Love Between Two Worlds - Chapter 34

 

Chapter 34 — The Voice Beneath the Sea

"Come home."

The voice sank with the waves, disappearing into the darkness of the sea.

For a few seconds, no one moved. The night wind held its own breath.

Seris stood at the water's edge, staring out at the darkening sea. Her face was deathly pale.

"That's my voice," he whispered.

Amelia stepped closer. "You heard it too."

Seris nodded slowly.

Adrian didn't move at all.

He looked at his mother.

Not towards the sea.

To him.

"Mother?"

Seris turned around. Her eyes were teary.

"Adrian."

The way his mother said his name made something inside his chest crack.

He crossed the distance between them in seconds and hugged her tightly.

Seris froze for a moment.

Then he returned the hug.

For the first time since Amelia had known him, the first Guardian seemed like what he was—just a child in his mother's arms.

"I'm sorry," Seris whispered.

Adrian closed his eyes. "For what?"

"For all."

"Mom didn't make me a Guardian."

"No."

"Mom didn't choose my life."

"No."

"Then don't apologize for the choices I made myself."

Seris took a step back, staring intently at her son's face.

"I didn't make you a Guardian," he said.

"I know."

"But I made the choices that allowed them to take advantage of you."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"What choice?"

Seris turned towards the sea.

"The first key."

They did.

The father stepped forward.

"Seres."

He didn't look back.

"Tell them."

"There's nothing to say."

"There is."

Seris' eyes finally met his.

"Do you know."

The father's face remained calm, unchanged.

"You know the Guardian bloodline wasn't created just to protect Hollows."

"Seres—"

"It was created to protect something else."

Amelia's heart clenched.

"What?"

Seris looked at him.

"The place beneath the worlds."

The sea suddenly moved.

Not an ordinary wave.

A breath.

The entire surface of the sea rose and fell as if something immense beneath had just taken a breath.

Lucien drew his sword.

Aurelia raised both hands, silver light gathering between her fingers.

"There's something down there," he said.

The Dreamer stared deeply into the water.

"Not something."

His voice was barely audible.

"Someone."

Adrian stepped towards the beach.

"Who?"

The Dreamer did not answer.

The father answered.

"First choice."

Amelia frowned. "What does that mean?"

The father looked at him. "When a choice is made, the unchosen path doesn't simply disappear."

Amelia remembered thousands of doors under the sea.

"It's going somewhere."

"Yes."

"A place between choices."

He nodded.

"But isn't that where the exiles go?"

"It's not just him."

A cold feeling spread through Amelia's body.

"Then who else is there?"

Seris stared at the sea.

"Everyone."

The words seemed to freeze the air.

"All the people who were never chosen."

Amelia's stomach felt like it was falling.

"The people from those doors."

"Yes."

"A life that never happened."

"Yes."

"Worlds that were never created."

"Yes."

Adrian stared at the darkness before him.

"How long have they been there?"

The Dreamer answered.

"Since the first choice."

Suddenly the sea parted.

A strip of dry sand appeared stretching across the water, extending to the horizon.

At the end stood a door.

Not a glowing door like the one under the sea.

Ordinary wooden door.

Old.

Eroded by time.

But it felt strange—familiar.

Amelia stared at him intently.

"I know that door."

Adrian turned to her. "Where have you seen her?"

He swallowed. "Blackwood Manor."

Everyone fell silent.

Lucien lowered his sword.

Aurelia whispered, "That place doesn't exist in this world."

"I know."

The door remained standing in the middle of the sea.

Then it opens.

Behind it is not darkness.

But a room.

Her old bedroom. Her childhood room.

The bed. The window. The old wooden table.

A small photo next to the table lamp.

Everything was exactly as he remembered.

His breath hitched.

"Impossible."

Adrian stood beside her. "What's wrong?"

"That was my house before."

The Dreamer shook his head. "Not your house."

Amelia looked at him. "Then what?"

"A memory."

"Whose memories?"

The Dreamer hesitated for a moment.

"Yours."

Amelia's heart started to beat fast.

"I never gave anyone permission to enter my memories."

"You don't understand yet."

"Then explain."

The Dreamer stared at the open door.

"The memories existed before you."

"What?"

"It belongs to the other Amelia."

The world seemed to stop spinning.

Adrian stared at her. "Another version of you?"

The Dreamer nodded.

"Which makes different choices."

The room behind the door changed.

Amelia saw herself standing there.

But younger.

Much younger.

Maybe seventeen years old.

He cried.

Someone was standing behind him.

A young man.

Adrian.

But Adrian wasn't hers.

Her face is different.

It's cooler.

His eyes are completely black.

He placed his hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Come with me."

Young Amelia shook her head. "I can't."

"You can."

"I don't want to be like him."

"Then don't."

"Then who should I be?"

The other Adrian smiled. "Whatever you choose."

The memory flickered, like a shaky picture.

Young Amelia turned to face him.

And kissed her.

Amelia who was now jolted back.

"No."

Adrian's expression beside him didn't change.

