What?!
Unfortunately there won't be any pictures this chapter Al is giving me problems today. I'm Sorry!!!
_:(´ཀ`」 ∠):
Still I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!
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By the time the diner's neon sign came into view, my legs felt like they were made of wet paper. Riley practically dragged me the last few steps, Reia close behind with her zombie lumbering a few paces back like some horrible, loyal shadow.
The bell over the diner door jingled when we stumbled inside.
The sound was too normal.
Too bright.
Too safe for what was happening outside.
Warm air hit my face, smelling like coffee and old grease. My knees buckled, and Riley caught me before I hit the floor.
"Easy," she whispered, voice shaking. "We're here. We made it."
I slid into a booth, my hands trembling so badly I had to press them between my knees to hide the frost still clinging to my skin. Reia sat across from me, pale and wide‑eyed, her magic still humming around her like static.
The zombie stayed outside, standing guard by the door like some nightmare bouncer.
Riley paced, phone in hand, muttering under her breath. "Come on, come on, come on..."
The bell over the door jingled again.
I looked up.
Lucas burst inside first, hair messy, chest heaving, eyes scanning the room like he expected someone to jump out at him. Nate was right behind him, out of breath, still wearing mismatched shoes like he hadn't even stopped to put them on properly.
The moment Lucas saw me, everything in his face changed.
He crossed the diner in three long strides.
"Zora—" His voice cracked. He dropped to a knee beside the booth, hands hovering like he wanted to touch me but didn't know where it wouldn't hurt. "Are you okay? What happened? Riley said—"
"I'm fine," I lied, even though my whole body was shaking with the thought of the man I had killed burned I to my retinas.
Nate slid into the booth beside Reia, eyes wide. "Dude. There's a corpse outside."
Reia didn't even look at him. "It's mine."
Nate blinked. "Okay. Cool. Totally normal."
Lucas finally touched my hand—just lightly, just enough to ground me. His thumb brushed over my knuckles, and the frost under my skin eased, just a little.
"You're safe now," he said softly. "We're here."
I wanted to believe him. I pulled my hand away
"I'm fine." I said more harshly that I meant to.
Somewhere in the dark, that man was still fighting Cross's team.
And the world was changing faster than any of us could keep up.
That's when the waitress walked over.
She was older, hair in a messy bun, pen tucked behind her ear. She gave us a tired smile, the kind that said she'd seen everything and wasn't impressed by much anymore.
"Alright, hon," she said, pulling out her notepad. "What can I get y'all?"
Riley didn't even blink.
"Lemonade," she said. "and burgers. Enough for seven with everything."
The waitress paused mid‑scribble. "Seven?"
Riley nodded confidently. "Yeah. Seven. Please."
Reia's eyes went wide. Nate choked. Lucas snorted.
I just stared at Riley.
She shrugged. "What? Charlie and whatshisname are coming. And we're starving. And stress burns calories."
Nate muttered, "Everything burns calories for you."
Riley kicked him under the table.
The waitress just nodded like this was somehow normal. "Alright then. Seven burgers. Y'all want fries with that?"
Riley opened her mouth....probably to say yes...but I cut in quickly.
"Maybe wait on the fries," I said. "We're... waiting on two more people."
The waitress nodded. "Sure thing, sugar. I'll get the drinks started."
She walked off, leaving us in a silence that felt heavier than before.
Riley leaned back. "Look, if Charlie shows up and I didn't order her food, she'll kill me."
Lucas laughed. "Fair."
Reia whispered, "Seven burgers..."
I tried to smile, but my stomach was too tight. My mind kept drifting back to the man, and the face his face. The look of what had just happened frozen I'd time like a horrid tableau.
We were sitting in a diner ordering burgers while two worlds collided outside, and a man we didn't know fought off a literal swat team for us. And me a murderer.08
And Charlie still wasn't here.
Reia stared out the window, her zombie still standing guard outside like a nightmare statue.
Riley paced near the door, checking her phone every few seconds. "He should've been here by now."
My stomach twisted.
The stranger had said he'd meet us.
He'd said he'd lose them.
He'd said he'd be fine.
But the minutes kept passing.
And the fear kept growing.
The bell over the diner door jingled.
Riley spun. Lucas tensed. Nate nearly fell out of the booth.
The stranger stumbled inside.
