Outsider (4)

It was ironic, really.

Protagonists were supposed to change everything.

Their presence bent the world, shifted the tides, rewrote the fate of those around them. They were the axis upon which the story turned.

And yet, Elara—who had befriended Aeliana, who had tried to save her—had failed.

No matter how much she had fought, no matter the strength of their bond, it hadn't mattered in the end.

Aeliana had still lost herself.

To her curse. To her illness. To the inevitable spiral that the novel had already written for her.

'Shattered Innocence' had cooked with that twist. The protagonist, bound by fate rather than defying it. The world, unwilling to let her rewrite certain tragedies.

And it had been good.

But now—this world was no longer a book.

It was real.

And I was here.

Which meant I didn't have to accept that ending.