MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA-Chapter 243: Hallucination And Truth

Meanwhile, in Aethera’s chambers;

The room glowed with a soft silver light, like gentle moonlight filling every corner. The walls looked smooth and shimmery, almost like they were made of light instead of stone. Thin curtains hung around the room, light as air, moving slightly even though there was no wind.

In the center stood a round bed made of pale stone, shaped like a full moon. The blankets and pillows looked soft and glowing, as if they were made from stars. Above, the ceiling looked like the night sky – full of moving stars and tiny clouds drifting slowly.

Small shelves held glowing bottles, each one filled with something special: dreams, wishes, maybe even quiet tears from mortals. Everything in the room felt peaceful and magical.

At the far end of the chamber, a wide balcony opened up to the sky. That was where Aethera often stood, watching the world below, quiet and thoughtful, as the moon lit up her face.

But today, she wasn’t standing or watching. She was lying on the bed, barely alive.

Her once-glorious dark hair, now turned yellow, sprawled on the pillow, tangled with sweat. Her lips, always soft and serene, were chapped and pale. Her once-luminous skin and ethereal glowing eyes had dimmed to a pearl gray, hazed with exhaustion and confusion.

Goddesses and healers stood around her bed, observing her intently.

There was silence at first. Then, Aethera groaned softly, her body jerking as though struck by unseen hands. Her breath hitched. Again.

"What’s happening to her now?" Mahina asked, brows creased. She’d almost exhausted her powers to bring peace and happiness to her sister, even as she battled the effect of the Umbracite, but nothing seemed to be working.

"She’s fallen into a hallucination," Healer Salith said softly, his voice barely louder than a breath. "The Umbracite poison is attacking not just her body... but her mind."

Mahina’s hands tightened at her sides. Her light blue robes shimmered faintly, reacting to her rising distress. "What is she seeing?" she asked, though part of her feared the answer.

Salith stepped closer, glancing at Aethera’s twitching fingers and the low, breathy words spilling from her cracked lips.

"She’s reliving her memories," he said. "But twisted. Unstable. Dreams, regrets, hopes – all tangled into one dark reality for her."

As if on cue, Aethera let out a soft, strangled broken and distant laugh, like it belonged to someone else.

"He... He was mine first," she whispered. "I gave him the beast. I breathed into him. Why... why would she give him away?"

Her fingers gripped the blanket, her knuckles white.

Mahina took a shaky breath. She looked at her loving sister’s condition and her heart trembled with pain and discomfort. "Is there anything we can do?"

Salith shook his head. "Her spirit is walking the edge of her own truth. No healer can pull her back. Only she can choose what to hold on to, and what to let go."

The other goddesses remained silent, some with pity in their eyes, others with fear.

Because even now, weak and poisoned as she was, Aethera still pulsed with the power of old bonds; love, obsession, death, and matehood itself. And if she awoke twisted by madness... the mortal realm will descend into chaos.

Aethera groaned again. Then, suddenly, her lips moved.

"She took him from me," she whispered.

"But I... I can still return. I can still be his."

Mahina’s frown deepened. "Who is she talking about?" she asked softly.

She shook her head slowly. "I don’t recall her loving anyone."

Salith looked troubled. "Perhaps it’s a secret she kept to herself, or it’s just the effect messing with her mind."

Mahina stepped forward quickly, placing her glowing hand over Aethera’s heart.

"No," she said gently but firmly. "Let peace reign in your heart, sister. Let light find you, even in the dark."

A faint hum echoed in the air as Mahina’s light-blue aura flared softly around her fingers. Her powers reached into Aethera’s chest, hoping it would sooth her, even for a few seconds.

Aethera flinched beneath her hand, her breath ragged, lips parted as if caught between a scream and a sob. Mahina’s powers pulsed softly, like a lullaby without words; calming and sacred. The room dimmed slightly, wrapping itself in stillness.

Mahina closed her eyes, voice steady. "Remember who you are. Not what was taken... not what was broken... not what you hope for. But what you still hold."

For a moment, Aethera’s brow smoothed. Her fingers loosened their grip on the blanket. The tension in her body faded slightly, but noticeably. The goddesses exchanged quiet glances. A hopeful breath swept through them.

But then—

Aethera gasped. Her back arched as if struck by lightning.

"He never stopped calling her name..." she cried. "Even when I punished him. Even when I gave him me."

A wind howled through the chamber, born of pure emotion, and the bottles on the shelves rattled, one falling and shattering, releasing a wisp of soft pink mist: a dream undone.

Mahina staggered back, her aura flickering.

"She’s fighting me," Mahina whispered, stunned. "Or... no. Not me. Herself."

Salith stepped forward quickly, chanting protective words under his breath, forming a sigil of calm between his hands. "She’s reaching the edge. If she crosses it—"

"She becomes something we can’t reason with," Mahina finished, her voice heavy.

They all turned toward the goddess on the bed, now shaking with silent fury, trapped in a war within her own soul.

And somewhere deep in the madness, her words returned. This time not as a whisper, but a promise. A deadly vow.

"She stole my man...But I will take him back. Even if I must tear the realms apart."

Everyone was stunned.

Aethera’s voice, so broken and hoarse a moment ago, now carried the chilling certainty. This wasn’t an illusion. She meant it. It was her truth.

Mahina’s lips parted in disbelief. "Her man?"

One of the younger goddesses, Alira, took a cautious step forward, her eyes wide. "But she... she never spoke of any such bond. We would’ve known. Wouldn’t we?"

Silence followed.

Only the whisper of wind from the shattered bottle filled the room. The soft pink mist curled like a ghost, circling Aethera’s wrist before vanishing into her skin. Her breath hitched again. Another memory bleeding in.

"I did everything for him... became unholy for him."

Mahina clenched her fist. She raked through her memory to see if Aethera mentioned any man in passing but no, there was nothing. However, she could still feel a small void in her memory, like she was forgetting something and at the same time, not forgetting anything.

"Should we search the Realms?" Alira asked hesitantly. "If there’s a man tied to her like this – one strong enough to twist her heart and mind – he could be of help to bring her back."

She turned to Salith. "Is that possible?"

The healer frowned, thoughtful. "It’s possible... but where would we find him?"

The room fell silent again.

"From her words, he’s a mortal. She breathed into him... but she’s a goddess. She’s not supposed to love a mortal. The sky rules forbid it." Mahina and everyone else frowned.

Nothing was making sense at all.

Mahina turned to Alira and Salith.

"Prepare the scrying pool. We search every Realm, every Thread of fate. Mortal or not, we will find him."