Drasos teleported us somewhere I had never seen before.
The place looked like a desert… but wrong.
The sand was black. Thick. Sticky.
Every step felt like walking through a shallow puddle, and the more you moved, the deeper you sank.
"Hey… where are we?" I asked, realizing we were completely alone. We'd been walking aimlessly for almost thirty minutes.
"I've got a place around here," Lilian replied casually. "It's somewhere in that direction."
"Still didn't answer my question," I said flatly.
"The in-between," she replied.
I frowned. "What the hell does that even mean? I've never heard of it."
"That's because only demons know about this place," she said. "It's where we come when we get bored of the underworld."
I exhaled sharply. "And where exactly is this place of yours? My legs are burning."
"There," she said suddenly, pointing ahead.
I followed her finger.
A mansion stood in the distance.
Except… it wasn't fully there.
It looked transparent. Like it existed and didn't at the same time.
"Here?" I asked.
"Yes, atty boy," she said with a smirk. "Your great grandmother and I had lots of fun here."
The words made my stomach twist.
"Can you show me your real form?" I asked. "Hearing all this from her face feels… wrong."
She paused.
Then smiled faintly.
"Let's get inside first."
Home.
The word hit something deep in my chest.
I hadn't felt that in centuries.
Not since Astra died the first time.
Not since those blood-sucking animals tore my world apart.
Seeing her reincarnate only to almost lose her again…
It broke something in me I could never fix.
Home isn't a place.
It never was.
Home is my twin sister.
And this time…
I will burn everything if I have to.
Just to make sure she stays.
We finally reached the building.
Up close, it looked even more unnatural.
The walls were made from the same sticky material as the sand beneath our feet.
The only difference was the color.
The ground was black.
The house was translucent.
Like it was made from frozen shadows.
And somehow…
I knew stepping inside would change everything.
The moment we stepped inside, the door sealed behind us without a sound.
No hinges.
No movement.
Just silence.
The air inside felt heavier. Thick. Alive.
The entire mansion was hollow, made of that same translucent substance, but from the inside it glowed faintly — like light was trapped beneath its skin.
"You built this?" I asked quietly.
"No," she replied. "We grew it."
That word again.
We.
Before I could ask what that meant, the ground shifted.
Not shaking.
Breathing.
I froze.
"Alright," I said slowly, my voice dropping. "Enough games. Show me."
She didn't answer.
Instead, Lilian stopped walking.
Then she laughed.
Not her laugh.
Not human.
It echoed too deeply, like multiple voices speaking through the same throat.
"You asked for my true form," she said softly.
"Don't beg me to go back after you see it."
"Just do it," I said coldly.
For Astra, I'd look into the abyss itself.
A long pause.
Then her body jerked.
Once.
Twice.
Then it started.
Her spine bent backward in a way no human body should move. Bones cracked, folding and stretching beneath her skin like something was trying to claw its way out.
The air around us warped.
Dark mist leaked from her pores, spilling into the room like smoke made of shadows.
I didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
Lilian's skin began to split.
Not tearing.
Opening.
Like a shell.
And something inside her smiled.
A hand pushed through first.
Long.
Black.
Not flesh.
Not shadow.
Something in between.
Then another.
And another.
Until Lilian's body collapsed forward like discarded clothing.
And what stepped out…
Was not meant for this world.
It stood nearly twice my height, its body formed from shifting darkness that never fully stayed still.
Six arms extended from its torso, each one too long, joints bending at unnatural angles.
Its chest was hollow, a glowing abyss pulsing where a heart should be — a swirling core of deep crimson light that looked like a dying star.
Its face…
If it could even be called that…
Was smooth and empty at first.
Then slowly, cracks formed.
And a grin carved itself into existence.
Too wide.
Too deep.
Too wrong.
Two burning eyes opened above it, glowing molten gold, ancient and endless.
When it spoke, the entire mansion trembled.
"Do you still want to know me, grandson?"
The voice didn't come from its mouth.
It came from everywhere.
Walls.
Floor.
Inside my skull.
I felt it pressing against my thoughts, ancient and crushing, like standing beneath an ocean.
But I didn't bow.
Didn't step back.
Didn't give it that satisfaction.
Instead, I lifted my chin.
"So this is the monster that calls himself family," I said quietly.
For a moment…It went still.
Then slowly…It smiled wider.
And for the first time since coming here…
I felt it.
Not fear.
Not power.
But recognition.
Like something ancient inside me had just opened its eyes.
And it was smiling back.
I felt it before I saw it.
A shift.
Not from Drasos.
From her.
A faint pulse brushed against the bond we shared, weak but alive.
Astra.
My head snapped toward the ground behind me.
Avelyn's fingers twitched.
Small. Fragile. Real.
For a second everything inside me froze.
Then I noticed something else.
Drasos had noticed too.
His massive form went completely still. That twisted grin of his slowly faded, not replaced by fear but something colder. Something careful.
Hesitation.
The first real hesitation I had seen from him.
And then he moved.
Fast.
The darkness around him folded inward like it was being sucked into itself. His towering body began to collapse in on its own shadow, shrinking as layers of black energy peeled away and vanished into the air.
The extra limbs disappeared.
The glowing core dimmed.
The pressure suffocating the air lifted all at once.
And before Avelyn could open her eyes fully, he was already gone.
Not gone.
Hidden.
I watched as the last of that monstrous form slipped straight back into Lilian like smoke being dragged into a body that did not belong to it.
Lilian's back arched violently.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Then just like that, she stilled.
By the time Avelyn stirred awake, it was only Lilian standing there.
Breathing softly.
Looking human.
Like nothing had happened.
Avelyn let out a weak sound and slowly pushed herself up. Her movements were sluggish, like she was waking from something heavy and endless.
"Ava…" she whispered.
The sound hit me harder than anything else had.
She was alive.
She was here.
But I did not move toward her.
Something in my chest refused to relax.
Because Lilian was watching her.
Too closely.
Too quietly.
Like something pretending to remember how to be normal.
Avelyn blinked a few times, trying to focus. Her eyes drifted around the strange landscape before finally landing on me.
"Avalon…?" she said again, confusion filling her voice.
And then she saw it.
The black ground stretching endlessly around us.
The hollow sky.
The wrongness of everything.
Fear slowly crept into her expression.
"Where are we?" she asked, her voice tightening.
Before I could answer, Lilian spoke.
Soft.
Gentle. Too gentle.
"You fainted," she said with a small smile. "I brought you somewhere safe."
A lie.
Every instinct in me sharpened instantly.
Avelyn frowned slightly, still weak, still trying to gather her thoughts. Then her gaze shifted back to me.
And she noticed.
The stiffness in my posture.
The tension in my jaw.
The way I had not taken a single step closer to her.
Her expression changed immediately.
Not fear.
Instinct.
The bond.
"Avalon…" she said slowly, her voice quieter now.
Her eyes locked onto mine.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Behind her, Lilian kept smiling.
Perfect.
Calm.
Convincing.
But I could feel it.
Beneath that skin.
Beneath that voice.
He was still there.
Watching. Listening. Waiting.
And in that moment, something cold settled deep in my chest.
Drasos did not hide because of me.
He hid because of her.
Which meant only one thing.
Whatever he truly was
He did not want Avelyn to see it.
And that realization terrified me more than anything else.
Because it meant one thing was certain.
Something inside my sister was waking up.
And even monsters knew it.