A Crack In The Story
The world cracked.
Rael didn't see it happen, but he felt it.
Something in the air shifted—like the very fabric of reality was straining, twisting under an unseen force. The space around him felt wrong.
Then came the sound.
A deep, reverberating hum that wasn't natural.
It wasn't thunder.
It wasn't the wind.
It was something else.
A whisper that wasn't a whisper. A voice without sound.
And even though it had no words, Rael understood what it meant.
"Erase."
His blood turned to ice.
The watchtower groaned.
The stones beneath his feet trembled, a slow, creeping vibration that built too fast. The mist thickened around them, pressing inward, swallowing the edges of the ruins as if trying to erase them.
Ithan cursed. "We talked for too long."
Rael turned sharply. "What the hell does that mean?"
Ithan's jaw tightened. "It means run."
The ground lurched.
A fracture split through the stone between them, a thin, jagged crack that widened too quickly.
Rael didn't hesitate.
He moved.
---
A World Falling Apart
The ruins collapsed behind them.
Rael barely cleared the edge before the watchtower crumbled, swallowed by shifting mist. One second, it was there—the next, it was gone.
Not destroyed.
Not broken.
Just… gone.
Like it had never existed.
His breath came hard and fast as he sprinted down the uneven terrain, his boots slipping on damp stone and tangled roots. The forest was shifting, warping, the trees bending in ways that weren't natural.
Ithan was ahead of him, moving like a man who had done this before.
Rael pushed harder.
He didn't know what would happen if the world caught him.
And he wasn't going to find out.
The whispers pressed against his skull, the unseen hum growing louder.
The air itself thickened.
Like something massive and unseen was pushing against him.
Rael gritted his teeth.
His muscles burned.
But he kept moving.
Kept running.
---
The Escape
They didn't stop until they reached the river.
Rael stumbled to a halt at the edge of the rushing water, his breath ragged. His pulse hammered in his skull, his lungs burning from the run.
The world behind them was… still.
Too still.
He turned back.
The forest they had fled through—it was wrong.
The trees that had been twisting were gone. The ground was smooth, undisturbed, like no one had ever passed through.
Even the mist had settled.
Like nothing had ever happened.
Like they had never been there at all.
Rael's stomach twisted.
He turned to Ithan. "What the hell was that?"
Ithan exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. "That," he muttered, "was reality fixing itself."
Rael stared at him. "Fixing itself?"
Ithan gave him a tired, knowing look. "You think this world likes contradictions?" He gestured toward the now-empty land behind them. "We broke something. It erased the proof."
Rael's hands curled into fists. "We?"
Ithan didn't respond immediately.
Then, slowly, he met Rael's gaze.
"No," he admitted. "You."
---
A Name the World Wants to Forget
Rael's breath slowed.
His pulse still pounded, but something inside him went cold.
Ithan held his gaze, his expression unreadable.
Then, finally, he said—
"This world isn't supposed to have you in it."
The words landed like a weight in Rael's chest.
For a second, he couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Then—
He forced himself to speak.
"Explain."
Ithan hesitated.
Then, with a quiet sigh—
"You weren't supposed to wake up," he said. "Not this time."
Rael's fingers twitched. Not this time?
The words felt wrong.
They felt true.
Something shifted in his mind—like a door rattling in its hinges.
A memory that wasn't there.
A truth that refused to surface.
Rael swallowed. "Who am I?"
Ithan didn't answer.
He didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Then—finally—he spoke.
"Not someone this world wants to remember."
Rael's stomach dropped.
His mind rebelled against the words.
But deep inside—in the parts of himself he couldn't access—
He knew Ithan wasn't lying.
---
A Scar in Reality
The wind had died.
The night had gone silent.
Rael took a slow, measured breath. "You knew me before all of this."
Ithan's jaw tightened.
"You said I've died before."
A nod.
"You said this war keeps repeating."
Another nod.
Rael exhaled. "Then tell me why I'm back."
Ithan hesitated.
Then, voice low, careful—
"Because this time, something changed."
Rael's pulse pounded.
He felt the weight of the words.
Like something vast, something unseen, was shifting.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then—
A pressure pressed against the air.
Rael's vision blurred.
Not an attack.
Not exhaustion.
The world itself flickered.
For a split second, the stars above twisted into something unfamiliar.
A shape too large to comprehend.
Rael froze.
Ithan inhaled sharply, stepping back. "Shit."
The stars shifted back.
The world snapped into focus.
But Rael's hands were shaking.
Because he had seen it.
Felt it.
Something was watching him.
And it had just noticed he was still here.
Ithan's voice was low.
"We don't have much time before it tries again."
Rael turned to him, forcing down the unease clawing at his chest.
He clenched his jaw. "Then we find out what the hell is happening before it does."
