set.”

Aki looked at me, not saying anything.

“No good?” I asked, frowning.

“No. You just remind me of him a bit,” he said, stepping closer to me, his hand rising from his side, then quickly dropping back down. “Aside from that gaudy hair.”

“Gaudy?” I repeated, offended. “It’s white. You’re literally wearing an entirely white outfit.”

Aki upturned his nose. “That’s not possibly natural.”

“Of course, it’s not,” I told him. “I dyed it.”

“Why?”

“Because—” My voice caught in my throat, the reasons for changing my hair color hitting me harder after everything that had happened. I swallowed. “I wanted to set myself apart from someone. Not that it mattered in the end, I guess.”

“And you chose white?”

“It was the most drastic thing I could think of,” I muttered.

Aki leaned in closer to me, staring right into my eyes. “You two have the same eye color,” he murmured. “The delicate blue of blooming hydrangeas. My favorite flower.”

I gazed back at him, the fondness on his face doing little to mask the longing in his eyes. Whoever he was waiting for was clearly near and dear to him. “Your eyes are beautiful, too,” I said.

Aki’s lips quirked. “I’m aware, thank you.”

I smiled wryly, watching as he moved over to a desk in the corner of the room, opened the drawer, and pulled out a dark blue ribbon. He returned to me, gesturing for me to turn around. I did, and he gathered the top layer of my hair, tying it into a half updo .

His fingers paused for a moment. “My, your lover is quite voracious.”

My blush burned my cheeks as he released my hair.

“Let us return,” he said, his eyes glinting in amusement.

We walked back into the ballroom, and I noticed the same couples still dancing across the floor, spinning and dipping to the unchanged song. “The song hasn’t ended?” I asked myself out loud.

“The song will never end,” Aki told me. “Not until my love returns to me.”

“What do you mean?”

Aki held his hand out. “Care for a dance?”

“I don’t know how,” I said.

“I will lead us.”

Nodding, I placed my hand in his. We made our way to the dance floor, seamlessly merging into the other dancers. Aki guided my free hand to his shoulder before he placed his own above my waist. He began moving, and I immediately stepped on his toes.

“Sorry!” I blurted.

“It’s fine. Just follow my steps.”

I nodded again, trying to focus on his movements. His hand exerted pressure on my waist, helping direct my steps. The other guests danced around us effortlessly, paying us no mind. Aki spun me, and vibrant colors whirled as my vision blurred. I clutched onto him tighter as he picked up the pace, repeating the same steps, his tail swaying behind him.

The music swelled, and I caught glimpses of the other dancers as we waltzed across the floor. They moved in eerie synchrony, never pausing, their gazes locked onto their partners. Despite their constant motion, no one broke a sweat nor increased their breathing. Dead smiles plastered their faces, and distant looks glazed their eyes. My pulse quickened, and the same unsettling feeling I felt in the room with Enver’s mindless servants sank into me. I recognized these mechanical movements.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, facing Aki again, trying to break free from his grasp.

Aki didn’t stop, tightening his grip on me, forcing me to continue dancing. “We’re enjoying a dance.”

“Something’s wrong,” I responded. “These people are?—”

“My guests,” Aki interrupted, “are enjoying the ball.”

“What did you do to them?”

“I told you. The song will never end until my lover returns to me. That means this dance will never end until then, too.”

A chill ran down my spine, and I tried to pull my hand from his again. “Aki, let me go.”

“No, our dance isn’t over,” he said.

I tried to stay calm, although my heart pounded against my ribs. “Why are you doing this?”

“I held this ball for my love. I planned on proposing to him, surrounded by our closest friends and family. And then I watched him die in front of me,” Aki told me, his grip on me tightening into an almost painful hold.

I nearly stumbled as he abruptly spun me again, then clutched me back to his chest. “He died?” I asked, feeling a little dizzy.

“Right on the steps to my castle. Slain before me by someone I loved and trusted. And he cursed me.”

“Who cursed you?”

