Niche’s feet leave the sewer floor. He phases through concrete and metal like they're not there.

  "Finally," Raizen says from the sword. "He calls."

  Niche breaks through to open air, accelerating upward. The city shrinks below. Wind tears at his clothes.

  He doesn't fight the pull. The sky darkens around him. Stars become visible in daylight. The air thins. His lungs burn but regeneration keeps him conscious.

  Higher. Higher. Then everything stops.

  He floats between the Earth below and the sun ahead.

  "Interesting,” a voice says.

  Era appears there. No grand entrance or divine spectacle. He's just suddenly standing in front of Niche, studying him the way you'd study something under a microscope.

  "I thought you’d fight the pull. Rage against fate. But..." Era circles him in the void. "You accept. No pride. No defiance. Just... acceptance."

  "I'm tired," Niche admits.

  "Yes. But also wise." Era waves his hand. The void shifts—

  Era’s Domain, Present

  They stand in Era's domain, in the palace gardens. Or rather, a perfect replica of Era’s domain, situated somewhere above the natural world. But there’s solid ground. Breathable air. Just like Niche remembered it.

  ???, Present

  Pitch darkness. A body lies broken on stone floor.

  Arius. Decapitated. Eyes gouged out. Still fresh.

  Shima stands over him.

  "I've always hated you," she says to the corpse. "From the day of your birth."

  She wipes her hands on her pants and pulls back her sleeve.

  “My goal is to kill Asha,” she reads.

  She stares at the words for a while. Then at him.

  "You were a murderer. That's why I did this. You killed that family and nobody did anything about it, so I did." She's nodding as she talks, like she's reminding herself. "I framed you. That's what happened. I remember that."

  Her eyes drift back to her arm.

  She doesn't remember that.

  It doesn't matter. It was on her arm. It said to do it, so she did it. That's enough.

  "My mission is complete, Story." She speaks it into the darkness. "Asha's bloodline is dead."

  She walks into the adjacent room. A noose hangs from the beam. She positions the chair and slips the rope around her neck.

  "Finally," she says, tightening it, "peace—"

  She kicks the chair out from under her. Her body drops and the rope catches.

  Her vision goes white.

  Original World, Present

  Her face hits marble.

  No rope. No chair. No beam. A palace. Golden walls.

  She scrambles to her feet as a man rushes to her. "Sir Simon!"

  She blinks. The name feels right. He helps steady her.

  "What happened to Asha, sir?" the man asks.

  The words come automatically. "The king's orders have been fulfilled."

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The man takes a second to process what she just said. Then he straightens up. "Good. Now we wait for his return. Have you contacted him?"

  "Yes. We've developed quite a strong relationship. The simulation he designed is working quite well."

  "Excellent. King Story will be pleased when he comes back."

  Shima nods. The memories settle. He’s always been Simon. Always been loyal.

  The suicide. The murder. The girl named Shima. Already fading like a dream.

  "Shall we prepare for his arrival?" the man asks.

  "Yes," Simon says. "Everything must be perfect for the king's return."

  Her legs suddenly give out. Her face hits the marble.

  It's quiet. The man's footsteps are gone. The voices are gone. The hallway is empty. It's always been empty. She can feel the cold floor against her skin and nothing else.

  She doesn't get up.

  Flashback, Memorial World, Residential District Streets

  Yuko is walking too close to Yuna. She's been doing it since they got here, pressing her shoulder into Yuna's arm every few steps, eyes locked on the things standing around on the sidewalks. They look like people, but they don't move like people. They just stand there, facing nothing, completely still.

  "Are they going to do something?" Yuko whispers.

  "They haven't yet."

  "That doesn't mean they won't."

  Yuna can feel Yuko's hand shaking against hers. She needs to say something.

  "I've been thinking about a movie idea."

  Yuko looks at her for a while. After, she speaks. “What's the movie about?”

  "It's told in first person. I have a laboratory where I rebuild dead people into perfect soldiers. I rewire their brains so they instinctively love me. They become my bodyguards, completely devoted, because I played with their brain chemistry."

