"I'm speaking with Mrs. Zarin?"
"That'll be me.
---
Nirit's POV
The feather glowed faintly, almost humming. Almost as if it wanted me to touch it.. like it knew my name.
But Jentil, in her usual timing, ruined the whole build-up. She popped up behind me,
"What exactly are you staring at? There's nothing there."
I exhaled. Long. Loud.
Maybe the universe was hinting I should mind my business. That I shouldn't touch that feather.
But it was really tempting, and I wouldn't know if all these were really real if I didn't touch it.
"It's nothing," I said, turning around to face her. "Maybe I'm just overthinking it."
"I wish I could say the same for you."
Jentil stepped back like she needed space to think—or panic.
She chewed her lip, then started tapping her foot on the ground, mumbling to herself.
I raised a brow. "Jentil, talk. Seriously. What is going on?"
"Nirit…" Her voice wobbled like she was about to confess something illegal.
"Do you--have you ever heard of..."
She looked down, shuffled her feet again, then tilted her head up slowly until her hazel eyes locked onto mine.
"...Time travel?"
My breath hitched.
Time travel wasn't new to me.. at least, not anymore.
But I wasn't about to say that out loud.
Jentil spoke, breaking the silence I didn't know I had created.
"Well… I have." She forced out a laugh that made her sound like she was one step from losing her mind.
Then, she mumbled again to my hearing, "Because I.. yeah.. I travel through time,"
"And for some reason… you're part of it."
She grabbed my hands suddenly, her palms warm and shaking.
" Nirit, listen. I don't want to destroy your future by telling you everything, but it's the only way to fix things. To fix everything."
"What you're walking into… you need to know. I don't understand how you became an Osam or how you crossed into our Realms, but whatever was responsible for it, summon it again."
Well, that was easy for her to say.
I scoffed,
"Hold on--No. You need.. to slow down." I stepped back.
" You're talking too fast and none of it is adding up."
But I wasn't as clueless as I sounded.
I just felt that Jentil clearly had details I didn't.
She clenched her jaw, then whispered like she couldn't believe it herself:
"Quintiel… is my brother."
---
Narrative.
Let me tell you the story of a Realm a twelve-year-old tried to build.
A world not meant to hold dread.
A world not meant to fracture.
Two kingdoms once lived unaware of each other's existence.
Evern Maxon, the King of LoudeRealm
Nersen Ricille Getb, the Queen of Whisper-Realm.
When the first portal opened, they formed a truce and built a single community.
But peace shatters easily.
As Nirit's emotions colored the story, King Evern birthed triplets. Power tipped toward him. He wrote laws in his own favor and slowly crushed Nersen's Realm beneath his rule.
But months into that, he mysteriously passed away.
Some said it was of natural causes, the rest replied in suspicious clichés and with time, no one cared anymore... And life moved on.
But one person couldn't live with the silence —Quintiel.
He accused Whisper-Realm of killing his father.
But there was no proof so, nobody took his side. Not even his own people.
He was dismissed.
Broken, he abandoned the throne, hunting the real culprits… or maybe just trying to outrun himself.
Quell Evern took the throne after Quintiel promised he would return soon enough to take over.
But he didn't.
Not until Four years had passed by.
He came back changed-- something beyond human, beyond any Realm.
An inter-Realm god, they called it.
Quintiel tried to overtake Whisper-Realm.
And he was winning..
Until Cilicia, their Crowned Princess, resisted.
People joined her because they couldn't stand Quintiel's rise either.
But in truth, Quintiel could have crushed all of Whisper-Realm alone.
He could've won, but he chose to withdraw and snoop around.. gathering more power.. until his surprise attack.
The attack that Nirit had somehow managed to stop.
---
Nirit's POV
Jentil turned to me, her expression was a mix of guilt and pain.
"I don't know what I missed.. Or.. why he became that way.."
Wait. What did she mean --'That way'?! What was she even implying? Because the Quintiel I knew--the one carved into my memory, had always been sharp-edged, unpredictable, and carrying a storm behind those charming pretty eyes of his.
He had ALWAYS been like that.
Or.. Maybe there's something I myself was missing?
Maybe I wasn't seeing the whole picture.
Maybe no one was. Not even Jentil.
I'm truth, people don't just wake up as villains one morning. They break first.
I saw it too but chose to ignore it.
Maybe because it was easier.. and I didn't want to believe someone as powerful as him could be so… fragile.
Quintiel..
..her brother..
..He was hurting, but he didn't know how to spelt it out.
How to ask for help.
Right, because he was so arrogant to do so. Someone who'd rather die than admit he was sorry.
So, he let the pain shape him instead,
And everyone had to pay the price.