We left the ruins behind us.
Not physically — the burned market stretched far in every direction —but emotionally, as if the ash clinging to our clothes was lighter than the choice I'd made.
Aria's final wave haunted the corners of my vision like afterimage burn.Not with guilt.With weight.
The girl walked beside me silently.
Not clinging.Not trembling.Just present.
Real.Breathing.Existing because I insisted she would.
Every footstep echoed too cleanly — like the world wanted to remind us we were the only characters currently being rendered.
No ambient chatter.No engines.No distant sirens.
Just the crunch of ash beneath shoes.
[ System Notice: Local Reality settled. ][ Timeline: Dead Market Canonized. ][ Anomaly Status: Stabilized (Provisional). ]
Provisional.
A backhanded promise.
She is safe as long as I continue to justify it.
I exhaled softly.
"She deserved better," the girl murmured without looking at me.
"Yes."
"You could've taken her."
"I could have."
