Old Friend, New Friend

Ren drifted in and out of consciousness, his spectral form flickering like a dying ember. He felt weightless, disconnected, as if pieces of himself were unraveling into the void. Voices drifted through the haze, muffled and distorted.

"He's fading fast," Lena's voice came through, tight with worry.

Another voice responded, its tone steady but equally concerned. "We need to stabilize him. If he slips further, there's no coming back."

Ren's scattered thoughts grasped at the unfamiliar speaker. Someone else? Concerned about him? That was almost funny. Since when did anyone other than Lena care about him? The thought was fleeting, and his consciousness faded into blackness.

When Ren came to, his form was dim but holding together. The world around him sharpened into focus, revealing the familiar cracks and gloom of the broken world he called home. Above him, Lena loomed, her face a mix of relief and exasperation.

"You absolute idiot," she said, her tone sharp. "You promised me you wouldn't overdo it. You swore you wouldn't time travel so much that you'd become a wisp. And yet here we are."

She threw her hands up. "If it weren't for me and Daniel, you'd have ceased to exist entirely."

Ren's form flickered as he jerked upright, staring at her. "Daniel?" he croaked, his voice faint but tinged with disbelief.

Lena's lips quirked into a grin. "Yep. He's here. And trust me, he's got some things to say."

Daniel entered the room as if on cue, his ghostly form solid and confident. His expression was mild annoyance as he crossed his arms and fixed Ren with a mock glare. "You told me to come to your present so we could figure things out together," he said, his tone dry. "But you didn't mention your present was 3,427 years in the future."

Ren blinked, his mind struggling to catch up. Before he could respond, Daniel's stern expression softened into a laugh. "Do you know how long I had to search for you?" he continued, throwing his hands up. "I didn't even know what era you were from! I had to comb through centuries of history, and let me tell you, watching humanity fall apart over millennia was not my idea of fun."

Lena raised an eyebrow. "What did you see?"

Daniel's expression darkened as he recounted the events. "I saw nations crumble under their own greed, wars fought over resources already dwindling, and technology that was supposed to save humanity being used to destroy it instead. Entire ecosystems collapsed, and with them, the people who depended on them. And then there were the plagues—diseases that spread faster than anyone could contain. It wasn't one event that did it; it was a thousand small failures, all compounding until nothing was left."

Ren's form flickered faintly as he absorbed Daniel's words. "I'm sorry you had to see all that," he said quietly.

Daniel shook his head. "It's not your fault, but man, it was rough. I kept hoping I'd find you sooner. Whenever I thought I'd caught a trace of you, you'd vanish again. And when I finally pieced it together, I ended up here." He gestured around the broken world. "This place isn't exactly welcoming."

Lena chimed in, her grin widening. "But knowing Ren, he will risk his very existence repeatedly to save it."

Ren groaned, feeling a rare warmth despite his exhaustion. "Don't make me embarrassed. I'm just doing the right thing."

The other two exchanged looks, and Daniel said, "Sure, you are."

Heavy footfalls echoed through the room, drawing their attention to the doorway. Garin stepped in, his imposing form casting a long shadow. His sharp eyes swept over the trio, lingering on Ren's still-flickering form.

"Well," Garin said, his tone a mix of annoyance and concern, "it seems you're still intent on tearing yourself apart to save a world that's already broken."

Ren opened his mouth to respond, but Garin froze mid-step, his gaze locking onto Daniel.

His eyes widened briefly before a low chuckle escaped his lips. "So," Garin said, a knowing smile spreading across his face, "the one you've been searching for all these years was Ren?"

Daniel's lips twitched into a small, enigmatic smile, but he said nothing. The air between them crackled with unspoken history, a shared understanding that Ren and Lena could only guess at.

Lena glanced between them, her curiosity evident. "Wait, you two know each other?"

Garin shook his head, the amusement still gleaming in his eyes. "Let's just say Daniel and I have crossed paths before. And judging by his expression, he's enjoying keeping the details to himself."

Daniel gave a faint shrug, his smile lingering. "Good to see you again, Garin. You've always had a knack for finding the right places at the right times."

Ren's eyes narrowed as he processed their exchange, and a sudden thought struck him.

"Wait," he said slowly, his voice tinged with realization. "If you've been looking for me all this time, you must have seen me during the events you described. The wars, the plagues, the collapses… Were there times you saw me trying to fix things?"

Daniel hesitated, his knowing smile slipping into something more somber. "Once or twice," he admitted. "But you were always ahead of me, or maybe a step behind. You didn't stick around long enough for me to catch up. And honestly, Ren, if you knew about half the things I saw… I don't know if you could stop yourself from trying to change them."

Ren's form flickered again, this time with exhaustion and unease. He imagined himself in those moments, blind to the consequences of his efforts. How many times had he unknowingly walked through the edges of history, leaving ripples in his wake?

"That's a lot to take in," he murmured.

Lena placed a steadying hand near his shoulder, her gaze reassuring. "We'll figure it out together. Like Daniel said, there's still work to do."

Ren nodded the weight of Daniel's words sinking in. Whatever lay ahead, he couldn't afford to lose himself in regrets. Not when the past, present, and future still hung in the balance.