The night was a shroud of suffocating darkness as David jolted awake, his body drenched in sweat that clung to him like a second skin. His chest heaved, each breath a ragged gasp, as the echoes of Ruby's screams reverberated through his skull. In his nightmare, she died a thousand deaths—her fragile form torn apart, blood pooling beneath her, eyes wide with terror. Beside him, Luna slumbered in serene ignorance, her soft breaths a cruel contrast to the storm raging within him. Outside, the mournful howls of wolves pierced the stillness, as if the world itself wept for the torment he could not escape. His fists clenched, nails biting into his palms until blood trickled down, a vow searing his soul: he would save Ruby, or he would burn the world to ash.
Driven by a fury that gnawed at his bones and a sadness that hollowed his heart, David roused Luna. Together, they embarked on a perilous journey to Henwards Kingdom, the air thick with unspoken dread. Upon arrival, their paths diverged—Luna to the church, her figure disappearing into the shadowed arches, and David to the Magic Tower, its spires clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. There, he claimed a position as a dark magic professor, his crimson eyes glinting with a purpose no one dared question. But fate, a malevolent puppeteer, tugged him toward a desolate wasteland where the earth was scorched and the wind carried whispers of death. Amid the ruin, he found her—Ruby, his sister, sprawled in the dirt, her breaths shallow, her body broken.
A shadow loomed before him: Fear, a demon general with eyes like molten pitch and a grin that promised agony. David's rage erupted, a volcano of despair and vengeance. His dark power surged, a torrent of shadow and flame, as he seized Fear by the throat. With a guttural roar, he severed the demon's head, the crack of bone echoing across the wasteland. But death was not enough. He tormented Fear in a grotesque cycle—rebirthing the demon only to slaughter it again, each kill more savage than the last. Finally, he plunged his hand into its chest, crushing its still-beating heart, the wet squelch a symphony to his grief. Henwards lay in smoldering ruins behind him, a graveyard of shattered stone and broken dreams. Leaving a stunned Leon amidst the carnage, David whispered into the wind, "I'll find you, Ruby. No matter the cost."
Days bled into nights, and David's search led him to a sterile hospital room where Ruby lay unconscious, a fragile doll amidst white sheets stained with her blood. Her friends, Alice and Casca—two trembling fifteen-year-olds—stood by the door, their eyes hollow with shock. David's voice was a low growl, barely masking the tempest within.
"Are you guys okay?"
Alice nodded mutely, her lips quivering. Casca whispered, "We're okay," her voice a thread about to snap. David pushed past them, his boots thudding against the tiled floor, and entered the room. Ruby's chest barely rose, her face pale as death itself. He reached for her hand, his own trembling with a cocktail of rage and sorrow, when a sudden gust of wind heralded Luna's arrival.
David whirled, confusion twisting his features. "What are you doing here, Luna?"
Before he could react, Luna teleported to Ruby's side, her eyes glistening with tears. In one fluid, horrifying motion, she drove a sword through Ruby's chest. The blade sang as it sliced through flesh and bone, piercing her heart. David lunged, a scream tearing from his throat—"No!"—but he was too late. Ruby's body convulsed once, then stilled, her blood pooling crimson beneath her.
"Ruby! Ruby! Heal—heal!" David's hands glowed with dark magic, desperation clawing at his sanity, but the power flickered and died. She was gone. His tears fell like rain, each drop a shard of his shattered soul.
Luna sobbed, her voice breaking. "I'm sorry, David. I didn't want to lose my brother—my parents—because of this kid. I saw it all in a dream. I kept dying, over and over. My family, everyone—dead. And you… so many versions of you came to kill her. The world burned. The only way to stop it was to end her."
David's grief metastasized into a rage so profound it silenced the room. "You… saw?" His voice was a whisper, deadly and cold. As Luna's pleas continued, a dark wind howled to life, lifting her off her feet. She flew backward, crashing through walls, her body a ragdoll in the storm of his wrath. She landed in a heap miles away, her leg twisted at an unnatural angle, her spine a jagged ruin. Blood seeped from her mouth, her eyes wide with terror as the camera panned back to David.
In the hospital room, a gaping hole marred the wall where Luna had been flung. David's eyes burned crimson, a furnace of hate and despair. Then, with a shuddering breath, he forced himself to calm. "It's not the end," he murmured, teleporting to Luna's broken form.
She lay gasping, her life ebbing away. David crouched beside her, his voice dripping with menace. "I didn't expect this twist, Luna. I thought you were just a fleeting shadow in my story. But now… everything's changed. You saw those memories, those dreams. Since you've taken everything from me, shall I start with your mother? Your father? Your brother?"
Luna's lips moved, but no sound emerged, her body too ravaged to protest. David smirked, a predator toying with prey. "Oh, I can't hear you. Wait—let me fix that." He vanished, reappearing moments later with Luna's family in tow. Their screams rent the air, raw and piercing, as Luna's bloodshot eyes widened in horror.
"You killed my Ruby for them," David snarled, his voice a blade of ice. He seized Luna's mother by the head, crushing her skull in his grip. Bone splintered, blood sprayed, and Luna's choked scream was a pitiful wail. Next, he plunged his hand into her father's chest, ripping out his heart with a sickening squelch. The man crumpled, lifeless. Then, with deliberate cruelty, David grasped Luna's brother, tearing him in half. Flesh ripped, guts spilled, and the boy's halves thudded to the ground. Finally, he raised his foot and brought it down on Luna's head, her skull caving with a wet crunch, blood splattering across his boots.
"I have no one now," David whispered, his voice cracking under the weight of his anguish. "The one thing I swore to protect is gone. Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"
A voice, ancient and resonant, cut through his despair—the Creator of the Universe. "David, it's not the end. Remember the power I gave you. You can rewind time three times a day. I'll erase Luna's memories—she must live for a reason. Trust me."
David's crimson eyes flared. "Fine. I'll let her live." With a guttural cry, he unleashed his power, time unraveling like a thread. The world reset—Ruby alive, Luna oblivious, her treacherous visions erased. David stood by Ruby's bedside, his heart a battlefield of distrust and resolve. "I'll trust no one," he vowed, the Creator's warning echoing in his mind: "Someone is playing with us. Luna shouldn't have seen those timelines. Someone showed her."
As Ruby stirred, her eyes fluttered open, blurry at first, then focusing on David. "Master… Master!" She flung herself into his arms, tears soaking his chest.
"Yes, yes, I'm here," he soothed, his voice a fragile thread. After calming her, she asked, "Master, what are you doing here?"
"I came for work. I'm a professor at Henwards Magic Academy now."
Ruby's face lit up. "I'm studying there too! We can be together!"
David forced a smile. "Rest now. Your friends are safe—their butlers took them home." She sighed in relief, settling back into sleep as he watched, his crimson gaze unyielding. "I must control the timelines," he whispered to the empty room. "If I can't, I'll destroy them all."
The camera soared upward, piercing the clouds to a celestial council. God sat at a table with his six wives, his voice grave. "The false god of thunder's wife is missing. I can't find her."
The light god rose. "Shall I investigate?"
"No," God commanded. "Not until I say. Tell the heroes to search for answers."
Back in Henwards, David flung open the hospital window, wind whipping through the room as the sunset bled across the sky. Heroes roamed this world, he remembered—complications in his path. "Revenge or Ruby's protection?" he mused aloud. "I'll decide, and I won't falter." The camera lingered on the fading light, a harbinger of the storm to come