I fell in love with you in my new life

POV - Emilia

I'm going to admit something I've never told anyone before.

The day I met Grisel, I went with the firm intention of making her dislike me.

Yes.

It's that simple. It's that silly.

I was six years old, what did you expect?

We had always been together, playing, sharing food, secrets... and even though I didn't really know what it meant at the time, I cared.

A lot.

And suddenly, he started talking to me about another girl.

"Grisel showed me how to read sacred symbols."

"Grisel says that the music of the leaves has rhythm if you stay quiet."

"Grisel brought me a fruit stolen from the altar."

Who was this Grisel? And why did he sound so interested?

I could teach Luahn things too! I knew how to make fire with two stones! Well... sometimes.

So, one day when Dad went to leave a report at the temple, I secretly followed him.

Don't ask me how I got to the inner wing of the sanctuary. I don't know myself. I just remember that the robe I was wearing was too big for me and I tripped twice over the ceremonial stones. How spiritual!

And then I saw her.

Sitting like a marble statue.

She had red hair, perfectly braided, and a face so focused that I thought she might be levitating with boredom.

She was holding a huge scroll, longer than she was.

She was alone.

Completely alone.

"You must be Grisel," I said, crossing my arms.

She looked up with the slowness of a dramatic movie.

"And you must be Emilia."

"What?!

She already knew who I was?"

"Did Luahn tell you about me?"

"Yes."

"...What did he say?"

"That you're good at fighting. But that you like to argue about everything."

"He said that?!"

"He also said that you're a lot of fun... when you're not yelling."

I froze.

"And did he tell you about me?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?"

"He didn't need to. He already has me," I replied sharply.

My blood was starting to boil.

I had to mark my territory.

"I'm his friend."

"I'm his friend too."

"But I'm his best friend."

"Did he tell you that?"

I choked on my own pride.

"...No."

"Then you don't know."

"But I am! I've known him longer, and I've seen him cry when he fell out of the tree. Have you ever seen him cry?"

"No."

"Exactly!"

"...But I did see him sleeping with his head on my lap."

I felt like my insides were exploding.

"WHAT?! WHEN?!"

"After an afternoon of playing. He was tired. It was... sweet."

I started planning combat strategies in my head.

She looked at me calmly. I already had my fists clenched.

"...I don't like you," I blurted out.

"Me neither."

We fell silent.

And then... she smiled.

"But I like that you care so much."

I didn't know what to say.

"I don't have many friends either," she said, lowering her voice. "Everyone treats me like I can't make mistakes. Like I'm sacred. But I just want to be a girl sometimes. And Luahn lets me be that."

Her words... weren't arrogant. They were sincere.

For the first time, I saw Grisel for what she was: a girl, like me.

"...I also want to kick the ones who mess with him," I said.

She nodded.

"We can take turns."

And that's how rivalry turned into an alliance.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiding behind a ceremonial curtain, eating dried fruit and whispering nonsense.

I discovered that Grisel had a bubbly laugh, but she covered her mouth so no one would hear her.

She discovered that I did terrible impressions of the temple instructors.

And together we discovered that Luahn could unite two different worlds, unintentionally, just by his presence.

We didn't tell him anything.

Not yet.

It was more fun that way.

Let him believe we couldn't stand each other, while we secretly began to get along...

At least a little bit.

*

POV - Grisel

A priestess does not lie.

A priestess does not steal.

A priestess does not question what has been passed down since ancient times.

That's what I've been taught every day for as long as I can remember.

And yet here I am, quietly reciting an ancient anchoring chant... while Emilia draws an activation circle with burnt resin ash that I stole from the minor altar two nights ago.

My mother would kill me if she saw me.

"This symbol goes here, right?" Emilia asked, pushing a half-rolled scroll toward me.

"Yes, but turn it around. You're drawing the seal of release backwards. If you leave it like that, you could open a spiritual conduit at midnight... and we don't want to summon hungry spirits."

"What?! Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm not scaring you. I just want you to know what happens when you summon wrong."

Emilia grumbled and redrew it.

We were in an old, empty chamber beneath one of the forgotten wings of the temple. I discovered it when I was younger, hiding from a long ceremony. No one came here. The walls were covered in moss, and the floor smelled of old earth. 

Perfect for what we needed.

"And you're sure this won't kill us?"

"Almost sure."

"… How 'almost'?"

"Do you want percentages or a reassuring look?"

"I prefer a convincing lie."

"Then: it absolutely won't kill us."

"Thank you!"

I sighed. Not out of annoyance. Out of nerves.

The truth is, I was scared too. Not just because of the risk of the ritual. But because of what it meant to do this in the first place.

We were making a decision that no girl should ever have to make.

"Have you ever wondered if what we're doing is right?" I asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Emilia stopped drawing and looked at me.

"I want to help him. You do too. But... what if this isn't what he needs? 

Emilia was silent for a second.

"...Maybe," she admitted. 

"But if no one does anything, then we would be failing him."

"You're right."

"And besides..." She paused, lowering her voice a little.

"He's not like the others. You know that, right?"

I nodded.

