Rise of the Forbidden Luna

Chapter 31: The Limbo Domain

The agonizing darkness of unconsciousness didn't just swallow me, it dissolved the entire physical world into a sea of endless, shimmering silver mist.

I stood barefoot, the distant echo of the hospital monitors fading into absolute, weightless silence.There was no blood. The pain from my battered temple was replaced by a warm, intoxicating breeze that smelled faintly of wild lilies and fresh spring rain.

Where am I? I couldn't recognise this realm. Was I dead?

"Aria," a voice whispered softly behind me. It was a melody I had only ever heard in the deepest, most hollow crevices of my childhood dreams.

I spun around, my breath catching completely in my throat. Walking through the silver mist was a woman that looked like me, piercing blue eyes and thick, cascading golden waves. Her beautiful features radiated a warm, ethereal glow that made my soul instantly recognize her, Luna Diana.

"Mum" I choked out, tears violently welling in my eyes as I rushed into her warm embrace. "Am I... am I dead?"

"No, darling, you are not dead," Diana murmured, a soft smile touching her lips as she wrapped her glowing arms around my frame. Her touch felt completely real, yet light as a feather. "You are in Limbo. A sacred domain resting in the spaces directly between life and death."

I buried my face into her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably as years of agonizing grief and loneliness poured out of my chest. "I miss you so much, Mum. I have fought for so long entirely alone."

"I know, my angel, I know," she whispered, stroking my hair with an unyielding maternal tenderness. "But you must not worry anymore. Everything is going to be alright."

Slowly, Diana pulled back, her warm palms sliding down my abdomen until they flattened gently over my stomach. Her eyes suddenly widened, her breath hitching as a powerful energy flared between our skin. "Oh, heavens... Aria. I can feel them. I can feel four distinct heartbeats thrumming beneath your skin."

"Four?!" My voice completely cracked, my hands instantly flattening beside hers in pure shock. My mind spun into a chaotic vortex of panic. "No... that's impossible. I thought... I thought I was only carrying one child."

A heavy, profound sadness crashed through my chest as reality settled back into my bones.

It’s a death sentence; I whispered Ethan's bloodline carries an ancient birth curse. I'll surely die when bringing them into the world. I won't even be alive to see them take their first breath.

"Look at me, Aria, You are my daughter and you've been blessed by the moon goddess. Your rebirth and this miracle pregnancy is certainly not a mistake. You carry a lineage stronger than any ancient curse this world can concoct. You are going to beat this curse".

The certainty in her voice breathed a wave of relief and hope right back into my veins. We sat together in the silver light, discussing about the happenings in the mortal realm. I told her how I had successfully rescued my Dad from Richard’s clutches, and that Marcus was currently safe and recovering his strength. Diana’s eyes filled with a beautiful, longing mist at the mention of my father's name.

Then, her gaze softened with a teasing, knowing warmth as she looked down at my glowing frame. "And what of this Lycan King, whom you're pregnant for?"

A sudden, uncontrollable blush rushed to my cheeks at the mention of Ethan. My skin tingling with a sudden, hot memory of his touch. "He is... he is overwhelming, Mum," I murmured, a soft smile breaking through my tears as I described his fierce, territorial nature. "He is ruthless to his enemies, but to my father and me, he has been incredibly wonderful. He treats me like a queen, even when I prove stubborn."

As the words left my lips, a sudden, sharp realization violently struck my brain like lightning. I looked around at the shimmering silver walls of the Limbo domain, then back at her.

"Wait," I breathed out, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Mum... if we are both standing here inside the Limbo world... it means you aren't dead either. You are still alive!"

Diana’s beautiful face turned incredibly solemn, a slow, heavy nod locking onto her features. "Yes, Aria. I am not dead. I realized it a decade ago, I am stuck in between life and death. My spirit has been trapped inside this exact realm for twenty-one long years."

"Where is your body?" I demanded, my voice tight with a fierce, explosive rage as I gripped her arms. "Tell me where it is! I will tear this world to pieces to find it and bring you back to us!"

"I don't know where my body is being kept," Diana whispered, tears of absolute sorrow escaping her blue eyes. "But it is not a natural slumber. A dark, malicious witchcraft black magic power is deliberately keeping me in this Limbo. I can't wake up in the mortal world and my soul can't move on to the afterlife either.

"I will find you," I vowed, my jaw setting into a mask of pure steel. "I promise you mum, I will break the spell and bring you home."

"I know you will," Diana smiled through her tears, but suddenly, the silver mist around us began to violently jolt and darken. Her face filled with sudden panic as she began to push me backward. "But you must go back right now, Aria! You cannot remain here for a single second longer. Time inside the Limbo realm is different from the time in your mortal realm."

"No! I don't want to leave you!" I screamed, desperately clawing to hold onto her hands as the light began to fracture. "I've only been here for about twenty minutes!"

"Twenty minutes in Limbo is three whole days in the mortal world!" Diana cried out, her voice fading as the darkness rapidly rushed into my vision. "Goodbye, my brave girl! Find me! Wake up!"

The Limbo realm violently shattered into millions of jagged pieces, and my soul was brutally dragged backward through a suffocating vacuum.

Three days! The realization screamed inside my brain. I've been unconscious for three days!

A sharp explosion of physical pain violently slammed into my temple, and my eyes snapped wide open. The sterile white ceiling and buzzing electronic monitors of the medical suite blurred into focus. I was back.

Right beside my body stood the head physician, Dr. Evans, his hand holding a long, gleaming silver needle as he prepared to puncture my bare arm to draw blood to run a full diagnostic test.

"Stop!" I gasped hoarsely, my instincts flaring in pure panic.

With the last ounce of my strength, I violently slapped his hand away, ripping the electronic monitors off my chest as I scrambled back against the pillows. If my blood was drawn the test results will reveal my pregnancy which I still want to be kept secret for now.

The glass vial shattered against the marble floor, the sharp sound echoing through the tense silence of the clinic notifying Ethan who had been pacing the room like a rabid, caged beast. Immediately he saw i was awake he rushed over, his gold-flecked amber eyes instantly drilled into my pale face, flashing with a raw mixture of pure relief.

He dropped to his knees right beside my mattress, his large hands gently trapping my face. The heat radiating from his palms was intense, turning my skin white-hot as his thumbs brushed over my tear-stained cheeks.

His chest heaved in ragged, heavy gasps, his nostrils flaring as he openly drank in my scent, desperately verifying that I was truly back.

"Aria," Ethan breathed out, his deep, gravelly baritone cracking with an emotion so raw it made my heart stumble against my ribs. He leaned forward until his forehead pressed firmly against mine, his iron-clad grip refusing to let me pull away. "You've been gone for three agonizing days. I thought... I was scared I'll lose you.

I looked right back into his burning amber eyes filled with love and concern for me.Pinned beneath his heavy warmth, the crushing weight of my new reality settled deep into my bones. Fear for the future consumed me, I was now carrying his four heirs, how do i escape the birth curse trying to claim my life?