“My love,” Aki answered softly. “As he died in front of me, and I begged him to stay with me, he promised he’d return to my side. After that, I suddenly found myself unable to age. To die. No matter how hard I tried to follow him in death.”

I gasped as Aki suddenly dipped me so low I thought I would fall, but he easily hoisted me back up. “How long has it been since then?” I asked, my breath growing heavy as I exerted myself, the velvet of my suit suffocating my skin .

Aki glided across the ballroom, keeping me close. “Decades? Centuries? I do not keep track anymore, nor does it matter. I’ll wait for him no matter how long it takes. The labyrinth provided an opportunity for me to meet him again by bringing me back to that tragic day, and I don’t intend to waste it.”

“The labyrinth brought you back? But you couldn’t stop your love from being killed?”

“Unfortunately, it did not bring me back before he died, only the seconds following. Right after the curse was set upon me.”

“Have all these people remained trapped here since then? Are these your friends? Your family?”

“Yes. They must be here when he returns,” Aki said. “Everything will be perfect for him. Even if I have to keep them all here for centuries.”

“What if he doesn’t return?”

Aki’s gaze hardened. “He will return. He promised. I will find him again and complete my labyrinth.”

I panted now, sweat beading on my forehead. My muscles were tense, and every step felt heavier than the last as we danced. How did it feel for the people trapped? Did they even feel? Or were they like Enver’s servants? Oblivious and at peace? But this felt more sinister. There was a difference between Enver’s servants and Aki’s guests. Enver wasn’t the one who directly cursed them. He had no choice but to obey the labyrinth and keep them trapped. Aki had the power to release his guests from their torment at any moment.

“Do you think if your partner returns, you’ll be free of the labyrinth?” I asked, my legs shaking in their effort to keep up with Aki.

Aki’s hands cupped my waist, and he swept me off my feet. “I know it. Because I’ll have everything I want again.”

“But are you sure this is what he’d want? ”

Aki abruptly let me go, and my feet dropped back to the ground, my ankles protesting in pain. Taking on my weight again nearly made me collapse, but I kept myself upright, holding a tight spot on my side as I tried to catch my breath.

“Don’t you dare assume you know what he’d want,” Aki hissed at me, his jaw clenched. “Figure out why you’re here and then leave. I don’t need you ruining my night.”

He stalked away before I could respond, leaving me in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by the swirling couples. I made my way through them, nearly thrown off my feet as a pair slammed into me. They didn’t react, never breaking their pace or sequence. I hurried to the safety of the refreshments table.

Three people stood near it, plates of sweets in their hands, deep in a lively conversation. Except they spoke no words. Their mouths moved, and their eyes crinkled in laughter, but no sound came out. I watched, horrified and intrigued, as a cycle seemed to repeat. Laughter, chatter, a quick gesture, laughter, chatter, a quick gesture…

I tore myself away, switching my gaze back to the refreshments. A glass punch bowl held a wine-red liquid that had my dry mouth aching to taste it. I cautiously reached out to scoop myself a glass. I’d eaten Enver’s food and hadn’t been trapped then, so surely now would be no different. But as I picked up the ladle and dipped it into the bowl, the image of it dematerialized in front of me. Instead of a pristine glass bowl, it was now cracked and dirty, coated with black dried sludge. I gagged as a putrid scent filled my nose, stumbling back, taking in the rest of the table. The air shimmered, the sight before me morphing between the polished table filled with sweets I’d first approached, and a rotten table littered with rusted, dirt-crusted platters.

“What the hell?” I whispered, watching the air ripple until it settled back to the depiction of the pristine table, with no sight of the decayed horrors it veiled .

“Glamour,” a strained voice said, and I turned to see a young woman in a server uniform approaching me.

“Glamour?” I repeated, confused.

She held a silver tray of sparkling champagne, her blonde hair tied in a bun on the top of her head. Her lips twitched, stuck in a frozen smile, until they formed words. “A magic of illusion.”

Magic ?

