Kael blinked against the harsh white light of the Refuge. It was a city… but not a city he knew. Streets twisted like Möbius strips, buildings folding into themselves, and the sky shimmered with impossible auroras.
"Where are we?" Kael asked.
Aria's eyes were bright, scanning the anomalies. "A safe point for Revenants," she explained. "This is a nexus pocket—a collapsed timeline stabilized just enough to exist. It's off-grid."
Kael's chest burned. The glyph flared under his shirt, almost like it sensed the place. For a moment, he saw fleeting shadows flicker along the walls. Not his own.
A figure emerged: Veyra. Her presence was a calm blade, precise and cold. "You shouldn't be here," she said. "Yet… the Nexus allows it. You are… unusual."
Kael's shadow stirred. A whisper echoed in his mind: "Unusual. Interesting."