Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted novel Chapter 441

White nothingness stretches in every direction. No up, no down, no sense of space or time. My last memory places me on the couch in my cabin, exhaustion finally claiming me after what feels like days with minimal sleep.

Yet here I float, in a familiar void.

A memory teases at the edges of my consciousness—a similar sensation of falling without movement, of existing without breath or body.

"Why does this feel so familiar?" The words disappear into the silence, no air to carry them. Yet somehow I know I've spoken them.

Because I've been here before. In another time, another dream. I just can't remember—

But suddenly, the white is no more, and I blink my eyes against bright sunlight. Warm air surrounds me, my body baking beneath the warm layers of winter. _{freeweɓnovēl.coɱ}

Jagged cliffs rise around me, familiar yet different. Last time, clouds dotted an impossibly blue sky. Now it stretches endless and clear, like someone wiped away every imperfection.

I remember this place now. The pond with its gorgeous, clear aqua water. The strange sensation of magic in the air, something now familiar to me. It's a placed not only imbued in mana, but created from it.

This is where I met the Moon Goddess, so long ago.

"Selena?" My voice echoes in this gorgeous vale, but no answer comes.

The crystalline pond draws me forward, its surface a perfect mirror. Magic pulses beneath my skin, stronger than before, reaching toward something in this place.

"Hello?"

Still nothing.

The water reflects my face, but something's wrong. No glow emanates from my form like last time. No ethereal light dances across the surface. Just... me. Regular, exhausted Ava Grey staring back.

This has to be the same place. The magic hums in the air, making my skin prickle with recognition. Every breath fills my lungs with pure, crisp air untouched by the modern world.

I sink to the ground beside the crystalline pond, my fingers trailing through the cool water. The ripples distort my reflection—but it remains just a normal, tired face staring back. No magical glow, no hint of the power I wield.

"This makes no sense. I've grown stronger. I've learned so much."

The last time I stood in this place, my magic blazed like wildfire in the water's surface. Selena was beside me then; perhaps her presence is necessary to see the magic.

What did she tell me, so long ago? This place is a reflection of my inner self. Also, the world needed its children to bring life back from drought.

And I had told her… "That the world is thriving," I murmur, remembering how dismissive she had been. What were her exact words again?

I suppose that would be how humans perceive it.

The silence weighs heavy without Selene or Grimoire to debate these riddles. No snarky comments from my magical companion, no gentle guidance from my wolf.

I press my palm flat against the water's surface. "I wish you two were here. You'd probably have theories about all this."

"You've returned." A soft voice breaks through my reverie, making me jump.

I spin around. Selena stands there, though something's different. Her form wavers like heat rising from summer pavement, less solid than before.

"The taint I've been purifying—is that what you meant by the world being in drought? Does this place have anything to do with the wards on my soul? Are you—"