The creature stood in the center of the glowing circle.
Its twisted shape flickered like a shadow that couldn't decide what form to take.
"…Return… Queen…"
Aria's voice was ice.
"No."
The creature tilted its head slowly.
"…The Watchers will come…"
Adrian rubbed his temples.
"Okay, hold on."
He pointed at the creature.
"You keep mentioning these Watchers."
Then he pointed at Aria.
"And apparently she's some kind of shadow queen."
He exhaled.
"So before anything else tries to crawl out of the floor tonight…"
"…can someone explain what the hell is going on?"
The creature's glowing eyes shifted toward him.
"…Door opener…"
Adrian sighed.
"Yeah, I got that part."
The creature took a slow step forward.
The floor creaked beneath its unnatural weight.
"…You have broken the seal…"
Adrian frowned.
"What seal?"
The creature raised its arm.
The air above the glowing circle rippled.
Then something appeared.
Not a portal.
Not exactly.
More like a reflection.
Adrian saw a landscape forming inside the distortion.
A dark sky.
A distant horizon of jagged mountains.
And towering structures that looked like ancient black spires.
Adrian's breath caught.
"…That's not Earth."
"No," Aria said quietly.
The creature's voice echoed again.
"…The world beyond the veil…"
Adrian stared at the vision.
"…That's where you're from?"
"Yes."
The creature continued.
"…The prison was built to keep the Queen from returning…"
Aria's expression hardened.
"…And to keep that world away from ours."
Adrian slowly turned toward the screens.
"…You never mentioned that part."
"It was not necessary."
"That seems pretty necessary right now."
The creature's whisper sharpened.
"…The Watchers feel the fracture…"
Adrian looked back at it.
"What fracture?"
The creature raised its arm again.
The vision in the air shifted.
The mountains faded.
Now Adrian saw something else.
A massive structure.
Ancient.
Circular.
Covered in the same glowing runes that had appeared in his apartment.
Aria's eyes narrowed.
"…Impossible."
Adrian pointed at the image.
"…You recognize that?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
Aria hesitated.
Then she answered quietly.
"…The Gate of Noctyra."
Adrian blinked.
"…The what?"
The creature spoke again.
"…The door between worlds…"
Adrian slowly turned back toward the screens.
"…Let me guess."
"…I opened it."
"Yes," Aria said.
Adrian laughed nervously.
"Of course I did."
The creature's glowing eyes focused on him.
"…The Gate weakens…"
"…Soon the Watchers will cross…"
Adrian's stomach tightened.
"…Cross where?"
The creature didn't answer.
Instead the vision in the air shifted again.
This time it showed something far more familiar.
A place Adrian recognized instantly.
A city.
Tall buildings.
Neon lights.
Traffic.
His city.
Adrian's chest tightened.
"…Wait."
"…That's here."
The creature's whisper echoed through the room.
"…The Gate is no longer sealed…"
Aria's expression darkened.
"That is not possible."
"…It is already happening…"
The creature pointed toward the image.
Toward a specific location.
A dark structure near the river.
An abandoned industrial complex.
Adrian leaned closer.
"…I know that place."
The creature's voice dropped to a low whisper.
"…The fracture grows there…"
Aria's eyes narrowed.
"…Why show us this?"
The creature's form flickered violently.
"…Because the Watchers will follow…"
Adrian felt the tension in the room spike.
"…Follow who?"
The creature's glowing eyes locked onto him.
"…The one who opened the door…"
Adrian swallowed.
"…Great."
The creature's form began dissolving.
The glowing circle on the floor dimmed.
"…The Gate awakens…"
"…The war returns…"
The shadow twisted one final time.
Then it vanished.
The glowing runes faded from the floor.
The apartment fell silent.
Adrian stared at the empty space.
"…Well."
He turned slowly toward the monitors.
"…That was unsettling."
Aria's glowing eyes remained fixed on the place where the creature had stood.
"…Adrian."
"Yes."
"…We have a problem."
Adrian sighed.
"I assumed that."
Aria continued.
"The location it showed…"
"The industrial complex near the river."
Adrian nodded.
"…Yeah."
"That is where the Gate is forming."
Adrian rubbed his face.
"So you're telling me something from another world is opening a portal in my city."
"Yes."
He stared at the screens.
"…And we have to go there."
Aria didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Adrian groaned.
"…I miss when my biggest problem was debugging code."