The silence after Ethan vanished was unbearable. One breath he had been there, eyes wide with disbelief as the Tower tore him away, and the next… nothing. Only the echo of his name, still trembling in Elara's throat, remained.
Her hand lingered in the air, reaching for him, though she knew he could no longer see her. The storm above the bridge cracked with thunder, mocking her despair. The Tower was alive, listening, feeding on her loss.
She swallowed the grief, turning it into steel, because if there was one thing the Tower never gave, it was time to mourn.
Meanwhile, Ethan blinked into the blinding light of the real world. The sudden absence of the Tower's cold wind left him dizzy, unmoored. His apartment felt foreign, too small, too quiet, like waking from a dream you weren't sure you wanted to end. The RealmLink still clung to his wrist, its sigils faintly glowing.
He wanted to rip it off. He wanted to put it back on. He wanted everything to stop.
Sofia's voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. "Ethan? Where the hell have you been?"
But he had no answer. Because how do you explain that you left her for a storm no one else could see?
And back in the Tower… Elara drew her blade against the growing shadows. Alone now, her resolve was breaking, until the impossible happened.
A flash of light erupted at the far end of the bridge, the same shimmering distortion she had seen when Ethan first appeared. Only this time, it wasn't him.
A young man stumbled through the rift, clutching his wrist where the RealmLink burned. His eyes went wide at the sight of the storm, the endless bridge, and Elara herself.
"W–what the hell is this?!" he shouted.
Elara's grip tightened on her sword. "Another one…?"
The man, disheveled, panicked, but undeniably real, stared back at her. "My name's Kenneth… and I think I've made a huge mistake."
The silence after Ethan vanished was unbearable. One breath he had been there, eyes wide with disbelief as the Tower tore him away, and the next… nothing. Only the echo of his name, still trembling in Elara's throat, remained.
Her hand lingered in the air, reaching for him, though she knew he could no longer see her. The storm above the bridge cracked with thunder, mocking her despair. The Tower was alive, listening, feeding on her loss.
She forced the weakness down. Tears were dangerous here. The Tower punished hesitation, devoured it, and turned it into new horrors. Her grief would have to wait.
The bridge stretched endlessly before her, lit only by the glow of the storm overhead. Her blade was heavy in her hand, her heartbeat louder than the wind.
And then light.
At the far edge of the bridge, a shimmer erupted in the air. It looked just as it had when Ethan first appeared: a tear in reality, shimmering with impossible colors. Elara's chest tightened, was it him, pulled back so quickly?
But the figure who stumbled through was not Ethan.
He was younger, maybe mid-twenties, with a shock of unkempt brown hair and clothes that looked like they had no business in a nightmare realm: a faded hoodie, jeans, worn sneakers. His hand clutched his wrist where the RealmLink burned with raw, unfamiliar energy. His eyes darted wildly at the endless bridge, the storm, and finally, Elara.
"W–what the hell is this?!" he gasped, nearly tripping over his own feet.
Elara's grip on her sword tightened. "Another one…?"
The man stared at her, chest heaving, fear written all over his face. "My name's Kenneth… and I think I've made a huge mistake."
Ethan – The Real World
Ethan's lungs burned as if the Tower's storm had followed him into the real world. He collapsed onto his couch, clutching his wrist. The RealmLink still pulsed faintly, glowing against his skin. It hadn't let him go.
The sound of clattering dishes pulled his gaze up. Sofia stood in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, eyes hard. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"Ethan," she said, her voice shaking between anger and fear. "Where the hell have you been? Do you know what time it is? You disappear, no calls, no messages, and now you're," She stopped, her gaze falling on his wrist. The faint light of the RealmLink reflected in her eyes. "What is that?"
He pulled his arm back quickly, hiding it. "It's… nothing."
"Nothing?" She stepped closer. "Don't lie to me, Ethan. You're scaring me. You're not here anymore. You vanish, you look half-dead when you come back, and I,. I don't even know who you are."
Her words cut deeper than any blade in the Tower. Ethan wanted to explain, to tell her everything, but how? How could he tell her that he was living two lives? That while she was begging him to stay present, another woman was screaming his name in a collapsing world?
His chest tightened. For the first time, Ethan wasn't sure which world was real, this one, with Sofia slipping further from him, or the Tower, with Elara standing against storms that wanted to consume them all.
He leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. The whisper of the shard within his wrist burned in his mind: Return.
But he couldn't. Not yet.
