The Revenant’s Smile

Anna did not move.

Her grip on her dagger was tight, her knuckles white, her breath uneven—but she did not move.

The man in front of her—the one who had been dead for years—stood there as if he had never left. As if the grave had never claimed him.

His face was unchanged.

His voice was unchanged.

But the thing inside him?

That was not the man she had once known.

"Say my name," the revenant murmured, tilting his head. "Just to make sure I'm real."

Anna's heart pounded.

She swallowed hard. "Lucas."

His smile widened.

"Good," he whispered. "You still remember."

The Past That Should Have Stayed Buried

Lucas.

A name she had not spoken in years.

A name she had buried alongside the body.

Anna had mourned him once.

She had stood over his grave, hands clenched, refusing to cry because Lucas would have hated that.

She had promised herself she would never look back.

And yet, here he was—alive, whole, untouched by time.

Except—

It wasn't him.

Anna took a slow breath, steadying herself. "You died."

Lucas let out a soft hum. "I did."

"Then why are you here?"

The smile on his face didn't change.

But his eyes did.

For a split second, something dark flickered behind them.

And Anna knew.

This wasn't just fate correcting itself.

This was something worse.

The Hollowed Echo

Anna didn't let herself hesitate. "You're not him."

Lucas let out a soft, amused breath. "Aren't I?"

Anna's grip tightened.

She had spent years hunting monsters, battling the Hollow King's forces, fighting things that should not exist.

But this?

This was something new.

Something she didn't understand.

And that terrified her.

"What are you?" she demanded.

Lucas stepped forward.

Anna held her ground.

He smiled—but there was nothing warm in it.

"I don't know yet," he said softly.

And that—that was worse than anything else.

The War Against Fate

The wind howled around them.

The battlefield was empty, yet it felt as though the world itself was watching.

Lucas exhaled slowly, lifting a hand as if examining his own fingers.

"This body is new," he mused. "Familiar, yet… not."

Anna's chest tightened.

He was testing himself.

Seeing how far the limits of this new existence could go.

And if Lucas was back—if something had returned him—what else had come through?

Anna's nails dug into her palm.

She had spent so long believing that Ethan's departure was the end.

But now?

Now she realized—

It was just the beginning.

Because Ethan hadn't just left.

He had broken something.

And whatever Lucas had become—whatever force had pulled him from the abyss—was the first proof that the world was unraveling.

Anna swallowed hard.

She had fought against darkness. Against monsters. Against men who thought they could control the fate of the world.

But this was different.

This was a war against the very fabric of reality itself.

And she wasn't sure if she could win.

The Choice That Should Not Exist

Lucas studied her.

Then, he sighed.

"You always were stubborn," he murmured.

Anna stiffened.

Something about his voice—**about the way he said it—**sent a shiver down her spine.

It was too familiar.

Too real.

For a moment, she almost believed it was him.

But she knew better.

She had to.

Lucas's gaze flickered toward the sky, watching the last remnants of the rift that had taken Ethan.

Then, he turned back to her.

"Tell me, Anna," he said. "What would you do to bring him back?"

Anna froze.

Her blood turned to ice.

Lucas smiled.

"You'd do anything, wouldn't you?"

The Bait of the Impossible

Anna's breath came shallow.

Lucas had always been dangerous, even in life. He had known how to read people, how to manipulate their weaknesses without ever raising a blade.

And now?

Now he was something else entirely.

Something that knew exactly what to say to break her.

"You can't bring him back," Anna said, forcing the words through clenched teeth.

Lucas's gaze darkened.

"But what if I could?"

Her heart stopped.

A slow, agonizing silence stretched between them.

Lucas took another step forward, his voice lower now, a whisper in the wind.

"Ethan was never meant to leave," he murmured. "You know that."

Anna's pulse pounded.

"No," she whispered. "Don't—"

"But he did," Lucas continued, unfazed. "And now something has to take his place."

Anna shook her head. "I won't listen to this."

Lucas grinned.

"But you already are, aren't you?"

The Offer That Should Be Refused

Anna took a slow, shaky breath.

She couldn't listen to him.

She couldn't let him in.

But his words—his words made too much sense.

Ethan was never supposed to leave.

And now, the world was falling apart without him.

Was it possible?

Could she bring him back?

Could she undo what had been done?

Lucas watched her with quiet amusement, as if he already knew the answer.

And that—more than anything else—scared her.

Because if Lucas knew what she wanted, if he knew that she would do anything to get Ethan back—

Then maybe fate wasn't done with her yet.