Chapter 233 - 233: What Cannot Return

Ruelle's eyes darted from the old vampiress to the door she had locked before starting the spell. Behind her, the faint vibration continued, rising from the mirror like a held breath, its surface still trembling in slow, concentric ripples, waiting to complete the last step in the summoning.

"I always suspected Mira to be a witch," Lady Sylvan said, and her voice carried the particular fondness of a woman recalling a favourite pet, "but she never revealed it. Do you know I asked her several times about the Belladonna mirror? Several times, over years, in the course of ordinary conversation. And every time, she said she had no understanding of it. I treated her so well. So well. Just like my own daughter. I even nudged my son to court her, hoping she would one day marry him, but he proved to be useless."

This was why the pureblooded vampiress had kept her mother close even though she appeared to be a human. She was going to rise, one hand pressed to the floor when the vampiress's voice sharpened.

"Don't move."

Ruelle went still.

"A vampire has better speed than a human. It would do you good to stay put." Lady Sylvan walked past her, the hem of her dress whispering over the dusty ground. She stopped before the mirror, her reflection dark in the rippling glass. "I have been looking forward to this day. The day I had all the pieces."

Lady Sylvan ran her hand on the edge of the mirror in fascination and greed. She continued,

"The mirror would not allow itself to be moved. Not by hand, at least. So I created a war. I expected the destruction to scatter the people, who would carry the mirror and bring it to me," she smiled.

"You caused it?" Ruelle's hands curled into fists against her knees, her nails digging into her palms.

The vampiress looked pleased and even proud. She replied, "Humans are pathetic and can carry out orders only to a degree. But the war didn't flare as I wanted. Still, I kept watch. For years, I kept watch. And last week, I knew when Lia complained about the mirrors being damaged." Her smile widened, which still looked gentle, "I knew the mirror had met its last piece. So I killed her for what I raised her for."

Somewhere, Ruelle couldn't help but feel pity for the dead woman, who had been used by this person.

"Lady Lia was raised to be my replacement." Ruelle borrowed the time, stalling and keeping the vampiress busy, while the mirror took time.

"That was just a farce. A show for the society. I raised her with a lot of love," Lady Sylvan replied with a thoughtful expression. Her voice then dropped, "Time to finish the spell now!"

In the next instant, Lady Sylvan lunged with inhuman speed, one hand outstretched.

Ruelle threw herself aside, but the vampiress's claws caught her cheek in passing, drawing a single drop of blood that fell within the circle.

Suddenly, every marking flared on the ground.

As the mirror's vibration intensified, Lady Sylvan stepped towards the mirror. The woman had almost touched the surface of the mirror when a vine curled around her hands and feet, dragging her away from the object of desire. The vines continued to curl until the vampiress could barely move.

"It is rude to claim a family heirloom that doesn't belong to you," Ruelle remarked, watching the old woman snarl.

"Viktor!" Lady Sylvan shouted.

The butler, who had arrived outside, banged the door. "Milady?! Master—"

But the butler couldn't finish his sentence as a dagger flew right at him, the blade jamming into his throat. Black tendrils curled from the knife's hilt. Beyond the door, the black tendrils curling from the dagger's hilt ceased their movement along with the butler.

Inside the room, light began to fracture across the mirror's surface and Ruelle turned back to look at it.

Knowing it was time, Ruelle pressed her fingers into the water-like surface. They sank through, and the mirror began to draw her in, inch by inch.

She felt as if she were dipping her fingers into ice and noticed the flame that had been wavering going still. Dust hung motionless in the air.

Even Lady Sylvan's snarl fell silent.

The next instant, the mirror shattered, but not a single fragment fell. Thousands of glittering pieces remained suspended in the air where it had stood, caught between one second and the next.

Ruelle disappeared from the room.

For a whole ten seconds, she couldn't see anything. There was only the sensation of falling before she was abruptly dropped to the ground. She winced at this, pushing herself up onto her hands.

Did the spell not work as she had expected it to?

Looking around, she noticed she was in a forest. The trees were bare, their branches reaching upwards. The ground beneath her was bare too and though it looked like the hour of night, she noticed the red glow that came from the moon that looked bigger than usual.

"Now... how exactly am I supposed to make my request?" Ruelle murmured, standing up and starting to walk.

There was no path to follow, only the endless repetition of bare black trees stretching into the dark. When she finally did catch sight of people, her eyebrows rose. But the closer she got, their pale shape flickered like heat simmering.

Ghosts. And there were dozens of them walking between the bare trees in slow, aimless drifting.

When one hazy figure turned towards her, so did the others and they began to move to where she stood.

"If you know where Mother, Brother Dane or Brother Lachlan is, it would be helpful," Ruelle stated, but the ghosts didn't hear her.

The crowd of ghosts got closer while Ruelle turned and began running. The ghosts wept and reached their cold hands towards her.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared between them.

It solidified out of the dark with an abruptness that made Ruelle step back. One moment there was only weeping and grasping hands, and the next, a figure stood among the crowd of ghosts, fully formed, a woman in a black dress with a black veil obscuring the upper half of her face.

