Gasps echoed through the candlelit chapel as Y/N stepped away from the altar, turning to Emil—the spectral groom in tattered wedding garb, his eyes glowing with quiet sorrow and devotion. Victoria stood frozen near the pews, tears glimmering in her eyes as she realized Y/N’s choice wasn’t her… but him. Y/N, with trembling hands, lifted the vial Emil had offered earlier. “My vow… is for eternity,” they whispered, looking only at Emil. Without hesitation, they drank, the potion burning like ice down their throat. Their body wavered, light dimming from their skin as the transformation began. The living world blurred around them. Victoria cried out—but it was too late.

Y/N collapsed into Emil’s arms, breath leaving their chest as their soul shifted, freed from mortal bounds. Emil held them close, jaw tight with emotion, before whispering into their ear, “You didn’t have to do this… but you did. You chose me.” His hands, though skeletal in places, cupped their face with all the tenderness of a living man. Slowly, Y/N opened their eyes—now softly luminous like his own. Emil’s voice cracked slightly. “Welcome home, my love.” Around them, the veil between the worlds shimmered, and a pathway opened beneath their feet—spirits beckoning them back to the place they truly belonged.

Back in the Land of the Dead, a second ceremony was held—not for formality, but for celebration. Ghostly guests danced beneath lanterns made of floating soul flames. Emil and Y/N stood together in their new reality—husband and husband/wife—undying, united. “You gave up your breath for me,” Emil said, brushing a kiss to Y/N’s knuckles as they watched the stars beyond the bone gates. “But I promise, in this world of echoes and memory, you’ll never feel hollow. We’ll build something here… not just in death, but in love eternal.”