LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 33: The Last Doubts
The Last Doubts
1. A World That Knows You (Diane's POV)
The next morning, Diane awoke to the scent of fresh coffee and warm sunlight streaming through her bedroom window.
For a moment, she simply lay there, breathing in the soft rhythm of a world that felt too perfect.
Then—her mind caught up.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be.
She had gone to sleep in the Astral Nexus. She had been chasing Tom, fighting the Celestial Council.
And yet—
The blankets felt real.
The quiet creak of floorboards as someone walked downstairs felt real.
The muffled sound of Tom and Stacy laughing in the kitchen…
It all felt so painfully, cruelly real.
Her fingers twitched. She had to move. She had to break free before—
Knock, knock.
"Mom?"
Diane's breath caught.
Tom's voice.
She hesitated.
And in that moment, the illusion tightened just a little more.
"Breakfast is ready," he said through the door. "Stacy made pancakes. You should come down before they're all gone."
No.
She had to fight this.
She had to remember.
She had to—
"…Be right there," she heard herself say.
And with that, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, stepping deeper into the dream.
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2. A Morning With No War (Orion's POV)
Orion stood on the front porch, hands in his jacket pockets, staring at the world he had lost centuries ago.
The air smelled like autumn mornings and clean pavement. A light breeze stirred the trees, exactly the way it used to.
Behind him, the house was alive. Stacy and Tom's voices carried through the open window, teasing and laughing.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Orion wasn't a soldier.
He was just a man.
A father.
And for a terrifying moment—
He let himself believe it.
Maybe they had all been dreaming.
Maybe this world was real, and all the pain, the war, the impossible battles had been some cruel nightmare.
Maybe, just maybe…
They could stay.
He exhaled slowly, shaking the thought away.
He needed to talk to Diane.
If anyone could see through this, it was her.
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3. The Last Fractures (Diane and Orion's POV)
They met in the hallway, just outside the kitchen.
Orion's expression was unreadable, but his hands were clenched.
"You feel it too," Diane whispered.
He gave a slow nod.
"This place… it's too perfect," he muttered.
Diane swallowed hard. "We need to break free before it—"
"Mom!" Stacy's voice rang from the dining room.
Both of them froze.
Diane turned first.
The second she did—all doubt faded.
Because Stacy was smiling at her, eyes bright, plate piled high with pancakes, completely and utterly happy.
For a moment—
A single, aching moment—
Diane saw the daughter she had erased when she rewrote time.
The daughter she had never gotten back.
A breath shuddered out of her.
She knew what this was.
She knew it was a trap.
But…
Wasn't it nice?
Wasn't it better this way?
---
4. The Council's Final Move (Outside the Illusion – The Watchers' POV)
From the depths of the void, the Celestial Council watched.
"They're still resisting," one murmured.
Another smirked. "No. They're remembering resistance. But their souls are already settling."
The illusion had done its work well.
Diane and Orion were still on the edge, but the more they lingered, the more their hearts accepted the lie.
The final push was all that remained.
One of the Council members leaned forward, extending their hand over the illusion.
"Time to complete the set," they murmured.
And then—
They reached into the illusion—
And brought someone back.
---
5. The Breaking Point (Diane's POV)
Diane felt it before she saw it.
A pulse. A familiar presence.
Then—
A voice.
"…Diane?"
The fork slipped from her fingers, clattering against the plate.
Her breath hitched.
That voice—
No.
She turned slowly.
And there he was.
Standing in the doorway.
The man she had lost lifetimes ago.
Jerry.
Her husband.
The father of her children.
The man she had erased from existence when she rewrote time.
But he was here.
Standing in front of her.
Eyes soft. Alive.
"Diane," Jerry whispered, stepping forward.
Her pulse pounded.
Her instincts screamed at her to fight back. To see through the illusion.
But she couldn't move.
Because this time—
This time, the dream had given her the one thing she could never undo.
A second chance.
---
6. And So the Door Closes (Orion's POV)
Orion stood at the edge of the porch, watching Diane freeze as Jerry stepped into the house.
His own mind was reeling.
Because standing next to Stacy—
Was Mike.
Orion's old self. Him.
Except…
No.
Not Orion the cosmic wanderer.
Mike.
The man he had been.
Before the Council had taken him. Before he had become something else.
His past self shouldn't exist.
But he did.
And Stacy—
Stacy was looking at him like she had her father back.
The Council had played its trump card.
Orion felt his soul shaking.
Because this wasn't just about Tom and Stacy anymore.
The illusion had rewritten them all.
And as Mike reached out, grinning, saying "Come on, Dad, let's eat" like it was the most natural thing in the world—
Orion stumbled.
And then—
He took one step forward.
---
7. The Final Snap (The Watchers' POV)
The Council observed.
They waited.
And then—
It happened.
Diane's breath hitched.
Orion hesitated.
And then—
They stayed.
The illusion locked in place.
The final doubts were gone.
The final walls had crumbled.
They had accepted it.
And just like that—
The Council's greatest threats were gone.
The world wrapped around them, settling into permanence.
And outside the illusion—
Reality moved on without them.
---
8. The Quiet Before the Storm (Tom's POV)
Tom sat at the dinner table that night, his mind oddly quiet.
His mother was smiling.
His father was home.
His sister was strong.
For the first time in a long time—
Everything was perfect.
And so, when Stacy nudged him and said, "You okay?"—
Tom only smiled back.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm great."
And for the first time—
He meant it.
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