Meanwhile.
Only after arriving in Iceland did Lorien and his three companions realize—it was still noon here. Afternoon hadn't even begun.
Gwen did a quick calculation in her head and suddenly remembered.
"Lorien, Iceland time is about two hours behind France. When we got here, it was just noon."
Indeed, they had spent several hours in Provence, playing from morning until afternoon. But after arriving here, the clock had reset from afternoon back to noon.
Of course, this wasn't time reversal—it was simply local time based on geography. And when they eventually returned to North America—specifically the US—it would be another five hours behind.
Lorien did the math, then waved it off.
"Forget about the time. We're seeing the Northern Lights tonight anyway, and tomorrow's still a day off. Doesn't matter."
"True."
With that carefree attitude, Lorien led the three women to explore Iceland.
Iceland may be a whole country, but it's only about the size of a mid-sized province. The sights aren't spread everywhere either—just a handful of iconic spots like volcanoes, hot springs, waterfalls, nature reserves, and open-air museums.
So before the Northern Lights arrived, their plan was simple: the special forces style of tourism—play fast, play hard, play it all.
Their first stop was Videy Island.
Together, they admired one of Iceland's most beautiful islands. Many tourists were here, exploring the ruins of a crumbling stone castle. According to the guide, the castle was once a monastery.
Two million years ago, this island had been part of an active volcanic zone, with eruptions and tsunamis. Nine thousand years ago, glaciers receded, and the volcanic island emerged from the sea.
"So this is new land for Earth? It didn't even exist before humans?" Gwen asked.
"Correct," Lorien nodded. Then he smiled. "Want to see a more authentic glimpse of the past?"
"?" Wanda and Gwen froze.
"How?"
"Simple."
Lorien swept his hand through the sky.
In the next instant, the world spun and shifted, the heavens turning upside down. Gwen, Wanda, and Hela all realized their surroundings were changing rapidly.
The grass moved beneath their feet. The island drifted along tectonic plates. The monastery ruins shifted.
First, stones stirred. Then the monastery suddenly erupted in flames. Moments later, the fire receded, leaving the building intact. Another group of people passed through. Then the monastery disintegrated entirely.
The island began to heat up, scorching away the grass until it was barren. The air thickened with the scent of burning.
Gwen gasped.
"Has it already gone back nine thousand years?"
Wanda looked down, then glanced at the others with a smile.
"The volcano's about to erupt."
Sure enough, as time rewound violently, they first saw volcanic ash and obsidian. Then those vanished.
And the next moment—the volcano erupted!
The ground beneath their feet became a crater, as if they were about to plunge in.
"Waaah~"
Gwen squealed and leapt onto Lorien. Wanda clung to his arm. But when she glanced at Gwen, she noticed—the girl was laughing as she jumped.
Was that fear? No. It was deliberate.
Hela, on the other hand, wasn't afraid at all. She crouched down, wanting a closer look.
Then the eruption truly began.
Massive streams of molten rock burst outward, blazing red lava shooting past them as if they were bathing in it.
The magma surged skyward, soaring thousands of meters into the air. The eruption's destructive force far surpassed that of a nuclear explosion.
But as time continued to rewind, the lava slowly retreated back into the volcano. Then came the ash plume—and that vanished too. Finally, even the crater disappeared.
Yet the island kept drifting, sinking lower and lower.
Before long, it slipped beneath the sea.
Only then did they notice—the fish looked different too, not quite like those of the 21st century.
And still, the island sank deeper.
"Look up," Wanda reminded everyone.
Gwen and Hela lifted their heads. A thick layer of ice had already formed above them, like an iceberg that looked as though it hadn't melted in millennia.
"According to historical records, does this mean we're standing in the environment from two million years ago?" Gwen asked.
"To be precise, about 2.15 million years ago." Lorien glanced around.
The environment at this time wasn't pleasant. There was nothing worth seeing—the ocean held no interesting life, and even the scenery had vanished.
Time reversal ended.
Faced with everyone's stunned gazes, Gwen murmured, "Over two million years passed in the blink of an eye, but I'm still just nineteen."
Wanda ruffled her hair. "We're all about the same. Even if you were a few thousand years old, it wouldn't mean much compared to two million years—especially when Earth itself has existed for over four billion."
Lorien watched the two girls reflect.
"Doesn't it make you feel the river of time is unimaginably vast? Compared to the cosmos, Earth's conflicts are like a single fallen leaf in autumn."
