The wind blew cold through the trees, the moonlight casting long shadows across the quiet land. The remnants of the rift—the terrible thing that had torn the fabric of this world—were now nothing more than memories. Or so I thought. Everything had changed. The battles were over, the choices made, the sacrifices paid. But deep inside, I knew that peace was only an illusion. There was still something lurking. Something unfinished.
I stood there in the quiet aftermath, the world feeling strangely distant, as though I was no longer a part of it. My hands trembled as I reached out, brushing the surface of a stone that had once been a part of the very rift I’d fought to close. It was cold, lifeless now, as though the world had begun to reset itself. But something gnawed at my insides. The heaviness of what had happened still pressed on me.
I had saved them. I had saved the world. But had I truly saved myself?
Wala na ang rift, and yet… there was a hollow in my chest that I couldn’t explain. I had lost so much. My memories, my past, and even parts of who I was. I had given it all up for something greater, for everyone’s future, for the world to be whole again. But now, in this silence, I was left wondering—was it worth it?
I turned my gaze to the horizon, where the first light of dawn was beginning to break. The night had been long, but there was a quiet beauty in this new beginning. Or was it the calm before the storm?
For a while, I stood there, lost in thought, until I felt a soft presence beside me. I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. The familiar warmth, the steady heartbeat, the quiet confidence—it was Elias.
“Liora,” he said softly, his voice the same as I remembered, but with a certain tenderness I hadn’t felt before.
I turned to look at him, but still, there was an emptiness in his eyes. “Elias,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Is it really you?”
He smiled gently, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I never left, Liora. You just couldn’t see me. Not fully. Not until now.”
For a long moment, we stood in silence, the world around us beginning to stir with the first light of day. Birds sang faintly in the distance, the air smelled of earth and grass, and the warmth of the sun started to pierce the cold night. Everything was starting to feel like it was returning to normal. But I still felt the pull of something—something unresolved.
“Elias,” I said again, my voice more certain this time, “I don’t know if I can go back to what we had. I don’t know if I can ever be the same after everything.”
He nodded, his gaze never leaving mine. “I know. It’s not about going back. It’s about moving forward. About finding a new path. And I’m here to walk it with you, if you’ll let me.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to think that everything we had gone through—the pain, the loss, the rift itself—could lead to something new, something better. But there was so much doubt. So much fear.
“Do you ever wonder,” I asked softly, “if this was all worth it? If what we sacrificed, what we gave up, was worth it?”
Elias didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped closer, the warmth of his presence filling the space between us. “I don’t know,” he said after a moment. “But I do know that we can’t keep living in the past. We can’t keep holding on to what we’ve lost. We have to keep moving forward, Liora. We have to believe in the future.”
I looked at him, the man I once thought I knew so well. His face, once full of certainty, now seemed burdened by the weight of our shared past. We had both changed. There was no going back to who we once were. But maybe, just maybe, that wasn’t such a bad thing.
“I’ve changed,” I said, my voice low. “I don’t know if I can ever be the person I was. The person I was before the rift. Before all of this.”
Elias smiled, though it was tinged with sadness. “We’ve both changed, Liora. We’ve been through too much to ever be the same. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to move forward. Together.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to embrace the idea of a future, a life after the chaos, after the destruction. But something deep inside me pulled me back. The rift, the darkness, it was still there. It was still a part of me, and no matter how much I tried to deny it, I knew it would always be there. Waiting.
“Is it really gone?” I asked quietly, my voice trembling. “The rift? I closed it, but…”
“It’s gone,” Elias reassured me, taking my hand in his. “But the scars, the things it left behind, they’ll never truly disappear. We just have to learn to live with them.”
I closed my eyes, squeezing his hand. The weight of his words settled over me like a blanket, comforting
something to fear. Maybe it was something I needed to accept—like a part of me that would always remain, a scar that marked me as a survivor. And with that scar came strength. Maybe it wasn’t about forgetting, but about learning to live alongside it.
“Do you think we can move on from everything?” I whispered, almost afraid to ask the question, afraid of the answer.
Elias paused for a moment, his eyes thoughtful. “I think we can try. It won’t be easy, Liora. The world may be whole again, but we both know how fragile it is. The peace we fought for... it’s not permanent. But we can build something new, if we’re willing to fight for it. If we’re willing to fight for each other.”
His words brought a strange sense of peace to my heart, but there was a deep ache there too. The weight of the past, the rift, and the choices we had made, still pressed on me. But his presence, his belief in us, gave me a small spark of hope. Maybe the future wasn’t so uncertain after all.
