The ritual reached a crescendo, its intensity now suffocating. The mana storm churned violently, pulling at everything within the room. The oppressive pressure made each breath a struggle, and the wind howled with a life of its own. Xander focused with everything he had struggling to keep his mana tightly bound to himself as the ritual clawed at him.

  Then, without warning, a flash of arcane energy burst forth. Xander felt the blow like a thunderclap reverberating through his very being. His vision blurred, his senses dulled, and a sensation of weightlessness overtook him. As his body slumped to the ground, his consciousness lingered, suspended in the ether.

  Through the haze, Xander looked down and saw his lifeless form crumpled on the floor. Realizing the ritual was working, he turned his focus toward the coffin. With a final push of will, he propelled himself into the void while the darkness swallowed him whole.

  An endless void awaited him. The darkness seemed to go on for forever. There was no walls or floors or ceilings. There was no sensation of up or down, and an eerie silence permeated through it all. That is until Xander heard a faint familiar sound. But then, faint and fragile, a sound broke through the silence. A soft, familiar noise, the sound of crying.

  Xander froze, his heart pounding. The sound tugged at him, stirring memories he had long buried. He turned toward it, and as the echoes grew louder, he began to move. He wasn’t sure how he was moving. He didn’t know whether he was walking, floating, or simply willing himself forward, but the sound guided him. The sound becoming clearer with each step.

  Finally, in the vast emptiness, a figure emerged. A small, trembling shape curled up tightly, as though trying to disappear into the void. Xander approached cautiously, his breath catching when he saw who it was. A frail boy, his shoulders shaking with muffled sobs, sat alone in the darkness.

  Xander knelt beside the child, his chest tightening as recognition struck him like a blow. Xavier. Even here, in this surreal nothingness, his younger brother looked heartbreakingly familiar. He was small and vulnerable, his face streaked with tears. Xavier had always been like this. He was always overwhelmed by the intensity of his emotions, a storm of feelings too big for his little body to contain. Their mother had always been the one to comfort him, to hold him when the world felt too much.

  Gently, Xander reached out.

  With a heavy heart Xander said, “Xavi?” It was a name he called his brother when they were little but hadn’t said in years. “It’s okay, little guy.” Xander’s voice softened, a rare warmth breaking through his usual sharp tone. “Your big brother’s here now. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.” He knelt closer, placing a steady hand on Xavier’s trembling shoulder. “I’ve got this, alright? I know just what to do, and I’ll make it all right again. You can trust me.”

  The kid continued to sob. Xander took a deep breath and breathed out slowly. His brother was very good at reading the emotion inside everyone so he did his best to calm down and temper the anxiety in his soul. “Look. See? Everything is fine. So, let me show you the back door.”

  Something is starting to feel wrong. The kid cried even harder, but the noise got quieter. The air started to feel heavier now, and a familiar voice shattered his mental concentration.

  “That’s not me.” A voice rang out from behind Xander.

  The sudden sound startled Xander, and so, he turned around. There, Xander saw Xavier as he was in the real world. He wasn’t a small scared child. His voice was calm but filled with sadness. The weight of all the unsaid words showed on his face.

  “That kid… it’s you, Xan. It’s your soul,” Xavier said softly, his voice steady but laced with an undertone of sadness.

  “Wha-what do you mean my soul? I’m right here!” Xander stammered, his usual composure cracking as nervous energy overtook him.

  Xavier took a small step forward, crouching to the level of the crying child and gently patting its trembling head. “This part of you… it’s the part you threw away a long time ago.” He looked up at Xander, his expression calm yet weighted. “Wherever we are right now… it’s making it so you can finally see that piece of you that’s been hidden all these years.”

  He took a slow breath, his words deliberate and heavy. “You know, you never really accepted Mom’s death. You didn’t just lose her that day; you lost yourself too. You locked away your emotions because you thought that was the only way to protect us, especially me.”