Elara & Kenneth – The Tower
Kenneth stumbled toward her, his panic barely contained. He stared at his glowing wrist, then at her sword, then at the endless drop into nothingness on either side of the bridge.
"Tell me this is a dream," he begged. "Please. Just tell me I'm asleep at my desk, or drunk, or,"
"Quiet," Elara snapped, scanning the storm above. "The Tower hears everything."
Kenneth froze. "The… Tower?"
Before she could explain, the storm split open. Figures emerged from the clouds, shadows with wings like broken glass, their screeches rattling the bridge.
Kenneth's mouth dropped. "What the hell are those?!"
Elara raised her blade. "Welcome to your trial."
One of the creatures dove, its claws slicing toward Kenneth. He screamed, ducked, and nearly fell off the bridge, only saved when Elara caught him by the hood and yanked him back.
"Fight," she barked.
"I,. I don't even know how!"
The RealmLink pulsed on his wrist, responding to his fear. A faint shimmer of light coalesced in his hand, his weapon. A jagged spear of silver, trembling as though it too wasn't sure if it should exist.
Kenneth stared at it in shock. "What the."
The creature swooped again, and this time Kenneth thrust the spear out instinctively. The blade pierced the shadow, bursting it into sparks of light. His eyes went wide. "I… I killed it."
Elara narrowed her gaze. "No. You survived. There's a difference."
The battle raged on. Elara moved like lightning, cutting down shadow after shadow, while Kenneth swung wildly, clumsy but determined. He was no warrior, but something burned in him, a refusal to give up, even as fear threatened to consume him.
By the time the last shadow dissolved into the storm, Kenneth collapsed to his knees, gasping. His spear flickered, then vanished, leaving only the glow of the RealmLink.
He looked up at Elara, awe in his eyes. "You… you're incredible. How long have you been here?"
Elara didn't answer. Her gaze was fixed on the storm above, where the shadows were already reforming. This wasn't the end. The Tower never let them rest.
She whispered under her breath, almost too soft for Kenneth to hear:"…Ethan…"
Kenneth frowned. "Ethan? Who's."
But before he could finish, the storm cracked open again. The bridge shook violently, threatening to tear apart beneath their feet.
Elara's knuckles whitened around her blade. She didn't care if Kenneth heard the name. She didn't care if the Tower devoured her next breath.
Somewhere, across realms, Ethan was hesitating. And she, she had no choice but to keep moving forward.
The storm above the bridge rumbled like a beast gnashing its teeth, lightning flashing in jagged arcs that painted the abyss below in violent white. Elara gritted her jaw, pulling Kenneth to his feet, forcing his wide, terrified eyes to meet hers.
"You can't freeze," she said sharply. "The Tower will eat hesitation alive."
Kenneth swallowed hard, his knuckles white around the flickering silver spear. "You say that like it's… normal. Like this place has rules."
"It does," Elara said, scanning the skies. The shadows were regrouping, merging into something larger. "But the Tower makes them up as you go. The only rule that never changes is simple: survive."
Kenneth's laugh was hollow, edged with panic. "Survive? Lady, I don't even know why I'm here. One second I was opening some weird headset that came in the mail, next second I'm dropped into a nightmare with." He stopped, eyes flicking to her weapon, her poised stance, her fierce expression. "with someone who clearly belongs here."
Her chest ached at those words. Belongs here? No one belonged here. Not Ethan, not Kenneth, not herself. And yet the Tower decided otherwise.
Ethan – The Real World
Back in the dimness of his apartment, Ethan's pulse still echoed with the Tower's storm. He couldn't sit still, he paced the small living room like a caged animal, the glow of the RealmLink still burning faintly on his wrist.
Sofia sat silently at the kitchen counter, staring at him as though he'd become a stranger. Her hands were wrapped tightly around a mug of coffee she hadn't touched. Finally, she spoke.
"You're not telling me something."
Ethan froze. "What?"
"You think I can't see it? The way you flinch when your wrist burns? The way you look at me but your eyes are… somewhere else?" She pushed the mug away and stood, anger sparking through her exhaustion. "You're not here, Ethan. You're with her, aren't you?"
The accusation struck him like a blade. He wanted to deny it, to tell her no, that wasn't it, but the truth tangled in his throat.
Her?
Elara's face flashed in his mind, silver braids catching the light of the mirrored plain, her cautious smile when she first said her name. The way her voice cracked when she screamed his name in the storm.
His silence was an answer in itself.
Sofia's eyes glassed over, but she didn't cry. She only shook her head slowly, as though confirming something she'd feared for months. "I can't compete with a ghost, Ethan. Not anymore."