“I don’t know if I’m ready,” I admitted softly, pulling my hand back from his, as if I needed space to think, to breathe. “I don’t know if I can ever be whole again. I’m still… not sure.”
Elias’s expression softened, and he stepped back, giving me room. “You don’t have to be ready. And you don’t have to be whole. Not yet. We’ll take it one step at a time. Together.”
I took a shaky breath and nodded slowly. We didn’t need to have all the answers. Not right now. There was time. Time to heal, to rebuild, to find new purpose. Maybe the world wasn’t perfect, but it was ours to shape. And that, in itself, was a kind of freedom I hadn’t felt before.
I looked up at the sky, now streaked with pink and gold, the sun fully rising over the horizon. The land before me was quiet, peaceful. But deep inside, I knew the battle wasn’t over. It never would be. Not really.
The rift might be gone, but the darkness wasn’t. It would always be there, lurking, waiting for an opening. It was part of me now, part of my story. And while the world had been saved, there would always be a new challenge to face. A new test. A new battle.
But this time, I wasn’t alone. Elias was beside me, as were the others who had fought with me. And maybe that was enough. Maybe that was all we needed.
“I don’t think we’re ever truly free from the darkness,” I said quietly, still looking at the sky. “But maybe we don’t need to be. Maybe we just need to keep moving forward, keep fighting for what we can.”
Elias didn’t answer right away, but I felt his presence beside me, strong and steady. It was comforting to know that, whatever the future held, we would face it together.
As we stood there, in the quiet aftermath, I felt something shift inside me. The rift, the choices, the losses—they had all led me here. To this moment. And though I couldn’t say I was completely healed, or that everything was perfect, I knew I had the strength to face whatever came next.
Suddenly, there was a noise behind us—a soft, almost imperceptible rustle in the leaves. I turned quickly, my heart racing, but there was nothing there. Only the soft breeze that seemed to carry the weight of a thousand untold stories.
“Liora?” Elias’s voice pulled me back to him, his hand gently resting on my shoulder. “What is it?”
I swallowed hard, my senses tingling with an unfamiliar sense of unease. “I—I don’t know. It’s just a feeling. Like we’re not done yet.”
Elias frowned, his hand tightening on my shoulder. “What do you mean?”
But before I could respond, I heard it again—a sound. A soft whisper in the wind, so faint I almost thought I imagined it.
“Liora…”
I froze, my heart skipping a beat. The voice was low, familiar, haunting. And then, I saw him.
A shadow in the distance, standing just beyond the tree line, watching us.
His eyes gleamed in the dim light, cold and calculating. I recognized him instantly.
Kai.
“Impossible…” I whispered, the words barely escaping my lips. “You—how are you—?”
Elias’s grip on me tightened. “Liora, no… he can’t be—”
Kai stepped forward, his expression dark and menacing. “You thought you could end it, Liora? You thought you could close the rift and walk away?” His voice was low and filled with contempt. “You think this is over?”
My heart pounded in my chest, the remnants of fear and anger rushing back, stronger than before. I tried to steady myself, but the ground seemed to tremble beneath me.
“No…” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, this can’t be happening. You’re… you’re gone. You should be—”
Kai’s smile widened, though it was a twisted, sinister thing. “You think you can erase the darkness? You think you can erase me?” His gaze flickered to Elias, then back to me. “You don’t understand, do you? The rift wasn’t just a tear in the fabric of reality. It was a reflection of you, Liora. Your darkness. Your choices.”
“Stop it,” I said, my voice shaking. “It’s over. You’re not real.”
“Oh, I’m real,” Kai said, his tone cold. “And I’ll be here, as long as there’s darkness in your heart.”
I stepped back, the weight of his words pressing down on me. My chest felt tight, my mind spinning with confusion and fear. How could he still be here? How could this not be over?
“No, Liora,” Elias said urgently, stepping closer to me. “Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to make you doubt yourself. He’s trying to bring you back into the chaos.”
But as Kai took another step forward, I knew it was too late. The darkness was still there, and so was he.
And just like that, I realized what Kai meant. This was never just about the rift. It was about me. My choices. My darkness.
But I wasn’t done yet.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, my voice stronger now. “I’ve already faced you once. I can do it again.”
Kai laughed softly, his laugh echoing through the air. “We’ll see about that, Liora.”
And just like that, I knew. The fight wasn’t over. The battle was only just beginning.
The rift might be gone, but the darkness was still very much alive.