I didn't look back. I couldn't.If I did, I might fall apart.
The forest felt heavier with every step I took away from him.My heart was pounding, not from fear—but from everything I didn't say. Everything I wanted to scream.
Why did you bring me here, Kai?I was doing fine in my own time. I had a purpose. I had people to protect. Now… now everything feels like it's unraveling.
I should've never let him make that decision for me.And now that I know Alex has the same time-warping ability as Kai… maybe I don't need him to send me back.Maybe I'll ask Alex.He wouldn't fight me on it. Not like Kai would.
The pain in my chest tightened, but I kept moving, letting the shadows of the trees swallow me.
Just breathe, Anna. You don't need him. You don't need any of them. Just get back. Save your people. Finish what you started.
Even if it means walking away from the one person who made you feel like you weren't alone anymore.
Kai's POV
I didn't try to stop her.I wanted to. Every instinct in me screamed to go after her.But I stayed rooted to the forest floor, watching her disappear like a ghost slipping between trees.
She hates me.Maybe she should.
I made a choice. One I thought was right.But all she saw was betrayal.
I didn't notice Diana until she stepped beside me. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
"She's gone, Kai."
I closed my eyes for a moment. "I noticed."
She touched my arm. I didn't move."I don't get it. Why keep chasing someone who clearly doesn't want to be here? You remember what we had. It wasn't this messy."
I opened my eyes, finally looking at her.Diana. Strong, proud, once the center of my world. Now, all I saw was a shadow of something that used to matter.
"We had something. But not this," I said quietly. "Not this feeling. Not this… pull."
"She's tearing you apart."
"She's making me feel again." I took a breath, steadying myself. "And I'd rather be torn apart than frozen like I was with you."
Diana's hand dropped away, her expression hardening.But I was already turning away, my gaze still fixed on the path Anna had taken.
Wherever you're going, Anna… don't give up on us just yet.
Switching back to Anna:
I found Alex near the edge of the clearing, sitting on a boulder beneath a crooked tree, sharpening one of his blades. He looked up the second he sensed me, but didn't say a word. Just watched me—eyes calm, unreadable. So much like Kai's… and yet nothing like them at all.
I didn't bother with pleasantries.
"I need you to send me back," I said, firm but not hostile. "Back to my timeline. I have to finish what I started. The fourth shard is still out there, and I need to find it before it's too late."
He tilted his head slightly, slipping the blade back into its sheath. "So… you talked to Kai."
"Yeah." I swallowed the tightness rising in my throat. "Didn't go the way I hoped."
"You surprised?" he asked, his arms folding across his chest.
"No. But I'm done wasting time."
His silence hung in the air, heavier than it should've been.
"You have the same power he does, right?" I pressed. "You can open a portal. Take me back. I need to finish finding the fourth shard where I left off. My people are depending on me."
"You sure that's what this is about?" Alex asked, eyes narrowing. "Not just running from him?"
I held his gaze. "This isn't about Kai. This is about duty. I was doing what needed to be done long before either of you showed up in my world. He had no right to take that choice away from me."
Alex studied me for a moment longer, then slowly nodded. "You know returning might not be simple. The longer you've been away, the more unstable your place in that timeline becomes. You could find things changed… or broken."
"I know the risks." My voice didn't waver. "But I still have to try. The fourth shard is too important."
Alex sighed and looked off toward the forest, as if searching for something in the trees. "Alright," he said eventually. "I'll help you. But you need to understand something—if going back starts collapsing the balance between timelines, I won't wait for permission to bring you back."
I nodded. "Understood."
He stepped forward, his hand starting to glow faintly with the ripple of time energy. "You leave tonight, then."
The portal shimmered in front of me like a wound carved into the fabric of time—unstable, glowing, and humming with raw energy. Alex stood beside me, his hand still raised, the last pulse of his power flickering through the air like fading lightning.
"Once you step through," he said, "there's no guarantee what you'll find on the other side."
I nodded, eyes locked on the swirling void in front of me. "Nothing's guaranteed. But I have to know."
He looked like he wanted to say more. Maybe even stop me. But instead, he just muttered, "Stay sharp."
And with that, I stepped through.
The world shifted. Bent. Cracked.
It felt like falling without gravity, like being pulled through a dream made of shattered glass and broken memories. Time didn't flow right in the portal—it dragged.
When I hit the ground, the air was different. Heavier.
My knees sank into dry, cracked earth. The sky above was dim—gray, like dusk had forgotten how to turn into night. Trees that once stood tall were now scorched stumps. Buildings in the distance stood half-destroyed, their stone crumbling like ash.
This wasn't how I left it.
I rose slowly, heart pounding.
What happened?
I was only gone for… days? Maybe a week at most. But the world around me looked like it had suffered months—years—of war.
My people…The fourth shard…
I reached for the pendant at my neck, the one connected to the blade's energy. The pull was still there—but weaker, and… off. Like the shard itself was fading, or worse, falling into the wrong hands.
The wind picked up, carrying smoke and the distant sound of metal clashing against metal.
I wasn't just late. I was too late.
Somewhere in the Ruined Capital – Jack's Fortress
The throne room was quiet.Cold. Dimly lit by blue flame torches that never flickered. The air was heavy with stillness, the kind that choked out sound and dared anyone to speak.
Jack sat at the center of it all—sprawled lazily on a jagged throne forged from shattered obsidian and twisted gold. His eyes were half-closed, one boot resting on a broken relic of the old world.
The silence broke with a sudden burst of footsteps.
A robed mage sprinted through the doors, nearly stumbling as he dropped to one knee before Jack.
"My Lord," the mage gasped, breathless. "A portal—just opened. In the eastern ridge. The energy signature… it doesn't belong to us."
Jack opened his eyes.
For a moment, he didn't speak.Then a slow, amused smile stretched across his face.
"Interesting," he said, voice smooth and low. "How long since the last time someone had the guts to open a portal into my domain?"
The mage swallowed hard. "This one is different. It felt… familiar. Like something once connected to this timeline. Someone who belonged to it… but was pulled away."
Jack's eyes sharpened. He leaned forward, gripping the armrest of his throne.
"Anna," he said, the name rolling off his tongue like a blade being unsheathed.
The mage flinched. "You believe she survived?"
"I know she did," Jack muttered, standing now, his black cloak trailing behind him like a storm cloud. "And I knew she'd come back eventually. The question was never if. It was when."
He strode past the mage, stopping at the wide window overlooking the ruined city below.
"She'll come for what's left of this world. She'll come for the shard."
A cruel grin twisted his lips.
"Let her come. I've been waiting."