Chapter 3: The First Loss

  Magnus stood there, trembling, his heart heavy in his chest as he gazed down at Alex. His fingers hovered above her forehead, shaking uncontrollably, as the weight of what he was about to do bore down on him. The world around him seemed to blur, and for a moment, he almost couldn’t breathe.

  This was the hardest thing he had ever done.

  “Goodbye, Alex,” he whispered, his voice barely audible, cracking with emotion. The words felt like a dagger in his soul.

  As his hand descended, the power within him surged, and he began the delicate process of severing her memories. The air around them seemed to pulse with a quiet energy, the space between them stretching and pulling apart as he reached out to erase the very essence of their shared history. But with every passing moment, a feeling of profound loss enveloped him.

  It was as if every memory they had created together was slipping through his fingers like sand, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hold on to any of it.

  His eyes blurred with tears. He felt them before he could stop them—tears that came from deep within, a place of pain he hadn’t known existed. The guilt, the sorrow, the weight of what he was doing, it all came crashing down on him in a wave he couldn’t fight.

  Suddenly, he was pulled into the memories of their past, flashes of moments with Alex overwhelming his mind.

  He remembered the first time they met, two scared kids in a foster home that smelled of mildew and disappointment. Alex had been the only one who spoke to him that first day, her small, sunburned hand offering him half a melted candy bar. “Here,” she’d said with a grin that seemed too big for her tiny face. “You need this more than me.”

  He saw her smile, her laughter echoing through the quiet streets of their childhood town.

  It was the summer they had spent running through the fields, picking wildflowers. They had been inseparable, always together, always there for each other. No one understood Magnus the way Alex did—no one ever had.

  He remembered the time they had spent in the small, dusty attic of her house, reading books and talking about their dreams.

  She had always been the one to believe in him when no one else did. Alex had never once wavered, never once told him he wasn’t enough. In every dark moment of his life, she had been there, a constant, a beacon of light in his world.

  His chest tightened as more memories flooded in—the late nights they spent talking about everything and nothing, about their fears, their hopes, their future. How she had promised him they would always be there for each other, no matter what life threw at them. They had been children then, but those promises had meant something. They still did.

  Magnus’ heart ached as the flashbacks grew more intense. He remembered the warmth of her hand in his, the strength in her voice when she reassured him.

  And now, he was the one about to take all of that away from her. Every moment they had shared. Every piece of their shared history. It was all slipping away.

  “Please, don’t make me do this,” Magnus whispered through his tears, but it was already too late.

  In his mind’s eye, Alex’s face was fading. Her smile, her laugh, the warmth in her eyes—it was all slipping away. He had promised her peace, but this wasn’t peace. It was a lie. He was stealing her from herself.

  His breath became ragged as he continued. His vision blurred completely now, the memories of their past—their childhood, their shared struggles, their bond—flashing before his eyes in rapid succession. Every time they had been there for each other, every single moment of connection, it felt like a physical wound cutting deeper into his chest.

  He saw her face the first time she had kissed him, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, her nervous laughter filling the space between them. She had always been the one who made him feel like he was worth something. Like he mattered.

  “You were always there for me…” he murmured through his sobs. The guilt was suffocating him. How could he be doing this to her? How could he be erasing everything they had shared?

  But the power he had now—the power to erase everything she had experienced, everything they had been through together—was within his grasp. His hand shook as he fought with himself, his resolve wavering with every tear that slipped down his face.

  He remembered the promise he had made her.

  “We’ll always be together, Magnus. We’ll face whatever comes our way.”

  But now, he was breaking that promise. He was taking her memories from her. He was forcing her to live a life without him, without ever knowing the truth of their bond.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Why did you have to want this? Why did you want to be normal? Why couldn’t you have stayed with me in this world?” His voice cracked as the weight of his decision crashed down on him.

  The final memory came to him— the night when everything had changed, when they had both been thrust into a world they hadn’t chosen. She had been there, by his side, when everything seemed lost. The fear in her eyes, the determination in her voice, the way she had held onto him as though he were the only thing keeping her anchored to reality.

  “I won’t let you face this alone,” she had said, even when she didn’t fully understand it. Even when she was scared herself, she had stood by him.

  And now, he was erasing all of it. All of it.

  Magnus’ chest heaved with the force of his sobs. His hands, still trembling, hovered over her, unable to continue. His heart was broken. His soul felt shattered, torn between his love for Alex and his overwhelming desire to give her the peace she wanted.

  But it wasn’t peace. It was selfish. It was a betrayal.

  His resolve broke, and with a final sob, he pulled his hands away, gasping for breath. The tears streamed down his face, his body wracked with pain.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice thick with grief. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I couldn’t…”

  Nara, who had stood silently behind him through this ordeal, stepped forward, her expression softened with understanding, but also with sadness. She placed a hand on his shoulder, offering him what little comfort she could. “You did what you thought was right, Magnus. You honored her wish for peace, even if it hurt you.”

  But all Magnus could feel was the emptiness. The knowledge that Alex would never know the life they had shared, the bond they had built. She would never know how much he had loved her, how much she had meant to him.

  All of it—gone. Lost forever.

  And as he stood there, grief-stricken and broken, he knew that this was the price he had paid for her safety.

