Triple Moon Rising: An Omega's Destiny

Chapter 139: The Final Battle Begins

ARIA POV

The ground gave way under my feet.

When I jumped back, a huge crack in the ground let out a wave of cold darkness that made my teeth chatter. There was no messing around with the Void Walker boss now that he was here.

"Everyone get back!" I yelled at my friends. But my voice got lost in the terrible sound of the world falling apart.

The sky got dark over us. Not dark at night, but empty black. It looked like the stars and moon had been removed with a big eraser. The strange purple glow around the Void Walker as he came out of the crack in the ground was the only source of light.

He looked like a man, but wrong. His edges kept changing, like he was made of smoke that couldn’t decide what shape it wanted to be. His eyes were holes in his face that showed nothing but darkness.

"So," he said, and his voice came from everywhere at once. "You’re the little gods who think they can stop me."

I felt our combined power stirring inside me. Since the triplets and I had combined into one being, I could feel their strength mixing with mine. But even with all that power, this thing scared me.

"We won’t let you destroy everything," I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.

He laughed. The sound made the air itself crack. "Destroy? Child, I’m not here to destroy. I’m here to restart. To wipe the slate clean and begin again."

"Same thing," Kael’s voice said through me. I could feel him in our shared awareness, ready to fight.

"Is it?" the Void Walker asked. "Tell me, little Luna, how many have died because of your choices? How many worlds have suffered because you chose to play god?"

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. He was right. Since we’d become this new being, we’d made choices that affected millions of lives. Some of those choices had gone wrong.

"Don’t listen to him," Jaxon whispered in my mind. "He’s trying to mess with your head."

But worry was already creeping in. What if we were the real monsters? What if the Void Walker was right to want to start over?

"I can see it in your eyes," the Void Walker said, moving closer. "You’re starting to understand. You’ve become too strong. Too dangerous. You need to be stopped."

"We’re not the enemy here," I said, but my voice shook.

"Aren’t you? You combined four souls into one. You became a god without asking permission. You changed the rules of reality itself. And now you’re surprised that someone wants to fix your mistakes?"

Around us, the cracks in the ground were spreading. I could see other dimensions through the holes—strange worlds with different colors and impossible shapes. The Void Walker was tearing holes between worlds.

"You’re destroying the barriers between worlds," I said. "People will die."

"Some will," he agreed. "But everyone dies eventually. I’m just speeding up the process so we can start fresh."

"That’s not your choice to make!"

"Isn’t it? You made the choice to become gods. I’m making the choice to unmake you."

He raised his hand, and the darkness around him burst outward. I threw up a shield of light, but his power was amazing. The darkness pressed against my shield like a living thing trying to get in.

"You can’t fight me and protect everyone at the same time," he said. "So what will it be? Save yourself, or save them?"

I looked around at my friends—Ember, Zara, Theron, Morgana, Seraphina, Oberyn. They were all counting on me. Behind them, I could see members of every magical species we’d gathered to fight. Werewolves, vampires, witches, dragons, and more. They’d all come because they trusted us.

"I choose both," I said.

I split our minds four ways. Part of me stayed to fight the Void Walker. Part of me went to Ember and the others to protect them. Part of me reached out to fix the cracks in reality. And part of me spread across the battlefield to shield everyone I could.

The Void Walker’s eyes widened. "Impossible. No being can split their power like that."

"We’re not just one being," I said. "We’re four who decided to become one. That makes us stronger than you think."

I attacked with everything I had. Light spilled from me in waves, pushing back his darkness. For a moment, I thought I was winning.

Then he smiled.

"You still don’t understand," he said. "I’m not trying to beat you. I’m trying to wake you up."

"What?"

"This isn’t real, Aria. None of this is real. You’re still in the merger. You’re still becoming one being. And you’re thinking all of this."

The world around me flickered. For just a second, I saw something else—a bright room where three boys were screaming in pain while I poured my life into them.

"No," I whispered.

"Yes," the Void Walker said. "You’re dying, little Luna. And you’re taking them with you. The combination is killing all of you. This battle, this power, these friends—it’s all a fantasy your mind made to avoid the truth."

"You’re lying."

"Am I? Look closer. Look at your friends. Really look at them."

I turned to look at Ember. Her face was flickering between her normal look and something else. Something that looked like Kael’s face.

"They’re not real," the Void Walker said. "They’re pieces of the kids’ memories mixed with your own. You’re all dying, and your brains are creating this elaborate story to avoid facing it." noveldrama

"That’s impossible."

"Is it? You felt the merger begin. You felt yourself vanishing. What if you never finished it? What if you’re all stuck in between, dying slowly while your brains create fantasies?"

I felt sick. What if he was right? What if everything since the merger had been a dream?

"The only way to know for sure," the Void Walker said, "is to wake up. Let me help you. Let me end this dream and show you the truth."

"And if you’re wrong? If this is real?"

"Then you’ll have saved everyone by stopping the merger before it kills you all."

I looked around at the battlefield. At my friends. At the world we were trying to save. Was any of it real?

"I need to think," I said.

"You don’t have time," the Void Walker said. "Look."

He pointed behind me. I turned and saw the worst thing possible.

The triplets were standing there, but they looked wrong. Faded. Like they were disappearing.

"The merger is failing," the Void Walker said. "They’re dying because you’re trying to hold onto this dream. You have to choose, Aria. Wake up and save them, or stay in the dream and watch them die."

"I—"

"Choose now," he said. "Before it’s too late."

I looked at Kael, Jaxon, and Lucien. They were reaching out to me, but I couldn’t hear their words anymore. They were fading fast.

"Please," I whispered. "Don’t make me choose."

"You already chose," the Void Walker said. "When you chose to save them with the merger. Now choose again. Dream or reality. Fantasy or truth. Life or death."

I closed my eyes. When I opened them, everything had changed.

I was back in the bright room. The children were screaming. And I was dying.

But the Void Walker was still there, smiling.

"Welcome back," he said. "Now the real fun begins."