She brushed past him, grabbed her coat from the hook, and left the apartment without another word. The slam of the door echoed like thunder.
Ethan staggered back, clutching his wrist as the RealmLink pulsed harder, almost mockingly. He didn't know if it was dragging him back or if it was calling to the part of him that wanted to go willingly.
He sank onto the couch, torn in two. One life collapsing, the other waiting, and he was too weak to choose.
Elara & Kenneth – The Tower's Test
The shadows above twisted together, forming one monstrous figure with wings spread wide like sails of ink. Its roar shook the bridge, cracks spidering through the luminous stone beneath their feet.
Kenneth stumbled back. "Oh, hell no. Nope. Absolutely not."
Elara planted her blade into the stone, standing firm as the beast's molten eyes burned down at them. "If you run, you die. If you fight, you might live. Those are your options."
Kenneth laughed again, bitter. "Great. No pressure."
The beast dove, its claws slamming into the bridge, stone splintering under its weight. Kenneth nearly toppled into the abyss again, but Elara shoved him out of the way, slicing her blade across the monster's arm. Sparks of silver light exploded, but the creature barely flinched.
Kenneth scrambled to his feet, spear shaking in his hands. "You're insane. How are we supposed to kill that thing?"
"You don't kill the Tower," Elara growled, "you endure it."
The monster roared again, sweeping its tail across the bridge. Kenneth dropped to the ground as it whooshed over his head, but Elara was caught, thrown into the air before slamming onto the bridge hard enough to rattle her bones.
Kenneth's heart lurched. "Elara!"
Her name tasted foreign in his mouth, but it grounded him. He gripped his spear tighter, forcing himself forward despite the shaking in his knees.
The creature lunged. Kenneth thrust his spear wildly, more instinct than skill. Miraculously, the blade pierced the beast's chest. A deafening shriek split the air as the monster dissolved into shards of shadow and vanished into the storm.
Kenneth staggered back, panting, his weapon fading once more into nothing. "Did… did I just."
Elara pulled herself up, breathing heavily. Her eyes softened, just for a heartbeat. "You bought us time. That's enough."
The bridge trembled violently beneath them, cracks widening. The Tower wasn't done.
Kenneth's Realization
They ran, the bridge crumbling behind them, each step threatening to be their last. Kenneth kept glancing at Elara, at her fierce determination, the way she refused to slow down even though her body was battered.
"Why are you still fighting?" he blurted, voice strained. "If this place just wants us dead, why not give up?"
Elara didn't answer right away. Lightning lit her profile, and in that flash, he saw something raw in her expression. Pain. Loneliness. Hope.
Finally, she said, "Because someone's still worth fighting for."
Kenneth stumbled at the weight of her words. "Ethan," he guessed quietly.
Elara froze. The bridge quaked, but for a moment, all she could hear was that name spoken by someone else. She whipped around, eyes narrowed. "How do you know that name?"
Kenneth lifted his glowing wrist, breath ragged. "Because when I put this damn thing on… I heard it too."
The bridge split beneath them, and the world dissolved into a storm of light.
The bridge split apart with a sound like the world itself cracking. Lightning blinded them both as slabs of glowing stone fell into the abyss.
Elara grabbed Kenneth's wrist, holding him as the ground vanished beneath his feet. His face was pale with terror, but his voice was steady, urgent.
"Elara, listen to me! When I put this RealmLink on… I didn't just see the Tower. I heard a voice. A man's voice. He was shouting one word, over and over."
Her grip tightened. "What word?"
Kenneth met her eyes. "Your name."
The storm swallowed the rest of his words as the bridge collapsed, dragging them into freefall. Elara's breath tore from her chest, her heart pounding not from the fall but from the realization that the Tower wasn't just binding her and Ethan, it was spreading its curse, dragging strangers like Kenneth into their fate.
Her scream cut through the storm, raw, desperate. "Ethan!"
The Tower answered with silence.
Ethan – The Real World
Ethan jolted upright on his couch, heart hammering. His wrist burned hot enough to sear. For an instant, just an instant, he swore he heard his name tearing through the air. A voice filled with anguish and fire, echoing across worlds.
"Elara?" he whispered.
The RealmLink on the table pulsed once, faint, like a heartbeat. His trembling hand reached for it, then froze halfway.
He didn't put it on. Not yet.
Because for the first time, Ethan wasn't sure if returning was salvation… or a trap he'd never escape.