Suddenly, dancing crystals emerged in the sky, each one shimmering like a self-contained miniature world. Swirls of magical colors intertwined, merged, and then drifted apart once more. An overwhelming sensation pressed against her chest, as if the very air had grown dense.
Rash leaned toward her, whispering steadily into her ear, "Elena… I must step away for a moment. Visions only come to their owner."
She clung to his hand, her eyes pleading silently, "No… please… don't leave me alone."
Rash smiled gently, feeling his own light dim at the sight of her fear, but he had to speak. "Be brave, Elena. Nothing will harm you. I will be watching you from afar."
Reluctantly, she let go of his hand, yet her eyes never left him. Rash retreated quickly, almost imperceptibly. He breathed deeply, fighting every ounce of light within him that urged him to run back and protect her.
The moment he moved away, the visions surged toward Elena, rushing through her body one after another. She was entirely illuminated. At times she appeared exhausted, her eyes burning with tears; at others, she smiled with childlike joy. She laughed, she wept, she gasped—experiencing every emotion in the world all at once.
From a distance, Rash stood guard, his gaze never wavering. She was trembling under the immense pressure. He struggled with himself, resisting the urge to rush to her side and pull her from that torment. To any outsider, Elena would have seemed to be living in another time—as if her mind were experiencing entire years within her body while the world around her remained frozen and still.
The visions withdrew one by one until only a single one remained. Suddenly, Elena's body began to shake violently. Her eyes widened, and her voice rose in a wail:
"No… no, it can't be… Ryo… no… How could they do this to you? I'm sorry… please, don't die!"
She screamed, and the echo of her cry reverberated through the space—a scream heavy with pain, defiance, and rage. Then she added, "I saw you. I know you well. I will kill you… I will tear you into tiny, invisible pieces. I will relish your torture, even if it is the last thing I ever do!"
In that moment, Rash listened in total shock. No one, in all the history of Azaveria, had ever dared to speak of killing with such audacity. Shadows of Light defend; they never attack.
Elsewhere, in the Library of Universes, the three Nizarines smiled with admiration. One of them remarked, "What is impossible today cannot remain impossible forever."
The vision departed from Elena's body to join the others, and then they retreated as quickly as they had arrived. Elena's exhausted body collapsed as the final vision withdrew. She fell to the ground, and Rash rushed toward her, catching her in his arms and holding her as if she were his most precious possession.
"Elena… are you alright?" he asked anxiously.
In a voice choked with tears, barely audible, she said, "Rash… what did I see? Was all of that real? Is it a fixed future?"
Rash answered softly, "There are infinite lines of phantom futures, easily identified. But the visions of the Nizarines are not a fixed timeline; rather, they are the closest thing to a fixed path, depending on the choices made."
Elena asked weakly, "How long was I here?"
Rash ran his hand gently through her hair and said, "Only a few hours."
Elena gasped. "I thought I had been here for years!"
She wiped away her tears, sprang from Rash's arms, and said, "Then it's not too late… Ryo…" She fell silent, closing her eyes. She could not share what she had seen; it was a secret far too heavy to bear.
Rash stood in bewilderment. Was this the same person? Her personality seemed to have shifted after the visions—stronger, more resolute.
Suddenly, a deep voice boomed through the space, as if the entire universe were speaking at once: "Leave… now. Your time… is over. But know this: The only time it is too late is the time of surrender."
Elena whispered, "Let's go now, Rash."
As soon as she spoke, Rash took her hand, and they vanished from the Library of Time as if they had never been there. Behind them, the three Nizarines smiled. The one on the right said, "Let us breathe in the scent of difference and rarity." The one in the middle added, "Let us see how she acts to change what has been planned."
Elena returned to Azaveria alongside Rash, her body as weary as if she had carried the burdens of all the universes on her shoulders. The glow in her eyes, which had once been radiant with life, was now dull—like the flicker of a dying star suffocating in the darkness of a moonless night.
Rash stood silently by her side, watching her with eyes full of empathy but unable to speak. He had always known her as a being of strength and passion, but now, before him, she was a lost soul drowning in an endless whirlpool of thoughts.
Elena felt something heavier than fatigue: the weight of responsibility. She realized, at last, that she had been chosen for this path since the dawn of time, and that she had never truly known herself—not her powers, her destiny, nor her influence. Everything she had discovered within the visions of the Nizarines was vaster than she had ever imagined. She found answers to questions she hadn't even asked, and infinite possibilities.
For every possibility, she was forced to choose the best path.
But was she truly ready? Her trembling body and wide, unfocused eyes seemed detached from her surroundings, as if her soul had withdrawn, leaving behind only an empty shell.