A group of people wake up in video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

Chapter 48 The End.

As we follow the map, the scenery continues to change.

The landscape shifts subtly, unnaturally—like it’s rearranging itself as we move forward. The strange, pulsing symbols beneath our feet flicker in and out of patterns I don’t understand. The swirling sky above remains the same, but something about the air feels… different.

And the other creatures—

They stopped following us.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

“They’re gone,” Lorien murmurs beside me, his grip still tight on his spear. “Or they’re waiting somewhere hidden.”

Neither option makes me feel better.

Ahead, the terrain brightens.

It’s subtle at first—the deep blues and purples of this place shifting to lighter shades. The golden glow from the creature’s flowers no longer feels like the only source of light.

“There’s something there,” Kaida says, squinting ahead.

She’s right.

The area ahead is brighter.

And whatever’s waiting for us—

It’s not like the rest of the Nexus.

As we step into the brighter area, a wave of nausea rolls through me. It’s not overwhelming—just a deep, unsettling wrongness in my gut. Like my body knows something my mind hasn’t caught up to yet.

I shake it off and keep moving.

Then—

“Look at that,” Kaida breathes.

I follow her gaze, and my stomach drops.

Rising ahead of us is a massive structure, unlike anything we’ve seen before. Pale stone—almost too smooth, too perfect—stretches upward, forming towering arches and spires that seem to glow faintly with their own inner light. The patterns carved into its walls shift subtly, moving in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

A temple. Or something like it.

The air around it hums, charged with an energy that makes my skin prickle.

“This has to be where she is, right?” Lorien asks, stepping up beside me.

I know this is it.

I feel it.

Lyra is here.

But whether we’re meant to find her—whether she can even be saved—that’s something else entirely.

The creature moves no further.

With slow, deliberate motion, it lowers itself onto the ground, its massive form settling like a boulder finally at rest. The glowing flowers on its back continue to sway, their light steady, but it makes no move to follow us anymore.

Almost like… its job is done.

I swallow hard. “I guess… we go in.”

We stand at the temple’s entrance, staring up at the impossible structure. The smooth stone hums faintly, its carvings shifting, warping—almost like it’s breathing. The light here isn’t from the swirling, broken sky but from the temple itself.

Something waits inside.

Lyra.

And maybe—something else.

Lorien steps closer to me, voice low. “Last chance to turn back.”

I exhale sharply. “We both know that’s not an option.”

No more waiting. No more hesitating.

We step inside.

The interior is odd—almost ethereal.

The walls shimmer between white, gold, and soft blues, shifting like ripples on water. The floor feels solid beneath my feet, yet it doesn’t look solid. Light dances across the surface, casting faint reflections that don’t quite match our movements.

It feels like we’re walking inside something that isn’t fully real.

“What are you guys doing here?”

I freeze.

The voice is familiar.

Too familiar.

I stop mid-step, my breath catching in my throat.

“…Lyra?”

“It’s her,” Veyron says, a rare note of shock in his voice.

Lyra stands ahead of us, bathed in the strange golden-blue glow of the temple. She looks… different. Not physically—her features are the same, her stance, her voice—but there’s something off about the way she’s here, like the space around her bends just slightly, as if she belongs to this place more than she does to us.

Hrothgar steps forward first. “We came to get you. So we can leave.” His voice is firm, steady.

Lyra tilts her head slightly. “I thought you’d have left here by now.”

The way she says it—it’s not surprised, not relieved. It’s just… stated, like she’s known this conversation would happen.

A pit forms in my stomach.

Something isn’t right.

“We wouldn’t leave without you,” I say, the words coming automatically. Because it’s true. Because no matter how much time has passed, how much we don’t understand, we came here for her. We had too.

Lyra blinks at me. Then, with no change in expression, she asks, “Why?”

I hesitate. “What?”

“You barely know me.”

Silence.

The others shift uncomfortably.

Because she’s not wrong.

We weren’t best friends before all this. We’d never met, we were just thrown into this world together, we never had much time with her either.

And yet—we came. We risked everything to find her.

Before I can answer, she continues.

“Besides…” Her voice is softer now, almost thoughtful. “I’m different now. I’m part of this world. And I can’t just… leave.”

The way she says it—flat, accepting, like it’s not even a question—sends a chill down my spine.

“Why not?” Kaida demands, stepping forward, arms crossed. “We found you, you’re right here. Why can’t you just leave?”

Lyra watches her with an unsettling calm. “You already know why.”

Kaida clenches her fists, frustration flashing in her eyes, but Lyra just exhales, as if this conversation is exhausting.