Ithan studied him.
Then he exhaled.
"Agreed."
The world had erased the watchtower.
Not destroyed it.
Not buried it in rubble.
Just… removed it.
Like it had never existed in the first place.
Rael stood at the edge of the smooth, untouched earth, his breathing slow, controlled. He forced himself to stare at it. To let the wrongness of it sink into his bones.
Because if he looked away…
He had the sinking feeling that his own mind would try to erase it too.
He clenched his fists.
"No."
He wouldn't let that happen.
Because if the world was trying to erase something—then that meant it was hiding something.
And Rael needed to know what.
---
The World Was Too Perfect
They walked in silence for a while.
The air was too still. The ground was too clean. Every mark they had left—every sign that they had ever been near the ruins—was gone.
Rael kept his breathing steady, but his thoughts churned.
Something had changed tonight.
He had felt it.
Something was watching him now.
Something vast and unseen.
And it had just noticed that he was still here.
Ithan, walking ahead of him, let out a slow sigh. "You're thinking too loudly again."
Rael didn't respond.
Ithan glanced back, his expression unreadable. Then, after a moment—
"You're handling this better than I expected."
Rael finally spoke. "What does that mean?"
Ithan smirked slightly. "Most people go mad the first time they realize reality isn't what they thought it was."
Rael exhaled. "You assume I haven't."
Ithan let out a quiet chuckle. "Fair point."
For a brief moment, the tension eased.
But then—
The trees around them shuddered.
Rael stopped walking.
Ithan's smirk vanished.
Then—the world flickered.
---
The First Glitch
It was brief.
Barely a fraction of a second.
But Rael saw it.
One moment, they were standing on a worn dirt path, surrounded by the dense forest.
The next—they weren't.
For less than a breath, the world around them changed.
The trees shifted. Their angles twisted, becoming too sharp, their colors too saturated. The ground became flat, featureless.
The sky—
Rael's stomach twisted.
There hadn't been a sky.
Just… empty space.
Then—
It was gone.
The forest snapped back into place.
The trees were normal again. The path was beneath his feet. The night was still.
But Rael knew what he had seen.
Ithan let out a slow breath. "Well. That's new."
Rael turned sharply. "New?"
Ithan met his gaze. "It's never happened this early before."
Rael's blood ran cold.
"This early?"
He didn't like what that implied.
Ithan rolled his shoulders. "You've started seeing through the cracks sooner than usual."
Rael inhaled slowly. His heartbeat was steady. But his mind was racing.
"Cracks."
Like the watchtower. Like the missing footprints. Like the soldiers whispering about things they shouldn't remember.
And now—this.
A glimpse of a world that wasn't finished.
Rael exhaled sharply. "Then tell me. What happens when the cracks break completely?"
Ithan hesitated.
Then, voice quieter—
"The story resets."
---
A Story That Keeps Repeating
Rael's stomach clenched.
His mind rebelled against the words.
But deep inside—he already knew Ithan was telling the truth.
The strange inconsistencies. The way everyone remembered things he didn't. The battle that had supposedly already happened.
And now—this.
The world wasn't stable.
And worse?
It wasn't real.
Rael's jaw tightened. "How many times?"
Ithan didn't pretend to misunderstand.
His eyes were steady.
And then, voice calm—too calm—he answered.
"Too many to count."
Rael exhaled slowly.
He let the truth settle.
Then—he did what he always did.
He focused on what mattered.
"Then tell me," he said. "What's different this time?"
Ithan's expression shifted.
Just slightly.
But Rael saw it.
The way his shoulders tensed. The flicker of hesitation behind his eyes.
Then, after a long moment—
"You."
---
A War That Wasn't Supposed to Change
Rael let the answer sit in the air.
His pulse was steady, but his mind was moving too fast.
"Me."
He should have expected it.
But hearing it still made something coil tightly in his chest.
He didn't like the implications.
"Explain," he said.
Ithan sighed. "You don't usually last this long."
Rael frowned.
"Every time this war happens," Ithan continued, "you die early. Usually before you even start asking questions."
Rael's stomach turned. "Then what's different now?"
Ithan studied him. "You are."
Rael's jaw clenched. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have," Ithan said. "Something changed. And whatever it was… the world doesn't like it."
Rael didn't respond.
Because he had already figured that much out.
The watchtower. The erased battlefield.
The flickering world.
Something was unraveling.
And he was at the center of it.
Rael exhaled slowly.
Then—he made a decision.
"If I'm the only thing that's different," he said, "then I need to find out why."
Ithan let out a quiet laugh. "You always say that."
Rael's pulse slowed.
His voice came out low.
"Then what happens to me?"
Ithan held his gaze.
A long, stretched silence.
Then, finally—
"You die."