The world around me seemed to close in, the shadows creeping closer with every passing second. Kai’s presence was suffocating, like a cold hand on my throat, pulling me back into the darkness I thought I had escaped. His eyes gleamed with malice, his smile twisted in triumph as he stepped closer, his every movement filled with dangerous intent.
“You really think you can fight me, Liora?” Kai’s voice was a low growl, taunting, almost mocking. “You can never outrun yourself. The darkness is a part of you. It always will be and that will never change. Not even you can change it. It is imprinted in you.” 
I stood my ground, trying to steady my breath, but the weight of his words pressed heavily on my chest. That left me a pang. It felt like my every fear, every regret, every mistake was being dragged to the surface, rising like an uncontainable tide.
“No…” I whispered, shaking my head, as if denying his words could make them untrue. When I knew deep down to my self that what he said was very true. “I’ve fought you before and i’ll fight you again. This time‚ i’ll defeat you.” I said with full authority and fiercely. 
Elias moved closer, his presence like a steadying force at my side. But even he seemed unsure. His eyes darted between me and Kai, uncertainty clouding his usually calm expression. I admired that from him‚ how his face is so calming that makes you feel ease. 
“I don’t understand,” Elias said, his voice tight. “We closed the rift. We ended it already.” He said with confusion in his eyes. 
“Did you?” Kai laughed darkly, the sound like a distant storm raging from the sky.  “The rift was never just a tear in the world, Elias. It was a wound—a reflection of something far older, far deeper than you realize. And now it’s opening again.” 
The ground beneath us trembled again, more violently this time, as if the very earth was rebelling against the unnatural force that Kai was wielding. The trees around us swayed ominously, their branches creaking under the pressure. A low hum filled the air, a sound that seemed to come from deep within the earth, pulsing with the rhythm of the rift itself.
I felt it then—something familiar, something terrifying. The rift wasn’t gone. It wasn’t closed. It was alive—again. It was never gone‚ it was just sleeping. 
“Liora!” Elias shouted, his hand grabbing mine. His grip was firm, desperate. “We need to move. Now!”
But it was already too late. Too late. 
With a sudden, terrifying crack, the ground split open before us. A swirl of dark energy, like black smoke, poured from the cracks, rising into the air, a vortex that seemed to pull everything around it into its deadly grip. The world around us darkened, the air growing thick with an unnatural chill that I couldn't even see clearly. The swirling mass of blackness spread rapidly, consuming everything it touched, as if the very fabric of reality was being torn apart.I was anxious‚ but that won't help me in this situation. 
I tried to step back, but my feet wouldn’t move. My body felt frozen, as if the very presence of the rift had rooted me to the spot. I could hear Elias calling my name over and over again‚ feel his hand trying to pull me, but it was as if I was being sucked into the very darkness Kai had warned me about because I couldn't even move out of it. My pulse raced in my ears, my heart hammering against my ribcage. The world seemed to shrink, the swirling darkness pulling everything around us into an endless void.
“Elias…” I gasped, my voice strained. “I—I can’t… it’s too strong. It won't let me go. It's sucking me.” I said like a plead. 
Kai’s figure stood before us, silhouetted against the swirling blackness, his grin widening with triumph. “This is just the beginning, Liora. You think you closed it? You think you can escape it? The rift was never the problem. It was only ever a doorway. You are the key‚ the key of everything. You don't know how important you are in this project‚ Liora. But you...you disappointed them.” He click his tongue and nodding his head out of disappoinment. 
I could feel the coldness of his words sinking into my soul, making my blood run cold and rushing. And as the darkness encircled us, pulling us toward the abyss, I realized the truth.
The rift hadn’t been closed. It hadn’t been sealed. It was only waiting for the right moment to return and to come get me—again. 
And now, that moment was here. It found me again and still wanted to finish what it started. Or maybe...what I started. 
The pain in my chest came suddenly, a searing agony that shot through me like a bolt of lightning. I gasped, my vision blurring, as the darkness wrapped around me, pulling me into its grip. My breath came in shallow gasps as I struggled to stay upright, but my body felt weaker with each passing second. It was as if the darkness itself was draining me, stealing my strength, my will to fight and a will to live. 
I looked to Elias, desperate, my hand reaching for him, but he was already fading. His face, once so familiar, was now distant, his figure swallowed by the shadows. The light in his eyes seemed to flicker and die, consumed by the very force we had fought so hard to defeat.
