I always wonder when everything truly began.
At first, I thought it started the day Ephera was taken from me. That wound was deep enough to feel like the origin of everything that followed.
But then I saw Leon here, in this world, and it made me trace things back further—back to when my parents and sister were killed. Maybe that was the real beginning.
Yet, the more I thought about it, the less certain I became. The more I pulled on the thread of memory, the further back it seemed to unravel, like it all reached into a time long before tragedy struck.
"Where did it all begin?" I muttered aloud.
I turned my head to the left—and saw him.
Myself. Or rather, the me from Earth.
Nyrel Loyster.
Tall, black hair falling messily into his green eyes, with that same air of disinterest he always carried. He didn't look at me, of course. He never did. His gaze was fixed ahead, cold and unreadable.
I followed it—and saw what he was staring at.
A younger version of himself. Of me.
