Eloise's POV**
The night air was colder than usual. Or maybe it was just me.
I sat inside the carriage, staring down at my hands, trying to remember.
Nothing came.
No childhood memories. No warmth of my father's voice. No echo of laughter I knew I once had. It was like trying to grasp smoke—there one moment, gone the next.
Caius was quiet beside me.
I knew he wanted to say something. Maybe comfort me. Maybe scold me for pushing myself too far. But he said nothing, only watching me with that unreadable expression of his.
I hated it.
I hated that I could still remember how the ink felt against my fingers, how the power hummed through my veins when I rewrote fate. But I couldn't remember my own mother's face.
How cruel was that?
I let out a bitter laugh, my voice barely above a whisper. "What happens when I forget everything, Caius?"
His hands tightened into fists. "You won't."
"You don't know that."
His jaw clenched. He turned to me, eyes sharp with frustration. "Then stop."
I sucked in a breath.
"Stop using your power. Stop rewriting things that were never meant to change." His voice was firm, but there was something else beneath it. Something raw. "Eloise, I don't want you to disappear."
A lump formed in my throat.
It wasn't fair.
I created this world. I *made* this story. And yet, I was the one paying the price.
I shook my head. "I can't stop."
"Why?"
Because if I did, people would die. Because I *had* to change things. Because I couldn't just sit back and let fate play out when I knew I could do something about it.
But most of all...
"Because I don't want to lose you."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Silence.
Caius's expression shifted, something unreadable flickering across his face. "Eloise..."
I looked away, heat rising to my cheeks. I hadn't meant to say that. Not out loud.
But it was the truth.
Maybe I was losing myself. Maybe my past was slipping further and further away.
But Caius...
Caius was still here.
And if losing my memories meant I could keep him safe—then maybe, just maybe, it was worth it.
———
**Caius' POV**
She's going to do it again.
I can see it in her eyes.
Even as she sits there, her fingers gripping the edge of her sleeve, her breathing slow but unsteady—I know what she's thinking.
She won't stop.
Eloise will keep using that cursed power, no matter what it costs her.
I exhale sharply, looking away from her. The carriage creaks as it moves along the dirt path, the lanterns casting flickering shadows along the walls. The road ahead is long, but this—this moment between us feels heavier than the battle we fought against the dragon, heavier than the weight of my own past.
"Eloise." My voice comes out rougher than I intended. "I don't want you to do it again."
She flinches but doesn't look at me.
"I have to."
"No, you don't." I shift, turning my body toward her. "You're already forgetting things. You didn't even realize it when I asked about your life before this world."
Her lips press together.
A flicker of hesitation.
That's all I need to know.
"You don't even remember what you've lost, do you?" I press, my voice softer this time. "The more you use your power, the more pieces of yourself disappear. And one day, Eloise..." My throat tightens. "One day, you might forget me."
Her head snaps up, eyes wide, but she says nothing.
That silence—it scares me more than anything else.
I've fought countless battles. I've been betrayed, abandoned, and cast aside. But this—watching her slip further and further away from herself—is a battle I don't know how to win.
I want to change fate.
But lately, fate itself feels... different.
I can feel it shifting, twisting into something unrecognizable.
Was this always meant to happen? Was this world—my world—always meant to break her?
I clench my fists. No. I refuse to let that happen.
I reach out, taking her hand in mine. It's cold. Too cold.
"Promise me," I say. "Promise me you won't use it again."
She hesitates.
Then, slowly, she pulls her hand away.
"I can't."
The finality in her voice is like a blade straight to my chest.
I don't know what hurts more—the fact that she won't listen to me... or the fact that she's willing to risk losing everything, including me, for the sake of this world.
And worst of all?
I don't know if I can stop her.