"Get lost."

The woman waved her hand in a single, dismissive motion, and the ghosts scattered. This created a gust of wind, which caught the hem of the woman's dress and the edge of her veil, both fluttering in one direction before settling back into stillness.

Ruelle stared at the woman's back. "Mother...?" The word left her before she could stop it.

The woman turned, coming to stand face-to-face with Ruelle, and Ruelle could finally see the blonde hair beneath the veil, pulled back into a bun, a few loose strands catching against pale skin. Her eyes were grey as if lacking warmth.

"I am not her," came the dull words from the woman. If this wasn't her mother—

"Belladonna?" she asked, the name coming out barely above a whisper and she heard the woman hum in response.

The witch began to walk without another word. Her steps carried her deeper into the dead forest, while her black dress whispered against the barren ground. Noticing Ruelle not following, she looked over her shoulder and asked, "What are you doing standing there?"

Ruelle hurried to follow, walking in silence. When she glanced behind, she caught sight of the ghosts watching them from behind the trees.

"Is that normal behaviour?" Ruelle asked, keeping her voice low, as if the ghosts might hear her.

"No." Belladonna did not turn. She deadpanned, "They are people I killed who got on my nerves."

When Belladonna turned to meet Ruelle's eyes, Ruelle asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"The most powerful type of magic comes from sacrificing your dear ones. Better your blood," Belladonna uttered the words before a smile cracked in the corner. "Relax. After you made the summoning, it should have taken you to where you wanted, but I decided to intervene so that you are aware of the consequences."

The consequences again...

"You do know that I am your granddaughter, right?" Ruelle asked with a look of suspicion.

"The man I loved, and with whom I had a child, set me on fire." Belladonna glanced at her. "I have had rather mixed feelings about my bloodline ever since. Love can be rather despicable and cheap. Look at your mother."

"You have been watching us," Ruelle murmured. "I'm sorry he did that to you."

A sigh escaped from Belladonna's lips. "I am over it. I cursed him before I died, tying him to me in agony." She turned and jerked her head towards the crowd of the ghost. "Look at that thing on the ground. That's him. Pathetic."

Ruelle caught sight of a ghost with a melted face, who found it hard to crawl. Then that would be—

"So what were the consequences you were talking about?" she asked.

"You used the Brew of Reversed Time. But there's already an imbalance and the weight you are pulling is heavy," Belladonna stated as she continued to walk in the front. "I haven't tried it myself. No one has, but I know this much: that things won't return exactly the same way they have been until now. The pureblooded vampire was smart."

"King Septmius?"

"Not that old man," Belladonna remarked with her lips pursing even though she was much older than the king. "I am talking about the one who was meant to kill you."

Lucian…

Belladonna's voice was flat as she continued, "Things won't be the same with your friend." Her eyes moved to look at Ruelle, grey and unreadable, before turning forward again, fixed on the endless bare trees ahead. "I believe you are already aware of it. The farther you push the timeline, the more things will change."

"If Lucian had pushed with the idea," the witch continued with a tone which seemed like she was unbothered by Ruelle's worry, "there could have been chances of you turning to siblings. Or meeting each other after several years, when one of you is old, while the other is young. Or ceasing to exist again. After all, spells can be quite tricky."

Ruelle's feet stopped, as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water.

"Even though there's a soul bond in place?"

"Even though there's a soul bond in place. Not to mention, you will be the only one to remember. But that's only half the consequences," Belladonna explained and she raised her hand to scatter the hovering ghosts.

Ruelle had thought returning meant getting them back. She had not considered that she might return to people who no longer knew her.

When they reached the edge of the forest, there stood a door in a tree. "If you choose one now, you won't be able to choose another again. That is how these doors work. One threshold." Her hand slid down the wood before dropping to her side. "If you choose to reverse time, you will never see your mother again, no matter what timeline you pick or replicate the ingredients. That is the sacrifice you will have to make."

Ruelle's chest tightened at the thought of it.

Since her ability had surfaced, she had been quietly looking forward to meeting the woman who had cared for her. She wanted to see her and talk to her and now she was being told if she chose one, the other option would cease to exist.

"Is she... here? In this place..." Ruelle asked, her eyes moving to look at the ghosts who weren't far from where they stood.

"If that is whom you want to see, all you have to do is step inside this door and it will lead you there," Belladonna raised her hand towards the door. Her expression didn't give away anything, as it continued to stay neutral.

Ruelle nodded at the woman's words, her eyes lowering to the ground for a brief moment.

Her mother was somewhere beyond that door. One step, and she could finally see the face she had imagined all her life. But the weight on her shoulders was too heavy for her feet to move.

After a while, she asked, "May I ask something from you?"

A small chuckle escaped from the older witch's lips, who replied, "There's nothing much I have that I can give you. What is it?"

Without answering, Ruelle stepped forward and wound her arms around her grandmother to hug her. Her eyes closed, as if to ground herself, while Belladonna was taken aback for a brief second. The look in her eyes finally softened and she murmured,

"I see. So you have made your choice."

