"One question at a time," he managed, reaching up to touch as many of them as he could. "I'm here. I'm really here. I'm back."
"But how?" Lisa asked, clutching his arms tight. "We all felt it when you died. The connection to this world, to us—it severed completely."
"Death isn't always the end," Julian replied, managing to free one hand enough to wipe tears from Isabel's face. "It took time—a lot of time—but I found my way back."
Another figure had appeared at the edge of the garden, her presence commanding despite her silence.
The Queen of Ares—Julian's other grandmother.
For a long moment, she simply stared at the scene before her. Then her facade cracked.
A single tear fell down face, and she moved towards them. She dropped to her knees beside the pile of bodies, her hand reaching out to touch Julian's face with surprising gentleness.
"Julian," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "You finally came back to us."
