The City that should not BE

The wind whispered through empty streets.

Buildings stretched impossibly high, their architecture a blend of the old world and something that had never existed before. Gothic spires met glass monoliths, streets that should have been abandoned pulsed faintly with an energy that was neither light nor shadow.

This city… should not be here.

Yet it was.

The man at its edge stood motionless, watching the skyline. His coat billowed in the wind, his fingers curled slightly as if sensing the presence of something just beneath his skin.

He was waiting.

And he wasn't waiting alone.

A woman approached from the other side of the street, her heels clicking against the pavement in rhythmic defiance of the silence that pressed in from all sides.

She stopped a few feet from him, tilting her head slightly.

"Did you feel it?" she asked.

The man exhaled, rubbing his temple. "You know I did."

She smiled, a sharp, knowing thing. "Then you know what it means."

He didn't answer.

Because he did know.

And that was the problem.

Elsewhere—A World That Should Not Exist

Ethan leaned against a railing, staring out at the ocean before him. Real waves. A real sky. The scent of salt and wind.

No distortions. No whispers. No shifting landscapes trying to push him into another version of himself.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity—he was real.

Anna sat a few feet away, her legs stretched out in front of her, arms folded behind her head as she stared at the stars. They were normal, distant, uncaring.

And yet—

"You're not saying anything," she finally muttered, cracking an eye open to look at him.

Ethan sighed. "I'm thinking."

Anna snorted. "God help us."

He laughed. A real, unfiltered laugh. The kind he hadn't felt in longer than he could remember.

And for a moment, everything was simple.

Then, Anna sat up, rolling her shoulders before giving him a serious look. "So… tell me. What exactly happened back there?"

Ethan hesitated.

How could he explain?

The cycle was broken. The choice had been made.

But the world hadn't gone back to the way it was.

It had changed. Shifted.

The city was gone—but in its place, something new had formed.

And Ethan… he could still feel it.

Like an itch in his mind. Like a part of him hadn't fully left.

"You're stalling," Anna said flatly.

Ethan shook his head. "No. I'm just… I don't know where to start."

Anna smirked. "Start with the part where we didn't die."

He huffed a quiet laugh. "Lucky us."

She nudged his arm. "No, seriously, Ethan. What did you do?"

Ethan's hands curled against his knees. He thought about the monolith. About the moment he chose.

And what he saw when he made that choice.

He turned to her, his voice quieter than before.

"I didn't destroy the cycle."

Anna frowned. "What?"

Ethan took a deep breath.

"I just…changed it."

Victoria Lane Knew When She Was Beaten

She sat at the edge of her office desk, swirling a glass of whiskey between her fingers. The monitors were dark. Luminex was no longer in control.

Horizon had left—retreating into the shadows, their presence erased as cleanly as the city itself.

She had won.

And yet, it didn't feel like a victory.

Because St. Augustine was gone.

Not wiped out. Not erased.

Just… replaced.

Like a missing tooth in the structure of reality—something else had taken its place.

Something she couldn't see. Couldn't reach.

And that—terrified her.

Her earpiece crackled.

She didn't react. Didn't rush to answer.

Because she already knew who it was.

She lifted the glass to her lips. "Took you long enough."

A voice came through. Smooth. Familiar. Too familiar.

"I was waiting to see what you'd do."

She smirked. "And?"

A chuckle. "You didn't disappoint."

Her grip tightened slightly. "I don't like mysteries I can't solve."

The voice was quiet for a moment. Then—"That's the problem, Victoria. You think this is a mystery."

She frowned. "It's not?"

The voice sighed. "It's a beginning."

The line cut out.

Victoria stared at the dark monitors.

And for the first time in her life—she realized she might have been looking at this all wrong.

The City That Calls

The man standing at the edge of the new city took a slow breath.

The woman beside him watched him carefully. "You're going, aren't you?"

He exhaled. "I don't think I have a choice."

She smiled faintly. "You always have a choice."

He shook his head.

Not this time.

Something was calling him.

The city was waiting.

And he had a feeling—this was only the beginning.