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  Xavier glanced down at the child again, his voice softening. “That little boy in you… he never got the chance to grow up. You pushed him away, buried him under all your guilt and pain. And it wasn’t just love driving you to protect me all these years, was it? It was the promise you made to her. And that guilt, that part of you that thought it was your fault somehow, kept eating at you.”

  He stood, meeting Xander’s gaze with eyes full of understanding and sorrow. “I could always feel it, you know. That sadness, that anger you buried. But I didn’t know how to say it. I mean, really, was there ever a good time to tell you?” Xavier shook his head faintly. “I don’t think so. But now? Maybe now’s the time.”

  “I was just lost too,” Xander admitted, his voice low and unsteady. His gaze dropped to the ground as if the words were too heavy to hold. “I didn’t know what else to do. I just… I just wanted to keep her happy memories alive.”

  His expression cracked, vulnerability bleeding through the tough exterior he always wore. It was a mix of guilt and disappointment. A quiet anguish he could no longer suppress seeped out. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, but his voice remained soft almost trembling. “I thought if I just stayed strong, ya know? If I buried all the bad crap deep enough, I could hold it all together, for you, for both of us…”

  “Keep things steady like they were supposed to be.”

  Xavier looked at Xander with a guilty expression. I know, Xan. I know you were trying to hold it all together, but I couldn’t let you keep carrying all that weight on your shoulders forever. The anger, the blame… you never forgave anyone. Not the world, not me, and especially not yourself.”

  “So, that is why I decided to leave and find the researchers. Shadow Garden was not the home I had envisioned. I thought maybe they could fix me, make me normal. They just ended up using me for their own gain too. I suppose that is just how life is.”

  Xavier glanced away for a moment, his tone shifting to something almost hollow. “At least, with them, I felt like I was helping someone. Even if it was a lie, it was something.”

  Xander pulled Xavier into a tight embrace, his voice steady but filled with emotion. “Xavi, what do you mean ‘fix you’? Nah, you’re tripping. Ain’t a damn thing wrong with you. You’ve helped me more than you know. Hell, I think your hope’s been patching me up longer than I even realized. I need you to remember that, alright? Going forward, don’t you dare think you’re less than anyone.”

  He drew back slightly, holding Xavier by the shoulders and looking him square in the eye. “Look, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you before. I messed up, I know that. But from here on out, we’re gonna do better, and we’re doing it together, no question about it. We’ll figure out your abilities, I swear. Maybe with a stronger family backing us, we’ll find better ways for you to let all those emotions out without your mana messin’ anyone up. We’ll make it work, Xavi. That’s a promise.”

  Xander’s expression shifted as he turned inward, taking a long, hard look at himself. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around the small version of his soul, who looked back up at him in surprise. “As for me…” Xander whispered, “it’s about damn time I stop looking back and start moving forward.”

  The little boy’s form began to glow, then shattered into a thousand radiant fireflies that lit up the cold abyss. They swirled around Xander and Xavier, filling the space with warmth and a faint sense of hope.

  “It ain’t over yet,” Xander murmured as the fireflies danced around them, their light soft but comforting.

  As they stood there, Xander explained everything about the chaos outside, about Xaden’s plan, about the overlapping rituals, and about the stakes they now faced. His words were steady, resolute.

  “You can still save us. You can still make things right,” Xavier said, his voice quiet but sure. “But I’m not the one who needs saving right now. You’ve got to get back out there, Xan.”

  Xander nodded, determination solidifying in his gaze. He gently pushed Xavier forward, watching as the fireflies enveloped his twin and lifted him upward, pulling him out of the darkness. “This is something I’ve got to do,” Xander said softly, watching Xavier vanish into the light.

  As the last fireflies faded into the dark, a tremor pulsed through the void, not from fear, but from something ancient stirring in response. Xander reacted to the tremor by steeling his conviction, and the void responded to him. Xander clenched his fists and ran toward it, ready for anything.