The Rift's winds carried her.
Aeris drifted through a corridor of suspended moments—each one a glass orb, glowing softly with what never happened.
She didn't remember stepping into the chamber.
She only remembered feeling hollow.Like something precious had been carved out of her—without a scar to show for it.
The chamber pulsed around her. Tall arches of stardust and bone. At the center stood a throne made of forgotten vows.
And on it… sat her.
Not just a mirror.
Not just a reflection.
But Aeris, unchanged, untouched, untainted by love.
She wore a white robe. Eyes sharp. No softness. No grief. No Kael.
"You came," the alternate Aeris said, voice low and blade-like.
Aeris stood still.
"Who are you?"
"I am who you were before he rewrote you."
The words stung.
"I made my own choices," Aeris replied. "I loved him."
"You were designed to love him," the other Aeris whispered. "Don't you remember? You were born inside the Rift, molded by time's desire. What if your love isn't real? What if it was just… written?"
Silence.
That cut deeper than any blade.
Aeris looked away.
"No," she said finally. "Even if that's true… I chose to feel it. Again and again. Through every cycle."
The throne-Aeris stood. Her hair shimmered like glass unraveling.
"Then prove it."
She raised a hand.
A wall of Rift-light erupted—projecting moments of their past.
Kael dying.Kael choosing another version of her in a parallel life.Kael breaking the world to save her.
Each memory struck her like a wave of guilt, confusion, and aching love.
"He broke everything for you," the cold version snapped. "And you forgave him."
"Because I broke, too," Aeris whispered. "And he held me through it."
The throne cracked.
The Rift-Aeris faltered, her sharp eyes briefly human.A single tear fell down her cheek, but it turned into a spark before touching the ground.
Aeris stepped forward.
"I'm not here to erase you," she said gently. "You're part of me. But I won't be ruled by fear or logic or timelines anymore. I remember him. I remember us. That is my power."
She reached out and touched her counterpart's hand.
And in that instant—
—the two Aerises merged.
Pain surged through her like lightning, memories flooding back from lifetimes she didn't even know were hers.
Love, loss, sacrifice, betrayal, healing… everything.
The Rift shuddered.
And the throne shattered—revealing a glowing compass embedded in the floor.
Aeris collapsed to her knees beside it, trembling.
"Kael," she gasped.
She looked up.
A path of golden sand led away from the ruins.
And at the very end—half in shadow, half in light—
he stood.
Broken clock in hand.
Eyes full of fire and longing.
Kael.