Astherin's POV
"Hold up no introduction whatsoever? First Taryn tells me I'm some ticking time bomb and now you?"
"I always know when it's going to happen. I see it before it happens. But I never stop it in time not once."
My mouth parted but no sound came out.
"I know how you scream. I know the sound your ribs make when they break. I know the exact second your heart gives out."
"Azier," Taryn warned.
Azier ignored him. His eyes stayed on me. "This is the longest I've gone without seeing your death replay. It's quiet in my head. That means something's changed."
I swallowed. "Do you mean… you can't see how I die this time?"
He blinked slowly. "Not yet."
Not yet, great.
My fingers trembled, and I stuffed them into my pockets. "Why are you here?"
Azier tilted his head. "You summoned me."
"I didn't mean to," I snapped.
"That's the thing," he replied. "You never do."
I felt Taryn's hand hover near my back, ready to intervene. Azier noticed, of course. His eyes flicked toward Taryn, and the hallway chilled.
"These aren't my visions anymore," Azier said. "They're… bleeding. Into reality. I saw you wake up. I saw the crack in the sky. I saw her name written in the stars."
Taryn's jaw clenched. "We need to leave this school."
"What?" I asked. "Why?"
He didn't answer, because suddenly all three of us turned.
The lights flickered.
And down the hall, something stepped out of the stairwell.
It wasn't a student.
It wore a school uniform, but the way it moved, it was twitchy and off-rhythm, like a puppet on bad strings. It was all wrong.
Its eyes were hollow. Glowing violet. Its mouth unhinged just slightly as it saw me.
Azier was the first to move.
He shoved me behind him just as the thing let out a noise that was somewhere between static and a scream. Students around us froze, some turned to look and others kept walking like they couldn't see it.
But we could.
Taryn's hands lit up with blue fire and somewhere along the line I found Riven beside me with the speed of light.
Azier cracked his neck like this was a routine chore.
"Is that a…" I started.
"A wraith," Azier answered. "Sent by the gods."
"To kill me," I finished.
Taryn shot a blast of energy that knocked the creature into the lockers. It didn't fall. It just floated there, twitching, resetting itself like a glitching simulation.
"What is it doing?" I asked.
"Smelling," Azier said. "You've been marked. And now, everything from the other side can find you."
Then he moved way too fast for my eyes to follow.
One second, he was next to me, the next he was dragging the wraith across the floor with a glowing dagger in his hand.
The hallway shook and in seconds, it was over.
The wraith dissolved into ash.
The lights flickered one last time.
And all around us… students kept walking.
Like nothing happened.
I stared at the dust where the creature had been. "They didn't see it."
"They never do," Taryn said.
I turned to Azier. "You're sure you can't see how I die?"
"Wait she's dying again" Riven looked so lost.
He studied me with that unnerving stillness.
"No," he said. "But I just saw how it begins."
"And who are these gods?" I was practically shaking at this point.
"For safety reason I'd advice we leave school. Plus, this form I'm taking is quite uncomfortable" Azier said. I stared at him blankly.
"Hi I'm Azier shapeshifter and seer of the zoarium realm." He smiled. And I heard Taryn scoff beside me.
"You need to go home you aren't safe out here." Riven said. We'll think of something tomorrow.
I left with immediate effect. I didn't need someone to tell me twice.
That night, I didn't sleep and I didn't even try. I sat on the edge of my bed, hoodie still on, mark still faintly glowing. The room around me felt small like the silence was holding its breath too.
I replayed it all the wraith, Azier's blade, Taryn's power lighting up the hallway like a dying sun, Riven's speed. Students walking past like it was just a Tuesday. None of this was normal and I was beginning to wonder if I ever had been.
I reached for the window and cracked it open. Cold wind spilled in, brushing against my skin leaving trails of chills behind. Somewhere, an owl hooted and somewhere farther, a siren cried.
But in the back of my mind… something shifted. A faint memory, maybe or another trance pending.
I closed my eyes and something pulled, like I was falling, not asleep but inward.
The wind stopped, the room vanished and suddenly I was standing in the middle of the stars.
A dream…It had to be a dream.
But it was too vivid, too clear and everything could be felt. My skin tingled and my heartbeat slowed. The stars around me weren't dots of light they were pulsing, breathing, whispering.
One of them cracked.
A single, jagged sound like thunder tearing through glass. I turned and saw myself or rather someone who looked like me.
She was taller. Dressed in robes made of starlight and shadow. Her hair floated around her like a crown, the same blonde hair I had. Her eyes, my eyes were glowing with a translucent shade of gray.
She looked right at me.
"You're too early," she said.
I couldn't speak.
"They locked you in time for a reason. You weren't supposed to wake."
"Who are you?" I whispered.
She smiled a sad and knowing kind of smile.
"I'm you. The first you. The one they tried to erase."
The stars behind her flickered then went red.
"You've already started unraveling the timelines," she said, stepping closer. "And now they're coming. All of them. Even the ones who swore they wouldn't."
"Who's coming?" I asked.
But she didn't answer.
She only touched my forehead and suddenly, my mark burned so bright I screamed.
I jolted awake.
Back in my bed. Gasping and covered in sweat.
But there were whispers, the same I have been ignoring all this while. This time they were louder and clearer.
"WE REMEMBER YOU."