kweenjaded

For as long as the stars have burned, she has existed. She has been called many names—Gaia, Lilith, the First, the Eternal Witness—but time has eroded meaning, leaving only silence. When the sun finally devoured itself and Earth drifted into the abyss, she closed her eyes, expecting oblivion.

But she did not die.

Eons passed, and Earth—no longer Earth—was reborn in a distant galaxy, reshaped by her unconscious will. Now a training ground for civilizations across the cosmos, the planet teems with life once more. And she, no longer Lilith yet not fully something else, awakens in a body that is hers but unfamiliar. She knows everything yet feels nothing. Memories exist as echoes, not experiences.

When a young explorer, Tilana, stumbles upon her, she is given a name—Lily—a word tied to a flower that no longer exists. As Lily navigates a world both familiar and alien, she must relearn what it means to feel, to connect, and to exist. But something lingers in the depths of this reborn world, something that calls to the remnants of who she was.

To see tomorrow, one must kill yesterday. But what if yesterday refuses to die?.

Lily: The last lily of a forgotten world.

"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."

The corridor was empty, the artificial lighting casting long, clean lines across the pristine flooring. The faint hum of distant machinery vibrated through the walls—a reminder that Vatra was alive beneath its surface, shifting and evolving in ways only those who studied its infrastructure truly understood.

She turned slowly, her gaze locking onto the person lingering a few steps behind her.

He had been following her for a week.

Not obviously. Not in a way that most people would notice. But Lily was not most people.

She had observed his presence at a distance, the way his movements were too coincidental, the way his path always seemed to align with hers. He never spoke, never directly engaged unless required. But he was there. Always watching.

Now, he had stopped too, his usual easygoing stance just slightly too controlled.

"You are following me," Lily said, her voice even.

For a fleeting second, his instinct was to slip into his usual response—a laugh, a dismissive wave of the hand, a playful deflection.

Lily was not accusing him. She was not suspicious. She was simply stating a fact.

So, for the first time in a long time, he didn't smile.

Instead, he exhaled and took a step closer, his hands slipping into the pockets of his uniform jacket. "Alright," he said. "You got me."

Zane's eyes narrowed slightly. "No. Let me rephrase."

Lily tilted her head, considering the question.

Zane studied her, searching for something in her face, in her posture, in the way she responded without hesitation.

"You say that like it doesn't bother you," he said.

Zane exhaled sharply through his nose, his head tilting back slightly as if he was trying to make sense of her—of this entire situation.

He had met many people in his life. He had spoken to the brightest minds in the Academy, the wealthiest elites, the strongest students, the most dangerous competitors. He had learned how to read them all.

"That's not normal," he muttered, more to himself than to her.

Zane inhaled deeply, then ran a hand through his hair, as if trying to physically shake off whatever strange tension had settled over him.

"Alright, Lily," he said finally, his voice shifting back to something more familiar, more casual. "If you don't know, then I guess I'll just have to figure it out myself."

Zane smiled—but it wasn't his usual performance. It was something sharper.

Chapter 14: The Unspoken Question