eclipsed Fate

Kaito's pulse thundered in his ears as he stood outside the convenience store, the plastic bag crinkling in his trembling grip. He had done it. He had changed something. The girl had escaped.

But what had become of her after he died?

The thought gnawed at him as he exhaled sharply, forcing his nerves to settle. He had no time for doubt. The cycle would continue whether he was ready or not.

Closing his eyes, he braced himself. The distortion began. The neon lights stretched and warped, and within a heartbeat, darkness swallowed him once more.

———

The scent of earth and grass greeted him as he awoke, his body aching from the repeated transitions. No time to waste.

Kaito sprang to his feet, scanning his surroundings. The village was in sight, but something was different. The smoke wasn't rising yet. The chaos had not begun.

And then he saw her.

The girl. She stood at the village's edge, staring at him.

A shiver ran down his spine. She remembered. Somehow, she knew.

"Kaito?" she whispered, her voice uncertain, as if testing a fragile truth.

His breath caught. This had never happened before.

Then, the first scream rang out.

The soldiers were here.

Kaito clenched his fists. No hesitation this time. He had broken the cycle before. He would do it again.

Without another word, he grabbed the girl's hand and ran.

Behind them, the world burned.

———

They didn't stop running until they reached the dense cover of the forest, lungs burning, hearts pounding. Kaito glanced over his shoulder. The village was a smear of fire and shadow in the distance. He had saved her, but he had no idea what to do next.

The girl—Lysaria, he reminded himself—collapsed against a tree, her breaths ragged. "You knew," she finally said, her voice laced with something between awe and fear. "You knew they were coming."

Kaito hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. Would she even believe him?

"I... I've seen it happen before." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Lysaria's violet eyes searched his face. "That's impossible," she whispered. "Unless..."

She trailed off, gripping her head as if piecing something together. Kaito didn't have time to ask what she meant before the sound of snapping branches cut through the air.

They weren't alone.

Kaito instinctively pulled Lysaria behind him, his fingers tightening around a fallen branch he grabbed from the ground. It wasn't much, but he would fight with whatever he had. The underbrush rustled again, and then a figure emerged.

But it wasn't a soldier.

A man in tattered robes stepped into view, his piercing green eyes locking onto Kaito with unsettling clarity. "You're the one," he murmured, tilting his head. "The one who defies fate."

Kaito's grip on the branch tightened. "Who are you?"

The man smiled, slow and knowing. "Someone who has been waiting for you."