Chapter 26: The Wound Between Worlds
Three days later, the first shockwave hit.
It wasn’t physical—it was emotional. People across Sanctum Aqualis suddenly reported intense dreams. Shared dreams. A floating city with eyes in the sky. A corridor of mirrors showing their worst regrets. Children woke screaming. The elderly wept and didn’t know why.
Elarin traced the anomaly to the recently unlocked chamber Corv had accessed.
"He’s triggered a temporal bleed," she said. "Possibly unintentionally. The cube was a quantum seed vault, but not for DNA—for timelines."
Jaden stormed into the chamber to confront him. Corv stood in the center, surrounded by pulsing echoes of himself—past, present, and maybe future.
"You’ve broken something," Jaden said.
"No," Corv replied calmly. "I’ve revealed it."
He pointed at the cube. It now floated beside him, trailing threads of glowing code like veins.
"Every civilization has a wound it forgets. This... this is ours."
Suddenly, a rupture formed in midair—an actual tear in reality. From it emerged beings not entirely physical—half-light, half-thought. They were watchers, and they were angry.