“I’m bonded to this world now,” she continues. “I’m not like the people who lived here their whole lives. I didn’t just end up here.” Her gaze sweeps over all of us, lingering on me. “I’m a part of it now. Its reality. Its soul. Its essence.”

My heart pounds. I already know what she’s going to say next, but I don’t want to hear it.

“When the heart chose me…” Her voice is quiet now, almost distant. “I became the heart.”

The air in the temple shifts, as if the entire space is breathing with her.

“Without me,” she says simply, “this world will cease.”

“We know,” I say, my voice firm. “But why does that matter? This world isn’t real. It never was—it’s a game.”

Lyra shakes her head. “Not to them.”

I open my mouth to argue, but she continues, her expression unreadable.

“What about the others trapped here?” she asks. “The ones who aren’t players. The ones who don’t have a way out.”

My stomach tightens.

“If I even could leave,” she says slowly, deliberately, “they’d all die.”

“We can’t just leave you,” Lorien says, his voice steady but urgent. “We came all this way—to find you.”

Lyra doesn’t react. She just watches, calm, distant, like she already knows where this conversation is going.

Lorien takes a step closer. “If it’s about the others—then we’ll find them. We’ll lead them out. You don’t have to stay here, Lyra. You could leave this world with us.”

His words hang in the air.

For a moment, I think—hope—she’ll consider it.

But then—

She smiles.

Not sad. Not happy. Just… knowing.

“You don’t understand,” she says quietly.

“The longer this world has existed,” Lyra says, her voice steady but filled with something deeper, something certain, “the longer I’ve been bound to it… the more real it’s become.”

She glances around, as if feeling the pulse of the temple itself. “The people have become more real.”

Veyron scoffs. “It’s still just artificial intelligence. They aren’t real people.”

Lyra turns sharply to him, eyes glowing faintly in the golden light. “You don’t understand,” she says, her voice rising. “They are real. Or… they will be. Soon.”

A chill crawls up my spine.

“If I leave,” she continues, “this realm would be shattered—irreparably.” Her hands clench at her sides. “There’s no telling the damage that would be done. They have a chance at life. Who am I to take that from them?”

Lorien steps forward, his expression serious, searching her face. “What about your life?”

Lyra’s breath catches.

“You want to stay in the Nexus for the rest of your life?” he presses. “In this game world? What about your friends, your family? Everyone who loves you out there?”

For the first time, Lyra’s certainty wavers.

Her lips part like she wants to argue, but no words come.

Tears well up in her eyes.

And then, slowly, they fall.

“I can’t,” Lyra says simply, her voice barely above a whisper.

Not angry. Not defiant. Just… final.

Tears streak her face, but she doesn’t wipe them away. She just stands there, like the weight of this world is pressing down on her shoulders, keeping her here.

I take a step forward, my chest tightening. “We can help you, Lyra. We can all be together in the real world. You don’t have to stay here.”

She shakes her head, but I keep going.

“You can be with your family, your friends—the people who love you.” My voice cracks slightly, but I push through. “And if this world was meant to be? If it’s truly real?” I gesture around at the glowing temple, at the pulse of something alive beneath our feet.

“Then it’ll survive right?”

Silence.

Lyra closes her eyes, her hands trembling at her sides.

I don’t know if I’m getting through to her.

I don’t know if she’s even capable of choosing to leave anymore.

But I have to try.

“Maybe…” Lyra whispers, her voice so soft I barely hear it.

For a brief, flickering second, I see it—hesitation. A crack in her certainty.

But then she quickly shakes her head, her jaw tightening.

“I can’t risk it,” she says, her voice breaking slightly. “I’m sorry.”

Lorien doesn’t back down. “If you’re part of this world now—if you’re so important to it, so powerful—then can’t you do something?” His eyes search hers, desperate for anything we can hold onto. “Can’t you make it preserve itself somehow? Find a way to stay without needing you?”

She flinches like the thought hadn’t even occurred to her.

“I could,” Lyra murmurs. “I think. Maybe.”

She hesitates, her expression flickering with something uncertain, something doubtful.

“But it’d be dangerous,” she adds.

Hrothgar exhales sharply. “Just like everything since we got here.”

Lyra doesn’t respond. Instead, she turns and starts walking away without another word.

I glance at the others. Kaida raises an eyebrow. Lorien looks tense but follows. Veyron sighs, shaking his head, but doesn’t hesitate.

So I follow too.

She stops near the far side of the temple and raises a hand.

“I’d have to go in there,” she says, pointing.

I look where she’s indicating—

A gap in the wall.

Not a door. Not a passage. Just a gaping, jagged void carved into the smooth structure. It shouldn’t be here.

And inside?

Nothing.

