Ash got up abruptly, breathing heavily, her pillow covered in sweat. She massaged her throat and tried to speak, but only hoarse groans escaped.

Was it... a dream?

She wished it was, but she knew it wasn't. She had never had such a vivid dream. The fear, the pain, the guilt... it was all real.

She got out of her bed shakily and walked as fast as she could towards her brother's room, stumbling along the way.

When she finally reached the room, the door was open. Her legs gave out and she collapsed with a thud. Her body trembled.

Garnet was lying in his bed, and she could only see his head peeking out from under that mountain of blankets, deathly pale. Celeste was on the floor, sobbing quietly, Allie holding her hand, and patting her back. John sat beside the bed, head in his hands.

Allie turned around and saw Ash, attempting to smile. When she saw the sheer horror in Ash's eyes, she shook her head.

"Ash, don't worry. He's still alive," her grandmother said soothingly.

The wave of relief that washed over her was so overwhelming that Ash felt like she'd collapse again. But that feeling soon faded away to nothing. Fear crept in again. The fact that he was still alive meant that he was in a near-death situation.

Ash ran and hugged her.

"What happened to him?!"

"Ash — " Allie glanced at Celeste, who had stopped crying but looked eerily empty, before continuing, "Ash, the 'spell' the Descendant of Adelard used on him... had tampered with his... his soul."

"What...?"

"His soul is only temporarily detached from his body," she explained, eyes watery, "He's still breathing and all... but his soul's hanging by a thread. It's only a matter of time before he comes back. We just — we don't know when."

Ash could almost hear the unspoken words from her grandmother. 

We can only pray Fate doesn't cut that thread. Not today.

She sat on the floor beside her, gasping for air. She felt suffocated and claustrophobic even in the spacious room. Everything was grim and grey. She began to cry, feeling small and helpless. She was powerless against Fate.

It's my fault, she thought as she wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve.

Days passed and Garnet still didn't wake up. Violet often visited their house, bringing food her mother cooked and trying her best to take care of Ash. But Ash would refuse to eat. Day by day as she suffered countless sleepless nights, it seemed as if she had turned completely grey. Her skin looked sickly pale, her eyes reflecting hopelessness.

The others were no different. Celeste had bags under her eyes and she would not leave Garnet's room. John, blinded with rage, travelled all over Imperium to look for Fidelia but to no avail. Allie tried her best to keep the family together but could barely manage taking care of herself.

It was as if all Light was sucked out of that house. It was cold, gloomy and suffocating. They were surrounded in darkness.

A week had passed by. Ash was sitting in her room when she heard a shriek from Garnet's room. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her and what awaited her brought tears to her eyes.

Her brother was... awake!

Her mother was hugging him and crying uncontrollably. The scene of seeing her brother felt like an explosion of Light. The dimly lit room suddenly shined bright and the darkness was gone. Her brother was back.

Ash burst into tears and ran forward to hug him. They soaked his shirt with their tears. He looked confused but he hugged them back.

❋ ❋ ❋

When they had all calmed down and John had come back home, almost suffocating his son with a tight hug, they sat down and explained what happened to him.

"I was unconscious for a whole week?!" 

"Yeah," Celeste nodded, still wiping her tears. "Are you feeling better now? Would you like to eat something?"

"I'm starving," he groaned, rubbing his belly.

She gave him a kiss and ran to the kitchen. Allie followed her soon after. Garnet turned to Ash and smiled.

"You've gotten so thin," he whispered. "Did you eat well?"

"Yes," she lied.

"But you look so pale," he rubbed her cheek and bit his lip to stop himself from tearing up. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?!" Ash exclaimed. "It was my fault in the first place!"

Garnet opened his mouth to argue but their father intervened.

"Now is not the time to argue," he said. "We must be grateful that Garnet is here with us, alive and well."

They nodded, and all of them hugged once again.

"Brother," she held his hand. "You must never do that again! You can never get sick again, okay?!"

"That's something I can't control!" he laughed. "But I'll try."

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. ˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩.

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading! Again, constructive criticism is more than welcome, as it can help me improve!

Also, I've noticed that people can read this book from other websites. If you are one of them, please read this from Wattpad. As an author of this book, I have only consented to publishing this book on Wattpad and not any other websites. Therefore, it would be much appreciated if you read this on Wattpad only.

Thank you again <3 Stay safe!