Chapter 226: Ch224. At the Beginning
The silence settled thick around them, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves far above, and the tiny chirping of Dee.
If there was wind, it was soft enough to go unnoticed. If there were birds or insects, they kept to themselves, and if the world cared about their presence, it made no sign of it.
Miles stood still, his hand extended forward, waiting for the faintest tingle of energy, of connection, of anything. He reached inward again, this time with every ounce of focus, calling not on weapons or Artifacts, but on his [The End] Story fragment.
And still, nothing happened. No thundercrack of narrative, no glint change in how Miles saw everything around him, no whisper in his bones.
"... It’s gone..." He muttered, his shoulders slumping down in quiet frustration.
Sarissa didn’t respond at first.
She sat against a tree, her forehead slick with sweat, her skin pale in a way that wasn’t from fear or exhaustion alone. She tried not to look at the patch of moss she’d vomited into a few minutes earlier.
"Maybe it never existed here." She said finally, her voice hoarse. "Or maybe we’re the ones that don’t exist. Not here, not really."
Cheshire stretched on a sun-warmed stone, his feline body entirely at ease.
"Now you’re thinking in the right direction."
"You said this is your world. What does that even mean? Where are we? How far back? Why can’t we summon anything?" Miles turned towards him.