Nina’s breath caught.
She looked up, straight into Julian’s deep, storm–dark eyes, lips pressing into a tight line.
“You’ve got the wrong person,” she said quietly.
Julian’s gaze dropped, cold and razor–sharp as it swept across her face. “A sapphire this deep–it’s like a lover’s eyes. That’s what you used to say. Or have you forgotten?”
Just like that night years ago, in the underwater observatory, when she’d kissed his eyes and promised she’d never leave.
How could she not remember?
Nina’s fingers clenched.
She took a step back. Julian stepped forward.
Another step back. Another step forward. Until her spine met the wall–and there was nowhere else
to go.
Julian’s cool fingertips brushed against her lashes. The chill seeped through her eyes and straight
into her chest.
“This entire exhibit–it was for you,” he whispered. “I stayed because of you. Because you asked me to wait. So why is it that now you’re back, you keep pushing me away?“.
He looked hollow, broken in the way only someone who’d once held hope could be. His voice
cracked.
“You were the one who asked me to wait, weren’t you? That day, when I was close to dying, you came to me…”
Nina stared at him, unmoving.
And then–pain.
Sharp, blinding pain stabbed through her skull like needles. A flash of white exploded behind her
eyes.
She clutched her head. Blood. Letters. Her own voice echoing “Wait for me… please, wait for
me…”
Her knees buckled. Julian caught her, arms wrapping around her instinctively, his face pale as a
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ghost. He was saying something, but she couldn’t hear a word. Her ears were filled with a roaring silence that seemed to tear her away from her
own body.
Suddenly, a force yanked her away from Julian’s arms.
Lysander.
His hand clamped around her wrist, his face stony, and without a word he pulled her through the
exhibit hall and out the doors.
Julian didn’t follow. He didn’t move. He just stood there, pale and unmoving, watching her walk
away.
It wasn’t until they were back in the car that Nina’s mind finally cleared.
Her chest heaved.
“What the hell just happened?”
Lysander’s voice was low and steady. “Whether you stay in this world or fade from it depends on
one thing–your will. If that falters, you’ll start to disappear.”
Nina swallowed. “So… my will is tied to Julian?”
She flung the door open.
Lysander caught her wrist again. “Where are you going?”
“You said you wanted the truth. Well, so do I. I need to remember. And I have this feeling–it’s coming soon.”
She yanked her hand free and walked straight back toward the exhibit.
But with every step, the world around her began to blur.
Lights unraveled like particles, dissolving into the wind. The floor beneath her feet disintegrated. The grand exhibition hall faded and twisted–until it reformed.
And became the Nina’s home.
Nina froze.
She looked down.
Her hand was turning translucent. Light. Too light. She knew this feeling–it was the same as being a soul without a body.
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She took a deep breath. Another step.
And then-
She stopped.
There, in the center of the grand hall, stood… her.
Another her.
The other Nina turned slowly, calm and expressionless. “Don’t go any further,” she said softly. “You chose to forget. So why did you come back for him?”
Nina’s throat tightened. “There are things I still don’t understand. Where is this place? Who are you?”
“I’m you,” the other Nina replied, eyes full of quiet sorrow.
She turned again, facing the empty house, and sighed.
“This is the dream you wove–for Julian.”
C
