The Binding Vow of Lazarus

Chapter 91

The wind cut across the field like a blade, dry and cold, carrying little drifts of frost that caught on the frozen grass and their boots. The stars were bright overhead, the moon just shy of full, and the air was tight with unspoken things — fear, hope, resignation. It was the night before New Year’s and it might be the last time they all stood together.

Sarah walked slowly through the field, stepping carefully over brittle stalks of grass as her hand moved methodically. A golden thread of blood dripped from her fingers, drawing arcs and sigils into the frozen earth. The ritual circles spiraled wider with each step she took, intricate lines stretching between them like constellations given form. She wasn’t entirely sure which one would work — maybe none of them? But something in her told her to follow the path of the time travel ritual, to let instinct guide her hands, let her cursed and positive energies mingle as they had when she'd first unlocked the impossible.

Behind her, the others waited. Yaga stood with arms folded, silent but vigilant, his breath fogging in front of him. Not saying anything, just being there. Satoru and Suguru stood side by side and Satoru’s gloved hands were jammed into his pockets, his eyes locked on Sarah. Suguru occasionally glanced at him but said nothing. Shoko stood with Utahime a few feet away, both bundled tightly in coats, hands tucked into sleeves. Shoko lit a cigarette with shaking fingers, not from cold, but from that still moment before everything moves. Utahime didn’t scold her this time. Rin, Nanami, and Boe were closer to the edge of the field, helping to stabilize the outer rings, using talismans and their own cursed energy to hold the diagram together. Boe was muttering to herself about her scarf getting dirty. Nanami was quiet, adjusting his glasses out of habit. Rin stood tall and still, her eyes never leaving Sarah.

No one said much. What could they say?

Sarah crouched low, finishing another glyph, and her golden blood shimmered in the moonlight like liquid fire. Her breath came in puffs, her fingers raw, but she didn’t stop.

The silence wrapped around them all — not heavy, but sacred. Until finally, Satoru broke it, voice soft and just loud enough to carry. “How much longer?”

Sarah didn’t look up. “Not long.” Another beat.

Then Boe murmured, “This is insane.”

“Insane’s what we’re best at,” Suguru called over with a weak grin.

“Speak for yourself,” Shoko muttered.

Yaga exhaled slowly. “Let her finish," he kept his voice low, "If it’s going to work… let her do it right.”

Sarah’s hand faltered slightly, but only for a moment. Then she stood, slowly, carefully, golden lines trailing from her fingers to the very center of the ritual circle. She looked up at the sky. At the stars. At the future they were about to abandon. Then she turned to the group. Her voice was quiet but sure. “It’s ready.”

Sarah stepped away from the glowing circle, her snow boots crunching softly over the brittle grass. The golden blood shimmered in the snow-dusted field behind her, casting the faintest light like starlight on water. She walked slowly, heading back to them, her friends — her family.

She opened her mouth, meaning to say something, anything, but no words came. What could she possibly say that hadn’t already been said in looks, in touches, in those lingering silences full of everything they couldn’t admit?

Satoru didn’t wait for her though. He crossed to her and pulled her in, arms wrapping around her tight. His long coat fell around them both as if trying to keep the world out. Sarah clutched him just as tightly, and she could feel it — his shoulders trembling against hers. Not from the cold, but from everything else and she knew she was shaking too.