_____ Who: Steph, Ryli Where: ??? (A fragment of the 4th dimension that belongs to her(sorta)) When: Around the present _____ Steph huffed, pausing where she was. She had left camp without notice, but hoped nobody would realize she was absent– at least not for a while. The eye on her chest had its pupil in a slit, alert. The idea had sparked in her whilst speaking to the stars– she wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing here, but she had her trust in the north star. Like she always did. Her ribbons twisted behind her, as she had been in her omen form, spreading like they sensed something. “Here it is…” She mumbled to herself. She then raised her sword, the outline of an eye forming above her head as she swung it down. A tear opened in reality itself, breaking open like cloth, and she stepped in– the outline above her head disappearing. The area behind the tear was strange, it made her dizzy, but she managed to stay upright. In the middle of it was an eye on a pedestal, it was wide and seemed to follow her every move. She hesitated for a moment, moving side to side, watching it track her movement, before finally going forwards towards it. She then touched it, immediately feeling a jolt of pain that caused her to stagger slightly and shut her eyes tight, but she kept her hand in contact with it. By the time she opened her eyes again, she was in an area that seemed oddly familiar. Oh. Wait. She knew exactly where this was. She knew as soon as she saw Ryli bowed on the ground with the sword pressed to his neck. Her body immediately locked up, freezing in her spot. Though, nothing was happening– time seemed to be stuck in place here. As soon as she realized that, she could breathe again. She allowed her shoulders to relax, and moved forward. Glancing around, she noticed herself– her younger self, being held in place and forced to watch. She frowned, sitting beside her younger self for a moment, just… staying there for a minute. After a bit, she got up again, looking back towards Ryli. She knelt in front of him, staring at his panicked expression for a second before placing her hands on his shoulders. She wasn’t sure of what exactly she was doing here, she just knew that it was right. As she held his shoulders, the outline of the eye appeared above her head again, and suddenly light was brought forward from Ryli’s chest. She blinked surprised, and took the light in her hands, rising to her feet again. “...Huh?” She murmured, confused, slowly turning around– back towards where the eye on the pedestal was. She moved back to the eye, acting on pure instinct as she placed the sphere of light above it. She stared at the pedestal for a few moments before feeling a surge of pain, like a piece of her was ripped out of her, causing her to stagger and shut her eyes once more. When the pain finally passed, and the agonizing throbbing-esque feeling faded, she was able to open her eyes again. She was still dazed for a moment, but eventually pushed herself onto her feet, looking around. Eventually, her eyes landed on him. Ryli. He was lying on the ground a bit away from the pedestal, passed out. He looked older now, time had dilated with her, bringing him to her age as if he had always been here. As if he had never been wiped out of existence in the first place. She stood there in shock for a breath, not sure if this was, well, real, but as it dawned on her that it was, she darted forward, at his side before she even knew it. She took a moment to stare at him, before finally picking him up and looking back towards the tear. The tear had closed by now, but she was able to simply slice it back open with her sword when she got back over there. She began her way back to the refugee camp, letting the realization settle within her. He was here again, he was real, he was /alive/.