Not walked.
Stumbled.
His jacket was torn, one sleeve soaked dark with blood. A bruise spread across his cheekbone, and he was breathing like every inhale hurt. He shut the door behind him with a shaky hand, then leaned against it like he needed it to stay upright.
For a moment, he just stood there, chest heaving, eyes scanning the diner until they landed on me.
Relief flickered across his face, raw, unguarded, painful.
"You made it," he rasped.
Riley rushed to him. "What happened—"
He waved her off, wincing. "Non‑lethal rounds. Rubber. Mostly." He touched his ribs and hissed. "Damn that Hale bastard."
Lucas stood, jaw tight. Fists clenched "You led them away."
The stranger nodded once. "Bought your friends some time."
His eyes met mine again, and something in my chest tightened. He looked... human. Breakable. Nothing like the threat he'd seemed when he first stepped out of the shadows.
He pushed off the door, swayed, caught himself on a table.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Been a long night."
Riley grabbed his arm before he could fall. "Sit down before you pass out."
He didn't argue. He slid into the booth across from me, wincing pas he settled. His gaze flicked to my hands, still faintly frosted, and then to Reia, whose magic still hummed like static.
"Yours, I assume." He said pointing to tall dark and dead outside.
Reia only nodded.
He exhaled, almost a laugh. "Creepy, but good keep him on watch for us."
My voice came out small. "You're hurt."
He shrugged, then winced again. "I've had worse."
But his eyes softened, just for a moment when he looked at me.
"I told you I'd get you here," he said quietly. "Didn't plan on making it look this dramatic."
Lucas bristled beside me, protective, but I barely noticed. Charlie stormed in like a hurricane of boots, hair wild, eyes blazing, breathing hard like she'd sprinted the whole way.
Her gaze swept the room once, landed on me, then snapped to the stranger slumped in the booth across from me.
Her whole body went rigid.
"Who the hell is that and what's he doing here."
Lucas tensed beside me. Nate froze mid‑sip of water. Reia's zombie outside shifted, sensing her agitation.
The stranger straightened, wincing, but didn't lift his hands. "I'm not—"
Charlie cut him off, stepping between him and me like a shield. "Zora, get away from him."
Riley opened her mouth, but I spoke first.
My voice was small. Soft. But steady.
"He helped us."
Charlie froze mid‑step.
I swallowed, forcing the words out even though my throat felt tight. "He... he saved us. He led the devs people away. He got hurt because of us."
Charlie turned her head slightly, just enough to look at me. Her expression cracked, not much. But enough to show she hadn't expected me to defend him.
Riley nodded quietly beside me, backing me up without speaking.
Her eyes flicked to his torn jacket, the blood soaking through the sleeve, the bruises blooming across his ribs. She didn't look convinced...just recalibrating.
Slowly, she turned to him. Eyes narrowed. "You. Don't move."
He lifted his hands, exhausted. "Wasn't planning on it."
Charlie approached him like he was a wild animal that might bite. She crouched beside the booth, eyes narrowed, assessing the damage.
"You're hit," she muttered.
"Yeah," he rasped. "Not my best night."
Charlie pressed two fingers lightly to his ribs. He hissed in pain.
Riley winced. "Charlie, can you—?"
Charlie didn't answer. She just placed her palm flat against his side.
A soft glow bloomed under her hand. warm, golden, pulsing like a heartbeat.
The stranger's eyes widened.
The bruising faded.
The bleeding slowed.
His breathing steadied.
He stared at her like she'd just rewritten the laws of physics.
"What... what did you just do?" he whispered.
Charlie pulled her hand back, flexing her fingers like they tingled. "Healed you. Obviously." She said smugly.
He blinked at her. Then at me. Then back at her.
Then he touched his ribs, slowly, like he didn't trust what he was feeling. His fingers pressed into the spot that had made him hiss in pain before.
Nothing.
His eyes widened.
"Damn..." he breathed, voice hoarse. "Magic is convenient."
Lucas snorted under his breath. Nate choked on his water. Reia actually cracked a tiny smile.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome."
He let out a shaky laugh, half disbelief, half relief. "Yeah. No kidding."
His gaze drifted to my hands, still faintly frosted, then to Reia's zombie outside the window, standing guard like a loyal corpse.
