Chapter 9: The Last Star

Selene's POV

Everything was quiet. 

The sky had cleared. The stars no longer collided. The sea no longer raged. The world had been saved and time started moving again.

But no one knew what had happened. 

The people who had survived awoke to a calm, restored world, unaware of the chaos that had nearly consumed it. To them, the storm had simply passed. The night had been long, but the sun had risen again as if nothing had ever been wrong. 

No one knew that the stars had almost shattered. 

No one knew that the world had been on the brink of destruction. 

No one knew that Axel had given everything to save it. 

But I knew. And the silence of the world felt deafening. 

Axel— 

Axel was gone. 

I reached forward, my fingers grasping at nothing. The warmth that had always been there—the light I had always felt beside me—was gone. The realization struck like a knife twisting deep in my chest. My hands clenched into fists as I shook my head, refusing to believe it. 

The wind was still, the water beneath me eerily calm. No voices, no movement. Just the echo of a world that had been moments from destruction—now peaceful, as if the battle had never happened. 

But it had. I had lived through it. 

And now, I was alone. 

I gasped for air as something inside me crumbled. Tears blurred my vision. My chest ached with a pain deeper than anything I had ever known. The weight of loss, of everything we had fought for, came crashing down all at once. 

The stars had stopped falling. The world had been saved. 

But at what cost? 

My lips parted, but at first, no sound came. My throat tightened as I tried to call for him. Then, my voice broke through the silence, raw and desperate. 

"Axel!" 

Only the empty sky answered me. 

I felt myself trembling, the sobs wracking through my body as I curled in on myself. He had promised. He had promised we would survive. That we would be together. 

I squeezed my eyes shut, my breath ragged. 

I had lost him. 

But then— 

A faint warmth. 

I gasped. My fingers twitched as something—someone—brushed against me, gentle as a whisper. A familiar presence, one I thought I had lost forever. 

A hand. A real, warm hand against mine. 

I barely dared to breathe as I felt the weight of an embrace, strong and steady, wrapping around me. 

"Axel?" My voice cracked. 

And then, I heard it. 

Soft. Gentle. 

"I'm here." 

I choked on a sob. My hands shot up, grasping at him, desperate to confirm he was real. Solid. Alive. 

And he was. 

His arms tightened around me, pulling me close. My fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as I buried my face against his chest, my tears soaking into him. 

"You—You were gone—I thought—" My words broke apart, my whole body shaking. 

He hushed me, his voice low, soothing. His fingers threaded through my hair, the way they always did when he wanted to calm me.

"I'm here." 

"I thought I lost you," I whispered, clinging to him. 

"You almost did," he admitted, his voice barely above a breath.

"But I couldn't leave you." 

I pulled back slightly, my heart pounding against my ribs. My hands moved up to cup his face, to feel the familiar warmth of his skin. But something felt... different. 

I couldn't see him. 

Panic swelled in my chest. My hands trembled as I reached up, touching his face, his jawline, his hair. I traced the shape of him, but no matter how much I tried— 

Everything was dark. 

I blinked. Again and again. But there was nothing. 

My breath hitched. A shiver ran through me as the cold truth settled in. 

I couldn't see. 

A sharp exhale left my lips. "Axel—I can't see—" 

He stilled. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, his hand found mine again, his fingers curling around mine gently. 

"It's because of what you are, Selene," he said softly, carefully. 

I froze, my mind scrambling to understand. 

"When I gave up my powers, I had to pour everything into restoring the balance," Axel explained, his voice steady but heavy. "But... you were the key to that balance. The world wasn't just rejecting you before—it was trying to erase you. It saw you as a threat." 

A slow, hollow feeling spread through me. 

"To save you, I had to anchor you here. I had to make you a part of this world completely. But in doing that..." He hesitated, his breath unsteady. 

I understood. 

My vision. 

That was the price of staying in this world. 

I swallowed hard.

"So I lost my sight..." 

Axel's grip on me tightened.

"You're alive, Selene. That's all that matters." 

A wry smile tugged at my lips despite the ache in my chest. "You always say that." 

"Because it's true." 

His forehead pressed against mine, grounding me, his warmth surrounding me.

"We're here. We're alive. And we're together." 

A lump formed in my throat. I inhaled shakily, trying to steady myself. The world had changed. I had changed. 

But he was still here. 

And that was enough. 

I nodded, resting my head against his shoulder, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. It was real. He was real. 

Axel let out a quiet chuckle, his breath fanning against my skin.

"I guess I'll have to guide you everywhere now." 

I huffed a soft laugh, nudging him lightly.

"You always did anyway." His fingers laced through mine.

"Then nothing's changed." 

I squeezed his hand, a quiet understanding passing between us. No matter what we had lost, we had each other. 

The world had been saved. 

And so had we. 

The stars no longer fell. 

But one still remained by my side. 

The End?

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