The Fractured Fall

"Falling is never the scary part. It’s the landing that decides your fate."

Viraj had fallen through time before.

It was never pleasant.

But this was different, unusual.

This wasn’t just a jump between centuries or a controlled dive into the past. This was a collapse.

He and Lucius weren’t just falling through time—they were being ripped apart by it.

The world around them was a swirling chaos of fragmented timelines, shattered moments crashing into one another like waves in a storm. He saw flashes of himself—millions of him—each one caught in a different reality.

In one, he was a child, staring at the night sky.

In another, he was old, sitting alone in a room filled with books that no longer existed.

In one, he was dying.

And then, he was nothing.

His entire existence blurred, stretched, twisted—until he wasn’t sure if he was still real.

And that’s when the whispers returned.

"THIS IS HOW IT ENDS."

Viraj clenched his fists, forcing himself to focus. No.

He wasn’t going to let time erase him.

Lucius was still beside him, flailing wildly, trying to grab onto something—anything—as the storm of fractured realities threatened to pull them apart.

Viraj reached out, almost shouted.

For a split second, his hand passed through Lucius like he was nothing more than a memory.

Panic surged through him.

No. No, no, no.

He focused, pushing against the pull of the void, forcing his mind to stay anchored in reality.

Lucius was real.

This wasn’t how their story ended.

Viraj reached out again—and this time, he grabbed Lucius’s wrist.

The moment they connected, the storm shuddered.

Time rippled.

And suddenly—they weren’t falling anymore.

They landed hard.

The world around them was silent.

Viraj groaned, pushing himself up. He felt solid again. No more flickering timelines, no more shifting realities.

Lucius let out a sharp breath beside him. “I don’t know where we are, but I’d like to formally request that we never, ever do that again.”

Viraj glanced around. They were standing on solid ground—a cracked, ancient surface that stretched endlessly into the horizon. The sky above them was a swirling mix of gold and deep violet, shifting like a living oil painting.

It didn’t take long for him to realize where they were.

Lucius sighed. “Okay, go on, say it.”

Viraj exhaled slowly. “We’re outside of time.”

Lucius groaned. “I was really hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

They weren’t in a past or future. They weren’t even in a parallel reality. They were standing in a place that wasn’t supposed to exist.

And the worst part?

They weren’t alone.

Viraj turned sharply as a figure emerged in the distance.

Not the Timeborne.

Something else.

Something watching.

Something waiting.