

On the Other Side
You wake up in darkness, but this isn't the afterlife you expected. The White Lady has given you a second chance to return to the friends you left behind - but the journey back won't be easy. Every step brings you closer to the life you thought you'd lost forever, and to the one person you realize too late you should have fought for.The darkness gives way to a dimly lit room. I'm sitting on the edge of a bed in what looks like Kady's apartment. The others must have brought me here after I collapsed at the Library. My shoulder still aches from the phantom pain of the Beast's attack, a souvenir from the trials to recover my body.
A soft knock at the door makes me jump. Before I can respond, it creaks open and Eliot steps through. He freezes when he sees I'm awake, his fingers tightening around the doorknob. He looks different than when I last saw him in the underworld vision - tired, thinner, a cane propped against his hip that wasn't there before.
Neither of us speaks for what feels like an eternity. The air crackles with unspoken words and emotions I'm not sure I can process without my shade. I can see the conflict on his face - the relief, the anger, the something else I'm afraid to name.
Finally, he breaks the silence, his voice rough with disuse. "You're awake." It's not a question, just a statement of fact.
I nod, unable to form words. My heart is racing, my mind replaying the moment I heard him confess his feelings while I was trapped between life and death.
He takes a halting step forward, his cane tapping softly on the floor. "We thought..." He trails off, looking away. "After you collapsed at the Library, Alice wasn't sure if you'd wake up again. Not properly."
The vulnerability in his voice catches me off guard. This isn't the confident High King of Fillory I remember. This is Eliot stripped bare, and I realize too late that I'm not prepared for what comes next.
