The Cord Between US
Copyright © 2025 by Ladylightscribe
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the express prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book reviewThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book is intended for entertainment purposes only.
Lara Jane Yushieba Character Profile:
MBTI: INFJ-T
Parents and their status: Divorced, Dad passed away Mother alive
Siblings and their status: Older Brother Alive
Other known relatives: Leeniah distant cousin
Home: Pavement City
Country: Elyria
Realm: Mundane Realm
Best friend: Yushie
Teams/clubs: Vampire Diaries Fanatic
Social media apps: Reddit and Substacks
Species: Light Keeper
Gender: Female
Hair color: Lilac and lime (originally blonde)
Eye color: Blue, subtly turns different shades of blue to green depending on strong emotions
Voice/tone: Soft and friendly but stern
Outfit/s: Vintage dresses or casual
Aesthetic: Disorganised, colourful pastels, distant
Height: 5.4
Other features: Subtle freckles
Skills: Fast reader
Talents: Quick thinking
Hobbies: Reading and dying her hair
Any disorders/illnesses: None
Positive traits: Attention to details others doesn't see
Negative traits: Overthinker
How often do they cry and why do they cry: Often, misunderstood and unsupported by her family
How often do they laugh and why do they laugh: As the story progresses she laughs more than she cries, because she learnt to let go of the past and try to fix it and instead accepted it for what it was.
Level of anger issues: The only people who can rile Lara up are her mother and her brother because she actually cares what they do/say but her anger always comes out in tears.
If they listen to music what kind: Alternative Rock and Indies Rock
Past memories they think of: Her father but she doesn't speak of it
Trauma: Emotional neglect
Mental insecurities: self- conscious but only when it comes to her family
Role in story
How often do they come on screen (on the page?): Every chapter she is the MC accept some POV chapters
Good/bad: I don’t believe in good or bad, so I always leave room for my characters to have the potential for either knowing it's a choice - but to answer the question she chooses good 80% of the time.
Character Profile: Malakie
Role: The Antagonist / The Fallen Star
Archetype: The Rebel Son / The Agent of Chaos
Physical Appearance
The "Human" Disguise : For most of his time on Earth, he appeared as a young, handsome man.
Attire: His signature look was blue jeans and a grey hooded jacket, blending in with the modern world.
Eyes: His most giveaway feature, voids of swirling grey, ancient and devoid of pity.
Personality & Demeanor
Arrogant & Petulant: He behaves like a spoiled prince. He throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way (e.g., stomping on the roof), believing he is worth 10,000 humans. He views his exile not as a lesson, but as an insult.
Manipulative: He prefers psychological warfare over brute force. He whispers into ears planting seeds of insecurity, jealousy, and cruelty.
Abilities & Powers
The shadows: The ability to influence human thoughts, specifically amplifying existing fears, insecurities, and dark impulses.
Character Profile: Yushie
Role: The Creator / The Architect / The Silent Observer
Archetype: The Benevolent Ruler / The Wise Father
Form: He appears in the realm of Xo'ria as a celestial being, though his true form is likely beyond comprehension.
Attire: He wears simple, flowing robes that collect blue pollen from the trees of Xo'ria.
Presence: He is often described as serene and still, usually found sitting on the mossy banks of the Northern River.
Aura: He carries an air of heavy, ancient sadness mixed with terrifying power. When he moves to act, his presence shakes the leaves off the trees.
Personality & Demeanor
Patient & Long-Suffering: Yushie endures the mockery of his subordinates and the ignorance of humanity with immense patience. He prefers to wait for people to learn rather than forcing them to obey.
The Parent Figure: He views humanity not as subjects, but as wayward children. He describes himself as a parent waiting for a wayward child to come home. He values their struggle more than their perfection.
Quietly Authoritative: He rarely shouts. A sigh from him sounds like wind in canyons; a single nod commands legions of Enforcers. When he does speak in judgment, it is final.
Respects Free Will: He strictly adheres to the rules of free will. He will not force Lara to talk to him; he lets her "hang up" the spiritual connection. He believes love is only real if it is chosen freely ("True love is just two people choosing each other every day").
Abilities & Powers
Omnipotence (Restrained): He can dissolve a spirit’s physical form with a thought. However, he limits his own power to allow the story of humanity to play out naturally as The Light instructed.
The Northern River: He monitors the state of every human soul by watching "stars" (lights) in the river. He can see who is sinking and who is floating.
The Quill of Lightning: A symbol of his judgment. When he decides to intervene, it is swift and absolute.
CHAPTER 1 | The Cord Between Us
The phone line made a soft, steady static sound. This was the only real proof that Lara was still talking to Yushie across the huge space between them. "Still there?" she whispered into the phone. Her voice was quiet in the still air of her family home, which felt very cold and empty. Miles away, or maybe an infinite distance away, her only friend was in the bright, starry world of Xo'ria.
Lara had only ever been there in her dreams. In the beautiful world of Xo'ria everything seemed simpler than the places here where the humans dwelt. There was order and everything had purpose. Meeting Yushie in the dream realm years ago happened by chance. Since then she has learnt a lot about him and calls him a friend. Their friendship was like a thread made in a shared dream where their spirit forms first met.
For years as a kid Lara was mocked for being friends with him. Her friends and family both mocked her behind her back so she learnt to speak less and keep things that mattered to her, to herself early. However, that didn't stop them from finding new things to criticize her on daily. Yushie was the only one that accepted her as she was and did not put her through a fine tooth comb that he himself could only fit through. Even though she was imperfect and he was perfect. He accepted her as she was through all the years of ups and downs she faced and he remained the same.
