Eva left Jonas there.
That sentence kept repeating in her mind. The word "leave" softened what she had done, but the reality was far heavier.
She had pulled him away.
From a consciousness, from a time, from a possibility.
She knelt down when Eva closed the portal. The cold floor burned her palms. Her chest tightened, but she couldn't cry. She still needed to justify herself to cry.
Her headset crackled again.
"Eva."
"Please… answer."
Mara.
Eva closed her eyes.
"I'm alive," she said.
"For now."
"Jonas?" Mara asked.
"I can't feel him."
Eva didn't answer.
"Eva," Mara said, her voice hardening.
"What did you do?"
The silence stretched on.
"I made a mistake," Eva finally said. "And I can't undo it."
Mara held her breath.
"Ekrech?"
"Yes."
"Did he put me in line too?"
Eva looked up. The sky was overcast; it seemed as if even the city was watching.
"No," Eva said. "This time he put you at the center."
The universe Mara inhabited was one of Eva's safest places. Low-interaction, closed to outside interference, almost boring. The kind Ekrech didn't like.
That's why Eva went there.
But when she opened the portal, the first thing she saw was a distorted timeline.
Clocks were running backward. Sounds were delayed. Mara's house seemed to breathe.
"Mara!" Eva called out.
"I'm here," Mara said from the kitchen. "And I'm not alone."
Eva paused.
"Do you see him?"
"No," Mara said.
"But there's something about him that speaks as if he knows everything."
The walls trembled.
And Ekrech's voice came from all over the house at once.
"Hello, Mara."
Mara flinched.
"Who is this?"
"Eva, who is this?"
Eva stepped forward.
"Look at me," Ekrech said.
"Talk to me, not him."
"No," Eva said.
"Leave him alone."
Ekrech laughed.
"You chose him," he said.
"You chose Jonas too."
Mara turned to Eva.
"What does he mean?"
Eva swallowed.
"Jonas is no longer… with us."
"Is he dead?"
"No."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
Mara's voice rose.
"Then where is he?"
Eva couldn't answer.
Ekrech interrupted.
"Eva can't answer anymore," he said.
"Because answering doesn't make her a hero."
Mara's face hardened.
"What did you do, Eva?"
Eva averted her eyes.
"I sacrificed a consciousness," she said.
"To avoid losing more."
Silence.
"So," Mara said slowly,
"you made someone a tool."
Eva raised her head.
"There was no other way to save him."
Ekrech laughed.
"That's it," he said. "That's not revenge."
Eve looked at him.
"Then what is it?"
Ekrech's voice became serious.
"Balance," he said. "You think you're saving universes. But I want to take away your right to choose."
Mara frowned.
"Why do you want me?"
Ekrech paused. This was rare.
"Because you," he said,
"are the only witness who hasn't lied to Eva."
Eva retorted sharply:
"I won't let you do that."
"You didn't let me," said Ekrech.
"In Jonas."
Mara took a step back.
"Eva…"
"If you were to save me—"
"No," said Eva.
"Never again."
Ekrech's voice softened.
"Look," he said.
"For the first time, you've said the right thing."
Eva gasped.
"What do you want?"
Ekrech didn't answer.
The universe trembled.
A moment of darkness fell.
Then Mara was gone.
Eva screamed.
"MARA!"
There was no answer.
Ekrech whispered:
"You're no longer a hero, Eva.
Just… a responsible perpetrator."
Eva collapsed where she stood.
And for the first time, he thought:
Perhaps Ekrech was right.