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The moment I saw Eloise being ripped from the carriage, my blood turned ice cold.
I moved before I could think, blade flashing as I cut down the nearest shadowed figure. The creature let out an inhuman screech before dissolving into black mist. But there were more. Too many.
Eloise struggled in their grasp, kicking and thrashing, but Lirienne's magic was already wrapping around her like invisible chains.
"Let her go, Lirienne," I growled, stepping forward, sword steady in my grip.
She tilted her head, her golden eyes gleaming with amusement. "Why would I, Caius? She was mine from the beginning. *You're* the one who keeps getting in my way."
I lunged at her.
But the moment my blade was about to strike, an invisible force slammed into me, sending me flying backward. I hit the ground hard, rolling before I forced myself to my feet.
Lirienne's power had grown stronger.
Eloise was gasping, her hands glowing as she tried to use her own power to fight back, but it was as if Lirienne was *absorbing* it.
"You still don't understand, do you, little creator?" Lirienne whispered, her fingers brushing against Eloise's cheek as if she were a fragile thing to be admired. "This world is only yours in name. *You* may have written it into existence, but I—" she smiled darkly, "—I have lived in it longer than you have."
Eloise's eyes widened. "What...?"
Lirienne's grip tightened around Eloise's wrist, forcing her to her knees. "You don't realize the power you hold. But don't worry, my dear. I will *teach* you."
I wasn't going to let her.
I launched forward again, faster this time, ducking under a shadow's clawed hand and slashing upward. My sword cut through the mist-like body, and it let out another piercing shriek before vanishing.
Lirienne flicked her wrist, and a wall of dark magic crashed toward me. But this time, I was ready.
I slammed my sword into the ground, channeling every ounce of my strength into breaking through the wave of force. The energy shattered like glass, and for the first time, I saw Lirienne's smirk falter.
Good.
I reached Eloise in an instant, grabbing her wrist and pulling her behind me.
"I told you to stay in the carriage," I muttered.
She shot me a glare. "You really think that was an option?"
I almost smirked at her defiance, but now wasn't the time.
Lirienne sighed, tapping her chin with a single black-painted nail. "You always make things difficult, Caius."
She raised her hand again, and the remaining creatures lunged toward us.
This time, Eloise didn't hesitate.
She grabbed my hand, her power flowing through her skin and into mine. Words formed in the air around us, glowing like fireflies. A new reality—one of her own making.
I felt the shift before I saw it.
The creatures froze, their forms flickering. The darkness around us wavered. Lirienne hissed, her magic unraveling as Eloise rewrote the moment in real-time.
And in that moment of hesitation—**I struck.**
My blade sliced through the last of Lirienne's dark magic, and she stumbled back, her golden eyes flashing with fury.
"This isn't over," she snarled.
With a swirl of shadows, she and her creatures vanished into the night.
The battle was over.
For now.
I turned to Eloise, breath still heavy from the fight. She looked shaken, but her eyes were steady as they met mine.
"...We need to keep moving," she said quietly.
I nodded, sheathing my sword. "Yeah."
But as I looked at her—at the power she had just unleashed, the danger she was now in—I knew one thing for certain.
Lirienne wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted.
And I would die before I let her take Eloise from me.
———
Eloise's POV**
I felt weightless.
Not in a peaceful way. Not in the way I imagined floating on the ocean would feel, or drifting through the sky like a feather. No, this was different.
It was like I was slipping through my own fingers.
Caius's voice was the first thing that grounded me. "Eloise."
I blinked, my vision still blurred from exhaustion. The world around me felt hazy, like I was caught between dreams and reality. I could still hear the faint echo of the words I had written in the air, the power humming beneath my skin. But I knew it was fading.
Just like everything else.
Caius knelt beside me, his brows furrowed in concern. "Are you hurt?"
I shook my head. "Just... tired."
Tired wasn't the right word.
It was *hollow.*
Like something had been carved out of me, leaving only an empty space where it used to be.
I let out a slow breath, trying to push the feeling away. But then Caius spoke again.
"You changed the outcome again," he said, his voice unreadable. "You rewrote reality."
I swallowed, nodding. "I had to."
His jaw tightened, but he didn't argue. Instead, he did something I didn't expect—he reached out, brushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear. It was gentle, hesitant. His fingers lingered for just a second too long before he pulled away.
"Eloise," he said carefully, watching me. "Tell me something."
I frowned. "What?"
He hesitated. "Tell me about your life. Before this world."
I blinked. That was an easy question. Or at least, it should've been.
I opened my mouth to answer.
But nothing came.
I froze.
Caius must have noticed my expression change, because his own shifted into something unreadable. "Eloise?"
I tried again. I *knew* I had a life before this. I knew I had memories, people, places I once held close. I knew there was a world I came from, a reality where I existed before I stepped into this one.
But the details...
They were slipping.
A cold shiver ran through me. "I..." I swallowed hard. "I can't remember."
Caius's gaze darkened.
Panic clawed its way up my throat. I pressed my fingers against my temples, squeezing my eyes shut. *Think, Eloise. Think.* But the more I tried, the more the memories scattered like dust in the wind.
I looked at Caius, fear creeping into my voice. "I know I had a family. I know I had friends. But their faces—" I shook my head. "They're fading."
His hands clenched into fists. "Since when?"
I hesitated, then realization hit me. "Since I started changing the story."
The air between us grew heavy.
Caius exhaled sharply, standing up. He turned away from me, his shoulders tense. "So that's the price," he muttered under his breath.
I stared at him, my chest tightening.
The price of rewriting fate. The cost of bending reality to my will.
It wasn't just my energy.
It was *me.*
Pieces of my life, my past, my very identity—slowly fading with every word I changed.
And I didn't know if I could ever get them back.