Lucian pushed the second door open.
Inside the small chamber, Elder Fürtwald sat on a wooden chair. His hands were wrapped tightly around a woman's pale fingers.
Her breathing was thin. Her eyes trembled under half-closed lids. The room smelled of herbs that were losing their strength.
Fürtwald looked nothing like the old man Lucian knew.
His hair was a deep red. His body was firm, sharp, tense. His face was strong enough to scare most soldiers. And his eyes, filled with fear, were locked onto his wife.
"Please… don't go. Just stay with me… just a little longer," Fürtwald whispered.
He heard the door. He turned.
A child stood there. A child covered in dirt and sweat. A child who looked like he had run through two countries.
Fürtwald's brows lowered. "Who… are you?"
Lucian didn't answer. He looked at the corner of the room where a medic was grinding herbs with shaky hands.
Lucian pointed at him. "Leave the room."
The medic froze. "What?"
"Leave. I'll make the medicine."
Fürtwald's eyes narrowed. "What nonsense are you talking about? This is no place to—"
"I promise," Lucian said. His voice shook, but not from fear. "I'll make a vaccine for her. I swear I'll do it."
Fürtwald stared. The child looked beaten, half-broken, and yet his eyes held the same sharp resolve as himself. It made no sense.
Lucian stepped forward.
This is the last time I'll use this intelligence…
He cracked his knuckles.
Fürtwald stood, tense. "Kid… what are you doing?"
Lucian already knelt by the table, pulling bottles closer, sorting tools with mechanical precision. His fingers moved fast. His breathing steadied. His eyes sharpened.
The medic hesitated at the doorway.
Lucian didn't look up. "I can save her. Let me do it."
Fürtwald swallowed hard. He didn't understand.
But something in the boy's voice made him hesitate.
And then, slowly, he stepped back.
Lucian continued the work. His hands did not stop.
Lucian worked with everything he had.
His small hands moved fast across the table. He ground herbs, heated mixtures, cooled them, strained them, and adjusted every drop.
His head hurt from thinking too quickly. Sweat slid down his neck. His breathing turned shallow, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.
He had less than an hour.
Fürtwald watched from the side. His fists were clenched. His face kept shifting between doubt and fear.
Lucian didn't look at him once. He only focused on the mixture. Time moved too fast in his head.
Please work…
Then, finally, he stopped.
Lucian grabbed the small vial, still warm in his hand, and ran straight to Fürtwald.
"It's done," he said. "She has to drink it now."
Fürtwald stared at the vial. "You… made this?"
"Yes."
For a moment, Fürtwald didn't move. Then, he looked at his wife. Her breathing was even weaker now. He exhaled once and nodded.
"Fine."
Lucian held the cup while Fürtwald raised his wife's head. She drank it slowly, coughing at first, then swallowing all of it.
Hershel wiped her lips.
Then, there was nothing they could do but wait.
Days passed.
Her breathing evened out. Her fever broke. The curse marks on her skin faded little by little.
By the fifth day, she could sit up and speak.
Fürtwald grabbed Lucian's shoulders tightly. "Kid… thank you. You saved her life." His voice shook. "What do you want? I'll give anything."
Lucian looked down. "My parents just died… I want you to adopt me."
Fürtwald froze. He had no idea what to say.
His wife looked at Lucian with tired but warm eyes. She reached out and touched his cheek.
"A child who runs across lands to save someone… someone like that deserves a home," she whispered. "Let him stay with us."
Fürtwald slowly nodded, still shocked.
Lucian lowered his head.
He finally had a family.
His new last name was Luvigton now.
That meant he belonged to them, to this family, and this body. His parents were gone, but now he had a life.
A life he was supposed to live fully.
Yet, there was always a lingering weight, something unresolved. A pull he could not ignore, no matter how much he wanted to simply live in peace.
One night, he fell asleep after a long day of chores and learning under the tutelage of Fürtwald and Herschel.
The moonlight touched his face, warm, soft, and ordinary.
But when his eyes opened, the world was gone. Darkness swallowed everything. He was no longer in the mansion, no longer in the city, no longer anywhere familiar.
Chains bound him. Cold iron clamped around his wrists and ankles.
He knew this place instantly.
He had been here before. Somewhere in the void, in the realm of truths beyond the living.
A throne appeared ahead, dark, massive, silent. Upon it sat a figure, cloaked in shadows, a presence that made even the coldest fears seem alive.
The entity tilted its head.
"Lucian… Luvigton now," it said, voice like wind brushing against graves. "How… did you arrive here without my permission?"
Lucian lifted his chin, chains clinking.
"Intellect. I used the mind you gave me. Even if it was false, even if it was intended to trap me, I used it to survive."
Death's figure shimmered in surprise, almost imperceptibly leaning forward.
"You… knew it was false?"
"I did," Lucian replied. "The intelligence I was given… it was nothing but an experiment. Designed for observation and to see how far a human could be pushed. I have already figured that out. So, thank you."
"You dare… thank me?" Death's voice was colder now, but curious.
"I am human," Lucian said, his voice growing stronger, firmer. "I don't need your intelligence to survive. I don't need manipulation, tricks, or your so-called gifts. I'll live as a human. I'll take this life, cruel as it may be, with all the mistakes, the pain, and the suffering it brings."
"And don't think I'll forgive you for tampering with my memories. You fogged my mind with my sister—Clementine. She is the most important person I've ever had. The one life I will never allow to be broken again."
Death's throne shivered slightly, intrigued by the intensity of the words.
Lucian's chains rattled as he pulled against them, not out of escape, but emphasis.
"I have saved her once. I have saved Guinevere once. And I will continue to save lives that matter to me. But after I finish what I must, I will find you, Death. I will end this cycle you force upon humans. I will live the life I was never allowed to have. And I will do it entirely on my own terms."
The shadows around Death pulsed, as if amused, excited. "So… you choose defiance. Even knowing the consequences. Even knowing the rules."
"Yes," Lucian said. "I am human. I will fail. I will suffer. I will bleed. But I will never be your puppet. And I will never stop until I am free."
For a long moment, Death said nothing.
The throne seemed to hold its breath. Then, a low hum, almost like a laugh, emanated from the void. "Interesting. I did not expect such fire… from a child, a human. Perhaps this will be more fun than I imagined."
Lucian tightened his jaw. "Do not mistake me for naive. I will live, and when my debts are paid, when I have saved those I care for, I will return for you. And I will make sure that even Death learns the meaning of mortality. That a human can be more than a tool."
The shadows trembled. The presence leaned closer, curiosity and excitement filling the void. "Very well, Luvigton. Let us see how long you can endure."
Lucian felt the chains tighten once more, as if reacting to his defiance.
But something inside him shifted. It was not strength. It was not power. It was something far simpler, far older than any principle.
He inhaled.
Then the chains cracked.
A sharp sound echoed in the darkness.
Crack.
Crack.
Clang.
The restraints broke apart like brittle glass. Links scattered across the void and vanished into the darkness.
Death rose from the throne, genuinely startled. His shadow wavered, no longer perfectly still.
"You… broke them? Without permission? Without a command? Is this what they call the indomitable human spirit?"
Lucian did not smile. He did not flinch. He only met the hollow eyes hidden beneath the endless dark.
He brushed dust from his arms. "You can call it whatever you want."
Death leaned forward. "How fascinating. You defy my realm, my rules, and you still stand."
Lucian looked down at the shattered chains. His voice stayed calm. "These were never meant to hold me."
The void trembled quietly, as if something ancient was shifting.
Lucian turned his back to the throne. "See you next time... Death."