The air shifted, and the champagne in the glasses disappeared, leaving nothing but cracked crystal stems. My eyes flicked toward the woman again, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming. White skin had faded to ashen bone, revealing a skeletal face with hollow eye sockets that stared directly at me, the preserved smile remaining even in death. I turned away, fear constricting my heart, and I nearly stopped breathing.

The ballroom had turned into a macabre nightmare. Skeletons replaced the party guests, their decaying bodies draped in decomposed clothing as they continued their eternal waltz. Grass and weeds grew from the rotten boards that made up the floor they moved on. The music intensified as I slowly faced the orchestra, seeing bony fingers conducting decayed instruments, the sound now out of tune, piercing, and eerie.

“Help us,” the woman in front of me whispered, and my gaze snapped back to her. The air contorted, and she was flesh again, lips and cheeks a lively red as she beamed at me. “Drink?”

“No, thank you,” I said, slowly backing away from her.

I forced myself to stay calm and put as much distance between us as possible. My skin crawled. Was everyone here dead? Was Aki? I hadn’t noticed any glamour on him, so maybe he was still alive. Was he the one casting the magic? Either way, I wanted to leave. I needed to figure out what this challenge of the labyrinth wished me to do. And I needed Aki to do so .

Steeling myself, I made my way back over to the sulking man. “Aki,” I started, keeping my voice gentle. “I’m sorry. You love him a lot, don’t you? I shouldn’t have questioned your motives.”

Aki gave me a brief glare before relaxing his posture. “I love him more than I can put into words. More than I thought I could ever love someone. I would do anything for him. Surely you understand? You must have someone you love.”

My mouth opened, but I couldn’t form the word yes . I loved Julian. I loved him with my entire heart. I would have done anything for him. I had done everything for him. I’d thought my feelings for him would never change, but now…

Now, as I looked into Aki’s eyes, so intensely full of love and brimming with a burning longing that made even my heart ache, I wondered if I’d ever truly experienced love. No one had ever looked at me like that. No one had ever waited for me. I’d been the only one to be so desperate. I was the one to wait endlessly to receive back the love I gave freely and unconditionally.

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for Cas,” Aki stated, boldly and without reservation. “As I know, there is nothing he would not do for me.”

I couldn’t confidently say Julian would do anything for me. That anyone would. I wrapped my arms around myself. “What do you think your challenge in the labyrinth is?” I asked, deflecting.

“Waiting for Cas,” Aki answered without hesitation. “I know it is.”

“But haven’t you been doing that already? Even before Enver showed up?”

Aki frowned. “Enver?”

“The lord of the labyrinth,” I clarified. Did Enver really never introduce himself to anyone else? Why not?

Aki’s lips morphed into a scowl. “Oh. Him . ”

I grimaced. “I take it he didn’t leave a good impression?”

“He promised to give me what I wanted, and he’s yet to deliver after all this time. So, no. He didn’t leave a good impression, as you put it. But alas, I do pity him.”

“You pity him?”

“There’s a dark, terrible magic surrounding him. One I do not envy,” Aki said, turning his head skyward. “A grim and hostile curse.”

A numbing sensation crept down my spine at his revelation. “How can you tell?”

“I know magic, human. I am magic,” Aki responded, looking at me again. “And I know that whoever, or whatever, cursed him is not something to be messed with. It’s powerful and foreboding.”

I held myself tighter. “Can a curse take someone’s heart?”

“In what way?”

“Physically. Out of their chest.”

“Perhaps it could, but a curse is never without the one who invokes it,” Aki mused, his voice low. “I imagine whoever cursed him is responsible for taking his heart—if you’re saying that the lord of the labyrinth is missing his heart. He must have done something quite unforgivable for someone to go so far.”

I thought of Enver, of the savage scars marring his chest. What could he possibly have done to deserve that? He said he only ever remembered ruling the labyrinth. Had an unhappy victim of it taken revenge on him? But the way Aki spoke made me think it was more than that. Someone powerful enough to cast a curse that strong surely wouldn’t let Enver trap them in his labyrinth in the first place.

