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Silence.
The type that makes even time pause.
Ayame and Kael stood before the cloaked figure—the Architect—who emanated no hostility, only a strange sense of inevitability. The single thread it held shimmered faintly, as if it existed outside the laws that governed the rest of the Loom.
"What is that thread?" Kael asked, tightening his grip on his sword but keeping his tone steady.
The Architect didn't answer with words. Instead, a soft hum filled the space, resonating like a heartbeat through the glowing roots of the celestial tree.
Ayame felt it pulse through her bones.
That thread… it was familiar. Too familiar.
She took a step forward. "Is that… mine?"
The Architect tilted its head. Slowly, it extended the thread outward. The movement was graceful, slow—offering, not commanding.
Yui's voice crackled faintly from the upper plane of the Loom. "It's the Original Thread," she said. "The life you *never* lived. The one untouched by choice, fate, or magic. It's the version of you that remained unformed because of all the other paths taken."
Kael blinked. "Wait, so... it's not a memory. It's a *possibility*?"
"No," Ayame murmured. "It's the *absence* of one."
Her hands trembled slightly as she reached out, fingers brushing against the soft glow. Images flickered instantly—not like memories, but like suggestions. A normal life. A quiet one. No magic. No Loom. Just a girl, going to college. Living. Loving.
Kael watched her carefully. "Is it showing you what you missed?"
Ayame gave a small smile. "No. What I *could have* missed."
She let the thread slide from her palm.
"I don't want a life that never had you."
The thread retracted slightly… and shimmered.
The Architect finally spoke—its voice deep, layered like many echoes in harmony.
**"Then your Loom has chosen."**
The tree above them burst with light—each branch glowing, repaired, humming with quiet energy.
Kael looked up in wonder. "It's whole again."
Ayame nodded. "We stabilized it."
But the Architect raised a hand again.
**"Stability… is not permanence. All Looms drift. Entropy returns."**
Kael groaned. "Okay, can we not just *have a win* for five minutes?"
Ayame smirked. "Apparently not."
The Architect's cloak shifted, and dozens of threads appeared beneath it—some glowing bright, others dim, frayed, or taut with tension. One floated toward Ayame.
A dark blue strand.
**"Your bond has awakened a new path,"** the Architect said. **"But you must walk it. Separately."**
Ayame's breath caught.
Kael looked at her, then at the thread. "What do you mean 'separately'?"
**"The Loom balances itself. For the world to retain the choice you made… a sacrifice must anchor it."**
Kael's jaw clenched. "No. No more sacrifices."
The thread floated between them.
Yui's voice returned, hushed. "He's telling you: one of you has to step into a new timeline—*alone*. To ensure the Loom stays stable, someone has to become its tether."
Ayame turned to Kael.
He was already shaking his head. "We just got *back*, Ayame."
"And now the world wants to pull us apart again."
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "But what if this time… we fight to come back, again?"
Kael laughed bitterly. "And what? Meet in some other plane? Hope we both remember the same dreams?"
She swallowed hard. "I don't know. But I do know this: if one of us doesn't take this path, everything we've saved… falls."
Silence again.
Finally, Kael looked up.
"Flip a coin?"
She laughed through tears. "We always were bad at rock-paper-scissors."
He grinned, but his hands were shaking as he pulled something from his pocket—a token from the fairground, still somehow intact despite everything.
"Call it."
Ayame met his gaze.
"Heads."
He flipped it.
The token spun, catching the starlight—briefly reflecting their faces.
And it landed—
Ayame never looked.
She stepped forward.
Took the blue thread.
Kael didn't stop her. He couldn't.
Because she was glowing now.
The Loom responded instantly—its branches curving to accommodate the new tether forming. Ayame turned back one last time.
"Promise me something," she said.
"Anything."
"Don't wait. Live. Love. Be ridiculous. And when the stars align…"
"I'll find you," Kael whispered.
The Architect raised a hand.
Light consumed Ayame.
The Loom hummed.
And then—she was gone.
The field fell silent once more.
Kael stood alone.
The token still spun at his feet.
And far above, two stars blinked once—then crossed paths again… just for a second.
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