The Liminal Plane hummed like a living galaxy, its pale threads of energy coiling and twisting around Frank and Emily. But even in the midst of its endless expanse, Frank's mind was not here.
It was home.
His parents.
The thought hit him like a bolt of lightning. His mother Jane, soft-spoken but fierce in her love, always worrying about his little scratches or cold hands. His father Sean Winchester, quiet and stoic, with eyes that could bore through a lie and always expected him to rise above his limits. Both of them, blissfully unaware that a war stretching across universes was about to rip open their world.
Frank gritted his teeth. Emily's hand on his arm grounded him, golden threads of her soul energy weaving into his own. But even her warmth couldn't erase the gnawing fear.
> "Frank… what's wrong?" she asked, concern flashing in her eyes.
> "My parents…" he muttered. "If I can't control this… if the fragments track me back through the multiverse… they'll find them. And they'll use them to draw me out."
Emily's grip tightened. "Then we protect them. Together."
---
Back in the human world, the first signs had already begun.
Frank's parents sat at their small kitchen table, the storm from the previous night still leaving rivulets of water on the windows. The electricity flickered as if warning of the unseen threat moving closer. His mother stirred her tea nervously, glancing at the door.
> "I had a bad feeling last night, Sean," she said softly, her fingers trembling. "Something… something isn't right."
George Frank, a man in his forties with a calm presence that belied the fire in his heart, placed his hand over hers. "Don't worry, Jane. We'll be fine. Whatever's coming… we've faced worse."
But neither of them could sense the ripples in reality, the echoes of Frank's awakening Soul Thread, the golden resonance now reaching into their world like a beacon to the fragments.
---
Back in the Liminal Plane, Frank felt it.
A tug, faint at first, like a whisper in the back of his mind. Then stronger — a pull toward a reality he couldn't ignore. His pulse quickened. "They're… near them," he muttered, voice tight.
Jessica's hologram appeared, fragmented and wavering. "Yes. The fragments have begun probing through reality threads. If they reach your parents…" Her tone dropped. "It could be catastrophic. They'll use your love as a key."
Frank clenched his fists. "Then we stop them before they can even touch a thread."
Emily nodded. "We'll do it. Together."
---
The first wave struck hours later.
Shadows ripped through the Liminal Plane like a storm, faster, smarter than before. But this time, Frank wasn't just fighting for survival — he was fighting for his family.
He dodged a clawed strike, feeling the fragments testing his limits, probing his synchronization with Emily. Each strike he parried, each swing he delivered, was fueled not by instinct alone but by love and fear. The fragments were learning — but Frank and Emily were evolving faster.
> "Frank! More incoming!" Jessica warned.
From the mist emerged a terrifying sight: shadows shaped like his parents — featureless, yes, but moving in perfect mimicry, as though the fragments had glimpsed their forms through some cosmic mirror.
Emily gasped, golden light flaring uncontrollably. "Frank… they know."
> "I know," he said grimly. "And I'm not letting them take them!"
The duplicates lunged. Frank's instincts kicked in, but he didn't attack them blindly. Each strike was precise, aimed to neutralize without harming the echoes of his parents' essence. The shadows dissolved, leaving behind a faint golden shimmer — the traces of his parents' energy that the fragments had tried to exploit.
> "That's it…" Jessica murmured. "You're learning to fight with empathy, not just strength. That's why they're faltering."
Frank's chest heaved. Emily's aura flared around him, protective and warm. "We'll keep going… but it's only going to get worse."
---
Suddenly, a vortex opened in the mist. A towering fragment emerged, its form darker, more solid — more intelligent. And it carried with it the echoes of countless universes, each whispering Frank's parents' names.
> "It's drawing on them!" Emily shouted, gripping his arm.
Frank's heart skipped. The resonance between him and his parents was real — faint but undeniable. The fragment wasn't just attacking — it was probing the love he had for them, trying to weaponize it.
> "Then we give it a taste of what happens when it messes with our family," he growled.
He and Emily synchronized fully, golden threads blazing like a sun igniting in the void. Frank's power surged beyond the last battle, coiling through his veins like liquid fire. Memories of his parents — bedtime stories, laughter, scolding for missing curfew — each one now a weapon, fueling the resonance.
He struck.
The fragment shrieked, black smoke exploding outward. Emily's energy flared in tandem, surrounding Frank in a protective cocoon. Every pulse pushed the fragment backward, breaking its focus, shattering its hold on the echoes of his parents.
> "Hold on!" Jessica shouted. "If you push too hard, it could destabilize the plane!"
Frank didn't listen. The thought of his mother and father, vulnerable and unaware in their kitchen, kept him going. Strike after strike, pulse after pulse, the fragment began to dissolve, leaving behind shards of dark energy that disintegrated into the mist.
Finally, silence.
---
Breathing hard, Frank sank to his knees. Emily knelt beside him, golden threads still entwined. "We… did it," she whispered, awe in her voice.
> "For now," Jessica said, voice somber. "They've seen your connection. Every fragment in every universe knows that your parents exist. They will come again. And they won't be so subtle."
Frank's mind raced. They had survived, but at what cost? His parents' safety was a fragile line, one pull of a fragment could collapse it.
He pictured them at home — his mother's gentle smile, his father's quiet strength. He would protect them. No matter what.
> "We'll train," he said firmly, standing. "Stronger. Faster. Smarter. And next time… we strike before they even know we exist."
Emily nodded, determination flaring in her golden eyes. "I'm with you, Frank. Always."
> "Good," he said, voice low. "Because this war… it's just beginning."
The Liminal Plane pulsed around them, threads of countless universes stretching infinitely. Somewhere, out there, fragments were watching, calculating. The war of the multiverse had escalated. And Frank knew, deep in his soul, that every echo of love, every heartbeat of his parents, every fragment of his own soul would be tested in the battles to come.
The first clash had been won. But the ripples… the ripples had only begun.