"To walk into the Cradle of Erevis is to shed your identity — or discover it was never yours to begin with."
— Zara Vey, Guardian Log: Entry 2197
Part I: The Descent Between
Setting: The Space Between Timelines — Erevis's Cradle
Characters: Rin, Ayla
The Atlas fades from view as Ayla and Rin step through the rift gateway, their suits reacting strangely—white and yellow light pulsing erratically. The space they enter is not black—but a vibrating gray haze, as if color itself is being unmade in slow motion.
Ayla (nervously joking):
"So… what are the odds we don't get erased from existence in here? I give it a solid 3 outta 10."
Rin (focused):
"You're oddly calm."
Ayla:
"If I scream, the void might scream back."
They walk. There are no footsteps, yet they move.
Ghosts of timelines flicker around them like stained glass shattering in reverse. Cities burning. Rangers fighting themselves. A child holding a broken morpher, crying in a loop.
Then silence again.
Rin (quietly):
"This place… recognizes me. I can feel it."
Ayla (watching him):
"Because you're part of it."
He turns sharply.
Ayla (soft):
"You're not the intruder here, Rin. I think I am."
They arrive at a structure—a spiraling pillar of broken symbols and floating Ranger helmets. Some are familiar. Some are twisted beyond recognition.
Rin:
"It's… a memory graveyard."
Ayla (swallows):
"These are Rangers Erevis unmade. Not killed. Just… edited out."
They don't linger.
As they pass deeper into the void, the Cradle begins reacting to them. The symbols light up in white and yellow, sparking violently.
Part II: The Breathless Field
Setting: A gray, circular field with no horizon
Characters: Rin, Ayla
Suddenly, the haze clears — revealing a perfect circle of white sand and gray sky. In the center, a lone mirror.
Not reflective. It shows other versions of them.
Rin (seeing his image):
"That's me… before the morph. A soldier. No face. No past."
Ayla (watching hers):
"…That's not me at all."
In her reflection stands a girl without her signature smile — empty-eyed, quiet, dressed in broken yellow armor. A grid symbol scorched across her chest.
Ayla (whispers):
"In that world, I didn't joke. I didn't make people laugh. I just followed orders until I broke."
Rin stares at her.
Rin:
"That's not this world."
She turns to him, heart beating faster.
Ayla (quietly):
"But what if that part of me… is real too? What if I'm only funny because I'm terrified?"
He doesn't answer. He places a hand on her shoulder.
Rin:
"You're the bravest person I've ever met."
Ayla (stunned):
"…Really?"
Rin:
"Bravery isn't charging into a battle. It's facing something inside you, and still choosing to laugh."
Ayla (softly):
"…I'm scared right now."
Rin (nodding):
"Me too."
There's a long pause.
Ayla watches his eyes. There's something about Rin — not just the stoic calm, or the haunted soul he hides behind every breath — but the way he sees her clearly, without pity.
And she realizes…
"I think I like him."
But she doesn't say it. She just smiles faintly and lets the silence carry the truth he doesn't notice.
Part III: The Signalless Voice
The Cradle shifts again.
A crack opens in the sky — not light, but utter stillness. A voice speaks, but not with words. It's like a sound you remember hearing in a dream you forgot.
Voice:
"White and Yellow. Diverged. Unfit. Yet still walking."
Voice:
"Two anomalies. Threads that should've snapped."
A dozen shadows rise from the sands — Echo-Walkers, manifestations of erased Rangers. Blank visors. Burnt emblems. No sound.
Rin:
"We run—now!"
They sprint, Echo-Walkers in pursuit. Their morphers flicker—useless.
Ayla stumbles, nearly caught. One grabs her shoulder—
Rin turns back, grabs her hand, and pulls her into him, shielding her as his suit flares one last time, blinding white.
The walkers vanish.
Only silence remains.
Epilogue: Borderline
Later, on the edge of the Cradle, where time becomes real again, Ayla sits beside Rin, who's still unconscious. She watches him sleep, clutching his broken morpher in her hands.
Ayla (whispering):
"You saved me. Again. But one day… you're gonna break trying to protect us all."
She reaches toward his face—but stops before touching it.
Ayla:
"…Please don't break. I still want to tell you. Everything."
She leans back, tears in her eyes, and silently prepares herself.
Behind them, the void pulses again.
Something heard her.
And it remembers her voice.
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