“I sense magic on you, too,” Aki said, pulling me from my thoughts, oblivious to my unease.

“What?”

He frowned. “It’s strange, though. It doesn’t feel like yours.”

“What do you mean? ”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand it myself. Perhaps it is the labyrinth leaving traces of its magic on you, too, or perhaps the ruler himself is. What are you seeking from the labyrinth, anyway?”

It took me a moment to respond, still thinking of how I had traced the smooth scars on Enver’s chest, wondering who had hurt him so terribly. The person who had cursed him. I cleared my throat, trying to loosen my posture, putting my arms back at my sides. “Um. Love.”

Aki blinked at me, then laughed. “Then we’re more alike than I thought.”

“You’re seeking love, too?”

“Is that not obvious?”

“But you have love.”

“I had love,” Aki corrected. “Until he was taken away from me. That’s why I believe completing the labyrinth will bring Cas back to me.”

I turned toward the brightly lit chandelier in the center of the room. “Who killed Cas?”

Aki’s hand curled into a fist. “ Aniki, ” he admitted.

“ Aniki ?”

“My brother,” Aki translated.

My head whipped toward him again in surprise. “What? Why would your brother kill your lover?”

“He believed my negligence led to the deaths of his wife and children.”

“Why would he think that?”

Aki paced the floor in front of me, running a hand through his hair. “Back then, a terrible disease ran rampant throughout our country. It mainly affected the folk who lived on the outskirts of our city. While I moved to the inner city as soon as I could and prospered here, my brother remained in the outer city. His family caught the disease, and he sent me letters asking for help, but what could I do? It was too late. There was no cure then. Nothing I could have done would have helped.”

I stared at him, stunned. “You didn’t even try to help?”

“Cas had fallen ill with it, too,” Aki said, coming to a stop in front of me. “I couldn’t afford to be distracted.”

“But it was your family?—”

“I know,” Aki interjected sharply. “I should have done more. I should have cared more. Because maybe if I had, he wouldn’t have murdered Cas.”

Aki’s lips trembled, and he turned away from me again. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. That whole situation is terrible.”

“It is.”

“Do you think if we find your brother and you resolve your issues, it’ll complete the labyrinth for you?”

Aki shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s already dead. I killed him the moment Cas went cold.”

I froze, my hand slipping off Aki’s tense shoulder. “Are you sure it wasn’t your brother who cursed you?”

“No, I’m sure it was Cas. I never knew humans could hold such power, but Cas was always different from the other humans I knew. Strong in mind and heart.”

“Cas was a human?” I asked. “Then do humans have magic too, here?”

“No. He shouldn’t have had magic. But yet, he managed to curse me, so he must have.”

I frowned. A human without magic powers had placed a curse strong enough to stop time for decades or more on someone? That didn’t sound right. “What happened again? When he cursed you?”

“I’d gone out to escort him inside when I heard news of his arrival,” Aki told me, gazing toward the entrance to the ballroom. “As he approached, my brother struck him down from the shadows. It does not take much to kill a mortal. One perfectly aimed stab through the heart, and Cas crumpled.” His voice caught, and his gaze went to the spot on the floor, as if reliving the memory in his head. “We barely had a minute with each other before I lost him. I needed him to stay, but he didn’t. No matter how much I begged, he still slipped away. It was in his dying breath that he cursed me. He promised to return to me. I told him I’d wait. Forever, if I had to. Time hasn’t moved in this place since then.”

Aki turned his chin down, his shoulders shaking, and I bit my lip. Why would Cas cast a terrible curse on the person he loved? How did that make sense? “What exactly did Cas say when he promised to return to you?”

Aki took an uneven breath. “He told me not to wait. To be happy without him until he made his way back to me. But, how could I? I lost myself when I lost him. I knew I would never move on. I would only love him. I swore I would wait for him here. That I’d keep the celebration going, so he knew where to return.”

