Through the Fracture Zone
The gate hissed shut behind them.
Lyle adjusted the collar of his coat and cast a final glance over his shoulder.
No alarms.
No sentries.
No chase.
Not yet.
The Academy's perimeter wards were still locked in their standard pulse—predictable, rhythmic, and just dumb enough to be tricked with shadow-veiled glyph weaving.
Juno walked silently beside him, matching pace.
No questions.
No complaints.
Only the faint shine of her obsidian-glass blade tucked beneath her coat.
She didn't trust the dark.
Not anymore.
---
They moved through the outer wards, following the Codex's map. The Archive symbol burned softly on the page, leading them northeast—through the old training grounds and into a place Lyle didn't recognize.
Beyond the glyph-lamps.
Past the boundaries of order.
Into something else.
"Fracture Zone?" Juno asked, after twenty minutes of silence.
He nodded. "Codex says it's a 'stabilized failure.' Whatever that means."
"It means logic doesn't work there. Neither does time."
Lyle raised an eyebrow. "You've been?"
"No. But I know cadets who tried. The ones that came back… weren't the same."
---
They reached the boundary just before dawn.
The line was invisible, but unmistakable.
Beyond it, the trees bent the wrong way.
The stars above shimmered in false constellations.
Even the grass pulsed, like it was breathing.
Lyle's Codex page flickered.
> [Entering: Fracture Zone Alpha]
Memory Fidelity: Unstable
Identity Threads: Unanchored
Risk of Temporal Bleed: Moderate to Severe
Emotional Anchor Required – Juno Ravyn: Confirmed.
He looked at her.
"You sure about this?"
She nodded. "Ask again when we're dying."
"Deal."
---
They stepped forward.
And the world shuddered.
It wasn't pain.
Or heat.
Or pressure.
It was too many realities passing through them at once.
Lyle fell to one knee.
He saw flashes—versions of himself.
Screaming.
Fighting.
Bleeding.
Holding Juno's hand.
Burying her body.
Saving her.
Killing her.
The Codex tried to stabilize the surge, flaring with golden runes.
Juno gritted her teeth and grabbed his wrist.
"Stay with me, Lyle."
He blinked hard.
Her eyes locked with his.
And the voices faded.
---
The fracture zone stabilized.
Around them, trees reset.
The stars aligned.
And the path appeared.
A stone bridge stretching over a canyon of void.
Lyle touched the Codex.
The map burned with confirmation.
"Across that."
"Of course," Juno muttered. "Nothing ever simple."
---
They crossed slowly.
The bridge didn't wobble.
It didn't tremble.
But every step made a sound.
Not an echo.
Not stone.
A voice.
Whispers. Echoes of conversations never had.
Lyle heard his own voice whisper:
> "I should have told her sooner."
Juno's steps followed, and she heard:
> "He'll never say it first."
They didn't speak.
Not about that.
Not now.
---
At the bridge's end stood a door.
Just a door.
No building.
No wall.
Just a lone obsidian arch with glyphs carved into its surface.
The Codex opened again.
> [Thread Anchor Confirmed]
Key Required: Genetic Lineage + Emotional Bond
Identity Match: Elias Greenbottle – Valid
Bond Presence: Juno Ravyn – Valid
Unlocking Archive Vault: 1 of 3
The glyphs lit up.
The door clicked.
And opened inward—into darkness.
Lyle stepped in first.
Juno followed.
---
Inside, they found a chamber of stone and crystal.
A star-map pulsed across the ceiling.
In the center of the room: a pedestal with a sealed box.
Floating above it: a single memory thread.
And then a voice spoke.
Lyle's voice.
But older.
Worn.
> "If you're hearing this… then I failed."
The thread lowered into his hand.
> "I tried to stop them. The ones running the Codex. The ones behind the Council. The ones who made you. But I wasn't enough. I needed more time."
> "So I left this behind. For me. For you. For us."
Juno looked at him.
"Is that…?"
"Me. Another me. Or maybe the first me."
---
The message continued.
> "You'll be hunted now. Because you've found this place. Because you've bonded with her. And because you've started rewriting what the Codex is."
> "Good."
> "Keep going."
> "And if Kalen finds you—don't fight him. He's not your enemy. Not entirely."
Lyle clenched his fists.
Then opened the sealed box.
Inside was an item wrapped in black cloth.
He unwrapped it.
It was a ring.
But not Quinn's.
This one pulsed red.
Carved with the same symbols as the Codex.
The inscription inside read:
> "The Author Bleeds Twice."
Juno touched it.
The Codex flashed violently.
> [Author Ring Acquired – Thread Key Type II]
Effect: Grants user partial authorship override in Codex decisions.
Warning: Use too frequently may trigger Memory Collapse Event.
Lyle swallowed.
"Partial override?"
Juno nodded slowly.
"You just became something they've never accounted for."
---
The star-map above changed.
It showed a location to the west.
Another vault.
Another truth.
But before either could react—
The door behind them slammed shut.
And from the shadows rose a new voice.
Not Kalen.
Not his father.
Not a reflection.
But something else.
Something that remembered being erased.
> "Hello again, Lyle."
A figure stepped from the dark.
Clad in scorched robes.
Eyes stitched shut.
Codex pages burned into its skin.
> "I used to be your backup."
It smiled.
> "Then you rewrote me."
And lunged.