"Magic's huh," he whispered. "And you three... you're right in the middle of it."
I swallowed hard, my heartbeat loud in my ears.
Because he had no idea.
Charlie crossed her arms. "Alright. Start talking. Who are you, and why were the devs people chasing you too."
He hesitated.
"My name is Vincent. And those were Cross's people."
Hearing it made something in my chest tighten. A name made him real. Human. Not just a shadow in the dark.
Charlie didn't soften. "Alright.., Vincent.
she said, arms crossed. "You've got a name. Now give us answers."
Vincent exhaled slowly, like he'd been expecting this.
"Ok," he said quietly. "I'd been... doubting things for a while."
I blinked. That surprised me.
He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes distant. "Cross The way he talked about 'anomalies' like they weren't people. He's the CEO of Horizon Veil. I kept telling myself it was above my clearance. That I didn't need to know."
His jaw tightened.
"But then the rifts started. And the man fell through. And Cross, he didn't react like someone sane. He reacted like someone terrified of losing control."
Charlie's expression softened just a fraction.
Vincent continued, voice lower. "I was already questioning everything. But then Hestia... she spoke to me."
A shiver ran down my spine.
Riley leaned forward. "What did she say."
"That I was fighting on the wrong side," Vincent said. "That Cross wasn't protecting the world. He was trying to own it. And that something big was coming."
He looked at me then.
"And that you were at the center of it."
My breath caught.
Charlie stepped closer, protective. "Explain."
Vincent nodded. "Marcus...one of Cross's analysts, he told me pieces over time. About a... god seed."
The words hit me like ice water.
Vincent's voice softened. "He said you weren't just an anomaly. You were the key. Your magic is tied to the rifts. If Cross gets you, he can force them open. Or shut them. Or weaponize them."
Lucas's hand tightened around mine under the table.
Charlie's eyes narrowed. "And the DLO developers? The ones who interrogated her?"
Vincent's expression darkened. "They went underground. Cross forced them into compliance. He used them to track magic signatures. To track her."
A memory slammed into me.
the brightness of the not void
The interrogation
their voices demanding answers
the fear
the humiliation
the way they looked at me like a glitch in their code
My stomach twisted painfully.
"I remember," I whispered. "They treated me like I wasn't even human."
Vincent's face tightened with guilt, anger, something else. "They didn't have a choice. Cross had them under his thumb. They were terrified. Everyone was."
It didn't erase what they'd done.
But it explained why.
Charlie leaned in, voice sharp. "So what now. What does Cross want next."
Vincent looked at all of us. Riley, Reia, Lucas, Nate, Charlie, then finally at me.
"He wants Kris," he said softly. "Because he thinks she's the key to controlling reality itself."
My heart hammered so hard it hurt.
"And he won't stop," Vincent added. "Not until he has her."
"Three years ago," he began, "Cross found the hole. A tear. A weak point between our world and DLO."
My breath caught.
Riley leaned forward. "He found a rift?"
Vincent nodded. "And when he did... he wanted more. He wanted access. Power. Magic. But every time he tried to push deeper, Hestia blocked him. She shut down pathways. Scrambled readings. Interfered with every attempt."
Charlie scoffed. "Good."
Vincent continued, voice low. "Cross realized he couldn't overpower her directly. So he changed tactics. He built a team. A project. A game."
Reia whispered, "DLO."
Vincent nodded. "He created DLO as a siphon. A way to pull magic from that world into ours through the player base. Hestia couldn't stop that many leaks at once."
My stomach twisted.
"He used us," I whispered.
Vincent didn't deny it. "He used everyone."
He rubbed his face with both hands.
"But then Hestia claimed Kris during the failed interrogation."
Lucas cut in sharply. "It's Zora now."
Vincent blinked, then nodded. "Zora. Right."
His eyes met mine, softer now. "When Hestia claimed you, Cross knew she'd done something. Changed something. Marcus said Cross became obsessed. He thought you were the key to bypassing Hestia entirely."
My pulse hammered.
"And now," Vincent continued, "with the government asking questions, with new reports about the transformations, with the rifts widening... Cross is desperate. He'll stop at nothing to get to—"
He hesitated.
"—to Zora."
The booth went silent.
I swallowed hard. "Vincent... there's something you don't know."
He frowned. "What?"
Charlie stepped closer, protective. "Hestia talked to us."
