3 MONTHS LATER
ELYSIA
The training session had finally come to an end.
I let out a long breath, shaking the stiffness from my arms as the last traces of frost faded from my fingertips. Hours of practicing my powers had left me completely drained.
"I think that's enough for today," I muttered.
Before I could take another step, ablazing fireball shot straight toward me.
My eyes widened.
"What the—"
My instinct kicked in as I threw myself to the side just as the fireball flew past my face, the burst of heat brushing against my cheek before it slammed into the far wall with a loud explosion.
I turned around.
Shai stood a few meters away with a smug grin plastered across her face, casually tossing another tiny flame from one hand to the other.
"You've gotta stay on your toes."
I stared at her in disbelief.
"...You seriously just did that?"
She shrugged.
"I wanted to see if your reflexes improved."
"Oh, they're about to."
A familiar chill spread through my palm.
I flicked my wrist, and a sharp ice spike shot through the air.
"Whoa!"
Shai yelped, ducking just in time as the spike whizzed over her head before embedding itself deep into one of the training dummies behind her with a loud thunk.
For a second...
Neither of us moved.
Then laughter echoed throughout the room.
I looked over to see Nicole bent over, one hand clutching her stomach while the other rested against the wall to keep herself upright.
"Oh my God," she laughed. "You two can't go five seconds without attacking each other."
"She started it," I said at the exact same time Shai blurted,
"She started it!"
We both paused.
Then pointed at each other.
"You threw a fireball at me!"
"You dodged it!"
"That doesn't make it okay!"
"You threw an ice spike!"
"Because you threw a fireball!"
Nicole laughed even harder, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"I can't believe this," she wheezed. "You two are like children."
Shai folded her arms with an exaggerated huff.
"I was conducting a perfectly reasonable field test."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Then here's the second phase of your experiment."
Another shard of ice formed above my palm.
Shai's confident expression vanished immediately.
"...Elysia."
I smiled sweetly.
"Run."
She didn't need to be told twice.
Shai turned on her heel and bolted for the exit.
"Oh, no you don't!" I laughed, chasing after her as another ice shard formed in my hand.
Behind us, Nicole's laughter echoed through the training room.
"I'm telling Ethan and Ivan exactly what happened!" she called after us.
"You tell them," I shouted back, trying not to laugh, "but make sure you mention who threw the first fireball!"
NICOLE
"Wow, man, my stomach hurts." I grabbed the face towel on the bench behind me using my telekinesis, and I wiped the sweat off my face.
As I was about to reach for my pink water bottle, my earpiece suddenly rang, causing me to flinch violently, a sharp gasp escaping my lips as my heart lurched into my throat. My head snapped toward the sound before I even realized I had moved. I scoffed before clicking the side of the earpiece to answer it.
"It seems Kaslana found her before you even got the chance." Cain's chilling voice entered my ears. I gripped the towel and clicked my tongue.
"Whatever. Where is she located?"
I grabbed my water bottle and opened the lid before I drank the remaining water inside.
"Lumiana Universe. It's 1.09 million light years away. Kaslana traveled for 2 and a half months, I need you to be the one to interact with Genevieve, she's your friend."
If I accepted, there was no guarantee things would work out.
If I refused, I might lose the only chance I had.
I closed my eyes for a moment, weighing the possibilities. Neither choice felt right, yet standing still wasn't an option either.
"You don't need to travel, come to the warehouse. I'll give you a teleportation device which is connected to Kaslana's ship right now."
I sighed and went to the bathroom to change my clothes.
The afternoon sun hung low over the training facility as I stepped outside, a small duffel bag slung over my shoulder.
The others noticed me almost immediately.
Shai waved from the courtyard. "Hey! Where are you going?"
I forced a smile.
"I've got something I need to take care of."
Nicole tilted her head. "Now?"
"Yeah."
Ethan frowned. "How long are you gonna be gone?"
I hesitated.
"...I don't know."
An uneasy silence settled between us.
No one pressed me further.
Instead, Elysia walked over and lightly bumped my shoulder.
"Just promise you'll come back."
The words caught me off guard.
I swallowed the lump in my throat before nodding.
"I promise."
It wasn't entirely a lie.
After exchanging one last goodbye, I turned away before any of them could notice the guilt on my face.
The abandoned warehouse looked exactly as it is 3 months ago.
Cain was already waiting.
"You came."
"I said I would."
Without another word, he reached into his coat and produced a device no larger than the palm of my hand.
