When the universe screamed, Eva understood for the first time that it wasn't a metaphor.
There was no sound.
But everything was screaming.
Lights flowed in reverse, space folded, time… became uncertain. The threshold was broken, and nothing was "before" or "after" anymore.
Mara fell to the ground. Eva caught her.
"Mara!"
"Look at me."
Mara's breathing was irregular.
"Have I come back?" she whispered.
"Or am I still… there?"
Eva pulled her closer.
"You're here," she said.
"You're with me."
Mara trembled.
"Eva," she said.
"Something is missing."
Eva paused.
"What?"
Mara closed her eyes.
"I can't choose," she said.
"When asked something… I can't decide. It's like the answers are right in front of me, but I don't know which one is mine."
Eva's throat tightened.
Noah spoke from behind them.
"This was the price," he said.
"Everyone who steps out of the Threshold… leaves something behind."
Eva turned sharply.
"You didn't tell me this."
"Even if I had told you," Noah said,
"you would still have done it."
Eva didn't answer.
Because it was true.
When they stepped outside, the world was unrecognizable.
People stopped, then started walking. Some repeated the same sentence twice. A woman cried, then forgot why she was crying.
Mara squeezed Eva's arm.
"Is this my fault?"
Eva averted her eyes.
"It's all our fault," she said.
Ekrech's voice came from the sky.
"No," he said calmly. "This is your fault, Eva."
Eva looked up.
"Come out."
"There's no need for that anymore," said Ekrech. "Everyone senses me."
Noah gritted his teeth.
"It's started a chain reaction," he said. "Decision thresholds are being destabilized. Even small choices—"
"—shake the universe," Eva finished. "I know."
Ekrech continued speaking.
"My plan wasn't revenge," he said. "Revenge is short-lived. It's satisfying. But it passes."
"Then what is it?" Eva shouted.
"To expose the lie of the system," said Ekrech. "You believe heroes save universes. But what you save… is obedience."
Mara turned to Eva.
"What does he mean?"
Eva answered.
"What we call the balance of the universes," she said,
"means someone constantly making sacrifices."
Ekrech laughed.
"And Eva isn't making sacrifices anymore."
Noah said sharply:
"This is anarchy."
"No," said Eva.
"This is a choice."
Ekrech's voice grew heavy.
"Now you are anti-establishment," he said.
"And the system won't forgive that."
Eva narrowed her eyes.
"I stopped working for the system."
"I know," said Ekrech.
"That's why I won."
Eva froze.
"You won?"
"My plan," said Ekrech,
"wasn't a plan that could stand. The moment you crossed the threshold… I became irrelevant."
Noah's face paled.
"What does that mean?"
Ekrech replied:
"People won't wait for heroes anymore.
They will make their own decisions."
Mara whispered:
"Is that bad?"
Eva was silent for a long time.
Then:
"No," she said.
"But the price is high."
Ekrech's voice softened.
"You can't stop me now, Eva," he said.
"Because I'm gone.
I… was a consequence."
The sky cracked.
Suddenly, everything fell silent.
Ekrech's voice ceased.
Noah looked at Eva.
"What will you be now?"
Eva looked at the horizon. At the people. At the uncertainty. At the chaos.
"I'm not a hero," she said.
"I'm not a ruler."
Mara looked at her.
"Then what are you?"
Eva took a deep breath.
"A reminder," she said.
"Someone who reminds us that a universe where no one has to pay the price is possible."
Noah nodded.
"That makes you everyone's enemy."
Eva smiled. Tired but determined.
"Then," she said,
"I will learn to be alone."