The sunrise came twice.
Not once and then again.
Twice, at the same moment.
On the world of Hirael, farmers walking the early fields froze where they stood. When they looked east, they saw a red sun rising over calm, glasslike oceans. When they blinked, the same horizon showed a blue sun pushing up through storm-wrapped cliffs.
Calm or storm.Red or blue.Peace or fury.
Two truths.Both real.Both present.
The air shimmered as if unsure which world it belonged to.
A young boy rubbed his eyes, trembling."M-Mother… the sky's wrong…"
His mother held him close, staring upward with dread."No, my son. The sky has… doubled."
The moment spread like ripples through the universe.
The age of singular reality had ended.
Hirael wasn't alone. On distant star-forges, smiths watched a star collapse into a black hole—while the same star simultaneously expanded into a brilliant nebula. Astronomers recorded both events, and their instruments didn't disagree. They overlapped.