At that metaphor, Wanda and Gwen's eyes lit up and they nodded. Yes—compared to the universe, all of Earth's so-called major events were nothing more than a lone autumn leaf. Beautiful, but insignificant.
"Thinking about it won't change anything."
Lorien shook his head and snapped his fingers.
In the next instant, the scene around them dissolved like a mirage.
They looked around. Videy Island was exactly as it had been when they arrived. They still stood on the lawn. Nothing had changed.
It turned out the time reversal Lorien had shown them was a simulation—more of a retrospective projection. Their visual experience had been real, what they saw had been genuine, but it hadn't been reality.
Back in the present, Gwen spread her arms wide, inhaling deeply as if to embrace nature. Only when something is lost do you realize its beauty.
After seeing volcanic eruptions and ancient icebergs, they understood how rare and precious the present truly was.
But what if, thousands of years later, humanity still hadn't left Earth? And the planet began another great cycle of climate and extinction, like the Cambrian period? What then?
Of course, that was just speculation—not worth worrying about.
...
Next, Lorien led them through Videy Island's castle. After exploring, they quickly moved from one site to the next.
They went to Strokkur to watch the geyser erupt every 4–8 minutes.
They visited Skógafoss, where the waterfall plunged nearly a hundred meters.
They traveled to the Snæfellsjökull volcano to watch lava flow.
Then they headed to Látrabjarg, one of the world's largest seabird colonies.
Finally, as the afternoon waned, they arrived early at Grotta Lighthouse to wait for the Northern Lights.
The lighthouse stood tall, surrounded by mountains, sea, and plains.
But for some reason, there were hardly any visitors tonight—in fact, not a single one. Only Lorien and his three companions.
"...Looks like we're lucky," Wanda said, glancing around before leaning against the lighthouse wall.
Hela simply climbed onto the wall, sat back, and began playing her game.
Wanda looked again. Still, not a soul in sight. A thought struck her.
"Could it be… there won't be any Northern Lights tonight? That's why no one came?"
It was a fair question.
But Lorien waved his hand, conjuring four lounge chairs. He dropped onto one first before answering.
"Don't worry. Even if the weather station says there won't be any tonight, if I say there will, then there will."
It was only the aurora, after all. Its principle was simply solar particles colliding with the atmosphere, moisture, magnetic fields, and so on. If the natural conditions weren't there, Lorien could simply create them.
When he produced the lounge chairs, Wanda, Gwen, and Hela were instantly drawn to them. They rushed over and lay down.
Lorien lay in the middle, Gwen and Wanda to either side. Hela, unable to find a spot close by, ended up lying between Lorien's legs, resting her back against his stomach.
Lorien didn't mind. Quite the opposite—it felt just right. He even handed each of them a bottle of iced milk tea. After taking a sip, he casually set his bottle on Hela's head, and she balanced it without issue.
And so, they lounged together, chatting idly while waiting for the aurora to appear.
Time passed. The sky shifted from afternoon to dusk, and from dusk into night. Wanda and Gwen grew drowsy.
But suddenly—
A faint streak of blue shimmered on the horizon.
Lorien made a soft sound to alert them.
Wanda and Gwen immediately turned toward the sky.
"Wow~!"
That faint blue spread rapidly, like silk unfurling across the heavens. The aurora twisted and danced, stretching to the horizon.
It was breathtaking.
Lorien nodded in satisfaction. This was his first time seeing the Northern Lights—another moment checked off.
But the aurora never lasted long.
Usually, it endured just ten to fifteen minutes, at most an hour.
After watching, snapping photos, and enjoying it for about half an hour, the Northern Lights faded away.
"Already gone?" Gwen sighed in disappointment.
"It's fine," Wanda said. "There'll be plenty more chances, Gwen."
"True."
With the aurora over, sleepiness returned, and they prepared to head back.
But then Lorien turned his head, looking behind them.
Wanda and Gwen exchanged startled looks as he spoke into the empty air.
"We've waited long enough. If you don't come out now, we're leaving."
"..."
At his words, space itself rippled.
A figure stepped through the distortion, her form emerging from the shimmering air.
She had pale golden hair, a crown adorned with small reindeer-like antlers, and the same cloak she always wore.
She was none other than Sylvie—the Lady Loki the Time Variance Authority had hunted for so very long.