Ruelle pulled away, asking, "Will I see you again?"

"Who knows, that depends on you, isn't it?" Belladonna replied with a slight smile. "Farewell until then, Ruelle."

Taking a deep breath, Ruelle placed her hand against the door. A strange current passed through her palm, travelling beneath her skin as the wood began to glow. Her body felt like it was being stretched and compressed at the same time. The light intensified until it flooded her vision and everything around her disappeared.

And then there was nothing but darkness, as if she had been left to sleep for a long time.

Ruelle woke to the crunch of carriage wheels on the ground, steady and rhythmic, the motion of the vehicle rocking her gently from side to side. The smell of old leather and wood polish filled her nostrils. But her eyes flew open when one carriage wheel broke and the carriage tilted, stopping sharply.

"What happened?!" came a familiar woman's voice.

"The wheel is stuck in the ground, milady. I don't think it can move farther," said the coachman from the front.

Ruelle heard the words through the heaviness surrounding her. A horse snorted somewhere outside, when she opened her eyes, she felt small as she stared at her hands, which were resting on her lap.

She slowly turned her hands over. The sight unsettled her more than seeing the younger Belmonts did. The years she remembered were still inside her, yet now her body carried no evidence that any of them had happened.

"Are you serious?" Mr. Belmont said in an irritated tone. "We have to visit the damn purebloods' mansion, and you chose to break it now?!"

Ruelle couldn't help but stare at a younger-looking Mr. and Mrs. Belmont right now. Never would she have thought that she would be happy to see them. As this meant the spell had worked and she had returned to the past.

"What are you doing sitting there? Get down!" Mr. Belmont snapped, but Ruelle didn't care.

"Of all the hour, they had to choose evening when it is going to snow soon. What if they find out about Caroline?" Mrs. Belmont asked in worry as they began to head in the direction of the mansion, while dragging Ruelle by her hand.

"They won't. I am just worried they are going to reject the treaty once they see this dull thing," Mr. Belmont muttered, glancing at little Ruelle, who now had a smile on her face.

As the Slater mansion came into view, Ruelle's heart picked up its pace. A lot of things were the same as it was when she had left the mansion to go visit the Sylvans' mansion. The home she had craved and imagined, the family who had accepted who she was.

When they got closer, Ruelle's eyes found the family standing right outside the entrance. Her eyes moved from Lord Azriel to the woman beside him. And her lips parted, as if astonished by the beauty of the vampiress, Lady Irina. She had visited the vampiress grave with Lucian, while he had mourned his mother quietly.

And now Lady Irina was standing beneath the evening sky as though death had never touched her.

"Harold Belmont," Lord Azriel greeted with an air of elegance and power.

"Lord Azriel, greetings," Mr. Belmont tried to act polite with a smile.

Ruelle almost slipped to be scolded by Mrs. Belmont and in time she caught a young Lucian frown. How cute...

But then her eyes moved to Brother Dane. Dane stood next to his brother, young and healthy and very much alive. He caught her gaze and grinned, and her chest squeezed as she hadn't thought she would see that smile again. His grin was crooked. His eyes were bright.

For one wild second, she wanted to run to him.

Ruelle's vision blurred, and she felt her throat close with the effort of holding back the sob that wanted to break free. But then she smiled out of sheer joy. Even though she wouldn't ever know about her birth mother, it felt right to see both Lady Irina and Brother Dane doing fine.

"Ruelle!"

Mrs. Belmont tugged her hand when she missed a step.

"It looks like little Ruelle likes our eldest," Lady Irina chuckled, the corners of her eyes crinkling with fond amusement.

Wait, what?!

Mr. Belmont offered, "Should we ask the elder minister to change it then? We—"

Before he could complete, dark tendrils slipped across the ground, black and sinuous, curling between the feet of the gathered family like shadows given life. The humans gasped, stepping back, their faces twisting with fear.

"W–What is t–that?!" Mrs. Belmont looked like she had seen a ghost, where she had come to stand behind her husband.

But Ruelle wasn't scared, she was surprised to see it. She had turned the time... it should have disappeared because of the lack of trauma. So why was his corruption still there?

Her eyes lifted and met his aloof ones. She had seen Lucian look at her like that before, when she had entered Sexton. He was studying her… but as a stranger.

Of course, she thought.

Belladonna had warned her that she would be the only one to remember the past timeline. Still, knowing it and standing beneath Lucian's gaze were different things. She remembered the way those eyes had softened for her and she would earn it back.

In the past, he was the one to carry their memories and this time it was her turn.

"Please don't be scared," Lady Irina said, her voice gentle, her hand settling on Lucian's shoulder as if to anchor him. "It is just his pureblooded vampire ability that was manifested recently. He doesn't mean any harm."

Lady Irina looked between her youngest son and the little girl, staring at each other. She then smiled and said, "I don't think an adjustment will be required. As it seems, our youngest is more taken in by her than his brother."