His name echoed throughout the hall as every bit of remaining humor drained from his chest.
"Hah…"
Luthur drew in a slow breath, feeling dozens of eyes settle on his back as he stepped out of the line. The walk to the platform felt quite long to him as his boots echoed in his head.
When he reached the center, the runes beneath his feet lit up in a steady glow. He stared at the core for a second, enchanted by its beauty.
Then he placed his palm against it with a determined look. As soon as the two made contact, warm light climbed up his arm. It felt as if he was in a sauna.
Miss Rachel's voice remained calm as she observed Luthur, who was on the verge of moaning.
"Do not search outside. Look inside your soul. Your star companion must be waiting for you there."
At Rachel's guidance, Luthur resisted the urge to say something stupid and shut his eyes. His sole goal was to view inside his soul, which he had no idea how to do!
But as he started breathing steadily, the noise of the auditorium faded from his consciousness until silence swallowed everything.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer on the platform.
He stood on dark, flat ground beneath a wide sky filled with distant stars. The place felt endless, quiet, and strangely calm. Luthur glanced down at his hands, half-expecting them to have six fingers because it definitely looked like a dream.
"Such a beautiful place," he muttered while soaking in the breathtaking view in front of his eyes.
A giant stood directly in front of him.
Luthur slowly tilted his head back, and back, and then a little more, until his neck started to hurt.
"Of course, there is a giant," he said quietly. "Why would there not be a giant in my soul?"
The remark was sarcastic, and the giant seemed unfazed by it as it did not attack him. It did not speak. It simply stood there with the patience of something that had all the time in the world.
Behind it rose a massive castle.
Luthur blinked once, then twice. "Why is there a massive castle in my soul space? Wasn't I supposed to meet my partner here?"
The giant stepped aside on Luthur's nagging.
Luthur took that as permission and decided to enter the castle.
He walked past the giant and pushed open the huge gates with both hands. The doors were heavier than they looked, and he had to lean his weight into them like someone moving furniture during a midlife crisis.
Inside, the halls were wide and empty. His footsteps echoed as he walked deeper in, trying very hard not to think about how small he felt inside something that clearly did not care about human comfort.
At the end of the corridor, he found three giant doors.
The left one glowed icy blue with cold mist sliding along the floor beneath it. The middle door was dark red, and the right was gold.
Luthur stared at them. The only difference between the three was that the blue one was lit while the other two weren't.
"Three doors, what kind of roulette did I sign up for?"
He took a cautious step forward, then another, stopping just a few feet away. The blue door made his fingers feel numb. The red door felt like standing too close to a fire. The gold door gave him nothing at all, which somehow made it the most unsettling.
He glanced over his shoulder at the empty hall behind him. "There are no hints and no instructions. All I have are my bad guesses. This is a terrible system design."
His heartbeat picked up as he lifted his hand, hovering indecisively between the three silent paths in front of him.
But his instinct told him that he could only enter the blue door right now, and so he did.
Luthur's hand hovered in the air for several seconds before he finally let it fall against the icy blue door.
The cold hit him instantly.
Frost spread from his fingers across the surface in thin white lines, and the door began to open with a deep, slow sound. A wave of freezing air rolled out and wrapped around his shoulders as he stepped forward.
The throne room beyond was wide and silent, glowing with soft blue light that reflected across ice-lined pillars and a frozen floor. At the far end stood a dark crystal throne.
And sitting upon it was a woman.
She rose slowly as he entered with her silver hair flowing down her back. Her pale skin glowed faintly in the cold light.
And her blue eyes locked onto him with quiet interest, as a faint smile curved on her lips. Small fangs showed as she descended the steps to meet Luthur's eye level.
"You chose me," she said softly.
Luthur swallowed as he looked at the breathtaking beauty in front of him. His throat felt dry.
"I did not know who would be behind the door."
That was all he could muster to say. Her lavender smell was working on him like intoxication. He felt he was getting drunk every second he stood close to her.
"That does not matter," she replied. "You still came. My name's Anna."
She stopped just a step away from him. The cold around her was stronger up close, yet it did not feel painful to Luthur. It turned him on for some reason.
Anna studied Luthur's face for a moment, then lifted her hand and placed it gently against his cheek.
Her touch was cold, yet her breath was soft.
"You are nervous," Anna said.
"Yes," Luthur answered honestly.
Her thumb traced lightly along his jaw. "Good. Let me taste my man."
Before he could ask what she meant, she leaned in and kissed him.
Her lips were cold at first, sending a sharp shiver through his body. Then the kiss deepened, slow and steady, her lips moving with quiet control. Luthur froze for a moment, surprised by the sudden closeness, his heart pounding wildly against his chest.
Then, without fully realizing when it happened, he kissed her back.
The cold faded into something softer. Their breaths mixed. Her hand slid from his cheek to the back of his neck, holding him there as the kiss grew heavier, lingering. His hands lifted on their own, resting uncertainly at her waist as he followed her lead.
The world around them blurred.
Cold power flowed through him in steady waves, sinking into his chest and spreading through his limbs. His heartbeat slowed into a deep, heavy rhythm as the bond began to take shape.
She finally pulled back just enough to look into his eyes.
"You accept me," she said.
Luthur's breathing was unsteady as he met her gaze. "I think I already did."
She kissed him again, longer this time. The air filled with pale blue light as the floor beneath them lit up with spreading runes. Cold energy surged through his body in a final wave that made his knees weaken.
He held onto her as the power settled.
When the light faded, she rested her forehead lightly against his.
"The bond is formed," she whispered. "You are mine, and I am yours."
Blue light wrapped around his arm and sank into his skin, sealing the contract completely.
Far beyond this soul world, the summoning platform erupted with freezing light as Luthur's Star Link was completed.