The forest was too quiet.
Not peaceful. Not calm.
Just… wrong.
Rael walked carefully through the undergrowth, every footstep controlled. The damp earth gave under his boots, and the scent of wet leaves clung to the air. The trees loomed tall around him, their twisted branches casting deep shadows beneath the moonlight.
He had always been good at noticing things. The small inconsistencies, the details that didn't match.
Right now?
Everything felt like an inconsistency.
The world had erased the battlefield. The watchtower. The fight that had happened just hours ago.
But Rael was still here.
Still breathing.
Still remembering.
And that meant something was very, very wrong.
He exhaled slowly, glancing at the man walking beside him.
Ithan moved like someone used to watching his back. His steps were careful, measured. His cloak was drawn tight around him, but it did little to hide the battered armor beneath.
For someone who had just revealed that Rael was supposed to be dead, he was acting far too relaxed.
Rael clenched his jaw.
His name had been erased.
His past had been erased.
And yet, here he was—standing in a world that didn't know what to do with him.
His fingers twitched at his sides.
It wasn't a question of whether he should start asking questions.
It was a question of how long he had before the world tried to silence him again.
---
A World That Fixes Its Mistakes
They walked for a long time.
No real direction—just movement.
Rael didn't trust the stillness of the forest. The way it didn't feel alive. There were no animals. No insects. Not even the rustling of leaves against the wind.
It was like the world itself was holding its breath.
Waiting for something.
Finally, Ithan spoke.
"You're quiet."
Rael glanced at him. "So are you."
Ithan smirked. "I have less to process."
Rael exhaled sharply. "Then tell me what I should be thinking."
Ithan tilted his head slightly. "That's dangerous."
"Why?"
"Because the more you think about it, the more real it becomes."
Rael narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"
Ithan didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he gestured ahead. "See that tree?"
Rael followed his gaze.
It was massive—a gnarled old thing, its roots stretching deep into the damp earth. Moss clung to its bark, and twisted branches curled toward the sky.
"Memorize it," Ithan said.
Rael frowned. "Why?"
Ithan nodded toward it. "Turn away. Then look back."
Rael sighed, humoring him. He turned his head slightly—just for a second.
Then he looked back.
And the tree wasn't there anymore.
Rael froze.
The earth where it had been was smooth. Untouched. Like nothing had ever grown there at all.
His pulse pounded.
"Do you understand now?" Ithan murmured.
Rael inhaled sharply. "The world is changing things when we're not looking."
Ithan smiled faintly. "Not changing. Correcting."
Rael clenched his fists.
The watchtower. The battlefield. The soldiers who had spoken about things they shouldn't have remembered.
The world wasn't just adjusting mistakes.
It was removing them.
And if Rael wasn't careful—
He was next.
---
A Past That No Longer Exists
They finally stopped near a clearing.
The moon hung low overhead, its light casting silver streaks across the damp earth. Ithan settled against a fallen log, stretching his legs out.
Rael remained standing.
His thoughts were racing too fast to sit.
"I need to know," he said finally.
Ithan raised a brow. "Know what?"
Rael turned to him, his expression unreadable.
"Who was I before this?"
The air between them shifted.
Not physically.
But in that subtle, suffocating way Rael was beginning to recognize.
The world didn't want him asking that.
Ithan sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I already told you. Your name doesn't exist anymore."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I can give you."
Rael clenched his jaw.
His hands twitched at his sides.
Somewhere, deep inside him—something was rattling.
Like a locked door shaking against its hinges.
A memory that wasn't there.
A truth that refused to surface.
"You knew me," Rael said. His voice was steady. Cold.
Ithan didn't respond.
"You said I die every time."
Silence.
"That the world rewrites itself without me."
Still, Ithan said nothing.
Rael exhaled slowly. "Then tell me why I'm back."
Ithan's gaze flickered.
Just slightly.
But Rael saw it.
The tension in his shoulders. The hesitation in his breath.
Then, after a long moment—
"Because something changed."
Rael inhaled sharply.
Ithan had said that before.
But this time, there was something else behind his words.
Something he wasn't saying.
Rael took a slow step closer. "What changed?"
Ithan hesitated.
Then—finally—he spoke.
"You."
---
The First Scar in the Story
Rael's breath slowed.
His pulse still pounded, but something inside him went cold.
"Me."
He should have expected it.
But hearing it still made something coil tightly in his chest.
"What does that mean?" Rael asked.
Ithan exhaled. "You never last this long."
Rael's brow furrowed. "What?"
"Every time this war happens," Ithan said, "you die early. Usually before you even start asking questions."
Rael's stomach turned. "Then what's different now?"
Ithan studied him.
"You are."
Rael clenched his jaw. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have," Ithan said. "Something changed. And whatever it was… the world doesn't like it."
Rael didn't respond.
Because he had already figured that much out.
The watchtower. The erased battlefield.
The flickering world.
Something was unraveling.
And he was at the center of it.
Rael exhaled slowly.
Then—he made a decision.
"If I'm the only thing that's different," he said, "then I need to find out why."
Ithan let out a quiet laugh. "You always say that."
Rael's pulse slowed.
His voice came out low.
"Then what happens to me?"
Ithan held his gaze.
A long, stretched silence.
Then, finally—
"You die."