The Weight of the Bond
The Keepers of the Soulbond had been named.
But their true test was only beginning.
The moment the past Keepers vanished, the bond shifted again—no longer unstable, but heavier, pressing against their minds with a force none of them had anticipated.
The weight of it settled deep in their chests, as if something unseen had coiled around their very souls.
It was not painful.
But it was absolute.
Reiko pressed a hand to her heart, exhaling sharply. “It feels… different.”
Syaoran closed his eyes, letting the sensation settle. “It’s stronger.”
“Not just stronger,” Clow murmured, studying the invisible threads of magic that now bound them together. “More… aware.”
The bond was no longer a passive shield.
It was watching.
Responding.
And perhaps, in some way… alive.
The Awakening of Terra
At the center of it all, Syaoran and Reiko stood as one.
Not as separate souls.
But as Terra.
The air around them shimmered, golden-green light pulsing at the edges of their forms, flickering like the heartbeat of the earth itself. The weight of existence settled upon them—something beyond just power.
It was identity.
It was awareness.
Reiko took a slow breath, turning her gaze inward. She could feel Syaoran—not just his emotions, but his very essence, as if there were no longer any walls between them.
She was him.
He was her.
For the first time, Terra was fully awake.
And the world around them would need to adjust.
Side Effects
The changes were immediate.
1. The bond never faded—not even for a second. Thoughts, emotions, even instinctual reactions bled together at all times. There were no longer private moments of silence; someone was always there.
2. Distance felt unnatural. The further apart they were, the more the bond resisted, like an invisible force trying to pull them back together.
3. Magic responded differently. Where once their powers had been their own, now they overlapped, mingling into something new. Endymion’s golden energy flickered with emerald streaks. Yue’s presence carried the whisper of Reiko’s light.
Even their movements felt different, as if they were adjusting to a world where they were no longer just individuals—but part of something greater.
Endymion’s Change
But the most drastic change of all was Endymion.
He had been dragged back through the bond.
But what returned… was not entirely the same.
He sat quietly, staring at his hands as midnight-blue energy pulsed along his fingertips. It wasn’t just his magic. It was the bond’s magic—woven into him as if it had claimed him for its own.
“I feel…” He hesitated, struggling for words.
Different.
Changed.
Not just bound to his Guardians, as he always had been.
But bound to all of them.
He looked up, eyes glowing with something new.
“I think the bond made sure I could never leave again.”
A heavy silence followed.
Because they all felt it.
Endymion was now part of the bond in a way even the others weren’t.
Not just connected.
But anchored.
Syaoran frowned. “Then that means…”
Reiko finished for him. “If he’s ever taken again, the bond will rip him back.”
A safeguard.
But also a prison.
And none of them knew what that meant for their future.
A New Reality
They had strengthened the bond.
But they had not yet mastered it.
And as the magic settled around them, waiting, watching…
They all knew—
Their true battle had just begun.