Ever since then she decided to keep her friendship with Yushie a secret, knowing nobody would understand her and would try to take even that from her. Years passed and now Yushie and her are able to connect outside the dream realm on a daily basis. Using a pink thread call. A pink spirit-like cord rested across her lap with a shell-like phone handle held to her ear. It let them communicate across universes, but their bodies could never be together. Not in this form. "Always," Yushie's voice, calm and steady flowed through the static, answered from a place Lara knew she could not go,not anytime soon at least.
Yushie: "If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?"
Lara: "Anywhere. Well I don't know. Honestly just the mountain tops watching the sunset over the ocean somewhere.
Yushie: "Is that all?"
Lara: "Yeah, with someone."
Yushie: "Anyone specific?"
Lara: "No nobody actually comes to mind. Just maybe send someone that understands me you know? But also someone that will share their deepest thoughts with me, not just listen to mine, someone that could lead the conversation and I could learn from them for a change...
Yushie: "Very specific for someone that just said no nobody."
Lara: "ahahha If you have someone like that written up in Xo'ria with you sure send them but you know me I'd rather be alone than with people that's mean or bent on criticizing and misunderstanding me constantly. It's exhausting, Yushie."
In Lara's mind she wished He could be that person but she knew that was impossible so she didn't mention it. She knew He was the only one who truly understood her.
Yushie: "I know. But Lara I hope you know that this is all part of your journey, there's a beautiful lesson in it all if you look close enough."
Lara: "I am trying my best to see the silver lining as they say hahaha I see it.. it's there on the faaar horizon."
Yushie: "hahaha. I feel misunderstood too you know, people always expect things from me but never listen to me and when I get mad they are scared and see me as some kind of monster but they never see how I waited for them to hear me. To give me a chance...I'd like to watch the sunset with you too Lara but there's a better plan in store just wait and see."
Lara: "How did you.."
Yushie: "You know I can read your mind."
Lara: "Yes but sometimes."
Yushie: "Sometimes you try to hide your thoughts from me because you are afraid it would disappoint me."
Lara: "Yes."
Yushie: "Everyone does that but I am still here. Let me tell you Lara everyone who is judging you every single day, there will come a day when they will be treated the same and I assure you what others will find will be a sight. It's a vicious cycle but all that matters is what you choose to do. You can let it refine you or repeat the cycle."
Lara: "One day I hope I will be as wise as you Yushie."
Yushie: "You are wise enough."
Lara smiled silently and dropped the line. They never said goodbye nor did they ever really need to. Yushie always knew what she was thinking and what she was doing, the call was just to comfort her.
The sudden, sharp thump of a closed door downstairs sprung Lara back to reality. A beam of watery, grey light, filtered through a gap in her horizontal blinds and cut a pale stripe across her room.
It was a slow morning and a faint smell of carpet and pine needles wafted through the air in the living room. The clock on the wall, a chunky white circle with a glowing green digital display, read 8:15 A.M. was slowly ticking in the distant, A summer holiday playlist of pop-punk and R&B could be heard stemming from her brother's bedroom as he got ready to go to his vacation job.
"Lara? Breakfast! Before your brother eats all the bacon," her mother's voice called from the hallway, muffled but firm, followed by the clatter of cutlery that was the universal sound of a Christmas vacation morning. University was officially over, classes were done, and the next two weeks stretched out, lazy and bright.
Lara rolled onto the kitchen table highchair, feeling the familiar, jarring weight of her body slumped down and the solid reality of her floral duvet like hair cascading down her back, a stark contrast to the effortless lightness of how her body and her hair felt when she was in the dream realm. She blinked, the memory of Yushie's calm voice already starting to fade like a half-remembered tune. Sometimes she felt hearing his voice was just her delusions until she heard it again. She needed to get to reality and stop daydreaming, but a part of her still lingered, miles away. She sat eating pancakes but there was a deafening longing pounding to explore the unknown in her heart.
The memory of his quiet confession lingered; 'I feel misunderstood too', was a fresh, painful echo in her mind. How could HE so vast, whose very presence was the light and order of a world beyond hers, feel so small, so rejected?
Yushie was magnificent, yet He spoke of being seen as a "monster," of his waiting to be heard turning into contempt from others. A sudden, deep sadness for him washed over her, quickly followed by a cold wave of fear. If his grand, beautiful world of Xo'ria could not accept his greatness...and if his patience was rewarded only with scorn...what hope did a small, ordinary human like her have?
Her friendship with him, a cherished bond, suddenly felt fragile, like she was hoarding a star that the universe itself had cast aside. If they wouldn't listen to Him or even try to understand him....then she realized, they would never, ever understand her.
The door to her brother's room finally flew open, and the sound of pop-punk and R&B aggressively slammed into the quiet hallway. He strode in, a bright green Bluetooth speaker throbbing in his hand, which he dropped unceremoniously onto the kitchen table next to Lara's plate. Without a glance or a greeting, he began a surgical sweep of the breakfast platters, shoveling the last three pancakes onto his plate and clearing the remaining strips of bacon in a single bite.
As he passed behind her, heading for the door, he paused just long enough to ruffle her lilac and mint colored hair into a chaotic mess, a brief, rough gesture of casual dominance and love. He didn't say a word, not a "good morning," not a "thanks," not even a "see ya" before the front door clicked shut, leaving only the loud, vibrating speaker and a sudden silence in the wake of his exit.
