The fall was different this time.
Not like before—when she had been caught in the illusion, drifting through a fabricated vision.
This was real.
The chamber disintegrated around her, breaking into cosmic fragments, swallowed by the ever-growing tear in reality.
Ethan's grip on her tightened.
She couldn't see anything—only swirling lights, shadows, flashes of memories that weren't hers—
She was falling through time.
Through possibilities.
Through everything she had just broken.
Then—
Impact.
Not on stone.
Not on the earth.
But on something… soft.
Luna gasped as she landed, her vision whiting out.
A sharp buzzing filled her ears.
She groaned, pushing herself upright, her mind still reeling from—
Wait.
Where was she?
The sky above was no longer shattered.
The Celestial Order was gone.
The shadows, the rift, the chamber—
All gone.
Instead…
She was in a city.
A different city.
Towering buildings stretched into the skyline, unfamiliar symbols glowing on massive screens. The air smelled wrong—too sterile, too artificial.
And then she heard it.
The distant hum of machinery.
The voice of a robotic assistant announcing the time.
A digital billboard flickering with the words:
WELCOME TO NOVA PRIME.
Luna's blood ran cold.
She wasn't in her world anymore.
She had fallen into another timeline.
Another future.
A future where the Celestial Order didn't exist.
A future where the stars were no longer hers to command.
A future where she was never Starborn at all.