The sky above Aria's city was the colour of dying silver.
Not dawn.
Not night.
Just… wrong.
People walked through the streets like always.
Cars passed.
Shops opened.
Life continued.
But above the main clock tower —
the hands stopped.
Aria noticed.
Everyone else kept moving.
Talking.
Laughing.
Breathing.
But the second hand…
didn't move.
Tick.
Nothing.
Tick.
Still nothing.
Aria stepped closer to the tower.
Her chest felt tight.
Like the air itself was watching her.
"Why…?" she whispered.
The wind answered.
Cold.
Unnatural.
Then —
A voice.
"Because time is breaking."
Aria turned.
A boy stood across the street.
Still.
Calm.
Watching her.
Black hair.
Dark coat.
Eyes that felt older than the world.
No one else looked at him.
No one else even noticed him.
"How did you—"
"You can see it."
He pointed to the frozen clock.
"To them," he said quietly, "it's still moving."
Aria looked again.
People walked past the tower.
Unbothered.
Unaware.
But the clock was still frozen.
Her stomach dropped.
"What is happening?"
The boy didn't answer immediately.
Instead he looked at her.
Not with curiosity.
Not with fear.
With certainty.
"You shouldn't be able to see it," he said.
Silence stretched between them.
Then he said something that made the world feel suddenly smaller.
"You're supposed to die in six months."
The wind stopped.
The city felt distant.
Aria stared at him.
"…What?"
The boy stepped forward.
Slowly.
And for the first time —
the frozen clock above them
moved.
Once.
Tick.