Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) Chapter 22: Chapter 19: Between Realms

Read chapter 22 of Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

It didn’t take long before Ava broke the tender moment with an anxious grunt. “Alright, can we please move on to saving my son already?” she said impatiently. Liam shot her a disapproving glare while Luca gripped her arm. “Ava, please. Don’t be selfish,” Luca said. “Give them some time—” “And who’s going to give our son some time?!” Ava yelled suddenly, shaking her husband’s hand off. “I know I’m being selfish, and I don’t care! We’ve wasted enough time already. I just… I just want to see my boy again.” The woman crouched down, sobbing into her arms. “It’s all my fault… If only I hadn’t driven him away— If only I’d been more understanding… Dammit, dammit! ” She slammed her fists on the floor. “I want to put it behind me and move forward like I always do. I try so hard to be strong and just accept it all, but all I’m good for is running from my mistakes. I can’t do that to Chester. Not this time.” Silence fell as Luca bent down beside his wife. “I can’t just let him go like that, knowing that there’s a chance to get him back. I just can’t! We were supposed to go on a trip after all this. He was looking forward to summer vacation with our family! All he wanted was to enjoy his time with us, but I blinded myself to that. Chasing after false validation… Lying to myself that I’m doing this for our family, and for what? I only saw what I wanted, and… and he died for my selfishness.” Ava stood up and grabbed Tomoko’s hand desperately, before falling back to her knees. “Please, you’re a god. You can undo this, can’t you?” she pleaded. “Take my life in exchange for his. Don’t let my baby pay for my mistakes, please! It doesn’t matter if I can’t see him alive again. Just bring him back, I beg you.” Komyo stepped forward, gently pulling the woman up to her feet again. “She is not a god, and neither are any of us. So we won’t be taking any lives tonight,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t do our best. We owe Hazel a favour for befriending us, so we’ll help you.” Tomoko cast a worried gaze at Komyo. “I’ve never done this before. I’m not a celestial being yet, so the best I can do is impart energy to hold the gateway to the afterlife open. If we’re doing this, only you can survive the trip in and out of the afterlife.” “Then I humbly accept the honour—” “Wait!” Hazel interrupted them. “Isn’t this a big risk? If anything goes wrong with Komyo, won’t you lose your essence as well?” Tomoko nodded grimly before breaking into a small smile. “It’s worth the risk. That’s what friends are for, right?” Komyo wasted no time getting to work. Green doodles shimmered in the air as the man began painting his invisible canvas like he was possessed by a mad artist. It looked like a demented finger painting of a three-year-old at first, but an image started to take form the longer he drew, like some kind of anamorphic optical illusion. “If you can impart magical essence, do help Tomoko stabilise the tunnel,” Komyo said as the Magus began charging the hands with magic. “Losing control of the gateway is a good way to experience what it’s like to be compressed into a singularity.” A dull vibration reverberated in Hazel’s ears as the air pressure spiked, as though something was pushing against the air. Reality warped before her eyes along with a maelstrom of supernatural energy. Within a couple of seconds, Komyo’s glyph expanded into something resembling a dark, deep well leading to a faint point of golden light in its centre. The three Magus stretched out their hands, pushing their respective magic into the tunnel. “Do you know who to look for?” Luca’s voice trembled slightly, although it was obvious that he was trying his best to keep it together. “Yes. All of you share a deep bond with him, and I can feel it so strongly.” Komyo nodded. “But be warned, there may be other… beings who also seek their way back to the natural world. If they do, turn them back or turn them to dust. Good luck.” Hazel pulled out her grandfather’s pistol as the man stepped int