That didn’t sound like what someone who wanted to curse someone else would say. Cas hadn’t wanted Aki to wait for him, so why would he curse him with that exact affliction? Cas wouldn’t have. I thought back to Aki’s earlier revelation— a curse is never without the one who invokes it .

Suddenly, it hit me.

“Aki… Cas didn’t curse you.”

Aki’s jaw jutted. “Yes, he did. How else do you explain my state of being?”

“You cursed yourself with your love for him,” I said, turning toward him. “Your desire to wait for him to return to you must have manifested it. And now you are trapping all the people you and Cas ever cared about by keeping them locked in this endless dance—yourself included. ”

Aki stiffened, his dark gaze slowly returning to my face. “What did you just say?”

“You cursed yourself,” I repeated softly. “Cas wouldn’t want this for you. He told you not to wait. He would never curse you to decades of torment, Aki. He loved you, didn’t he? He wouldn’t want you to suffer like this.”

“No, that’s…” Aki shook his head. “That’s not possible.”

“Aki,” I said gently.

“I cursed myself?” he whispered, staring down at his hands, his fingers curling inward.

“And I think I know how to undo the curse,” I told him.

Aki lifted his chin again, tears glistening in his eyes. “How?”

“You have to let all this go.”

“But Cas?—”

“Is gone,” I told him, my throat tightening. “He’s gone, Aki. No amount of glamour can change that. Keeping up this illusion won’t bring him back to you. You need to let it all go.”

“But if I let go, then I’ll lose him forever,” Aki said, tears falling down his cheeks. “I can’t lose him again. I promised him I’d wait for him.”

I reached out, cupping his face in my hands, wiping away his tears. “He wants you to be happy, Aki. I know he does. He… he loved you.”

My words tripped over themselves despite how I wanted to sound confident. I wanted to believe Cas loved Aki as much as Aki loved Cas. I wanted them to share the love I yearned for, to prove it at least existed. But part of me was afraid—afraid that Aki had cursed himself for someone who hadn’t been worth the wait. That Aki had done so much for someone who hadn’t felt the same way about him.

Like I had with Julian.

I shoved the thought aside. I couldn’t let my own heartbreak affect how I helped Aki. I couldn’t let my own experiences taint his. He didn’t deserve to suffer any longer .

Aki sobbed softly, cheeks wet with tears. “Cas, no…”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, pulled Aki toward me, and wrapped my arms around his tall frame. “Cas wouldn’t want the people he cares about to suffer, either. Let them go, Aki. They don’t deserve this. Think about what you’ve been doing to them. Please. For Cas.”

Aki didn’t respond, trembling in my arms, but the world around us began to change. Gold and elegance peeled back to reveal grey and decay as the glamour dissolved. The ceiling crumbled away, bathing us in moonlight, and the floors gave way to overgrowth and dirt. The stained-glass windows cracked, scattering their remnants along the ground. The melody that had filled the air faded, replaced by the haunting sound of wind whistling through the gaps in the castle walls.

The guests finally stopped dancing. In unison, they turned toward Aki and me, bowing one last bow, before disintegrating. Their bodies dispersed into particles of light, floating up and dissipating in the air until only Aki and I remained.

Maybe , I thought as I watched Aki’s heart break all over again, love itself is a curse. A curse that took on a hundred forms—from trapping someone in an everlasting ball to remaining in a relationship that slowly destroys you. From the feeling of abandonment when someone you love disappears to the pain of being unable to let go.

I held onto Aki, looking over the ruined ballroom. The moon was bright enough to illuminate every broken part, and the decay filled me with a deep sadness. Aki had been here waiting for Cas in ruin and isolation for decades, with only the memories of his lost lover to keep him company.

And now he was letting it all go.

His weeping continued long after the curse lifted. I continued to hold him, my hand sweeping over his back soothingly.

“He’s gone,” Aki rasped into the newfound silence, the pain in his voice making my chest tighten. “Cas, my love. My heart. My everything. How can I go on without him?”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“We were supposed to be together forever. I was supposed to keep him safe. I failed him. I couldn’t save him. Why couldn’t I save him? Why do I have to live without him? Why? Why him? Why not me?”