Vincent froze.
I took a breath. "She told me she gave me her essence. To save me."
Vincent's eyes widened. "Her essence... that's...that's the god seed. That's what Marcus described."
I continued, voice trembling. "She also told us th worlds are merging. Not leaking. Not glitching. Merging. And that it's too late to stop it."
Vincent stared at me like I'd rewritten the laws of reality. "Merging...? That's impossible."
Riley shook her head. "We've known for a while."
Nate nodded. "Everything's been shifting."
Reia whispered, "It's already happening."
Charlie rested a hand on my shoulder. "Hestia told me something else. She said Zora and I aren't just claimed. We're her daughters."
Vincent looked like the floor had dropped out from under him.
"And," Charlie added, "Hestia said Zora is the one who'll guide the merging. And keep the destruction to a minimum."
I looked at Charlie wide eyed
Vincent exhaled shakily. "Then you need to disappear. All of you. You have to stay out of Cross's reach until you're stronger. Until you can control what's happening."
Silence settled over us.
Then Reia cleared her throat...quiet, timid, almost apologetic.
"I... I might know a place," she said. "To hide. If you want. My mom's old property. Off‑grid. No cameras. No power lines. No neighbors. Cross can't scan it."
Charlie nodded. "That's perfect."
But my stomach twisted.
"What about college?" I whispered. "We just started. Charlie already paid tuition. And... and people are going to get hurt. I can't just hide while the world collapses."
Charlie turned to me, eyes soft but firm.
"Zora," she said, "college doesn't matter right now. You matter. The world matters. And you can't help anyone if Cross gets his hands on you."
I swallowed hard.
My hands curled into fists.
"We also can't go back into the game," I said, voice shaking but firm. "I won't help Cross siphon more power. I won't make him stronger."
Vincent nodded. "Good. You shouldn't."
But I wasn't done.
"And even if we could log in... I wouldn't. Not while he's watching. Not while he's trying to use DLO as a weapon."
Charlie put a hand on my shoulder, grounding me.
That's when Riley's phone buzzed.
Loud, and Urgent.
She frowned, swiped the screen, then her eyes went huge her earls laying flat.
"Uh... guys?" she said, voice cracking. "You need to see this."
She turned the phone around.
A news livestream filled the screen.
BREAKING NEWS: Medieval‑Style Settlement Appears Outside City Limits one of many such phenomenon happening across the globe.
The camera panned across something impossible.
Wooden walls.
Wooden gates.
Banner poles.
A watchtower.
A whole medieval town sitting in the middle of the forest like it had been dropped there by a giant hand.
My heart stopped.
Reia leaned closer, squinting. "Wait... that's near the place I was talking about. My mom's property is only a few miles from there."
But I wasn't hearing her anymore.
Because I knew that town.
I knew those walls.
I knew that banner.
I knew that silhouette standing on the ramparts.
My breath hitched.
"That's... Hilguard," I whispered.
Lucas's head snapped toward me. "Zora—"
"No," I said, stepping closer to the screen. "Look...on the wall."
The camera zoomed in.
And there he was.
Geld.
Captain of the Hilguard Watch.
Armor gleaming.
Hand on his sword.
Guards flanking him, scanning the horizon like they expected monsters to burst out of the trees.
And Katherine was there beside him looking ready for a fight.
My chest tightened painfully.
"They're here," I whispered. "They're actually here."
Vincent looked like he might faint. "That's... that's a town from DLO. That's An Npc...That's—"
"People," I snapped. "They are people. And they are scared. They all are."
Charlie stepped beside me, eyes narrowing at the screen. "Zora..."
"We have to go," I said. "We have to help them. Somehow. We can't just hide while they're out there alone."
Charlie looked at me for a long moment.
Not as my sister.
Not as my guardian.
But as someone who saw the weight I was carrying and didn't try to take it away...just stood beside me under it.
Finally, she nodded.
"Okay," she said softly. "We go."
Riley exhaled in relief. Nate grabbed his bag. Lucas squeezed my hand. Wich made me flush ice.
Vincent stared at the screen, then at me.
"If that town is here," he said quietly, "then the whatever is happening is accelerating."
I swallowed hard.
"I know."
Charlie squeezed my shoulder. "Then we don't have time for normal. We help them. And we stay alive."