Chapter 124: Children of Two Worlds
The Nullification Protocol had raged for three days before it simply... stopped.
Reed stood in the ruins of what had been the ceremonial grounds, his breath forming crystalline clouds in the unnaturally cold air. Where the void had touched, reality bore scars—not craters or burns, but absences where the very concept of existence had been stripped away. Trees that had never grown cast shadows that had never fallen. People mourned for loved ones whose names they couldn’t remember because those names had never been spoken.
"It’s not over," Lyralei whispered beside him, her hand instinctively moving to her abdomen. "This was just... reconnaissance."
Reed followed her gaze downward, and his breath caught. Beneath her ceremonial robes, barely visible but undeniably present, was the subtle curve of new life.
"That’s impossible," he breathed. "The ceremony was only three days ago."
"Time moves differently when you’re binding dimensions," Lyralei replied, her voice carrying a mixture of wonder and terror. "Reed, I can feel them. Not it—them. There are two."
The revelation should have brought joy, but instead, a chill ran down Reed’s spine. In a universe where their love had painted a target on reality itself, what did it mean to bring children into existence?
As if summoned by their thoughts, the air shimmered, and their alternate selves materialized—but something was different. Where before they had appeared as twisted reflections of power and indifference, now they seemed... diminished. Cracks ran through their forms like fractured glass.
"Congratulations," the alternate Lyralei said, her voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. "You’ve managed to create something even more dangerous than we anticipated."
"The Nullification Protocol withdrew because it detected something unprecedented," the alternate Reed added, his usual smugness replaced by genuine concern. "Your union didn’t just bind your hearts and domains—it created a bridge between dimensional possibilities."
Reed’s hand found Lyralei’s, their fingers intertwining as they faced their darker selves. "What are you trying to tell us?"