Chapter 43: What Lies Between the Realms

The pendant shattered.

A blinding light erupted from Ivy’s chest as a vortex tore open in the sky of the Mirror Realm. Wind howled. Shadows screamed. The ground fractured beneath her, and for a moment, she couldn’t feel anything—no fear, no pain, no thought. Only falling.

Then—impact.

She landed hard, her breath stolen by the sudden stillness. The air was wrong. Thick and heavy, like breathing through water. She blinked her vision a haze of swirling shapes.

“Asher?” she gasped.

But the realm was quiet again. The bench where he sat was gone. Isolde was gone. All that remained was the broken pendant glowing faintly in her palm—and the realization that she wasn’t back in her world.

She wasn’t in the Mirror Realm either.

This place was between.

“Ivy Hale,” a voice said. Soft, ancient.

She turned slowly.

An ethereal figure hovered nearby. Neither man nor woman. Neither human nor spirit. It was clothed in starlight, its eyes endless.

“Where am I?” Ivy asked, staggering to her feet.

“The Womb of Echoes,” it replied. “Where time breathes but does not move. Where choices ripple backwards.”

“I used the pendant,” she said. “I chose to leave. I chose to live.”

The being tilted its head. “You did. But you broke the law of balance.”

“I was trying to save Asher.”

“No.” Its voice dropped. “You were trying to save yourself from losing him again. There is a difference.”

Ivy flinched.

It drifted closer. “And now, the realm has rewritten the rules.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means Asher is no longer a prisoner of the Mirror Realm.”

Relief flooded Ivy—until the being added:

“He is now its guardian.”

The Guardian’s Curse

Back in the real world, Lyra bolted upright, gasping.

“Ivy’s not back,” she cried. “Something’s wrong!”

Killian caught her just before she fell off the couch. Mira knelt, checking her pulse. Her hands trembled.

“She crossed deeper than we thought. The tether held just long enough for her to escape the prison,” Mira whispered, “but she didn’t return to this world.”

Killian paced. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Mira admitted. “No one’s ever reached the Between before. It’s the space where souls are rewritten.”

Lyra clutched her father’s shirt. “Then we rewrite her back.”

Meanwhile, Ivy stood on a reflective bridge that stretched across nothingness. Beneath it—fragments of her life played like film reels. Her mother’s death. Her pregnancy. The fire. Her betrayal of Killian. Her discovery of Asher’s truth.

“All of these,” said the being, “are mirrors. They do not lie. They only reflect.”

“What do you want from me?” Ivy whispered.

“I want nothing. But you must choose.”

“Again?” she asked bitterly. “Haven’t I done enough choosing?”

“One more.”

The bridge split in two.

“To the left,” the being said, “you return to your world—alone. Your child survives. Asher becomes the realm’s eternal guardian, but his mind… will fade.”

Ivy’s throat closed.

“To the right… you return with him. But a balance must be struck.”

She knew what that meant.

“A life for a life,” she said bitterly.

“Yes.”

“Mine?”

That being said, nothing.

Ivy looked down at the reflections.

Then she heard his voice.

“Ivy.”

She turned.

He stood behind her—real, solid, alive.

“How…?”

He smiled sadly. “This place… gives you one last conversation before the decision.”

She reached out and gripped his shirt. “I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t,” he said softly. “But you can’t stay here either. You’ve got Lyra. You have so much left to do.”

Tears split freely now. “Then come with me. We’ll find a way.”

He kissed her forehead. “There’s always a way. But sometimes… it’s not the one we expect.”

Mira and Killian prepared another ritual.

But this time, it was Lyra who led the chant. She drew symbols with startling precision, her young voice echoing ancient words.

The candle flames flickered—then bent toward the centre of the circle.

“She’s pulling something back,” Mira whispered.

Killian’s jaw clenched. “Ivy?”

But when the light flared—

—it wasn’t Ivy who appeared.

It was Isolde.

In the Womb of Echoes, Ivy stood at the crossroads.

“I’ve made my choice,” she told the being.

It studied her, silent.

Then nodded.

Light engulfed her again.

When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor of Mira’s sanctuary.

Killian gasped. “Ivy!”

Lyra rushed into her arms.

“I’m here,” Ivy whispered, breathless. “I’m okay…”

But Mira backed away, eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” Ivy asked.

Behind her, the shadows twisted.

And a voice that wasn’t hers whispered:

“Two souls returned… but only one was invited.”