It was an unwinnable case. At least, that's what Astian's lawyer told him. He was also told that he was absolutely sure to go to prison. The only thing he could hope for was a reduced sentence.

How had things gone wrong so quickly? When Astian first found out that magic existed, an entirely new world opened up for him. One without rules and laws to hold him back. One where he could do anything he wanted. And he planned to do just that.

But that was all interrupted when he woke up one day handcuffed in the back of a car. He was told he had just committed the crime of magic abuse, and was going to be prosecuted for it.

And what had he done? It was kind of a long story, but basically it all started with Astian's desire for a girlfriend. He could never get one, no matter how hard he tried. So he decided to use magic to turn his best friend, Nathan, into his girlfriend, Natalie. He also made sure to alter reality so that Nathan had always been Natalie, as well as change all of Nathan's memories to match the new reality.

Astian was extremely confused once he first got caught. If Nathan technically never existed, how could anyone actually find out that magic abuse was done? And that's when Astian was told that nothing in the universe can ever fully be erased.

What Astian had really created was something called a "merging timeline". Essentially, the old timeline featuring Nathan as a man cut off and converged into the new timeline featuring Natalie as a woman. The universe Astian and Natalie resided in now followed that new timeline. The phenomenon was called a "merging timeline" because it could be represented in a diagram much in the same way that roads merge on a highway.

Astian's trial was nearing its end, having gone on for two weeks now. And it looked like the worst was going to happen to him. Going to a prison full of people convicted of magic abuse. He had heard that the prisons here were much worse than on Earth, and he could do nothing but dread the experience.

It just didn't make sense to Astian. In his mind he had done Natalie a favor. Nathan was a lonely, depressed, alcoholic man with no friends aside from him. Meanwhile, Natalie was a happy, fun, and loving woman with actual friends and no drinking problem. Nathan had a failed suicide attempt, while Natalie would never even think about committing suicide.

Astian didn't care what the judge or jury thought. In his mind, he hadn't done anything wrong.

"It seems that the jury has reached a verdict." The judge said.

Astian tensed up and braced himself for the worst.

"The jury has declared Astian Dover guilty of the crime of identity death. He is to be sentenced to twenty-five years in magic prison. That will be all." The judge banged his gavel.

Even though Astian was fully expecting that verdict, he still felt astonished. His eyes were wide open with surprise as he was handcuffed. He couldn’t go to magic prison. He wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t evil.

Desperate, Astian looked over to Natalie, who was also in the courtroom. He was hoping that Natalie would try to fight against this ruling, or do anything at all to save him, but she didn’t. Instead, she continued staring at the floor, refusing to even acknowledge him.

“Please Natalie.” Astian begged as he was beginning to be led out of the courtroom. “Please.”

The people leading Astian out were becoming more impatient, and as such they began pushing him a bit.

“Please Natalie!” Astian yelled. “Help me!”

Again, Natalie ignored him. At this point Astian was panicking.

“I love you, Natalie!” Astian screamed as he was forced out. “I always will!”

Those were the last words he was able to get out before the front doors slammed shut. His words weren’t false. In a way, he did love Natalie, but much in the same way that a person loves an object. To him, Natalie was like a toy he could play with. All the physical and mental anguish she suffered from her month long transformation was completely irrelevant to him. With how he views other people and especially women, it’s incredibly unlikely he would’ve been a good boyfriend if he was truly given the chance.

“Everyone else in the court shall be excused.” The judge said shortly after Astian’s exit.

And finally, the long exodus began. The world the courtroom was in was mostly just a white void. Nothing but white as far as the eye could see, with some buildings scattered about. The world itself was meant to monitor magic abuse on Earth, a planet that largely still didn’t know magic existed.

While most people were scrambling their way to the exit, Natalie stayed put in her seat, still staring at the floor. It was as if she was paralyzed.

Natalie couldn’t believe how fast all of this happened. She and Astian were supposed to get married, his proposal had occurred just a week before. And now it didn’t seem like she was ever going to see him again. Even after two weeks of this trial, she was still confused. As far as she knew, Astian was a great man. He had never done anything that would make her suspect him of being a bad or abusive person. But apparently that’s exactly what he was.

Natalie was told that being in this world would slowly make her remember her male life, and after two weeks it seemed that was finally happening. She could now recall a few big details of her erased life as a man, such as her old name and her old appearance. But a lot of it was still unclear. She’d need more time to remember.

But did she want to remember? With what she observed in the trial, it sounded like her entire life was a lie that never happened. False life and memories, put into place by a psychopath. How could she possibly live after hearing that?

Throughout her mental contemplations, Natalie felt someone tap her shoulder and she very slowly turned her head up. She saw a woman who looked to be in her 30s.

“What is it?” Natalie asked after a long pause.

“I’m going to need to talk to you for a second.”