The Rift's Grasp
Valjean's scream echoed through the chaos as the ground shook beneath her. King was slipping away, his hand barely out of reach, pulled inexorably toward the rift's collapsing vortex. The air around them was thick with energy, wild and uncontrollable, as the rift consumed everything in its path.
But Valjean refused to let him go. Without thinking, she lunged forward, her fingers just grazing his wrist as he was dragged deeper into the swirling darkness.
"Hold on!" she cried, her voice strained against the deafening roar.
King struggled to keep his grip on the shard, its light flickering as the pull of the rift grew stronger. He looked back at Valjean, his face tense, but there was something in his eyes—something resolute, as if he had already accepted his fate.
"Valjean!" he shouted over the chaos. "Get out of here! You can't—"
But she didn't let him finish. With a burst of determination, she tightened her grip on his wrist and yanked him toward her, using every ounce of strength she had left. For a moment, the rift seemed to relent, the pull weakening just enough for her to drag him closer.
King's eyes widened in shock, but Valjean's expression was fierce, unyielding. "I'm not leaving you!" she shouted, her voice filled with defiance.
The rift screamed in protest, the air around them distorting as if reality itself was bending under the pressure. The shard in King's hand flickered again, but this time it pulsed with a different energy—one that matched the rhythm of the collapsing rift.
Suddenly, King understood.
The shard wasn't just a piece of the rift's energy. It was a conduit, a link between the rift and the world beyond it. And now, as the rift imploded, the shard was acting like a lifeline—a tether keeping him from being completely swallowed by the abyss.
"The shard!" King shouted, realizing what had to be done. "We can use it to close the rift—but we have to be inside it!"
Valjean's face paled at the suggestion. "Inside the rift? King, that's suicide!"
King shook his head, his eyes blazing with resolve. "It's the only way! If we don't stop it from the inside, the rift will tear this world apart!"
Valjean hesitated, her heart racing. The idea of stepping fully into the rift, into the heart of the very thing that had been trying to consume them, was terrifying. But the look in King's eyes told her there was no other option. This was the only way to end it, once and for all.
"Alright," she said, swallowing her fear. "But we do this together."
King nodded, his grip on her hand tightening. "Together."
The two of them took a deep breath, bracing themselves for what lay ahead. The rift was a swirling storm of energy, chaotic and deadly, but there was a small opening—a tear in the very fabric of reality, just wide enough for them to slip through.
Without another word, they plunged forward, diving into the heart of the rift.
The moment they crossed the threshold, everything changed.
The world around them dissolved into a sea of shadows and light, swirling in every direction. The energy was oppressive, pressing down on them from all sides, and for a moment, King wasn't sure they would survive it. His chest tightened, his breath coming in ragged gasps as the pressure mounted.
But the shard in his hand pulsed, glowing brighter now that they were inside the rift. It was reacting to the energy around them, absorbing it, feeding off it. And as the light from the shard grew, the oppressive force of the rift began to lessen.
Valjean gasped as she looked around, her eyes wide with awe. They were standing in the very core of the rift—a place that shouldn't exist, a realm of pure energy and chaos. The walls around them rippled like water, dark tendrils of shadow weaving in and out of the space, as if the rift was alive, watching them.
"This is it," King said, his voice barely a whisper. "The heart of the rift."
Valjean stared in disbelief. "How do we stop it?"
King looked down at the shard, its light pulsing rhythmically with the energy of the rift. "We have to disrupt the flow of energy," he said, his voice low and steady. "If we break the connection, the rift will collapse completely."
Valjean nodded, though fear still lingered in her eyes. "And if we fail?"
King didn't answer. He didn't have to. The truth was, if they failed, there would be nothing left—not of them, not of the world they were trying to save.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Ready?"
Valjean nodded, her expression resolute. "Let's do it."
King raised the shard, its light growing blinding as it connected fully with the energy of the rift. The tendrils of darkness around them recoiled, hissing in protest as the shard's power intensified. Valjean stood at his side, her hand gripping his tightly, her eyes locked on the swirling chaos ahead.
"Now!" King shouted.
With a surge of energy, King thrust the shard into the center of the rift's core. The moment it made contact, the world around them exploded with light, a wave of energy rippling outward from the point of impact. The rift let out a deafening scream, its form fracturing as the shard's power began to tear it apart from the inside.
For a brief moment, King felt the rift's fury—a raw, ancient force lashing out in its death throes. The ground beneath them quaked, and the walls of the rift began to crumble, folding in on themselves as the energy unraveled.
But just as quickly, the fury subsided. The light from the shard pulsed one last time, and then the rift collapsed.
In an instant, everything went still.
King blinked, his vision swimming as the light faded. He and Valjean were standing on solid ground once more, the swirling chaos of the rift gone, replaced by the quiet calm of the real world. The sky above them was clear, the air still, as if the rift had never existed.
But something was wrong.
Valjean stumbled, her hand slipping from King's as she swayed on her feet. "King... I don't feel... right..." she whispered, her voice weak.
King's heart sank as he looked at her, horror dawning on his face. Valjean's skin had begun to fade, her form flickering like a shadow in the sunlight.
"No," he breathed, his voice filled with dread. "No, no, no!"
The rift was gone, but it had taken something with it.
Valjean was disappearing.