‎"So, what you're saying is," Nox muttered, placing a hand on his chin while he sat on the bed in the guest room, "I'm forgetting about a barrier we passed through?"

‎

‎Before him was the one thing he could completely trust in this rift.

‎

‎The Marvelous Rock.

‎

‎He placed it opposite him, as both stared at the other.

‎

‎According to the rock, he was forgetting that they had passed through a barrier before discovering this settlement.

‎

‎The only problem was, how would he forget such an important detail, but the rock insisted.....

‎

‎If he repeated what was currently happening right now to anyone, they'd definitely think he was crazy...which was not that far from the truth.

‎

‎After all, no one else spoke to rocks, and he seemed completely convinced that the rock was replying.

‎

‎"Fine," he gave up, "I'll at least check it out."

‎

‎With that, he tossed everything, including the rock, into his inventory as he got off the bed, opened the door, and was faced with Skye, who seemed to be about to knock.

‎

‎She seemed to have a preference for Combat pants and sports bra, since although she seemed to have changed, wore the same but in different colors.

‎

‎"I'm about to step out for a quick patrol," She informed, "don't touch anything, I'll know if you do, and don't enter my room, if you get hungry, there's some food in the—"

‎

‎"About that," Nox interrupted, "do you mind if I come along?"

‎

‎Skye looked at him for a second before asking, "Why?"

‎

‎"I just want to stretch my legs," Nox finished, tone casual, almost lazy. "And I'm curious about the area outside the settlement."

‎

‎It wasn't like he was going to tell her that a rock told him about a barrier that he had apparently forgotten about.

‎

‎That sounded crazy....even to him.

‎

‎Skye studied him in silence without an expression on her face. For a moment, Nox thought she'd refuse outright.

‎

‎"Walking to the settlement from the forest wasn't enough of a leg-stretching experience?" She finally said.

‎

‎Skye turned and started walking without waiting for his answer. After two steps, she stopped and glanced back at him.

‎

‎"If you slow me down, I leave you."

‎

‎"That's fair," Nox said, already following behind.

‎

‎The duo walked out of the house and farther away from the settlement.

‎

‎***

‎

‎Nox and Skye soon left the village quite a distance back as they walked deeper into the forest, towards the direction he had come from.

‎

‎Skye wanted to ensure that no Eclipsed was this way since she hadn't had the chance to patrol here yet.

‎

‎At this point, even Nox started doubting there was a barrier; after all, they had walked quite a distance, and yet, he hadn't seen or felt any barrier.

‎

‎He was about to say something, when he suddenly froze.

‎

‎Skye, meanwhile, took a couple more steps before realizing he wasn't beside her anymore.

‎

‎Turning around, she frowned. "What are you doing?"

‎

‎"…We just passed through something," Nox said slowly.

‎

‎Skye's frown deepened. "No, we didn't."

‎

‎"Yes, we did."

‎

‎She walked back toward him and deliberately stepped forward, then back again, repeating the motion. "Nothing."

‎

‎Nox took a breath and stepped backward again, feeling the same as he had before. It felt as if he just passed through a thin layer.

‎

‎But no matter how much Skye did the same, she felt no change and Nox suddenly understood something.

‎

‎"How long did you say you have been here again?" He asked.

‎

‎"…Years," she said, completely certain. "At least, that's what Grans says."

‎

‎Nox's stomach sank; he hoped his theory was wrong, but with the way things were going, it was definitely what he thought.

‎

‎"And do you remember entering this rift?"

‎

‎Skye's jaw tightened. "Of course I do."

‎

‎"Then tell me," Nox said gently, "what direction you came from."

‎

‎Silence.

‎

‎The only sound was from the rustling leaves of the trees high above them.

‎

‎Skye looked away, eyes scanning the trees as if she wasn't sure of the answer and was looking for it amongst them.

‎

‎"…We came from the west," she said at last.

‎

‎Nox took a step to the side, careful not to step into the barrier again, lest he risk forgetting what he wanted to say, and pointed.

‎

‎"The west is that way."

‎

‎Her head turned toward where he indicated.

‎

‎That direction led deeper into dense forest, thick with twisted roots and dark undergrowth.

‎

‎Skye swallowed.

‎

‎"That's not right," she muttered.

‎

‎"I see," Nox muttered, nodding in understanding, "I understand what's happening now."

‎

‎What do you mean?" Skye asked, a lot more confused than before.

‎

‎"The good news is," Nox started, taking a small pause, "I'm not crazy."

‎

‎"And that's related to this how?" Skye asked again. At this moment, none of Nox's words were making any sense, and she hated that.

‎

‎"Bad news is," Nox turned to her, summoning Morphos to his hand and forming it into a staff, "you're not actually humans, are you?"

‎

‎Skye looked at him strangely for a second before chuckling, "I guess you really should reevaluate your good news, because you definitely are crazy."

‎

‎Nox said nothing in response, choosing to calmly observe her.

‎

‎"The hell do you mean I'm not human?" She asked.

‎

‎"Since you're human and a solar knight, then you should have no issues using SE right?" Nox asked, before summoning something from his inventory and tossing it to her, "Here, activate this."

‎

‎Skye caught it, noticing that it was just a wrist band, one she had seen before.

‎

‎It was a holographic smart watch that could be activated with SE. She used to have one of those back in Aureum, so it should be easy to activate.

‎

‎...

‎

‎It wasn't, no matter how much she tried, nothing worked, and the more time passed, the more the dread in her heart grew larger.

‎

‎"W-what is happening?" She asked, her voice trembling.

‎

‎"Now step into the barrier and try activating it."

‎

‎Slowly, she followed his instructions, even though she didn't know where the barrier was, and this time, the wristband immediately activated.

‎

‎"Toss it to me," Nox said again and she did as instructed.

‎

‎Usually, when a smart watch was activated with SE it'd last a while, maybe a few hours, before shutting off,

‎

‎And Skye knew that.

‎

‎Hesitantly, she stepped forward only to see that the wristband was never activated in the first place.

‎

‎And that's when it finally settled in.

‎

‎Skye slowly crashed to her knees, her pupils trembling at the realization. And that's when something else started happening.

‎

‎Slowly, as if flaking, her skin started falling to the ground and that was all the confirmation Nox needed,

‎

‎Taking a combat stance, he said, "I don't think your team defeated the boss Eclipsed."

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