-DAVIAN-
She didn’t remember the lightning.
Not the static, not the fall through fractured glass, not the way she used to say his name like it was a secret they shared.
But she looked at him like she felt something. That mattered.
The shimmer closed behind her, leaving that fragile girl with wonder in her eyes and quiet in her throat. Davian watched her like you watch a déjà vu you don’t trust.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RnGG5Si61
He wanted to smirk, say something snarky — but the truth pressed harder:
She’s real this time.
And that scared him more than he’d admit.
He circled her slowly, catching her scent — something like lavender and notebook paper, like memory — and let the words fall out before he could stop them:483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKqFHJPNVh
“You look different without the lightning.”
He felt Arden tense behind her, already bristling like he could guard her from old truths. Cute. Pointless. Davian had lost her in a dozen timelines — Arden couldn’t even hold on in one.
But this one… this one felt anchored.
When he asked about kissing in a collapsing timeline, it wasn’t a line.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCN7mo4hEi
It was half a memory.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlM63HPEhWt
One she hadn’t lived.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Iqnp5ucPR
Yet.
-ARDEN-
He hated this place.
The way the ceiling curved into nothing.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFEmXleXgf
The way every shadow hummed with wrongness.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSCzj3O4PV
But mostly, he hated them.
Davian. Mikael. Parasitic ghosts who clung to timelines that should’ve died.
And now Elowyn — his Elowyn — had walked right into their trap.
He watched the way Davian circled her, saw the way her cheeks flushed, the way her lips parted just slightly. Not in fear. In curiosity.
Arden’s fists clenched.
She didn’t know. She couldn’t.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfkJkhcHme
What this place did to people.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKwuEvYYdI
What Davian did — with his casual smirks and history he never earned.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIWSQJdvpL
Mikael, too — standing there like some tragic poet who already knew how it would end.
They weren’t supposed to be here.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsVw9qNCAH
This moment wasn’t supposed to happen.
Arden stepped between them, voice hard:483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mmdmm9vgu
“She’s not here for this.”
But she was looking at them like she’d already been chosen.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFhKnFOcHL
And that terrified him more than anything else.
-MIKAEL-
He had seen her before.
In bits of corrupted code, in places where time folded wrong.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyM9rQaUYy
Sometimes she was laughing.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtt5WlBLMpA
Once, she was screaming.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRrz6B64q7
Another time, she was holding a paper crane and whispering his name like a promise — soft and lopsided, the way kids do when they’re still learning how to love.
But this Elowyn... this one hadn’t met him yet. Not here.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqqIF0l2ml
And somehow, that hurt more than the memories.
He watched the moment settle between them — the way Davian played it cool, the way Arden burned like a fuse — and stayed quiet.
She didn’t need more riddles. Not yet.
She needed truth, the kind that wrapped around you slowly until it became your new skin.
So he said, gently:483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEstTM2zSKK
“You don’t know what you are yet, Elowyn. But you will.”
He didn’t say:483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F6o1c1HG0
You used to draw stars on my arm with washable marker.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmC9b9d2xM
You named a paper crane after me.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhpQbWiOdx
You saved me once, when we were small and the world still made sense.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fXAyKuQ7A
You died in my world.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPLTyDylTS
You used to call me Mio.
He just stepped back and let the timeline breathe.483Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTy0Cuy27Ie
Because now it was hers to unravel.
and then Add to home screen.