When the Abyss’s body vanished midair, something fell from the sky like a loosened star.

Edlyn rubbed her eyes, lids heavy like dew, and stepped forward.

The hovering glow unraveled like dawn mist; at last, a figure dropped out of the sky.

Edlyn lunged to catch, arms spread like a net.

Puff—a soft sound, like a raindrop hitting moss.

Her heart fluttered like a startled bird; she tightened her hold. “A-An... Angela?!”

The black-haired little girl rubbed her eyes; her small nose nuzzled Edlyn, sniffing like a curious kitten.

“Mmm... sis’s scent~” Angela smiled, syrup-sweet, burrowing deeper like a warm cub.

Edlyn cradled a girl barely shorter than herself; her smile softened like spring light. “Ah... long time no see.”

Then her strength ebbed like a tide; she sank to the ground.

Angela slept on, steady as a pond under moonlight.

When Edlyn glanced away, a diamond-shaped golden sigil flickered on Angela’s brow, then faded like a firefly’s last glow.

Neither of them noticed that ripple, thin as a wave under reeds.

Angela slept soundly, no hint of disturbance, soft as a resting cloud.

A sigh drifted from Edlyn like smoke as she rubbed Angela’s head. “Hah... is it over?”

“Mm?” Her eyes sharpened; she scanned the quiet like a dusk-fox.

Moments ago, a force surged from empty air, a rip current in clear water, yet she couldn’t pin its source.

She summoned Ashir like a blade of moonlight and shielded Angela tight against her chest.

“So... it’s not over.” Edlyn narrowed her eyes, face dark as storm ash.

In the next heartbeat, black washed over the space like ink spilled on parchment.

The endless orange sky flipped to pitch-black, dusk swallowing a field of lanterns.

Shock hit her, mind blank as snow. In that beat, the black vapor rushed at her like a storm of crows.

Startled, she tensed to bolt. In the next blink, the mist poured into her like cold rain.

“Mm!” She gritted her teeth; needles of pain stormed her back as the black threaded her nerves.

She forced her eyes open, checking Angela; the mist ignored her like a blind tide and funneled straight into Edlyn.

Relief loosened her chest, a knot untied; looks like it wasn’t a threat.

Then the pain dragged her under like a riptide; she blacked out.

In her ear, the Abyss’s thinning voice drifted like wind. “I’m giving it all back. The road ahead—you walk it yourself.”

She flipped the bird at the sky and surrendered to darkness like a stone sinking.

When she woke again, the sky was split—half black, half orange—like a torn banner.

Angela lay spell-still, sleep steady as a sealed charm.

Edlyn was ready to snark, but the black haze kept pouring into her like an endless river.

Her vision went dark; she fainted again, a candle blown out.

When she woke, disbelief pressed like fog; Edlyn rubbed her eyes.

She wasn’t in the Inferno anymore. A strange courtyard breathed—birds chattered, flowers scented the air, sun poured like honey.

Her silly, lovable sister sprawled on the lawn, drooling, fingers pinching the air as if savoring a dream.

A laugh tugged at Edlyn. She set her hands to the grass; it sank, leaving a pit like wet clay under a hammer.

Startled, she sprang and shot skyward like a loosed arrow, taking ages to fall back.

She lifted an arm, swaying it; the space before her warped like torn silk, edges twisting.

Her pupils pinched; shock cracked like thunder. How long had she been out? How far had her strength skyrocketed?

“Awake?” A melodic voice rang by her ear like a chime.

Edlyn turned. Janus sat by a table with a teacup, calm and elegant, smirking like a cat with cream.

Confusion pricked. “What’s going on?”

She’d taken in that black flow, then woke to this strange scene; her masked future self stood before her like a rogue mirror.

No matter how you cut it, this was freaky as hell.

“Easy,” Janus chuckled. “The Abyss asked me to bring you here.”

Edlyn frowned, fog thick as smoke. “So spell it out. I’m clueless—what am I supposed to do?”

“Ah, don’t get heated. Tea?” Janus smiled, lazy as afternoon shade.

“Tsk... what the hell is happening?!” Edlyn raked her hair, crackle like dry grass.

“Alright, alright. I’ll explain—just don’t blow up.” Janus set the cup down and shrugged like drifting clouds.

“Right.” Edlyn rolled her eyes, marbles turning.

Annoyance buzzed. Did her future self always stall like this?