He continued to stare.

The memories continue.

Young Amelia escaped.

"Promise me."

"What?"

"If we find another world..."

He looked out the window.

"...we leave this world."

The memories were shattered into pieces.

The door closed with a bang.

Amelia stood frozen.

Finally Adrian spoke up. "That's not us."

"No."

"But it could be us."

"Yes."

The Dreamer steps forward.

"And that's why the voice called you."

"Why me?"

"Because someone under the sea remembers a version of you."

"Who?"

The Dreamer looked at Adrian.

"His father."

Adrian froze completely.

Seris whispered, "No."

The father closed his eyes.

Amelia looked at them in turn. "Father Adrian?"

Seris shook her head. "He died before Adrian was born."

The Dreamer straightened out. "He was never born."

They did.

Adrian stared at him. "What does that mean?"

"Seris chose you."

"I know."

"But before that choice, there is another choice."

The Dreamer pointed towards the sea.

"A version of Seris that chose a different path."

Seris' face lost its color.

"No."

The father looked at him. "You remember."

He shook his head. "I don't remember."

"You remember."

"I don't remember!"

The sea roars.

The wooden door appeared again.

This time it's closer.

Much closer.

And someone was standing behind it.

A man.

Silver hair.

Silver eyes.

A face that felt strangely familiar.

Adrian took a step forward.

The man smiled.

"My child."

Adrian stopped breathing.

Seris covered her mouth with her hand.

"Impossible."

The man opened the door fully.

His face is exactly like Adrian's.

Just older.

Much older.

Scarred. Tired.

And not wearing the Guardian mark.

Adrian's voice trembled. "Who are you?"

The man looked at her. "Your father's version of survival."

Seris staggered back.

"You're dead."

"Of course."

"You can't be here."

"I know."

"Then what are you?"

The man turned his head towards the sea.

"A choice."

Adrian stared at him. "You're not my father."

"No."

The man's smile faded.

"I am the father you should have had."

Amelia felt the words hit her like a blow.

Seris started to cry.

"I choose to be a Guardian."

"Yes."

"You chose that key."

"Yes."

"And because of that..."

Her voice broke.

"...you were never born."

The man nodded.

"That's the price of your choice."

Adrian stepped forward.

"Then why are you here now?"

The man's eyes shifted to her.

"Because your world has opened up."

The sea began to turn black.

"Nameless World gives freedom to Hollows."

The sky darkened.

"The exile chose to leave."

The ground trembled.

"And now, buried choices are beginning to awaken."

The Dreamer whispered, "No."

The man looked at her. "Yes."

"What are you doing?"

"There isn't any."

"Then who woke them up?"

He looked at Amelia.

Amelia immediately understood.

"I."

The man nodded.

"You opened the door."

Amelia stared at the sea.

"Then how do you close it?"

"You can't."

Adrian stepped forward. "Then what should we do?"

The man smiled sadly.

"You choose."

"Choose what?"

"Which world deserves to continue to exist?"

Amelia's heart sank.

"No."

The man looked at her. "You want freedom."

"Yes."

"Then accept what freedom demands."

"Not like this."

"Why not?"

"Because choosing which world lives means choosing which world dies."

The man said nothing more.

Amelia looked out at the sea.

Thousands of faint lights appeared beneath its surface.

Doors.

Hundreds. Thousands. Millions.

Each holds different possibilities.

A different life.

A different version of everyone he knows.

Hollow appeared beside him.

His form now looked older, almost human.

His silver-black eyes stared out at the sea.

"They're scared," he whispered.

"Who?"

"Everything."

"Can you hear them?"

He nodded.

"What did they say?"

Hollow stared at Amelia.

"They want to go home."

Amelia closed her eyes.

That word again.

Go home.

But now he understands.

The voice under the sea was not calling one person.

He calls everyone.

Every forgotten possibility.

Every life that was never given the chance to exist.

Every choice that has been buried.

Adrian held her hand.

"What should we do?"

Amelia looked at him.

For once, he had no answer.

Then Seris stepped forward.

"I know."

Everyone turned around.

He looked at his son.

"I made the first choice."

His eyes turned to the sea.

"So I'm the one who will make the next choice too."

Adrian immediately shook his head.

"No."

"Adrian—"

"Mom has sacrificed enough."

Seris smiled through her tears.

"This is not a sacrifice."

"Then what is this?"

"A choice."

The sea exploded.

A giant wave rose behind them, but did not fall.

It was hanging in the air.

Inside it you can see thousands of faces.

Some humans.

Part of Elarion.

Some of the shapes are unimaginable.

Everyone was staring at them.

Then one face appeared above the other.

The outcast.

His black eyes opened.

"Late."

The Dreamer's face paled.

"Why?"

The exile smiled.

"Because they don't ask anymore."

The hanging ocean began to move towards the shore.

"They are coming."

Amelia tightened her grip on Adrian's hand.

"How many?"

The exile stared at the countless faces.

"Everything."

The wave hit.

And the Nameless World disappeared into the ocean.