During those five months in the Temple, Lucian got used to the new routine. At first it was difficult. The bite on his neck bothered, and the alpha instinct impelled him to see Magnus. However, his husband's regular visits silenced this torment, at least temporarily.
Especially when Magnus decided to show up in the middle of the night to spend his heat cycle with Lucian. At the temple. That was... an adventure as dangerous as having relationships in public places. Although the alpha has his own room and is rarely bothered by priests... that place was still a temple.
Well, Skyler eventually found out and that resulted in increased guards. Not that the priest wanted to stop Magnus from visiting, but those two were always fighting. Lucian had already given up trying to persuade them to act according to their ages.
Now the mornings were filled with reviewing reports from the Grimwood territory, and the afternoons with Skyler, studying old texts and performing endless meditation exercises. It wasn't exciting or fun, but Lucian expected to find answers in the confusing words and repetitive training.
However, he was already facing a big problem in his training.
He always reminded himself that he was hiding information from Skyler, from everyone in the green. Only he knew what he was really looking for in those confusing translations and endless training. Lucian wanted to take advantage of those exercises to focus on rescuing memories of his life as Luciano.
More precisely, about what he remembered of the final arc of
Sitting on the cold floor, eyes closed and legs crossed, Lucian tried to follow Skyler's gentle instructions.
"Try to visualize the image of the Goddess in your mind, as if she holds a mirror that reflects the future" Skyler guided with soft voice.
Lucian took a deep breath, trying to form the image in his mind. He visualized the stone statue in the central hall, the Goddess holding a mirror... a mirror that should reflect the future. The problem is that every time he looked in the mirror, the scene did not reveal itself. Everything was blurry. Frustration burned in his chest.
"I know the future," he thought. "If I can just remember the details of the original story... I can save Magnus and prevent the villain from winning."
The scene in the mirror remained distant, blurred. Lucian tried to concentrate more, to force his vision, but the only thing he saw again and again was death itself.
His body fallen to the ground, bloodied. The sword piercing his chest. The villain looking at him without any emotion.
"Your Highness?" Skyler called him, feeling his growing tension. "What do you see?"
"I'm... trying" replied Lucian with his voice stuck, teeth clenched. "But I can't see what I want."
Skyler released a slight sigh, his patience clearly worn out.
"Stop trying to control your vision. You can't get answers. Whatever the Goddess wants to show, you will see. You need to surrender."
"If you give..." Lucian felt the blood boil. He couldn't afford to 'surrender'. He had to see the future, remember what he knew from the original story. Every second mattered. Lucian had to save Magnus. He had to survive.
"See what the Goddess is showing you in the mirror, Highness" insisted Skyler, the firmer voice this time.
But all that Lucian saw was death itself. Again. And again.
He squinted harder, trying to get rid of that repeated image. The metallic sound of the sword piercing his body, the cold taking his skin, the hard ground under him... it was all so real. Why could he not see anything else? Why was the only thing shown to him this end?
"Damn..." he muttered, body tense, head throbbing.
"Focus!" Skyler shouted, realizing that Lucian was about to give up.
The anger grew inside of Lucian. He felt cornered, helpless. He did not want to see his death. He wanted to fight it, change fate.
"All I see is my own death!" Lucian cried, patience finally running out. "Do you think it's easy? What kind of future is this that she wants to show me repeatedly?!"
Skyler remained calm, but the tension in his voice was clear. He wasn't surprised by Lucian's outburst. For weeks he was getting impatient. The training became more rigorous to the extent that Lucian seemed not to see much, his visions were not clear or then did not escape death.
At the same time, the prince resisted his own training.
"The Goddess will continue to show your death until you accept that this is your destiny."
"I will not die!" Lucian slammed, the loud voice reverberating through the hall. "I do not intend to die!"
"And yet, you can barely face a simple vision!" Skyler exclaimed, advancing and grabbing Lucian's arm. He pulled Lucian through the hall, frustration visible, until they reached the water fountain, where the statue of the Goddess stood cold and impassive.
Skyler forced Lucian to lean over and look at the reflection in the water.
"Face your destiny" said the priest, his voice now low and serious. "See what the Goddess wants to show you. Stop resisting. This gift is not a whim. It was given to you for a reason."
Lucian looked at his own reflection, seeing how worn he was. His eyes were tired, his face pale. He was on the edge.
He cared little for the gift itself!
He was not a good person to the point of wanting to see the future to bring peace and prosperity to the Empire. Lucian was just trying to save his favorite character and himself until he found a way for him to come home.
"I don't care about fate," thought Lucian, clenching his fists. "I just want to save Magnus. Save myself."
Skyler pressed again.
"Stop resisting!"
Lucian felt a snap in his mind, something within him breaking. Against his will, he was pulled back into vision. And for the thousandth time he saw his own death. The villain, the sword... the blood. But this time, he did not fight the vision. He forced himself to watch.
And then something changed.
He saw Cassander, the imperial consort, kneeling beside his body, crying. He saw the Emperor standing further back, his lofty figure, now destroyed by suffering. Cassander's tears fell on his dead body, and everything seemed to crumble around them. Cassander's silent cry reverberated in the void.
And finally, Lucian began to disappear.
It was when he heard a sound. A ticking. A clock.
"Gracious mother, brilliant stone that guides the lost, guide me in the vast darkness to my lighthouse and grace me with your wisdom..." the female voice whispered like a melody.
Lucian blinked, and suddenly he was no longer in the Palace. He was in his old apartment. Luciano, the common man of almost thirty years, was lying in bed, holding his cell phone. The last page of his favorite book shone on the screen.
Before he understood the vision that had, the voice whispered the melodious prayer for a second time after hearing the roar of a clock.
His body disappeared in the wind silently, erasing its existence.
When he found himself, Lucian saw himself face to face with the true Eighth Prince. Unlike you, he seemed depressed, melancholy and thinner. The sword that was once in his chest, was now in his right hand. The look lost as if he had given up his own life looked at him like an empty shell.
"Come back..." whispered the Eighth Prince "... to the cradle that should never have left."
"What?" Lucian asked, frowning at the mirage he saw in front of him.
The tick occurred again.
Wait! would disappear for the third time?!
Looking around, Lucian tried to find the origin of that sound. Until he realized that the Eighth Prince was holding in his left hand the watch that Stephen had given him as a gift.
The sound came from there.
"Come back... to the cradle that should never have left."
Lucian looked at the clock. The ticking continued.
He tried to speak, but everything disappeared.
In a shudder, Lucian woke from the trance. His breath was heavy, sweat ran down his forehead. Skyler stood before him, hands still holding his shoulders, eyes wide. They shone just like the last time the priest examined his soul before marriage.
"By the Goddess..." Skyler muttered, incredulous. "It worked."
Lucian was still stunned, his body weak. He blinked a few times, trying to understand what had just happened.
"What... was that?" he whispered, his voice trembling.
Skyler released him, still visibly shocked.
"You... finally touched the vision. Something opened, a door you had been avoiding. Now it can't be closed anymore."
Lucian felt the cold running through his spine. The echo of the Eighth Prince's voice still resonated in his mind. Something had changed, something profound and irreversible.
The priest looked at him seriously.
"Now, Your Highness... we just have to figure out what else is behind it."