Arkhan's lungs ached as if the sealed chamber's recycled air had been replaced by ice. He stared at the grainy feed Lyra's blurred form framed in a security aperture and felt something inside him fracture. It was supposed to be impossible. She had died. And yet she walked these corridors again.
He closed his eyes, resisting the urge to reach out and touch the screen. When he opened them, Elena was already beside him, silent, her features drawn tight in concentration.
"We need the full footage," she said, voice low. "This glimpse suggests she breached a restricted zone. And yesterday's timestamp… she's on campus."
Arkhan swallowed. "But Lyra was never here," he whispered. "In Marcus's life, she only existed in… elsewhere." He shook his head, as if dispelling a trick of the mind. "How could she be in this simulation feed?"
Elena tapped her watch; the screen flickered, switching angles. The hallway lights were dim, the fine dust motes drifting in the beam of a single overhead lamp. Lyra's figure slipped into view again wardrobe identical to a student's standard-issue jacket, but her posture betrayed a stranger's grace. She paused, glanced toward an unseen camera, then moved on.
Elena leaned closer. "That jacket isn't standard. It's prototype-grade, woven with chrono-thread mesh only a handful exist." She met Arkhan's eyes. "Someone brought her here deliberately."
Arkhan's heartbeat quickened. His mind replayed every memory he had of Lyra soft laughter under alien skies, her fingertips brushing his cheek as they traced constellations, the sacrifice that snuffed her light. He pushed the memories down as he'd practiced, but they roared back now, demanding recognition.
"Why?" he asked. His voice cracked on the last word.
Elena exhaled. "Access logs show an override someone with high clearance activated the camera. And the override wasn't you or Kaito." She tapped the console. "Only two people on campus have that level: Chancellor Voss and Professor Soryu." She hesitated. "Me."
Arkhan stared. "You?"
Elena's gaze flicked away. "I never used it. But I did write the override protocols. And I did warn the Chancellor about… anomalies in the timeline." Her eyes met his again, resolute. "If Lyra is here, it's because someone wants you to find her."
His chest tightened. A plan, or a trap? The question felt rhetorical. Whoever had orchestrated Lyra's return knew exactly how to unravel him.
They left the analysis chamber by a back corridor one rarely used by students. Kaito waited near the door, expression unreadable. His eyes darted between Arkhan and Elena as they emerged.
"Found her?" he asked, voice cautious.
Elena offered a curt nod. "Partial feed. She's in Sector C, near the old observatory."
Kaito ran a hand through his hair. "The sector's locked down. No one's allowed after hours. Who would break in?"
Arkhan felt the weight of every second. Lyra had to be found before security did and before the Chancellor intervened. He squared his shoulders. "We'll go now."
Kaito's eyes widened. "Midnight patrols. It's suicide."
Elena laid a hand on Kaito's arm. "Arkhan's right. She won't stay hidden forever. And whatever brought her here"
A low buzz interrupted her, coming from Arkhan's pendant. The hourglass crystal glowed pale silver, like a heartbeat suspended in light.
Arkhan frowned, then pressed it. A soft chime sounded in his mind. "Temporal anomaly detected: High chronon signature at sector C observatory."
Kaito stiffened. "It knows where she is."
Elena nodded. "Then we don't have a moment to lose."
They sprinted through labyrinthine corridors, past shuttered labs and empty classrooms. The Academy's spire loomed overhead, its pinnacle wreathed in clouds that glowed faintly with residual chrono-energy. Every footstep echoed as if time itself was trailing behind them.
In the distance, an alarm bell tolled once, then died. They paused at a junction. Arkhan's chest rose and fell rapidly. In his mind, Lyra's face pale and determined floated before him.
"Left," he said, voice firm. "Observatory is on the east wing."
Elena led the way, overriding a secured door panel. The door hissed open, revealing a spiral staircase cloaked in darkness. They climbed three flights before emerging onto a broad platform ringed with telescopes and holographic display stands.
Moonlight filtered through the cracked panoramic dome, illuminating floating dust motes like wayward stars. The air smelled of ozone and old metal.
And there, at the far end of the platform, stood Lyra.
She turned slowly when she sensed their presence. Her eyes cold, beautiful, unblinking met Arkhan's. For one heart‑stopping moment, everything else vanished: the broken glass of the dome, the distant rumble of the city, even the ticking of the hourglass at Arkhan's chest.
Lyra lifted a hand in greeting an echo of a memory too dear to name.
"Lyra," Arkhan breathed. His voice cracked with relief and disbelief. "You… you're here."
She inclined her head. The words that followed came in a voice he barely recognized softer, but threaded with steel. "I thought you'd come."
Behind him, Kaito exhaled, stepping forward. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Lyra's gaze shifted to Kaito, as if deciphering a new code. "I am what remains," she said softly. "Of the world you left behind. And I have answers for you, and for the Collapse."
Elena joined them, arms folded. "You can't stay. Security will be here any moment. We need to understand why you're back."
Lyra's eyes flicked over Elena, then back to Arkhan. "Time is fracturing beyond repair. They brought me here to prove that the Collapse can be undone."
Arkhan felt a jolt of hope and dread. "They? Who?"
Lyra's gaze darkened. "Not them. You." She paused, as if weighing her next words. "I was reborn, too. But they stole my consciousness trapped it here. I escaped long enough to reach you."
Elena's brow furrowed. "Captured your mind? By whom?"
Lyra took a step closer, her boots silent on the metal floor. "By those who fear what we can do together. They fear you. They fear the cycle you break."
Arkhan's mind raced. The Chancellor. Hidden factions. Marcus's hidden agenda. Every memory he possessed felt like a half‑truth now.
"Then help me," he said, voice steady. "Tell me what happened. How can we reverse the Collapse?"
Lyra's lips curved into the faintest smile both comforting and tragic. "First, you must free me completely. Then, you must confront the source of the Collapse. But time is slipping away faster than you know."
Behind them, the dome trembled. A crack spread across one of the glass panels, spider‑webbing toward the heavens.
"Now," Lyra whispered.
Arkhan nodded. He reached for her hand and in that moment, the platform beneath them pulsed with light, as though the Observatory itself recognized their union.
They braced themselves for what came next together. Because only together could they hope to reclaim a future torn apart by time's own echoes.