“So, where should I start?” Janus said, voice a soft curl of smoke.

Anger sparked. “From the beginning, you maniac! You know I’m impatient—what is this?”

Janus shrugged, sketched the air; a bed bloomed like a floating cloud.

She moved her left hand; Angela rose, drifting toward the bed like a feather.

Edlyn didn’t blink; she waited, patience thin as paper.

Angela slipped through the bed and sank back to the ground like rain.

Edlyn froze, surprise a moth’s flicker.

Is everything here just an illusion, a mirage painted on water?

Janus clicked her tongue from not far off. “Damn. Still no way... I thought we could leave now.”

Edlyn’s brow cut deeper like a knife. “Explain.”

Janus toyed with the cup, not turning. “This is my mental world. The Inferno’s closed for now, so I brought you here. The Abyss said so.”

“And why?” Suspicion coiled like smoke in Edlyn’s voice.

“Hmmmm... why? Bigger goals, of course. Relax. Get used to the new power here; once you do, I’ll let you out.”

Edlyn caught a thread; she stared at the half face under Janus’s mask. “Are you... me from the same timeline?”

“Hey now, what an awkward way to put it.” Janus shrugged, then nodded. “Mm-hmm, let’s call it that~”

Edlyn cocked her head, curiosity twitching like a cat’s ear. “Uh... then what’s your situation now?”

Janus sipped tea. “Yeah. Eli—well, Zero—and I are in deep sleep at this stage. This is our mental world. If we’re lucky, leaving here takes us to a realm we’ve never touched.”

Edlyn came to the table to plop into a chair and sat on nothing, dropping through mist.

She hit the ground butt-first like a sack, and her strength dented it—a crater like a meteor kiss.

Edlyn stared, speechless.

Janus paused, equally speechless.

“Go ahead. Laugh,” Edlyn said, face flat as slate.

“Pff—hahaha! Butt-first drop! Hahaha! Oh man, I can’t—hahaha!” Janus slapped the table, laughter popping like firecrackers.

Edlyn’s face went dark as charcoal; she measured Janus with a butcher’s stare.

“Ow, my sides. Hahaha! So this was my face back then—pff, hahaha. Seriously—hahaha.” Janus kept slapping the table, beans rattling in a drum.

“Hey. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“No way. Pff—haha. I—haha—I showed you already. Angela couldn’t even lie on the bed, right~”

“Hey! How would I know you didn’t set me up?!”

“Hahaha—you’ll know when you reach my stage. Pff—haha.” Janus laughed, wiping tears. “Aiyo, can’t—haven’t laughed like this in ages. Haha.”

Edlyn drifted behind her, pinched the back of Janus’s clothes, and yanked like lifting a curtain.

Janus dissolved into smoke, gone in a puff.

Edlyn gaped; Janus reappeared aside, smirking. “Heh heh heh, you think I don’t know your thoughts? I thought the same—clear as day, okay? Heh heh.”

Edlyn rolled her eyes, cut her losses, and lay beside Angela like a tired wolf.

She let someone laugh on, mindless as a sun‑drunk hyena.

Janus walked over, forcing the laughter down. “Hey, you’re not worried you’ll crush your sister mid-dream? Big heart, huh.”

“You’re watching, aren’t you? What’s there to worry about. Move. Let me rest. I’m tired,” Edlyn said, eyes slanted like blades.

Janus smiled, bent, and kissed her forehead like a falling petal. “Sleep a while.”

At the word, Edlyn’s eyelids wrestled like leaves in wind.

Edlyn flipped Janus the bird. “Shameless woman... you’re planting suggestions on yourself?”

Then came the steady sound of sleep, rain on eaves.

Janus shrugged. “Right. Cursing yourself—nice trick.”

Zero stepped out of nowhere without warning and ruffled Janus’s hair like a breeze. “Yo. How’s it going?”

“You know my temper. No need to worry.” Janus shot Zero a knife-sharp glare.

Zero pulled Janus in and planted a fierce kiss, heat like a spark.

“Mm-hmm. As the Abyss said, we really can’t interfere with the past anymore.”

“Well. We’ve meddled enough,” Janus smiled. “Or we might lose everything, sand through fingers.”

“Relax. Everything’s moving on track,” Zero said, calm as a river.

Janus hesitated, a breath held. “...You’re not going to save her?”

Zero faltered, head lowering, shadows pooling like twilight. “I can’t. I really can’t.”