  Yuko doesn't say anything for a few steps. "Wow, Yuna. That's really realistic." She glances over. "Sounds pretty specific though."

  "Just something I thought of."

  They reach the building and Yuna helps Yuko sit down in the corner of what used to be a grocery store. The shelves are mostly empty but there's enough left to get them through a few days. It's not much shelter, but the walls block the view of whatever those things are outside, and that's enough for now.

  Days pass. The food runs out. What hasn't been eaten has expired. The shelves are empty.

  Yuna stands. "I'm going to go out."

  "Out where?"

  "I'll be back soon." She holds Yuko's hands. "I'll come back, and we'll get out of this together. I promise. I'm going to get us some more food."

  She leaves before Yuko can argue.

  The streets are worse at night. The things standing on the sidewalks don't move when she passes them, but she can feel them watching. Or not watching. She can't tell which is worse.

  Seven blocks out, she notices a glow coming from a house along the street. Faint, but consistent. She almost keeps walking, but nothing in this world glows like that unless it means something.

  She finds the door already open. Stairs lead down to a basement lined with bins, all of them covered by cloths. The glow is coming from one in the far corner, dimmer now than it looked from the street. She pulls the cloth off. Crystals. A dozen of them, packed together, shining bright enough to make her squint.

  Yuko would love these, Yuna thinks. Something bright in that miserable store. She's been sitting in the dark for days and hasn't complained once. She deserves something nice, even if it's just some pretty rocks from a random basement.

  Besides, Yuna thinks, it'll take her mind off the fact that I still haven't found any food.

  She grabs as many as she can carry, stacking them against her chest, and starts heading back.

  She's halfway across the street when something explodes in the distance. The sound makes her flinch and a crystal slips from the pile, hitting the pavement. It shatters. She jumps at the crack and the rest fall, spilling out of her arms and breaking on the ground at the same time.

  Her vision goes white.

  Flashback, Original World, Palace

  Yuna is standing in the palace. There’s dust everywhere. The place has been empty for a long time.

  The memories hit her. Everything. What she did. What she built. What she told Yuko in that grocery store.

  "Shit." Yuna grabs her own mouth. "I shouldn't have said that."

  She looks around the empty palace.

  “I…I can't let that information exist. Not even in her." Yuna scrambles around quickly, mind already made up. "She'll figure it out eventually. When we return here, her memories would complete too."

  She finds a knife. She finds food. She finds enough crystals to make the trip more than once. She wraps the food and spare crystals in a cloth from one of the bins, ties it off, and slings it over her shoulder. She takes one of each type of crystal and holds them in her hand. With her free hand, she holds her forearm steady and carves "Break all crystals at once to travel between worlds" into it with the knife.

  Then she opens her hand and lets every crystal fall.

  Flashback, Memorial World

  Yuko is sitting against the wall of the store where Yuna left her, knees pulled up, staring at the door. She's been watching it since Yuna walked out.

  She hears footsteps before she sees her. By the time Yuna comes through the door, Yuko is already on her feet. "Yuna! You're back!" She runs forward, starting to lean in for a friendly kiss before catching herself, remembering their situation. "You got food for us, right?"

  Yuna drops the sack on the floor. "Yes, I have food, but..." The knife sits in her hand. "I only brought enough for one."

  Yuko's expression shifts from joy to confusion. "What?"

  "I'm sorry. But you know too much. You always would have, eventually."

  "Yuna, what are you talking—"

  The knife moves fast. Merciful, at least. Yuko's mouth opens but nothing comes out. Her hands grab Yuna's wrists. Not to fight. Just to hold on.

  Yuna lowers them both to the ground and pulls Yuko's head into her lap. She's crying before Yuko's eyes close.

  "I loved you," Yuna whispers. "That's why I couldn't let you remember what I really am."

  The food she brought sits untouched. She'd brought enough for two, of course. The lie just made it easier.