Tangled In Strings

Chapter 46 : What She Inherited

The moon hung low. Not broken, but not whole either — an eerie crescent slashed across the sky like a wounded eye.

Starlight stood at the garden’s edge, murmuring to the flowers.

Not normal murmurs.

Old magic murmurs.

The flowers bent toward her. The ground shimmered. The air changed.

Moonjumper felt it first — a prickling under his mask, a pulse of spectral heat through his veins.
Snatcher noticed a second later.

“...That’s not normal ghost-kid stuff,” Snatcher said, arms folding, voice low.

“No,” Moonjumper whispered, eyes locked on their daughter. “That’s ancestral.”

---

✦ A Visitor at the Edge of the Woods

As the two fathers approached Starlight, the fog shifted — unnaturally. It cleared itself, making way.

And then they appeared.

A figure robed in black and green, with glowing eyes and no face — a Maskless.
One of the old spirits, thought to be long gone.

“The child’s magic bleeds beyond the veil,” the stranger spoke, voice echoing with layered tones. “She calls things she should not.”

Snatcher stepped protectively in front of Moonjumper and Starlight.

“You’ve got five seconds to start making sense before I go full death fog on your face.”

The spirit tilted its head.

“Her power belongs to the ancients. You’ve given her no anchor. And now... she’s calling the Rift.”

Moonjumper’s heart dropped.

“She’s... what?”

---

✦ Secrets & Spicy Tension

That night, back in Snatcher’s mansion, the atmosphere was tense.

Moonjumper paced, unmasking, his glowing eyes dim.

“We should’ve known. She’s a blend of Rift-born magic and cursed inheritance. She was always going to pull things toward her.”

Snatcher leaned against the wall, arms crossed, jaw clenched.

“You’re saying this is our fault?” he snapped. “Because we dared to have a family? Because we gave her a shot at being something real?”

“No, I’m saying we got comfortable!” Moonjumper fired back. “We stopped preparing for the world outside the garden!”

The silence after that was sharp.

They were standing close. Too close. Breathing heavy. Emotions wild.

“You think I don’t lie awake every night,” Snatcher hissed, “wondering when the universe is gonna rip this from me again?”

Moonjumper’s voice cracked.

“Then tell me. Tell me that you love her. That you love me. That you’d fight again, even if it costs you everything.”

Snatcher grabbed his scarf, yanked him forward — breath to breath.

“I’d burn the Rift to ash if it meant keeping you.”

And then they kissed.

Not soft. Not sweet. Fierce. Terrified. Electric.

---

✦ In the Shadows…

Unseen from a tree branch outside the window, the Maskless watched.

“They’re strong,” it murmured to itself. “But the Rift... is stronger.”

It turned and vanished into smoke.

---

✦ Back Inside

Snatcher and Moonjumper pulled away from each other, breathless.

“We need to prepare,” Snatcher said. “For real.”

“Agreed,” Moonjumper nodded. “And we protect her. Together.”

From the crib, Starlight stirred, her hair glowing softly as a fragment of a Rift shimmered faintly above her fingertips.

They didn’t notice.