It resembled a sleek metallic compass, its circular frame surrounding a faintly glowing blue core. Strange symbols pulsed across its surface before disappearing just as quickly.
"What is it?"
"A quantum displacement beacon."
I turned it over in my hand.
"It has been calibrated to a single destination."
"Where?"
Cain's gaze remained fixed on me.
"The Lumiana Universe."
My fingers tightened around the device.
"There is a vessel drifting approximately one-point-zero-nine million light-years from this universe's nearest stable gateway."
He paused.
"Kaslana's ship."
My heartbeat quickened.
"Genevieve..."
Cain gave a slight nod.
"The beacon will not move through space."
"It will move you."
I frowned.
"I don't understand."
"It temporarily shifts the quantum state of every atom composing your body, allowing them to arrive at the predetermined coordinates almost instantaneously."
"...That sounds impossible."
"It is."
He looked at the device.
"Yet it works."
I stared at the glowing button resting beneath my thumb.
"Once I press this..."
"There is no return trip."
The warehouse became eerily quiet.
I took one slow breath.
Then another.
Finally...
I pressed the button.
The blue core erupted into light.
For a single heartbeat, the world around me fractured into countless shimmering pieces.
The floor disappeared beneath my feet.
The air dissolved.
Every sensation vanished.
It felt as though my body had been scattered into particles too small to comprehend, each one racing through a path beyond time and distance.
Then—
Everything snapped back together.
My feet landed against cold metal.
I staggered forward, catching myself against a nearby wall.
The warehouse...
Was gone.
Outside the wide observation windows stretched an endless sea of stars unlike any sky I had ever seen.
Nebulas glowed in shades of violet and gold.
Entire planets drifted silently in the distance.
The ship itself hummed softly beneath my feet.
"I..."
I looked around in disbelief.
"...I'm here."
One-point-zero-nine million light-years.
Crossed in seconds.
A quiet mechanical voice echoed through the empty corridor.
"Teleportation sequence complete."
The beacon in my hand crumbled into gray dust.
No way back.
Slowly, I made my way toward the observation deck.
The doors slid open.
My breath caught in my throat.
There...
Beyond the reinforced glass...
Genevieve floated in the emptiness of space.
Her eyes were closed.
Long strands of silver hair drifted weightlessly around her face.
She looked almost peaceful.
If not for the countless crimson chains surrounding her.
They stretched endlessly through the vacuum, glowing with a deep scarlet light. Jagged spikes lined every link, while miniature worlds revolved silently within them like tiny imprisoned galaxies.
The chains didn't appear attached to anything.
They simply existed...
Orbiting her as though she were the center of their universe.
"...Genevieve..."
Without thinking, I reached the airlock.
The outer hatch opened with a metallic hiss.
A thin energy field shimmered across the entrance, holding the ship's atmosphere in place.
I stepped through.
The silence of space swallowed everything.
No wind.
No sound.
Only the endless stars.
Using the magnetic soles of my boots, I carefully crossed the ship's outer hull until I was only a few meters away from her.
She didn't move.
She didn't react.
"Genevieve..."
I stretched out a trembling hand.
"I'm here."
"...It's me."
My fingertips stopped only inches from hers.
For a moment...
Nothing happened.
Then her body twitched.
A pulse of black light rippled beneath her skin.
The crimson chains froze.
Every one of them.
As if something had awakened.
A violent crack echoed through the silence, not a sound, but a vibration that I felt deep within my bones.
One chain lunged toward me.
I barely had time to gasp before it coiled around my waist.
Another wrapped around my arm.
Then my legs.
The glowing spikes stopped just short of piercing my suit as the restraints tightened.
"Genevieve!"
She never opened her eyes.
The crimson glow intensified.
Suddenly, an unbearable pressure spread through my body.
Every cell felt as though it were being pulled in different directions at once.
"What... is... happening...?"
The stars around me began to blur.
My hands turned translucent.
Tiny flecks of light drifted away from my fingertips like glowing dust.
"No..."
Panic surged through me as more of my body dissolved into shimmering particles.
My arms.
My shoulders.
Even my voice seemed to scatter into the void.
The universe itself seemed to reach out, drawing those particles away until they blended with the surrounding starlight.
I tried to scream.
Nothing came out.
The last thing I saw was Genevieve, still suspended in silent slumber, surrounded by the crimson chains.
Then the outline of my body disappeared completely.
Where I had once stood...
"Cain..."