Zynth awoke to the sensation of weightlessness. His body floated in a vast expanse of darkness, a void that seemed to stretch on forever. His mind was hazy, his memories fragmented. The last thing he remembered was the blinding surge of magic, the world splitting apart beneath him, and the Rift Beast's terrifying roar as it was consumed by the raw energy of the collapsing realm.
But now… silence. Stillness.
He blinked, his eyes struggling to adjust to the emptiness around him. There was no sky, no ground—just an endless, swirling mass of shadow and light, constantly shifting and morphing. It was as though he had been swallowed by the void itself, caught in the space between worlds.
Zynth tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy, sluggish. The Blue Atomic Power still pulsed faintly within him, but it was dim, as if the collapse of the realm had drained him of everything. He couldn't even summon a flicker of the blue flames that had once burned so fiercely within him.
*Where am I?*
Panic rose in his chest as the reality of his situation settled over him. The Rift's Wasteland had collapsed. The surge of magic that Aurelia had created had torn the realm apart, and now he was adrift—trapped in the rift itself, with no idea how to escape.
He had no sense of time here, no way to know how long he had been floating in this nothingness. It could have been minutes, hours, days. The void distorted everything, making it impossible to grasp onto anything solid. It was disorienting, and the longer he floated, the more he felt himself slipping away—like his very identity was unraveling in the vast emptiness.
Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught his attention.
Zynth's eyes darted to the side, and in the distance, he saw it—another figure, floating in the void like him. His heart skipped a beat as recognition washed over him.
Aurelia.
She was there, her body suspended in the darkness, her face pale and still. She looked fragile, as though the collapse of the realm had taken everything from her, just as it had from him. But she was alive. That much he was sure of.
Zynth summoned every ounce of strength he had left and reached out to her. His arm felt impossibly heavy, but he pushed through the exhaustion, willing himself to reach her before the void consumed them both.
"Aurelia!" he called out, his voice barely a whisper in the vast emptiness.
She didn't respond. Her eyes were closed, her body limp, as if she was unconscious. Zynth's chest tightened with fear. He had to get to her—he couldn't lose her now, not after everything they had been through.
With a final surge of effort, Zynth's hand brushed against hers, and the moment they touched, a jolt of energy shot through him, pulling them both out of the weightless void.
---
#### Moments Later
Zynth gasped as his body slammed into something solid. The sudden shift from weightlessness to gravity left him disoriented, but he forced himself to sit up, blinking against the harsh light that flooded his vision.
The darkness of the void was gone, replaced by something far more familiar.
A realm.
Zynth's breath caught in his throat as he realized they had been thrown into another realm—one that was intact, stable. The sky above was a deep, twilight blue, streaked with pale clouds that drifted lazily across the horizon. The air was warm, with a faint scent of flowers carried on the breeze. Around them, towering trees rose from the ground, their leaves shimmering with a soft, ethereal glow.
It was beautiful.
Zynth glanced down at Aurelia, who lay beside him, still unconscious. He gently shook her shoulder, his heart pounding with relief. "Aurelia, wake up. We made it."
Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, she looked dazed, her brow furrowing in confusion as she took in their surroundings. "Zynth…?" she murmured, her voice hoarse. "Where… where are we?"
"I don't know," Zynth admitted, helping her sit up. "But we're not in the wasteland anymore. We must've been thrown into this realm when the surge hit."
Aurelia rubbed her temples, wincing slightly as she regained her bearings. "The surge…" Her voice trailed off, and her eyes widened as the memories flooded back. "The Rift Beast. The collapse. Is everyone…?"
Zynth's stomach twisted. He hadn't thought about the others—Altair, the survivors. They had all been caught in the surge, just like him and Aurelia, but there was no way to know if they had made it through the rift intact.
"I don't know," Zynth said quietly. "We'll have to find them."
Aurelia's face paled, her eyes filled with guilt. "I never wanted this to happen," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I thought… I thought I could control the rift. That I could fix everything. But I was wrong."
Zynth placed a hand on her shoulder, his voice gentle. "You were trying to help. None of us knew what would happen. But we're still here, and we have a chance to make it right."
Aurelia's gaze dropped to the ground, and for a long moment, she didn't say anything. Zynth could see the weight of her guilt pressing down on her, the same weight he had carried ever since *Chroma-Veila* had collapsed.
"I should've listened to you," she said softly. "I was so focused on finding answers, on controlling the rifts, that I didn't see the damage I was causing."
Zynth's chest tightened. He had wanted to save her from this—from the pain, the guilt. But in the end, they had both been swept up in something far bigger than themselves.
"We can't change the past," Zynth said quietly. "But we can try to make things right. We need to find the others, and we need to figure out where we are. There's still a way out of this. I know it."
Aurelia nodded, though the sadness in her eyes remained. "You've always been the one with hope," she murmured, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Even when everything's falling apart."
Zynth managed a small smile in return. "Someone has to be."
---
#### The Search for the Others
Zynth and Aurelia spent the next few hours exploring the new realm they had landed in, searching for any signs of the other survivors. The realm was unlike anything Zynth had ever seen—lush, vibrant, and filled with a sense of calm that contrasted sharply with the chaos they had left behind.
The ground beneath their feet was soft, covered in patches of bioluminescent grass that glowed faintly as they walked. The trees towered above them, their branches weaving together to create a canopy of shimmering leaves that cast dappled light over the forest floor. It was beautiful, but it also felt… empty.
There were no other people. No signs of life beyond the natural beauty that surrounded them.
As they walked, Zynth's thoughts kept drifting back to the others—Altair, Lina, the Hunters. Had they survived? Had they been thrown into this realm as well, or had they been lost to the void?
"They have to be here somewhere," Aurelia said, her voice filled with determination, though there was an edge of uncertainty to it. "We can't be the only ones who made it through."
Zynth nodded, though his heart was heavy with doubt. They had scoured a wide area, and so far, there had been no sign of the others. The silence of the realm was unsettling, and Zynth couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong—like they had stepped into a dream that wasn't entirely real.
Suddenly, a faint sound echoed through the trees—a soft, distant voice carried on the wind.
Zynth froze, his heart racing. "Did you hear that?"
Aurelia nodded, her eyes wide with hope. "It's them. It has to be."
Without another word, they both took off running, weaving through the trees as the sound grew louder. The voice was faint, but it was real—a soft, rhythmic chant, as if someone was calling out to them.
They rounded a bend in the forest, and Zynth's breath caught in his throat.
There, standing in a small clearing, was Altair.
But something was wrong.
Altair stood perfectly still, his eyes wide and unblinking, his hands raised as though he were frozen in place. Around him, faint tendrils of energy swirled, wrapping around his body like chains. His lips moved in a slow, rhythmic chant, but the words were incomprehensible, his voice hollow and distant.
"Altair!" Zynth shouted, rushing toward him.
But as he approached, the air around Altair seemed to shimmer, and Zynth felt an invisible force push him back, as though he had hit an invisible wall.
Aurelia gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "What's happening to him?"
Zynth reached out, pressing his hand against the invisible barrier that surrounded Altair. The air crackled with energy, and Zynth could feel the familiar pull of the rift's chaos.
"He's… trapped," Zynth said, his voice filled with disbelief. "The rift—it's still affecting him."
Aurelia's face paled as she stepped closer, her hand trembling as she reached out to touch the barrier. "We didn't escape the rift," she whispered, her voice filled with dread. "It followed us here."
Zynth's heart sank as the truth hit him like a punch to the gut.
They hadn't escaped at all.
The rift's reach was far greater than they had ever imagined.
---
**End of Chapter 16**