The silence between worlds cracked.
Not violently. Not loudly.
But with the quiet certainty of something that refused to die.
Sebastian stood in the dark realm, chest rising sharply, every breath ragged.
He heard her.
Not memory. Not imagination. Not illusion.
Her voice. Clear. Real.
"Sebastian…!"
He ran.
There was no direction. No ground. No path. No Destination.
Yet he ran as if space itself would bend to his will.
"Vivian! Keep talking!" he shouted, voice echoing into the emptiness.
Across the white void, Vivian struggled. Thick resistance pressed against her, like walking through water that would not yield.
"I'm here! I'm here!" she called.
For the first time since separation, they could hear each other.
Faint. Distorted. Yet undeniable.
The system reacted immediately.
"Unauthorized cross-state contact detected."
Pressure descended on both realms, crushing, like gravity discovering them for the first time.
