Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush
Chapter 41: Of Illusions And Reality

Chapter 41: Of Illusions And Reality

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘❦✾❦∘∙⊱⋅•-

Alyhana sat rigidly at the edge of the stool, the smooth wood beneath her legs just as polished as it had been back at the temple. The dressing table in front of her sparkled like it had just been cleaned, not a speck of dust in sight

She stared into the mirror, her reflection was blank.

The walls were the same soft rose color, the embroidered curtains swayed slightly even though the windows were shut.

So how was she here?

Her breath came slow and shallow. She tried not to move too much. Maybe if she stayed still, the illusion would crack on its own. Maybe if she didn’t blink, the ghost wouldn’t—

A soft voice broke the quiet.

"Alyhana,"

She didn’t have to look to know who it was. That voice had been carved into her memory forever and she watched through the mirror as a figure stepped into view. Short curls of dark braided hair, tucked behind one ear just like she used to do.

The breath in her chest twisted.

Maia stood behind her, holding a hairbrush in both hands like it was some kind of sacred ritual. Her smile was soft.

"A shame you cut your hair," she said. "Why’d you cut it anyway? You never told me."

But Alyhana didn’t answer and she just sat there.

"I liked it long," Maia continued, voice featherlight. "It used to fall down your back like a pink waterfall. You looked like a painting. But I guess... some things change."

She reached out, gently brushing Alyhana’s hair and Alyhana flinched.

Her heart pounded loud enough she could hear it in her ears. Every brush stroke felt real, soft and rhythmic, like Maia had never even died.

But she had.

"Y–you’re not real," Alyhana finally muttered. Her voice cracked halfway through the sentence. "You died. You bled out right in front of me, so whoever the this is... it’s not Mistress Maia."

Maia didn’t stop brushing.

The silence stretched for a beat too long.

"...Does it matter, though?" she finally whispered. Her eyes met Alyhana’s in the mirror. "If it feels real? If I sound real? If I can still make you feel safe... for once?"

Alyhana swallowed, hard. Her throat was dry and her tongue felt heavy.

"I’m not safe here," she whispered. "I’d be safer if...if I left with my friends."

Maia smiled again, almost sadly, and brushed a stray strand behind Alyhana’s ear.

"Maybe. But wouldn’t it be nice to pretend for a little while?"

This was the most tempted, Alyhana had ever been.

Like she was thirteen again, back in the temple with candles burning beside her and the only thing she could hear was the soft, comforting worship song for the gods Maia would sing while brushing her hair.

God, she’d missed that sound.

"I...remember when you used to hum while doing this," Alyhana muttered under her breath before she could stop herself.

Maia blinked. "Do you want me to?"

"No," she responded, more harshly than intended. She didn’t want to anger the ghost, but it was wearing her face... Alyhana felt like it was disrespectful towards Maia.

Instead, the so called set the brush down softly on the table, her hands folding neatly in her lap like a doll.

"Don’t be upset," Maia said quietly. "I’m only trying to help you."

Alyhana stood up and she stepped away from the mirror, away from the too-perfect reflection and away from her.

"This isn’t real," she said, voice harder now. "N–none of this is real. You’re not real!"

Maia didn’t move. She just looked up, her smile still soft, but her eyes—those weren’t right.

"Reality is such a... fragile thing, Alyhana dear," she said gently. "Isn’t a dream still something you feel? Isn’t a memory still part of you, even after it fades?"

"Don’t twist this."

"I’m not twisting anything," Maia said. "I’m offering you peace. That’s all."

Alyhana scoffed and stepped back again, this time almost bumping into the edge of the bed behind her. The linens were familiar—same embroidery, same faint lavender scent. She fought the urge to scream.

"You think peace is this?" Alyhana snapped, motioning to the room. "Lying to me? Using her face—your face—to try and trap me here?"

Maia tilted her head slightly, like a child trying to understand a game she wasn’t allowed to play.

"I’m not lying," she whispered. "I am Maia. Or at least... the part of her that still wants you to be happy."

A beat of silence passed, then Maia rose slowly to her feet and took one step forward, voice dropping lower, softer and dangerous.

"You don’t have to keep running, Alyhana. We can stay here—together. You don’t have to fight anymore. No more pain. No more guilt."

Alyhana’s breath hitched, her guard slipping for half a second.

And Maia saw it.

"Don’t you miss it?" Maia asked, eyes wide now, voice trembling just enough to sound real. "The temple bells in the morning? The nights we used to sleep on the roof and count stars because you were too afraid to dream about the fall of Iasora?"

"Stop it."

"I stayed, Aly," she whispered. "When the Vimea and Gaea said leave, I stayed. I chose you. And I died for it."

Alyhana’s eyes snapped up. Her heart lurched violently, like it had forgotten how to beat normally.

"You’re not her," Alyhana muttered. "sh—she wouldn’t say that."

"Wouldn’t I?"

"You left me to die," Maia continued, stepping closer. "You weren’t strong enough to protect yourself."

"No!"

"You let me die."

"I SAID NO!" Alyhana shouted, her voice cracking as the blast of light surged suddenly from her hand like a pulse.

The air cleared around her for a brief second and it seemed like her anger and fear had burned through a layer of the illusion.

Maia stopped mid-step and her face flickered just for a second—her features were distorted. Her smile stretched too wide. Her eyes darkened like smoke was pouring behind them. But then it all smoothed again, as if nothing had changed.

But Alyhana saw it, the illusion had cracked.

"You’re not her," Alyhana said, voice quieter now, but steady. "The real Maia would never guilt trip me, she would never trap me. She would’ve fought you herself."

The light in Alyhana’s hand grew stronger, not from fear, but from something that had started to claw its way out of her chest. Some she didn’t even know existed.

Across the room, Maia’s smile had vanished.

"You were doing so well," she said, voice flat and hollow. "We could’ve had peace."

"Your peace is nothing but a lie," Alyhana hissed.

Maia’s head tilted in that same eerie doll-like way, eyes glassy, lips parting just enough to let the real voice slip through.

"You think they’ll save you?" the voice asked. It didn’t belong to Maia anymore. It was deeper now. Unnatural. Slithering beneath every syllable. "The Kaelhi? His companion? The boy of the prophecy is even more broken than you are."

Alyhana took a step forward, light curling around her wrist like a ribbon.

"That will not change my devotion to him" she said. "I am loyal to him, even if it means dying by his side"

A low sound followed like a half hiss, half laugh. Maia’s face twitched like a mask.

"You’re not leaving."

Then Maia’s face split into a wide grin, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her irises turned pitch black, and the smile stretched far too wide like her skin had forgotten where the bones were supposed to stop.

"I tried to be kind," the thing said through her voice. "But if you want to die, then so be it."

Alyhana raised her hand, light blazing from her palm now.

"You can haunt my memories," Alyhana said, eyes never leaving the thing that wore Maia’s face. "But I can’t let you poison Mistress Maia’s memory or you let me go back to them and we’ll leave without a fight!"

"No. You’ll all stay with me... forever."