Lysandra's grip on Elara's wrist slipped as the system's scream tore through the air—a sound like nails on a cosmic chalkboard. The abyss below churned, its darkness pixelating into static.
"Hold on!" Lysandra shouted, her free hand clawing at the crumbling rooftop.
"If you drop me, I'm haunting your dress collection," Elara hissed. Shadows coiled around her legs, anchoring them both.
The Heroine hauled her up, golden braids whipping in the wind. "You're heavier than you look."
"It's the moral baggage. Comes free with villainy."
Kael's roar echoed from a nearby spire. Elara grabbed Lysandra's hand, and they sprinted across the floating rooftops, their boots skidding on rain-slick tiles. Behind them, the Hero's sword cleaved through stone like it was butter.
System Notification:
WARNING: DEFIANCE THRESHOLD EXCEEDED. PENALTY ENACTED: [ERASURE OF CELESTIA, CITY OF DAWN]. CASUALTIES: 12,304. NEXT PENALTY IN: 3 HOURS.
The horizon flickered. A distant cluster of silver spires—Celestia's skyline—dissolved into smoke.
Lysandra froze. "They're… gone? Because you helped me?"
Elara's shadowweaver magic writhed under her skin. "Because I changed the script. The system's a sore loser."
"Fix it," Lysandra whispered, her voice cracking. "You broke this. Fix it."
________________________________________________________________________________________________
They hid in the corpse of a clocktower, its rusted gears frozen mid-tick. Lysandra paced, her chartreuse gown streaked with ash.
"The system wants compliance," Elara muttered, poking at glitching system prompts. "So we give it… a loophole."
System: RESTORATION PROTOCOL AVAILABLE!
Objective: Retrieve [Kael Arcturus's Nightmare Shard] from the Dreaming Abyss. Reward: Restore 10% of Celestia. Penalty for failure: Erase another city.
Lysandra's eyes narrowed. "His nightmares? Why?"
"Because trauma's the system's favorite currency," Elara said, bitterness sharpening her tone. "His mom died in Celestia. It's recycling his pain for drama points."
The Heroine gripped her shoulders. "Can you do this?"
Elara smirked. "I've navigated his emotional baggage before. How hard can it be?"
System: ACCESSING DREAMING ABYSS…
The world blurred. When it sharpened, Elara stood in a frozen wasteland. Kael's memories howled around her—a child's scream, the stench of burning flesh, a woman's voice: "Run, Kael! Don't look back!"
"Well," Elara muttered, "this'll be cheery."
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kael's nightmare was a perfect replica of Celestia's fall. Demonic flames swallowed streets choked with rubble. A younger Kael—maybe twelve—crouched behind a shattered pillar, clutching a dagger.
Elara's shadowweaver magic sputtered. No powers here. Just raw, stupid courage.
She approached the boy. "Nice dagger. Compensating for something?"
He swung it wildly. "Stay back!"
"Relax, kid. I'm here to—" Steal your trauma? Save a city? "—help."
The memory quaked. A shadow loomed—Kael's mother, forced to her knees by a demon general. Young Kael lunged.
"Don't!" Elara tackled him. They hit the cobblestones as the demon's axe fell.
"Let me go!" the boy sobbed.
"You die here, you die forever," Elara snapped. "Trust me. I've tried."
The nightmare splintered. The demon general turned, its face shifting—into Elara's face, twisted with malice.
System Alert: CORRUPTION DETECTED! NIGHTMARE SHARD COMPROMISED!
"Oh, you bastard," Elara snarled at the sky.
The demon-Elara laughed. "You really thought you could rewrite his story? You're the villain, sweetheart. Always will be."
Young Kael stared at her, betrayal dawning.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elara woke gasping, the nightmare shard burning in her palm. Lysandra knelt beside her, face pale.
"Did you get it?"
Before she could answer, Kael's sword pressed to her throat.
"What," he said softly, "did you do to me?"
The shard pulsed. Inside it, Elara saw the truth: She was the demon general in Kael's memory. The system had rewritten his past to frame her.
System Notification: CELESTIA RESTORATION PROGRESS: 10%. NEXT TARGET: [LYSSANDRA'S LOST FAMILY].
Lysandra's eyes narrowed. "Why does it want my memories?"
Elara smiled, all teeth. "Because the system doesn't want us to win. It wants a show."
Kael's blade drew blood. "Start talking, Elara."
She met his gaze. "Or what? You'll kill me? Again?"
The shard shattered.