The nurse looked confused, seemingly unsure of how to respond.
"Gosh, miss. That’s quite a complicated question, huh?"
She said while slightly shaking her head.
Understandable—maybe the topic was too heavy. After all, how could I possibly love sincerely... from a heart I barely understand myself?
Love is irrational and never makes any logical sense, after all. Therefore, unless you were affected, you wouldn’t be able to rationalize it. Which is my case here.
Unlike Kairi—who might now be regretting my fate due to decision I had made.
"But, here’s the thing, Miss Kairi." The nurse interrupted my train of thought.
"To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what love is either, and maybe if it does exist, it’s just a medical concept—oxytocin hormones. But if you truly love someone and are willing to fight for them, maybe your love can be saved."
What a truly straightforward answer.
That answer was pure. Honest. It didn’t try to force meaning.
I thought to myself, recalling the last thing I had done.
For the first time, I truly smiled.
And for the first time, I felt what love really was.
Not the kind of love you see in cheesy drama romances between couples.
But real love. As if he and I were genuinely connected.
And also... truly one.
"Miss Kairi, why are you spacing out? What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, it’s nothing, nurse. Thank you so much for your answer."
I nodded slowly with a sweet smile, remembering what Kairi looked like when she did the same.
So, Kairi... what are you currently doing right now?
And will you be able to do what I ask for?
I can only do nothing but wait, and wait.
* * *
I staggered through the ruins of a dead city.
Mytheia hung in my grip like an ancient artifact carrying more than just energy. It felt like this journey had lasted eight anime episodes—and still wasn’t over. Each step met dust and debris, as if the earth itself whispered for me to give up.
Sometimes, in silence, I imagined Selene’s face. Was she feeling the same? Was she living my version of life in that world? Her memory, even though painful, became a small ember that kept me going.
Time here felt broken. Blurred.
As though time itself had died along with the crumbling buildings.
I kept searching.
I poured my remaining strength into one purpose—to find that chamber.
Void Rifter.
In the distance, the silhouette of a tall structure loomed like a giant’s rib. But this time, it was different. The building was intact, albeit covered in dust.
My instinct whispered: this is it.
I entered, breath catching from a mix of exhaustion and hope. Control panels greeted me in silence. But Selene’s memory—something stored within Mytheia—guided my hand. My fingers touched the surface, dancing along a pattern that felt foreign... but also familiar.
Several panels began to blink faintly. Some energy remained.
I entered a sequence of commands. Movements I remembered from Selene—moves that weren’t mine but had now become part of me.
And slowly... the walls disappeared.
The ceiling cracked open into emptiness. Helena’s illusionary world collapsed.
This was the real Void Rifter.
I stared at it—a mass of infinite darkness. Now I understood. Helena’s illusionary world was a prison. A veil. And I had just pulled it back.
I gripped Mytheia tighter.
Selene’s words echoed—about how the Void Rifter recognizes identity and energy resonance.
I stepped forward.
I gazed into that darkness. Now I understood why the Void Rifter hadn’t worked before. Helena’s illusionary world had been a protective layer, a prison that concealed the real access. Now, that veil had lifted.
I tightened my grip on Mytheia. This object wasn’t just a memory, but also a key. I remembered Selene’s words about how the Void Rifter responds to energy and identity. Taking a deep breath, I brought Mytheia forward, toward the gently pulsing darkness.
"Kairi... Elysia... Veylith," I declared, stating my full name in this world.
My voice echoed into the void.
I felt Mytheia tremble in my hand, as if responding to that vocal passphrase.
A soft light radiated from Mytheia, illuminating a small part of the darkness ahead. Now was the time to navigate the Void Rifter. I closed my eyes again, letting Selene’s memories guide me. Visualization after visualization of paths she once walked filled my mind.
Carefully, I directed Mytheia, following the path indicated by Selene’s memory. In my mind, complex codes surfaced—not in any language I knew, but in strange Hebrew-like glyphs that felt familiar through Selene’s memories. My fingers moved unconsciously, mimicking the gestures Selene remembered when she controlled the Void Rifter.
It felt like I was writing a complex program, but the language was made of ancient symbols. Every movement of Mytheia was an input, every memory visualization from Selene a line of code.
I had to focus—no mistakes. Selene was counting on me. And I... I had to save her. The real journey had just begun.
In my mind, the visualization of Hebrew symbols from Selene’s memories spun around. I didn’t understand their literal meanings, but somehow, through this strange connection, I could sense their function, their intent. My transcription ability worked unconsciously, translating the essence of each symbol into more logical commands in my mind—commands I could assemble into something resembling a programming language I once studied.
Slowly, as I continued to guide Mytheia, I began to "write" code in my mind, translating Selene’s memory stream:
# ניווט מרחב ריפט
# התחברות לזרם הוויד
פונקציה התחבר(מפתח=תהודה_מית’יה):
אם מפתח:
# ... לוגיקה חיבור ...
החזר חיבור_ריפט()
אחרת:
הדפס("שגיאה: מפתח לא תקף.")
