Leo's lungs were on fire. Every breath tasted like rust.
The screams wouldn't stop—some from the dark, some from *him*.
He tried to walk. Another Leo stepped out of the shadows, laughing, skull cracking under his boot.
Another begged, blood dripping from shaking fingers.
A third stood over Lia's tiny body, eyes dead.
Leo hit the ground, palms slamming into nothing. "STOP!"
The word tore out of him—raw, animal.
But the voices just got louder, slithering inside his skull.
*You're me.*
*You'll become me.*
*You wanted this.*
Hands over ears did nothing. The ground split. Shadows clawed at his ankles.
"I can't—" he choked. "I can't—"
They smiled. Reached.
*Give in.*
He almost did. Felt his spine go soft.
Then—
Lia's giggle. Lyra's crooked grin. Mom's hand in his hair. Dad's proud grunt.
Warm. Real.
Leo's head snapped up. Tears cut tracks through the grime on his face.
"No."
He stood, knees knocking.
"I'm not you."
The echoes froze.
"I'll screw up. I'll hurt. But I won't *be* you."
His shadow flickered. The air shook like it was scared of him.
He shoved—hands in front of him like pushing a door—shoving those twisted timelines away, balling them up, *fixing* them.
One by one, they crumbled to dust.
Silence.
Golden cracks spider-webbed the dark. Light poured through.
Zycrist's voice, soft: "It begins…"
Leo blinked. "What—"
"Alignment. Timelines going home."
Threads—thin, glowing—shot from his chest. Each one a heartbeat. They zipped away, stitching the universe back together.
He felt it all. Every sob. Every gasp of someone blinking back into existence.
Some didn't come back.
The last thread snapped into place. Leo screamed—veins glowing, a broken ring burning into his palm.
Then nothing.
He hit the floor, panting.
Aurelius whistled. "Kid actually did it."
Zycrist smiled. "*They* did. Every Leo that still had a pulse."
Leo pushed up on shaky arms. "So… fixed?"
"For now," she said. "Time remembers. It waits."
He stared at his hands—gold fading under skin.
"Why only me?" he rasped. "Why'd I see *me* killing everyone?"
Zycrist crouched, massive head low. "Because you touched time. Every ripple started with you. Those weren't strangers—they were *yous*. Roads you could've walked."
Leo swallowed. "So I'm the problem."
Aurelius snorted. "You're the patch, dummy. Damage was already there. You just got stuck holding the glue."
Zycrist's eyes softened. "You're a Temporal Anchor now. Time's got your number. Break again? You're first on the list."
Leo laughed—dry, cracked. "Great. Eternal janitor."
He slumped, eyes closing.
Aurelius sat beside him. "Get some sleep, boy. You earned it."
The lights dimmed. Realm went quiet.
Just Leo's breathing, steady and alive.
Leo's head felt like someone had used it as a gong. He peeled his eyes open, groaned, and rolled onto his side.
"Ow. Note to self: never volunteer for cosmic plumbing again and Hey! You zycrist I have some questions."
Zycrist hovered nearby, half-lit like a glitchy hologram. "Two questions. Clock's ticking."
"Only two? I just fix everything!"
"Not *just* for me, kid."
Aurelius snored against a pillar. "Lizard's always stingy…"
Tail *snap*. Spark. "Call me that again, I dare you."
Leo waved a hand. "Cool it, lovebirds. Question one—are those evil me really gone?"
Zycrist's glow dimmed. "Gone from *outside*. They're bunking in your skull now. Every screw-up, every hero moment. New ones'll spawn later—multiverse doesn't do retirement."
Leo rubbed his neck. "Great. Therapy's gonna be a riot."
"Question two," he pressed. "Why me? Why not some random janitor with a mop and a dream?"
Her gaze slid away. "Your skills. Freaky ones. No idea where they came from… or *who* slipped them in."
"Wait—who—"
*CLAP.*
White light kicked them out like a bouncer at closing time.
They landed hard on a hill. Sky the color of old dishwater. Castle ruins ahead—half-melted, half-dust.
Leo sat up, spitting grit. "Rude exit."
Aurelius brushed off his coat. "She's allergic to goodbyes."
Leo squinted. "City should be—"
His jaw dropped for a moment.
Empty streets. Crumbled walls. A kid's shoe in the dirt, no kid.
Leo's knees buckled. "We fixed it… right?"
Aurelius looked sick. "I… don't know."
Leo clawed the ground. "We go back. Pound on her door."
"Can't. Realm's on cooldown. Twenty-four hours, minimum."
Leo stared at the ghost town. "So we're stuck in this graveyard till tomorrow?"
Aurelius snapped his fingers. "She said you got a new toy."
Leo's pulse jumped. "New… ability?"
Wind hissed through broken windows. Somewhere, a single red flower pushed through cracked stone—impossible, bright.
Leo stared at it.
"…Guess we need to find out what it does."
---
**Inside the dimming hall of zycrist**
Zycrist floated alone, tail curled tight.
She laughed—dry, cracked. "First lie I ever told."
Her wings flared, light splintering. Voice cracked wide open.
"Lord Raze…"
The name tore through the void like a prayer and a curse.
"Did I make you proud?" Tears—actual tears—glimmered on scales. "I lied, I twisted fate, I broke every rule you carved into eternity…"
She bowed, trembling.
"I just hope you're watching, my Sovereign Ruler."
Silence swallowed the hall.
Then—soft, almost shy—she whispered to the dark:
"…Miss you, My Lord."