After the First Origin disappeared—
Eden Zero felt different.
Lighter.
As if the frozen cathedral had been holding its breath for centuries and had finally been allowed to exhale.
The ancient blue lights dimmed.
The warning alarms were gone.
Only snow remained.
Soft.
Silent.
Falling through the shattered gates like the world had decided peace was still possible.
Aarav stood where the First Origin had vanished.
One hand still slightly raised.
As if part of him expected the man to still be there.
A joke.
A final warning.
Something.
But there was only silence.
And strangely—
That silence didn't feel empty.
It felt like trust.
Rohan stood beside him, unusually quiet.
For almost twelve full seconds.
A new personal record.
Then—
"So…"
Aarav sighed.
"Here we go."
Rohan folded his arms dramatically.
"Technically speaking, your evil future self's father apologised to his evil son while your future girlfriends watched and your ancient snow goddess approved."
A pause.
"…I don't think college prepared us for this."
No.
No, it absolutely had not.
Aarav let out a tired laugh.
"Not even slightly."
Across the chamber, Orion stood near the frozen gates.
No longer the Null Sovereign.
No longer the final enemy.
Just Orion.
Still carrying centuries of grief, but no longer letting it define him.
Aelina approached him first.
Careful.
Gentle.
Like approaching someone learning how to exist again.
"You should rest."
Orion looked at her.
"I have not rested in approximately four hundred and twelve years."
Rohan pointed immediately.
"Same. During exam season."
Mira closed her eyes.
"Please stop comparing cosmic suffering to your grades."
"Never."
Balance restored.
Good.
Selene stood near Aarav, watching the Arctic storm outside.
Her giant sword rested against the ice like a monument.
She spoke without looking at him.
"The future changed."
Aarav stepped beside her.
"Good change?"
She considered that.
Then—
"I am still alive."
A beat.
"That is usually how I measure success."
Honestly?
Fair.
Very fair.
He smiled faintly.
"And now?"
This time, she looked at him.
Golden eyes are steady.
Terrifyingly direct.
"Now I must learn how to exist in a future where I am not required to be a weapon."
Silence.
That line hurt.
Because some people survived the war for so long, they forgot how to survive peace.
Aarav answered honestly.
"Then we learn together."
Selene stared at him for one long second.
Then nodded once.
Which, from her, was basically emotional poetry.
Nearby, Mira was pretending not to listen.
Badly.
Aelina noticed too.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Nysera, of course, noticed everything because she was apparently built from wisdom and inconvenience.
She stepped into the centre of the chamber.
And when Nysera moved, conversations politely stopped existing.
Her silver-white gaze moved across all of them.
Calm.
Ancient.
Certain.
"The timeline has stabilised."
Blue light rose around Eden Zero one final time.
Holographic pathways spread across the air like constellations.
Different futures.
Different branches.
All shifting.
All rewriting.
Aarav stared.
"So we actually changed it?"
Nysera nodded.
"Yes."
"The collapsed future has been severed."
Aelina's eyes widened slightly.
Mira's nanoshards stilled.
Even Selene's shoulders eased.
The futures that created them—
the nightmares they came from—
were no longer inevitable.
That mattered.
That changed everything.
Rohan raised a hand.
"So… congratulations, everyone. We bullied destiny."
Correct.
Beautifully correct.
Nysera continued.
"But stabilisation creates consequences."
Ah.
There it was.
The suspicious part.
Aarav crossed his arms.
"Of course it does."
Her gaze settled on the girls.
"Their original timelines no longer exist."
Silence.
Aelina froze.
Mira's expression sharpened.
Selene said nothing.
Which was somehow worse.
Aarav frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Nysera answered softly.
"It means they no longer have a future to return to."
The words landed like ice.
No home.
No original world.
Nothing is waiting for them.
Because saving the future had erased the places they came from.
For a moment—
No one moved.
Then Aelina smiled.
Small.
Sad.
Beautiful.
"I thought that might happen."
Mira folded her arms tighter.
"Annoying."
Which, translated from Mira, meant emotional devastation.
Selene simply looked at the falling snow.
"I buried my world a long time ago."
That one hurt the most.
Because she said it like a fact.
Not tragedy.
Aarav looked at them.
Really looked.
These girls had crossed centuries.
Fought wars.
Lost entire futures.
And now—
They had nowhere left to go.
Something inside him settled.
Simple.
Obvious.
He stepped forward.
"Then stay."
Everyone looked at him.
Even Rohan.
Who immediately whispered,
"He's doing protagonist things."
Yes.
Unfortunately.
Aarav continued.
"This world is still here."
He looked at Aelina.
"At me."
Then Mira.
"At us."
Then Selene.
"At the future we choose now."
His voice stayed steady.
"If your timelines are gone… then build a new one here."
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
Because feelings were entering the room.
Aelina's blue eyes shimmered.
Mira looked like she wanted to argue and couldn't find the words.
Selene…
Selene looked at him like war had just been personally inconvenienced by tenderness.
Rohan quietly wiped an imaginary tear.
"Disgustingly wholesome."
Nysera smiled.
That rare, terrifying thing.
"Good."
"That answer was necessary."
Aarav frowned.
"Was everything with you a test?"
She tilted her head.
"Mostly."
Unbelievable.
Absolutely unbelievable.
Before anyone could continue—
The main aircraft system was activated from the hangar above.
A transmission.
Civilian.
Normal.
Aarav checked it.
And froze.
His mother.
Video call.
Twenty-seven missed calls.
Three voice notes.
One message from his sister:
IF YOU ARE ALIVE, RESPOND BEFORE MOM STARTS A RELIGIOUS CEREMONY.
Rohan looked over his shoulder and burst into laughter.
"Oh no."
Aarav stared at the screen like it was the true final boss.
Honestly?
It might be.
He looked at the girls.
At cosmic wars.
Ancient gods.
Time collapses.
Then he heard his mother calling.
And somehow—
This felt more dangerous.
He sighed.
"Everyone."
A beat.
"Welcome to the hardest mission of all."
Mira narrowed her eyes.
"What mission?"
Aarav answered with the seriousness of a man facing absolute death.
"…Meeting my mother."
Even Selene looked concerned.
This proved the scale of the threat.
And somewhere in the Arctic snow—
for the first time—
The future laughed.