The blood had barely finished drying when Luca realized the world did not like what he had just done.
That morning, Rome remained beautiful.
A pale blue sky without blemish. Birds gliding above the Tiber River. The smell of warm bread drifting from a small shop on the corner.
And yet every sound felt slightly… delayed.
Luca stood on his apartment balcony watching the traffic below. A car passed through the intersection, he saw it first, then heard it a fraction of a second later.
He blinked.
Normal again.
He exhaled slowly.
Side effects.
The fragment hadn't merely given him power. He had touched something that was never meant to be touched by human hands.
Last night, after returning from the warehouse, he barely slept. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw himself, older, colder, telling him he was too late.
Too late for what?
He touched his temple.
There was no wound.
Yet the pulsing sensation remained, like a small echo refusing to fade.
Luca stared at his reflection in the glass door.
The reflection did not move.
He raised his hand.
The reflection followed.
Normal.
But when he lowered his hand...,
The reflection still stood there with its hand raised.
For one second.
Then it returned.
Luca did not blink.
So this is the price.
A faint smile touched his lips.
Fine.
He would pay it.
That afternoon, the first report appeared.
Not about fractures.
About electrical disturbances in several western districts of Rome.
Minor disruptions.
A transformer exploded. Streetlights went out simultaneously for seven seconds.
Seven seconds.
Luca froze when he read the number.
He didn't know why, but the number felt… specific.
He closed his eyes.
Focus.
He tried to call upon the fragment.
At first, nothing happened.
Then....
The world loosened.
Colors faded slightly.
Sounds drifted away.
And in his mind, he saw a flash.
Seven seconds ahead.
He saw himself dropping his phone.
He saw the screen crack.
He saw a dark shadow standing behind him.
Luca opened his eyes.
His heart pounded.
The phone was still in his hand.
He turned slowly.
No one there.
But the air felt colder.
So this was his ability.
Brief glimpses of the future.
Very brief.
But enough to avoid a small mistake.
He tried again.
Focus.
The world loosened once more.
Three seconds.
He saw himself walking into the kitchen, pouring water, the glass slipping and shattering.
He opened his eyes before moving.
He did not go to the kitchen.
Three seconds passed.
No glass broke.
A small change.
But real.
His smile faded.
If he could see a few seconds ahead...,
Then he could also change it.
And if he changed too much...,
What would change in return?
Night fell faster than usual.
Or perhaps it only felt that way.
Luca stepped outside without a clear destination, following an instinct he was beginning to trust more than logic.
His feet carried him toward the Colosseum.
The structure stood majestic under floodlights. Tourists still gathered around it, taking photos, laughing, living without burden.
Three years from now, this place would collapse.
He stood far enough away not to draw attention.
Then he felt it.
A subtle vibration.
Not from the ground.
From the air.
He closed his eyes.
Focus.
A flash.
He saw a group of men in black suits standing in a restricted area near the western entrance. One of them held a small device glowing blue.
He opened his eyes.
No one there.
But his instinct said: wait.
Five seconds passed.
Ten.
Then they appeared.
Three men in black suits walked calmly, as if they were ordinary officials. No visible weapons. But their movements were too coordinated to be coincidence.
One of them stopped.
Raised the small device.
Blue light flickered on.
Luca held his breath.
They sensed something.
Not a major fracture.
Residue.
The trace of the fragment he had taken last night.
His chest tightened.
He closed his eyes again.
Flash.
He saw himself standing in the same place, one of the suited men turning directly toward him.
Their eyes meeting.
He opened his eyes before the flash ended.
Without hesitation, Luca turned and walked away, blending into the tourist crowd.
His pace was steady.
Not rushed.
Don't run.
Don't look nervous.
He turned the corner.
Stopped.
Looked back slowly.
One of the suited men stood at the end of the street, staring in his direction.
The distance between them was considerable.
Yet the gaze felt sharp.
The blue device in his hand vibrated softly.
Luca called upon the fragment again.
Flash.
He saw the man speaking into an earpiece. He saw a red circle appear on the device's screen.
A dot moving.
Toward him.
He opened his eyes.
So it was true.
They could track him.
Not directly.
But the fragment's energy residue left a trace.
He lowered his head, slipped his hands into his pockets, and walked faster.
Inside his mind, a faint voice echoed.
Not clear.
More like a whispering reverberation.
—They are coming.
He froze for a fraction of a second.
That was not his own thought.
He knew the difference between intuition and a foreign voice.
This was the latter.
He turned into a narrower, darker alley.
The streetlights here were dim.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
Not fast.
But consistent.
Luca did not turn around.
He summoned the fragment again.
Flash.
He saw himself running.
He saw the suited man raise his hand.
Blue light exploded.
His body slammed against the wall.
He opened his eyes before the scene finished.
Don't run.
He stopped abruptly and turned.
The man stood five meters behind him.
Calm face. Neatly combed hair. Cold gray eyes.
"Electromagnetic disturbance," the man said quietly. "We detected its source around here."
Luca tilted his head slightly, feigning confusion.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The man studied his face longer than comfortable.
The air between them felt tight.
Luca summoned the fragment once more.
Flash.
He saw the man give a faint smile and say, "We know you touched it."
Luca opened his eyes before the sentence finished.
Don't give him time.
"Is there a problem?" Luca asked first.
The man did not smile.
He only stared.
The device in his hand vibrated again.
Its blue light flickered… then died.
Silence.
The man looked down at it.
His brow creased slightly.
Signal lost.
Luca didn't know how, but he felt something inside him… close off.
The fragment dampened his trace.
Or perhaps—
Someone cut the signal.
The man finally stepped back.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," he said flatly.
He turned and walked away.
His steps remained calm.
But his shoulders were slightly more tense than before.
Luca waited until the footsteps disappeared completely.
Only then did he breathe.
Too close.
They were faster than he had expected.
The organization was real.
And they were already active even before the major fracture occurred.
He leaned his back against the alley wall.
His heart pounded hard.
The fragment within him felt warm.
Almost… satisfied.
Luca closed his eyes.
A flash without summoning it.
He saw the Colosseum again.
But this time, beneath it, deep underground, there was an ancient stone circle marked with faintly glowing symbols.
At the center of the circle...,
Someone stood.
Not a winged creature.
Human.
And that person turned.
The face was blurred.
But one thing was clear.
It was his face.
Luca opened his eyes with a sharp breath.
That vision was different.
Not three or five seconds ahead.
Further.
Deeper.
And it did not feel like possibility.
It felt like memory.
He looked up at Rome's night sky.
Calm.
Peaceful.
As if nothing beneath its surface was hunting temporal anomalies.
If the Chrono Council was already active now!
Then small fractures must be appearing elsewhere.
And if there was an ancient circle beneath the Colosseum.
Then Rome was not merely the first victim.
Rome was the origin point.
Luca straightened.
He was no longer playing alone.
There was an organization.
A tracking system.
And perhaps.
Others who remembered.
The question now.
Would he hide from the Chrono Council…
Or infiltrate it instead?