“Liora!” Elias cried, his voice distant, as if he were miles away. “Liora, don’t give up!” He said from distance. 
I tried to scream, to reach for him, but my limbs felt heavy, my fingers trembling as I fought to stay conscious. I couldn't even move an inch anymore‚ it’s strong aura is pulling me and weighing me down. The world was fading, the darkness closing in around me, and I could hear Kai’s voice, echoing through the void, like a whisper from the deepest corner of my mind. 
“You can’t escape it, Liora,” he murmured, his voice low and filled with triumph. “You never will.” He said coldly. 
I wanted to fight back. I wanted to scream, to rage against the darkness that threatened to consume me. But the pain was too much. The cold was too overwhelming. And just as everything went black, I heard Kai’s final words, echoing in the abyss:
“You can’t escape it, Liora. You never will.”
And then… nothing.
The page turned, but there was no resolution, only silence.
***
I woke with a start, gasping for air, my body drenched in cold sweat. My chest heaved as if I had been running for miles, my heart pounding against my ribcage. The world around me felt foreign, unfamiliar—like I had been transported to another time, another place. 
I blinked, trying to clear the fog in my mind, but everything felt wrong. I wasn’t in the rift. I wasn’t in the battle. I was… somewhere else.
I sat up slowly, my hands shaking as I took in my surroundings. The walls around me were familiar—too familiar. I was in my childhood home. The room was small, cozy, the same pale blue paint on the walls, the same wooden floorboards that creaked beneath my feet. Everything was exactly as I remembered it. But something was missing. A strange emptiness weighed on my chest, as if I was standing on the edge of something I couldn’t quite grasp.
My gaze fell to my wrist, and I froze. A scar. A faint, jagged line marred my skin. I traced it with trembling fingers, the sensation sending a shiver down my spine. How long had it been there? I didn’t remember getting it. But it felt… important. Like it was a part of me I had forgotten.
I looked around the room again, the same small desk by the window, the old rocking chair in the corner. But everything felt like a dream. A distant memory. And yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Everything seems wrong. 
I stood, my legs unsteady as I walked toward the window. The world outside was quiet, peaceful and so serene. The sun was shining, casting a warm glow over the neighborhood. Across the street, I saw him.That familiar face of him. 
Elias. I smiled. 
He stood there, at the edge of the yard, his eyes locked on mine. For a moment, everything stopped‚ even my heartbeat stopped. Time seemed to stretch, like a single heartbeat that lasted for an eternity. And then I saw it—the flicker of recognition in his eyes. The same look he had given me before everything had gone wrong. Before the rift, before the darkness‚ before everything. He gave me that look. 
I didn’t know how I knew it, but I could feel it in my bones. Elias wasn’t just someone from my past. He was someone I was meant to remember. Someone I couldn’t forget and someone I wanted to be with. 
But as quickly as the recognition came, it was gone. His face hardened, and he turned, disappearing into the distance.
And in that moment, I knew something I couldn’t explain.
This wasn’t the end. Kai was right‚ it will never be the end. 
The rift hadn’t been closed. It had only been waiting. And somehow, I had woken up in a world that had forgotten everything.
But I remembered.
And so did Elias.
I remember everything now‚ what happened‚ how it happened and why it happened. I remembered everything that I wasn't supposed to remember. Elias know that too‚ from the look of his eyes I know he knows that I remember it now. And they were right‚ sometimes it is better to forget something from the past than risk having the regret‚ guilt and trauma from it again. It is better to not know everything at all than knowing everything. Cause if you do‚ it will overwhel‚ and when you are overwhelm sometimes you can do something you know you shouldn't do. You can do something because of greed. 
Now it’ll end here‚ it’ll end where you will know that—if there's no beginning‚ there will be no ending. And because of me remembering everything from the beginning now‚ I will end it with my own. It will be once and for all. 
---
And with that, I leave you here, at the edge of what we’ve known and what we have yet to discover soon. The rift might be gone, but the darkness lingers, waiting for its next chance. As for me, I’m still learning to walk the line between light and shadow, still trying to find my way through the storm and walking steady between those two. Maybe one day, I’ll be whole again and so does the world. Or maybe, I’ll learn to live with the broken pieces and will had a time to solving out the puzzles of it. But for now, this is Liora Anselm‚ signing off... until the next time. Because‚ never the end always the beginning. We will always go back from the top and not from the end.