The spiral dropped them gently—like a memory returning to its rightful place.
They landed in their backyard.
Not the same one.
The oak tree was younger. The porch was painted a lighter shade of blue. A swing Amaira had never drawn before swayed gently in the breeze. And there, perched on the windowsill, was a bird none of them recognized—metallic feathers catching the light just a little too perfectly.
Kayla crouched to the grass, running her fingers through it. "Feels real. Time's not echoing anymore."
Tylor helped Amaira to her feet. She clutched the sketchbook tightly but didn't look at it. Her eyes scanned the sky instead. "It's not home. But it's close."
Inside the house, familiar voices drifted from the kitchen—Daniel humming. Elena laughing.
They froze.
Tylor's heart thundered. "That's impossible."
They stepped inside, each room soaked in golden light and a strange sense of déjà vu. The photographs on the wall showed versions of themselves—ones that never happened.
In one, Elena stood holding baby Amaira, Daniel beside her, proud and unburdened. In another, Kayla wore a graduation sash. And in the last, Tylor held a blueprint—marked with the spiral key.
"We're in a timeline where... they never joined the Collective," Kayla whispered.
But as they moved to the hallway, they noticed something off.
A door that didn't exist before now sat between the pantry and the laundry room. A thin spiral was carved into its surface—glowing faintly.
Tylor reached for the handle. Amaira tugged his sleeve. "Wait."
Behind the door, they could hear something. A slow, rhythmic tick… like a metronome out of sync.
And then—
A voice. One they hadn't heard in a long time.
Lila.
Faint, distorted, as if recorded long ago: "If you're hearing this… I failed. Or maybe I didn't. Maybe this is the only way left to warn you—about the one we missed."
They exchanged glances.
The spiral on the door shimmered again, flickering like a dying star.
And Kayla whispered the question hanging between them:
"What if the Chronarch… wasn't the final thread?"