"He doesn't say it, but you can see it in his eyes. He has a strength that doesn't come from muscles or energy. It comes from somewhere else. And that scares me, because it's as if the world wasn't made for someone like him."

"Then we'll make the world adapt," I murmured.

"Exactly."

We finished the circle almost at dusk.

The symbols were aligned. The affinity stone, a translucent ash-blue gem, rested in the center of the altar.

The white bonding sheet hung over it, held in place by a thread of spiritual silk that I had woven myself.

"What about the blood?" Emilia asked.

"Just one drop. His. The ritual will guide him through his spirit. He doesn't need more than that."

"What if it doesn't awaken anything?"

"Then... we'll know we tried."

I stared at the circle, now complete.

It wasn't just an act of power.

It was a statement.

Luahn was not alone.

And we were going to prove it.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"Never. But that doesn't matter."

I smiled.

We had done something impossible.

Something forbidden.

And yet... I didn't feel guilty.

*

POV – Luahn

There was something different about the air that afternoon.

I couldn't say what it was.

It just... felt denser. As if the branches of the Hypnos Tree were holding their breath.

I was sitting on a rock, staring blankly at my wooden sword. I hadn't trained that day. My arms were still covered in small bruises, cuts that hadn't completely healed, and the weight of my latest defeat still weighed heavily on my shoulders.

My body didn't even hurt anymore.

"Luahn."

I turned around.

Emilia and Grisel.

Together, again.

I stood up, somewhat suspiciously.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Emilia said bluntly. 

"We've found a way."

"A way to do what?"

"To wake you up."

Silence.

She walked until she was in front of me. She looked at me with that mixture of determination and stubbornness she used when she was going to challenge an instructor.

"There is a ritual. Old. Human. From the beginning of the Tree. It serves to awaken the Yin energy."

"...But I'm half wolf."

"Human enough to try," added Grisel, who came up beside me.

"And is this safe?"

"Not entirely," Grisel replied honestly. "But it won't force you. It's not like the awakening of Yang. It doesn't demand. It only offers."

I remained silent.

"And why do you want to do this for me?" I asked, lowering my voice.

Emilia crossed her arms, uncomfortable.

"Because... I can't keep watching you train until you bleed and still end up in the same place. You don't deserve that."

"Isn't it out of pity?"

"It's not pity!" she snapped immediately. 

"It's... it's anger. Because if anyone should be able to use energy, it's you. If the Tree didn't choose you, then we're going to show it that it can be wrong."

"And you," I turned to Grisel. "Do you believe that too?"

She nodded.

"You don't need to prove anything to anyone. But if you want a chance to change things... now is the time."

I looked at both of them.

Two worlds that were nothing alike.

A warrior who didn't want her friend to give up.

A priestess who broke her vows for one person.

I thought of Mom.

How she hugged me on the day of the failed ceremony.

How she said, "No matter what they say, you're not alone."

I thought of Leyla's words.

"War will return. The Demon King does not forget. And when he does, the Tree will shake its leaves again."

I thought... about protecting.

Not myself.

But them.

My mother.

The children who will one day be born under the shadows of Hypnos' branches.

"What do I have to do?" I finally asked.

They both exhaled at the same time.

Grisel was the first to speak.

"The ritual requires your consent, your blood, and your presence within the circle. We will guide you in everything else."

"It will be tonight," Emilia added. 

"No one must know. Not even your mother."

That part hurt me.

Hiding something from Mom. But if I told her... she wouldn't let me go.

"...All right."

Emilia smiled slightly.

"Thank you for trusting us."

"I don't have many other options," I joked.

For a moment, the fear faded.

Not because I had no doubts.

But because they looked at me as if I were already something more.

As if even without awakening any energy... I already had value.

And that was the greatest strength I had ever felt.

*

POV - Olivia

When you are a mother, you learn to read silence.

Not the usual silence of the night, when the leaves rustle and the crickets sing. I mean the strange silence.

The one that settles in when something is about to change.

When the world holds its breath... as if waiting for something to happen.

That night, I felt that silence.

And I knew I shouldn't sleep.

I was sitting by the fire, weaving a rope of soft fibers that we would use to hang medicinal herbs. Luahn had already gone to bed, or so I thought. 

He always went to sleep early after training until he was exhausted. But I didn't hear him breathing. Not this time.

I got up quietly, barefoot on the wooden floor. I walked over to his corner.

Empty.

The blanket folded. The wooden sword leaning against the wall.

His cloak, his canteen, his practice bandages.

Everything... was missing.

My heart skipped a beat.

It wasn't fear, exactly.

It was a premonition.

Like when a storm approaches from the other side of the forest and the birds flee before the sky thunders.

I left the cabin without making a sound.

The moons were high, veiled by a light mist.

And then I saw them.

Three figures.

Small, hooded.

They were crossing the edge of the city, heading for the forest.

They walked slowly but decisively.

Luahn.

Grisel.

Emilia.

I didn't scream.

I didn't run toward them.

I didn't stand in their way.

I just watched from the shadows of the trees, leaning against the nearest oak tree with my arms crossed over my chest.

"Where are you going, son?" I whispered to the wind.

"What decision have you made... without me?"

Something inside me trembled.