Tears beaded in my eyes. “It’s our wedding video,” I whispered. “From our first wedding at the Institute. Ez was recording the whole time?”
“Yes. He saved it before he escaped the prison,” Ava said. “Today’s ceremony was a celebration of our love, but whatever your grandpa says, we’ve already been married for a year. This was thetruestart of our relationship. Before we were married,we were messing around, but we weren’t dating for most of it. Even when we were, we didn’t have a lot of time to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Everything about us being together has been about our marriage. No one else is going to understand this video but us, so I kept it for just me and you, because this is where we started.”
On the video, Ava was already halfway through her vows. “I promise you from now on, you will never be alone. And so, I vow to follow you on all future adventures, because being with my worst enemy is the greatest adventure of all.”
Tears streamed from my cheeks as I listened to my vows from a year ago. So much had changed since then. “Ava-Marie, I vow to serve you as your bonded partner from now until the day we die, no matter how long that might be.”
I pulled Ava tightly to my chest and kissed the top of her head. “I love where we started, but I love us even more now. That guy in the video was wrong, though. I don’t vow to love you until the day we die, because I vow to love you longer. My love for you will never end, pidge.Never.”
Ava melted into me. “Mine either, Charlie. A year ago was the beginning of our love, but today… today was the beginning of forever.”
Chapter Eighteen
AVA-MARIE
“What are you doing, Ava?”
Marcus’ voice echoed across the gardens. It was starting to get a little chilly— autumn had finally arrived in Ilamanthe with the end of October, and the leaves were starting to turn. I sat underneath an olive tree, contemplating to myself quietly while Eldin stood guard.
My wedding had been wonderful, and Charlie and I felt like we were so in love. The day had been completely magical, and held so many memories I would cherish forever. It was good to get back to normal life, though, and we’d happily settled into a routine of being husband and wife once more. It was everything I ever wanted… even if I had to admit to myself that as perfect as things were in Ilamanthe, they weren’t perfect everywhere. I knew that intimately. We had our happy ending here, but until things were happy all around the world, I couldn’t rest. Not while the Warden was still out there.
“Just… feeling the energy of the Earth,” I said as Marcus took a seat on a stone bench beside me. “With fall here, it’s like I can feel everything dying.”
“I figured only a Nivita would be able to sense that kind of change in the earth,” Marcus said.
“Earth with a capital E— the energy of the planet, not just the rocks and trees. It’s different now,” I noted. “Now that I know what I can do, everything feels like it’s… changed.”
“You’re talking about your demigod power?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah.” I wasn’t the type of muse on things, but my newfound abilities had me perplexed. “We know I can take magic from the Earth’s spirit, but I’ve been looking inside of her lately, and it’s like there isn’t much to give. She felt so powerful when I first connected with her during my training with my mother, but I’ve reconnected since, and it’s like she’s… sick.”
“That’s not good.” Marcus frowned. “Do you think you might be able to fix it?”
“I actually wanted to talk to you about it,” I started. “This isn’t just the changing of the seasons. I feel like Earth’s energy is being drained. It’s pulling on my demigod magic— something from the spiritual realm. You have Death magic. Can you feel it, too?”
“I can try to tap in.” Marcus shrugged. “It will work best with simultension— your Spirit magic with my Death magic.”
He reached out for me, and I placed my hands in his. Marcus closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. My Spirit magic tingled up and down my form, and I could feel it tangling with the dark energy Marcus gave off. Together, we reached deep into the Earth. A pit seemed to form in my stomach the deeper we dug. I shifted in my chair, because the feeling made me very uncomfortable. I wanted to pull away, but Marcus’ hold on me tightened. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, twisting his head to the side. He felt it, too.
“You’re right,” Marcus noted as he pulled back. “Ava, I think the spiritual realm is pulling energy from Earth. They’re connected. With the gods fighting, and the Blessed Haven ripping apart, the spiritual realm is taking power from the earthly plane to stay alive.”
“No wonder the Earth feels weak.” I shuddered. “But Earth only has so much to give, and the spiritual realm needs to keep taking in order to remain active, since it’s not able to sustain itself anymore. Supernaturals are constantly pulling magic from the spiritual realm in order to cast, so all that magic has to come from somewhere. If the Blessed Haven isn’t providing it, Earth has to make up the difference. But what happens when the planet doesn’t have anything left to give?”
Marcus swallowed. “I think that if thatdoeshappen, Earth wouldn’t be the only thing that would be destroyed. The spiritual realm would be ruined, too.”
“It would be a dire situation if such a thing were to happen,” a deep voice said. I turned to see Emperor Cassiel standing a short distance away. He must’ve overheard us.
“Your majesty,” Marcus blurted, and he fumbled to his feet to give a clumsy bow. I dipped my head as the Emperor joined us and took a seat on the stone bench.
“I hope you don’t mind my intrusion, but this seems like a grave matter,” Cassiel began. “I believe Mister Taylor is right when he says that if the Blessed Haven keeps taking energy from Earth, both planes of reality will eventually collapse.”
“That truly means the end of everything,” I said ominously. “No Earth, no spiritual realm… all the souls, in both planes, would be destroyed with the collapse. There’d be no life or afterlife. Everything that has been or ever was would cease to exist in one moment.”
“Everything weknow,” Cassiel said. “Remember, energy cannot be created nor destroyed, save by gods or demigods,and neither demigods nor deities themselves would have control over the situation. All of that energy would have to go somewhere. Perhaps into the creation of a new world, one that may be better than this one.”
The suggestion felt heartless, as if it was worth sacrificing all the innocent lives on Earth for something better.
“I don't want there to be a new world; Iwantto save the one we have,” I growled.
