Page 84 of Never Quite Gone

I felt Eli tense beside me as Will's laugh edged toward madness. “Family. Yes. That's what we were, weren't we? Healers and guardians, bound by something stronger than blood. Until death started taking us one by one.”

“We were more than that,” Sofia corrected, her voice carrying temple authority. “We were balance. Each of us playing our part - Eli with his healing gifts, Alex with his protective strength, Marcus grounding us all. You, Will, with your brilliant mind and endless love for us. And me...”

“The High Priestess,” Will finished. “Keeping us in check. Maintaining the balance between mortal and divine.” His handstrembled slightly. “Until the plague came. Until we started losing everyone.”

The operating theater hummed with ancient power as understanding crashed through me. In that first life, we hadn't just been individuals - we'd been a sacred circle. Healers and protectors working together, becoming family through choice rather than blood. Will's desperate love made terrible sense now - he wasn't just trying to save a brother, but an entire family that death had torn apart.

“You were the first to break,” Sofia said gently. “Watching us die one by one. You couldn't bear it, couldn't accept that even our combined power couldn't stop death itself.”

“So I found a way!” Will's voice cracked with desperate triumph. “Found texts older than our temples, magic that could bind souls together forever. Make it so we'd never lose each other again.”

“But the price,” Sofia's words carried ancient grief. “The price was too high. The ritual twisted everything - made us find and lose each other endlessly instead of resting naturally between lives. And you...” Her voice softened with compassion. “You had to remember every death, every loss, while watching from the shadows.”

“Better than forgetting,” Will snarled, though tears streaked his face. “Better than letting my family scatter to the winds. We were everything together - healing and protection, wisdom and love. I couldn't... I couldn't let that end.”

Understanding hit me like physical force. Will's insanity wasn't just from loving his brother too much - it was from watching his entire family die lifetime after lifetime. The circle that had once channeled healing magic torn apart by death, only to find each other too late in every subsequent life.

“That's why you've been watching,” I said to Sofia, pieces clicking into place. “Not just for Alex and me, but for all of us. Trying to maintain what's left of the original balance.”

She nodded slowly. “Someone had to remember why thecircle formed in the first place. Why we chose each other as family, why our combined power was meant for healing rather than immortality.”

“And now you're trying to stop me?” Will's laugh held centuries of pain. “When I'm finally strong enough to make the circle whole again? To keep our family together forever?”

“Oh, Will.” Sofia's voice carried infinite sadness. “That was always your tragedy - loving us so much you forgot why we came together in the first place. The circle was never about staying together forever. It was about choosing each other every lifetime, letting love grow naturally instead of forcing it with magic.”

The operating theater thrummed with competing energies as Will gathered his stolen power. But now I understood the madness in his eyes - the desperation of someone who'd watched his chosen family die too many times, who'd twisted sacred bonds into something darker in his attempt to keep everyone together.

“That's enough,” Sofia said and Will actually stumbled back, his new power flickering as fuller recognition crossed his face.

“You,” he breathed, and for the first time since claiming partial immortality, he looked truly shaken. “It was always you, wasn't it? Watching, lifetime after lifetime.”

Sofia moved with grace that belonged to temple halls rather than hospital corridors. The power surrounding her felt different from Will's – cleaner somehow, more natural. Like the difference between spring water and wine turned to vinegar.

The battle that followed defied description. Will's dark immortality clashed with Sofia's ancient power, reality itself buckling under the strain. Marcus wove protective spells between them, his immortal grace making even combat look like carefully choreographed dance.

I found myself moving without conscious thought, centuries of muscle memory guiding my actions. Power I didn't know I possessed responded to the heat of battle, adding my strength to Sofia's assault. The old operating theater became a war zone ofcompeting energies, marble floors cracking under supernatural strain.

“You don't understand,” Will snarled as he deflected another of Sofia's attacks. “I'm trying to save them! To keep them safe!”

“By breaking the very foundations of reality?” Sofia's power flared brighter, making the ancient equipment rattle in their glass cases. “By stealing immortality that was never meant for mortal souls?”

Will's next strike caught Marcus full in the chest, sending him crashing through antique cabinets. My old friend's immortal grace couldn't completely protect him from power that transcended natural law.

“You're one to talk about mortality,” Will sneered, pressing his advantage. “How many lives have you lived, Priestess? How many times have you watched and waited and done nothing while they died?”

“I maintained balance,” Sofia replied, her shields cracking under Will's sustained assault but her voice remaining steady. “The pattern exists for a reason, Will. Some powers aren't meant to be claimed by force.”

I tried to reach her, to add my strength to her defense, but Will's magic caught me mid-motion. Pain exploded through my body as he brought me to my knees, memories of other lives flickering like dying stars behind my eyes.

“Brother,” I gasped through agony that transcended physical limits. “Please. This isn't what you wanted.”

“You don't know what I wanted!” Will's power flared dangerously, making reality feel thin around us. “None of you ever understood. I didn't want power – I wanted to keep my family safe! To stop death from taking everyone I loved!”

Sofia's next attack actually staggered him, her ancient magic cutting through his stolen immortality like summer lightning. “And what about their choices?” she demanded. “Their right to live and love and yes, even die as they choose?”

“Choice?” Will's laugh held centuries of pain. “What choice isthere in watching everyone you love die while you remember every detail? Every death, every loss, every moment of grief?”

His magic lashed out wildly, catching both Sofia and me in its backlash. I felt my connection to other lives wavering as he pressed his advantage, centuries of memories threatening to slip away under the assault.

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