Chapter 7: Homeward Bound
The figure in the distance didn’t move. For a moment, neither did we. My heart pounded in my chest as the wind howled around us, the sky a churning sea of storm clouds. I recognized the silhouette immediately—the Mysterious Rival, the one who had haunted our every step across time.
I reached for the stranger’s hand instinctively, feeling his fingers tighten around mine. There was a tension in the air, thick and suffocating, as though the entire universe had paused to watch what would happen next.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” the Rival’s voice rang out, cold and unwavering. Their form remained shadowed, but the authority in their tone was unmistakable. “You’ve broken the timeline beyond repair.”
The stranger’s grip on my hand faltered for a moment, and I turned to look at him. His face was hard, the kindness from moments before replaced with something darker, something filled with guilt. I wanted to ask what the Rival meant, what he had done, but I couldn’t find the words.
“It’s over,” the Rival continued, stepping forward. “Hand over the stone, and maybe we can undo some of this damage. Maybe we can still save her.”
Her. That word struck me like a blow. Were they talking about me? Had this all been to save me? My mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of the puzzle I’d been given, but nothing made sense. Not yet.
“No,” the stranger said, his voice low and filled with resolve. “You can’t have the stone. I won’t let you erase her.”
I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. “What are they talking about?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the storm. “What did you do?”
He glanced at me, his eyes filled with a storm of their own. “Elara, I—”
“Enough!” The Rival cut him off, taking another step forward. “Tell her the truth, or I will.”
The stranger hesitated, his jaw clenched tight. I could see the battle waging inside him—whether to protect me from the truth or finally lay it bare. The Rival crossed their arms, watching him with cold amusement.
“Elara,” he began softly, his voice breaking. “The stone… it doesn’t just let us travel through time. It lets us rewrite it.”
I blinked, the weight of his words sinking in slowly. “Rewrite it?” I repeated, my voice thick with disbelief.
“I’ve been trying to fix things,” he said, his tone desperate. “I’ve been trying to save you, over and over. Every time you—” He broke off, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “You’ve died, Elara. Every time. No matter what I do, you’re always taken from me. And I thought… I thought if I could just change the past enough, I could stop it. I could save you.”
I stumbled back a step, my mind reeling. “I’ve… died?”
He nodded, his expression pained. “And every time, I’ve erased that timeline and started over. But it’s too much now. The universe can’t take any more changes. The cracks are spreading, and if we go any further, we’ll tear everything apart.”
I looked down at the stone in my pocket, suddenly aware of its immense power—and the destruction it had caused. I was the cause. I was the reason everything was unraveling.
The Rival stepped forward again, their eyes locking onto mine. “You understand now, don’t you? He’s been playing god, rewriting time over and over to fit his version of events. But it has to stop. If you let him continue, there won’t be a universe left for either of you.”
I turned back to the stranger, my heart breaking at the sight of him. His shoulders were slumped in defeat, his eyes pleading with me to understand. But how could I? How could I accept that he had risked everything—time itself—just to save me?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Because I couldn’t lose you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I couldn’t bear it. I thought if you didn’t know, if I could just keep you alive long enough, we’d find a way to fix everything.”
I stepped closer to him, the wind whipping through my hair as the storm around us intensified. “But this… this isn’t right,” I said softly. “We can’t keep running from the truth. I can’t be the reason the universe falls apart.”
He looked down, the weight of my words sinking in. For a long moment, he was silent, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Then, slowly, he reached for me, pulling me into his arms. I felt his warmth, his steady heartbeat, and for a moment, everything else faded away—the storm, the danger, the impossible choices before us. It was just him and me, suspended in a moment outside of time.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m so sorry, Elara.”
I closed my eyes, leaning into him, feeling the ache in my chest grow. “I know,” I murmured. “But we have to fix this.”
He pulled back slightly, his hands resting on my shoulders, his gaze searching mine. “I don’t know if we can,” he admitted, his voice filled with a sorrow that cut deep.
“We have to try,” I said, my voice firmer now. “We have to make things right.”
His eyes lingered on mine, and for a moment, I thought he might argue. But then he nodded, a reluctant acceptance passing over his features. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll try.”
I turned to face the Rival, who had been watching us with an unreadable expression. “What do we have to do?” I asked, my voice steady.
The Rival’s eyes flicked to the stone in my hand. “You have to return it to where it belongs,” they said, their tone matter-of-fact. “You have to reset the timeline. Everything will go back to the way it was before all this started.”
I frowned, confusion rippling through me. “And what happens to us?”
The Rival’s gaze softened, just for a moment. “You’ll go back to your time. But the timeline where you and he… existed together… that will be gone.”
Gone. The word hit me like a punch to the gut. If we reset the timeline, we would never have met. The memories we shared would be erased. All the moments, the dangers, the love we had found in the chaos of time—it would vanish.
I looked up at him, my heart breaking all over again. “Is there no other way?”
He shook his head slowly. “If there is, I haven’t found it.”
The Rival stepped forward, their eyes holding mine with a steady intensity. “You have to decide, Elara. The stone is in your hands.”
The wind howled louder, the storm growing more violent. I could feel time itself unraveling around us, slipping through my fingers like sand. I had to choose.
I looked up at the stranger—my stranger—his face filled with a mix of fear and acceptance. And in that moment, I knew. There was no right answer, no perfect solution. But I had to choose the path that would save us all, even if it meant losing him.
“I love you,” I whispered, my voice breaking.
“I love you too,” he said, his eyes wet with unshed tears.
With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and held the stone out toward the sky, letting its energy pulse through me one last time. And then, with a final, heartbreaking thought, I let it go.
***
The stone shattered in a blinding flash of light, and everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing back in the alley—alone.