Frozen Wasteland — The Frosted Womb
Silence. Stillness.
As if time itself had grown tired… and stopped breathing.
I—Aren Kael—stood in the heart of this frozen land.
Each step echoed with the cracking of ice beneath my feet, but the air… held something else.
Something familiar.
Tomo, perched on my shoulder, blinked faintly—its usually bright blue light now pulsing slow, like a fading heartbeat.
Tomo (low voice):
"Spiral energy is still present… but there's something else layered over it. Something… fragile."
I looked ahead.
In the center of a shattered glacier…
A girl lay still.
Frost had covered her eyes.
Her breath—barely there.
But that face…
It was her.
Aika.
I froze.
How could this be?
Aren (softly):
"Aika…? How can you be here?"
I stepped closer.
My hand reached out—hovering near her cheek.
Cold… but alive.
A faint Spiral mark glowed on her neck, pulsing like a memory struggling to survive.
Tomo (alert tone):
"Aika's bio-signal is trapped… but this isn't the present Aika.
She's tethered here—like a memory frozen in time."
I tried to understand—but for every answer, more questions rose.
Then, a voice.
??? (calm, cold):
"She remained… because time forgot to take her away."
I turned.
A girl stood there.
White cloak. Silver hair. Eyes that held no light.
Eira.
Aren (tense):
"Who… are you?"
Eira (softly):
"I'm the one time shattered.
The one who stopped… but never returned."
Tomo scanned her quickly—
and the readings went haywire.
Tomo (shaken):
"Warning. Subject: Eira.
Time signature: fragmented.
Age: Unmeasurable."
Eira looked toward Aika—
As if she were staring into a mirror.
Eira (with deep emotion):
"She tried to fight time… for you.
So the Spiral sealed her here."
Something cracked inside me.
Aren (yelling):
"Spiral did this? But why?!"
Eira (whispers):
"Because you… are the test.
And she… is your reflection."
Suddenly, Aika's Spiral mark flared with bright blue light.
Aren (shocked):
"It's… reacting to me?"
Tomo (intense):
"Aika's soul is bound to your timeline.
She's your anchor, Aren.
Wherever you go… time pulls her back to you."
I clenched my fists.
Aren:
"I care!
I didn't know it would go this deep…
But I'll do whatever it takes to bring her back."
Eira's eyes softened for just a second.
Eira (fading):
"Then you may survive…
or break."
The scene faded into white.
Aika, frozen.
Aren, trembling.
And Eira… vanishing into fog—as if even time wanted to hide her.
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End Line (Narration):
"Some souls don't move with time.
They wait—because their story hasn't finished yet."