החזר אין
# שלח פקודת ניווט
פונקציה נווט(יעד, היסט_זמן=אין):
זרם = התחבר(מפתח=מית’יה.תהודה)
אם זרם:
הוראת_ניווט = {
"מטרה": יעד,
"הסטה_זמנית": היסט_זמן אם היסט_זמן אחרת 0,
"אימות": חתימה_קולית("קאירי אליסיה ויילית")
}
שלח(זרם, "נווט", מטען=הוראת_ניווט)
הדפס(f"שולח פקודת ניווט: {הוראת_ניווט}")
עקוב_אחרי_סטטוס(זרם)
אחרת:
הדפס("שגיאה: לא הצליח להתחבר לזרם הוויד.")
# חתימה קולית
פונקציה חתימה_קולית(ביטוי):
# ... לוגיקה הפקת חתימה קולית ...
החזר מית’יה.צור_חתימה(ביטוי)
# קבל חתימת יעד
חתימת_יעד_סלינה = זיכרון_סלינה.קבל("חתימת_יציאה_עולם_הלנה")
# קבל התאמה זמנית
התאמה_זמנית = זיכרון_סלינה.קבל("קריאת_אנומליה_זמנית")
# הפעל את פונקציית הניווט
אם חתימת_יעד_סלינה:
נווט(חתימת_יעד_סלינה, התאמה_זמנית)
אחרת:
הדפס("שגיאה: חתימת היעד לא נמצאה בזיכרון סלינה.")
Based on my Transcription ability, the meaning is roughly like this:
Transcription - Void Rifter Navigation
def navigate_void(target_signature, temporal_offset=None):
"""
Function to navigate the Void Rifter to a target with a specific signature.
Allows for temporal offset adjustment if needed (based on Selene’s memories).
"""
void_stream = connect_to_rifter(key=Mytheia.resonance)
if void_stream:
navigation_instruction = {
"target": target_signature,
"temporal_drift": temporal_offset if temporal_offset else 0,
"authentication": vocal_signature("Kairi Elysia Veylith")
}
void_stream.send_command("NAVIGATE", payload=navigation_instruction)
So this is how it goes. Step by step, I rewrite the equation of fate.
Not on parchment, nor in ritual glyphs—
but into the vacuum, where meaning resists form.
Selene... I’m coming. So please, don’t vanish your hope just yet.
Not long after that, a faint swirl of light began to form in the middle of the darkness. Its color was not like the illusory light of Helena’s world, but deeper, more ancient. I could feel the energy flowing from that vortex, energy that was unfamiliar yet somehow felt familiar—Void Rifter energy.
My breath caught.
Did it work? Can I really navigate this lawless place with nothing but someone’s memory and an ancient artifact?
Doubt crept in, but I quickly brushed it away. I’ve come this far. I can’t turn back now. Selene is waiting for me.
The light vortex grew larger, enough to swallow my body. I felt Mytheia pull me slowly, as if the object knew where we had to go. Without hesitation, I stepped forward, entering the swirling gateway of light.
A strange sensation overwhelmed me.
Not pain, but more like my body being pulled and twisted in millions of directions at once, before all that feeling vanished. Total darkness enveloped me again, but this time it was different. There was a deeper silence, a more absolute void.
Yet, in the midst of that emptiness, I could sense a faint presence.
Not a physical presence, but an energetic trace, a resonance that felt familiar. It had to be Selene. I could feel it, like two strings vibrating at the same frequency despite being far apart.
I reached out my hand, gripping Mytheia tighter. The object emitted a dim light, becoming the only point of orientation in this sea of darkness.
Suddenly, the darkness around me began to shift, forming strange patterns that spun and changed. The light from Mytheia seemed to interact with those patterns, pulling me deeper. The sensation of being pulled and twisted came again, but this time it was shorter, more directed.
Then, a moment later, I was no longer in the darkness.
I stood in a room that was foreign yet felt familiar. Its walls shimmered with soft light emanating from nowhere. In the center of the room, there stood a woman. Her tidy black hair flowed long, and her eyes emitted a cold, calculating light. I recognized that silhouette, though there was something different, something colder and more distant.
She looked at me with a thin smile that didn’t reach her eyes. There was a trace of fatigue and perhaps... sadness behind that gaze. She looked thinner than Selene’s memory of her, and an aura of cold power surrounded her.
My heart raced.
This is it. Helena.
But... she didn’t look like I imagined. There was something missing, or perhaps something added, making her feel foreign.
Or perhaps, it’s due to remnants of my memory was weakened.
She parted her lips, and her voice, though soft, had a chilling tone that cut to the bone.
"Greetings." she said slowly, her gaze locking with mine.
A cynical smile curled at her lips.
"It’s been a long while. Did you miss me, Kairi?"