I could only hold him, my tears mingling with his.

“I can’t breathe,” Aki gasped. “I?—”

“See! I knew I wasn’t imagining things! I finally found this place. After all these years.”

I jumped at the sound of a masculine voice cutting across the desolate ballroom. Aki pushed away from me, his head snapping toward the voices.

“How did you even know this was here?” another voice responded, high-pitched in amazement. “How has no one else discovered it? I thought you were crazy when you talked about seeing a castle!”

“I told you I wasn’t crazy,” the first voice said, footsteps growing closer to us. “Something kept pulling me toward this place. I can’t believe I finally found it. It’s like it appeared out of nowhere. There’s something here for me. I know it.”

Aki and I shared a startled glance, and I yanked on his collar, dragging him behind the remnants of a collapsed stone column. We squatted low, watching as a man and woman emerged between the cracked open doors of the ballroom.

Aki inhaled sharply.

I watched as the man froze at the threshold of the ballroom. Even from the distance I sat at, I could see his blue eyes grow round. A shade so much like my own.

“This place is insane!” the woman exclaimed, hiking a backpack over her shoulder and slapping her friend on the back. “We’ve gotta film—dude, are you crying? ”

The one with the same color eyes as me brought a hand to his cheek, brushing away a tear. “What? Why am I crying?”

His friend set down the backpack, her excitement fizzling. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I don’t know. This place feels so familiar to me.” He brought his hand over his heart. “It’s making my heart hurt. Like it’s remembering something I can’t.”

Aki stood then. I tried to stop him, my heart racing as I realized who this man was—or could be a reincarnation of.

Aki strode out from behind the pillar, advancing on the pair.

“Holy shit!” the woman cried, snatching up her backpack and stumbling backward in fear. “Who are you? Stop right there! Wait, are those fox ears ?”

Aki didn’t stop. The chestnut-haired man didn’t move. His blue eyes were trained on Aki, the tears he’d brushed away replaced with new ones.

“Casey!” the woman said, grabbing his hand. “Run?—”

“No,” Casey said, ripping his hand free of her. “I know him.” More tears streamed down Casey’s face as he moved toward Aki, closing the distance between them. “I know you. Don’t I? You’re the one I’ve been searching for all my life. You’re my heart. My everything.”

Aki came to a halt as Casey approached, his steps hesitant but determined.

“And you’ve been waiting for me,” Casey breathed.

I couldn’t see Aki’s face, but from how his entire body trembled, I knew he was crying again. “I have. For so long. You promised you’d return.”

“I’m here now,” Casey said, his hand cupping Aki’s neck. “Please don’t cry anymore. I finally made it to you. I’m here.”

“I’m sorry,” Aki said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m sorry. Everything is all my fault. I should have protected you. I should have saved you. Instead, I?— "

“No,” Casey responded, his hand running over Aki’s jaw. “No. Whatever happened to me wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself. I can’t stand to see you like this. I want to see you smile. It’s been so long, hasn’t it? Thank you. Thank you for waiting for me. For loving me.”

The sound of Aki breaking down into sobs again made tears spring to my own eyes. He had his love again. His love that he had endured decades of self-imposed torment to see again. What was it like to love like that? To be loved like that? Would I ever know?

I took a shaky breath, trying to calm myself, watching Casey hug Aki to him even closer. “I’m here. I’m here,” Casey kept repeating soothingly. “I won’t leave you again. I’ll love you again. It’s okay.”

His friend looked around, absolutely bewildered. “Uh, Casey? What’s going on? Who is this? Holy shit, he’s got a tail, too?”

I pushed myself to my feet, wanting to meet Cas properly—to meet the person Aki loved so profoundly and who returned that love. But as I stepped toward them, shadows rose in front of me, the pendant flaring with heat. My eyes widened. “Wait, no, I want to?—”

My voice disappeared in the air as they engulfed me.