  But the ache in his heart, the tears he couldn’t stop shedding, would be his burden to carry for the rest of his life.

  Magnus sat on his knees, staring at the empty spot where Alex had just been. The world around him felt unbearably quiet, as though even the wind had stopped to mourn. His chest felt hollow, like something vital had been ripped out of him, leaving only an aching void. He couldn’t bring himself to move, his hands gripping the ground as if anchoring himself to this one unbearable moment.

  She was gone.

  The golden light that had surrounded Alex moments before had faded, taking her memories, her presence—everything that made her Alex—with it. All that remained now was silence.

  Nara stood nearby, her gaze heavy with understanding but offering no comfort. This was a pain she couldn’t shield him from, a choice he had made that only he could bear.

  Magnus’s vision blurred as tears welled up again. He thought he had cried himself dry already, but now it seemed endless. His body shook with each quiet sob, his breath catching in his throat as he struggled to process what he’d just done.

  Alex. His best friend. His anchor in a world that had so often felt cruel and chaotic. The one person who had seen every broken piece of him and still stayed by his side. She was gone—not dead, but erased from the life they had shared, from the bond they had built over years.

  And he had been the one to take her away.

  A sob tore from his throat, raw and uncontainable. It felt as though the weight of every memory, every moment they had shared, was crushing him. He clawed at the ground, his nails digging into the dirt as if he could somehow hold on to her, to the pieces of her that had already slipped away.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I’m so sorry, Alex.”

  The worst part wasn’t just losing her. It was the knowledge that Alex—his Alex—no longer existed. The girl who had laughed with him, cried with him, fought with him… she was gone. The memories they had shared, the life they had built together—it had all been unraveled, erased by the golden light of Nara’s power.

  Magnus’s shoulders shook as he wept, the grief pouring out of him in waves. He had known this decision would hurt, but he hadn’t realized it would feel like dying.

  “She was everything,” he choked out, his voice muffled against the earth. “Everything I had left. And I gave her up.”

  Nara finally stepped closer, her presence calm but not unkind. She knelt beside him, her golden eyes filled with the quiet wisdom of someone who had seen this kind of pain many times before.

  “This is the burden of your path,” she said softly, her voice steady. “Every choice you make will come with a cost. Every bond, every memory, every loss will shape you. But this… this is only the beginning, Magnus.”

  He turned to her, his face streaked with tears, his expression raw with anguish. “How am I supposed to live with this?” he asked, his voice breaking. “How am I supposed to move on, knowing she’ll never even remember me? She was the only one who ever cared. The only one who ever stayed.”

  Nara’s gaze softened, but her words didn’t waver. “You move on because you must. Because Alex chose peace, and you gave it to her. That is not a failure, Magnus—it is an act of love. The greatest love you can offer someone is to honor their wishes, even when it breaks you.”

  Her words cut deep, but they didn’t soothe the ache in his chest. Magnus turned his face back to the empty space where Alex had been, fresh tears falling. He could still see her in his mind—the way her nose crinkled when she laughed, the way she always tilted her head when she was deep in thought, the way she looked at him like he was worth something when he felt like nothing.

  “She deserved better,” he whispered. “Better than me. Better than this.”

  “She deserved peace,” Nara corrected gently. “And you gave her that. That is not something to be ashamed of, Magnus.”

  But he couldn’t feel anything other than shame and grief. His hands clenched into fists, his nails digging into his palms. “Will I… will I ever see her again?” he asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

  Nara hesitated, her golden light dimming slightly. “Perhaps,” she said after a moment. “But if you do, she won’t know you. Not as she does now. To her, you’ll be a stranger. She’ll live her life free of this world, free of its dangers… and free of you.”

  Magnus closed his eyes, the weight of her words pressing down on him like a physical force. A stranger. That was what he had become to the one person who had known him better than anyone else.

  As the silence stretched between them, Nara placed a hand on his shoulder, her touch warm and grounding. “This is your first loss, Magnus. And it will stay with you. But it will also remind you of why you’re walking this path. There is still so much for you to learn, so much you can become.”

  “What does it matter?” he muttered, his voice hollow. “I’ve already lost the only person who mattered.”

  Nara’s gaze sharpened, though her tone remained kind. “Alex was your beginning, Magnus. But she’s not your end. There’s a school—a sanctuary for those like you—where you can learn to understand your power. To master it. To prepare for the challenges ahead.”

  Magnus blinked, lifting his head slightly. “A school?” he asked, his voice still thick with grief.

  “Yes,” Nara said. “It’s a place where you’ll find others who have walked similar paths. They will teach you, guide you. And perhaps… help you find purpose in this pain.”

  Magnus stared at her for a long moment before nodding slowly. He didn’t feel ready—not even close—but what else did he have? Alex was gone, and the life he had once known was behind him. All that remained was the road ahead.

  “I’ll go,” he said finally, his voice quiet but firm. “If it means I can honor Alex’s memory, I’ll go.”

  Nara nodded, the faintest flicker of approval in her eyes. “Then prepare yourself, Magnus. This is only the beginning.”

  As the golden light enveloped them both, Magnus closed his eyes, holding onto the last image of Alex in his mind. The grief still burned, a raw and aching wound, but somewhere beneath it, a small ember of determination began to flicker.

  For Alex. For her peace. And for the strength to make her sacrifice mean something.