Pure, absolute darkness. The golden glow from the temple’s walls stops right at the threshold, refusing to spill inside. No light touches it. It’s like a piece of the world has been ripped away, leaving only emptiness.

I’ve seen this before…

A heavy weight settles in my gut.

Then—

~Come closer, Artemis.~

The whisper is soft, crawling into my mind like silk.

I stiffen. My breath catches.

I know that voice.

It’s his.

“Go in, Artemis.”

The voice slips through my mind, smooth and steady.

But this time—it’s not the creature’s.

It’s Shade’s.

I freeze. My breath catches.

And then—before I can even think about why—

I step forward.

The darkness swallows me instantly.

Somewhere—just behind me—there are voices. The others. I can hear them, but it’s wrong.

Muffled. Distant. Warped, like sound traveling through water.

They’re yelling, but I can’t make out the words.

It doesn’t matter.

The darkness pulls me deeper.

Then I see it.

Eyes in the darkness.

Swirling purple and red, shifting and pulsing like something alive, like something watching me from everywhere at once.

The creature Shade warned me about.

But—

Why did he let me come here?

Why did he tell me to step inside?

Why did I?

A voice speaks, deep and resonant, not from one place but everywhere at once.

~Ah… Artemis. At last.~

The name rumbles through the void, curling around me like smoke.

~I am Vaelith.~

The name isn’t just heard—it settles into me, heavy and absolute, like it was always meant to be known.

~The one within you… is a part of me,~ Vaelith continues, his voice smooth, almost pleased. ~Like the many creatures you’ve seen recently. Each one—just a fragment. A piece of what was sealed away.~

The shadows around me shift.

~And I must say… I did a wonderful job bringing you here.~

A cold shiver runs through me.

“Shade?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

A pause.

Then—

“I’m sorry.”

His voice in my head—quiet. Small.

For the first time ever, he sounds afraid.

“Why do you need me to free you?” I demand, forcing my voice to stay steady. “The door isn’t even locked. There’s not even a door.”

Vaelith laughs.

A deep, resonant sound that vibrates through the darkness itself.

~Oh, Artemis…~ The amusement in his voice is unmistakable. ~You’re not just here to free me. You’re here to be my vessel.~

A chill races down my spine.

His vessel.

I step back, but there’s nowhere to go. The darkness isn’t just around me—it’s inside, pressing into the edges of my thoughts, curling around my very existence.

~The temple was created to seal me away,~ Vaelith continues, his voice as smooth as it is absolute. ~But they failed. They could never trap all of me.~

The shadows pulse—alive, shifting, moving like something waiting.

~It’s been so long since a part of me has found a suitable host.~

His eyes—glowing, endless—fix on me like I’m something precious.

~But now…~ His voice drops lower, almost reverent.

~One has finally made its way here.~

~As it was meant to be.~

A light—

Distant.

Moving toward me, but too far.

I know what it is. Them. The others. They’re coming for me.

But they aren’t fast enough…

~They aren’t fast enough, Artemis.~ it repeats.

The voice is right next to my ear. Closer than before. Now in me.

Then—

Agony.

A horrible, searing pain tears through me, spreading like fire in my veins. My body collapses, my arms giving out as I hit the ground hard. My breath shatters into ragged gasps, my vision blurring as the pain consumes me.

It’s inside. Crawling through me.

Trying to take me.

“Shade—please!” My voice is barely a whisper, desperate, choked with tears.

“Help me!”

For a moment, there’s only silence.

“I’m sorry.” He says.

And the pain deepens.

“Shade—” I choke out, barely able to breathe through the pain. “You said you would help me, you—you said—”

My fingers dig into the ground—if there even is ground here. The darkness ripples beneath me, twisting, shifting, pulling.

“I thought you were my friend.”

Silence.

Then, Shade’s voice—small, broken.

“I… I am.”

But he doesn’t stop it.

He doesn’t stop it.

The pain surges deeper, wrapping around my bones, sinking into something beyond my body—beyond what I can even fight.

“You said he was a monster, a destroyer—” My voice is raw, shaking as I force the words out through the pain.

“But you weren’t, Shade… You—you don’t have to be.”

A pause.

Then—Vaelith laughs.

~Adorable.~

His voice drips with amusement, thick and knowing, like a parent humoring a child.

~Attempting to appeal to me? To some separate part of me?~

The darkness tightens around me, squeezing, pressing into my thoughts, my soul.

~But you don’t seem to understand, little one.~

The glow of his swirling red and purple eyes pulses, endless and overwhelming.

~‘Shade’… is me.~

No.

I shake my head, fighting against it, clenching my teeth. “He doesn’t have to be!”

The pain spikes.

A scream rips from my throat, my body arching, my vision fracturing—

Then—

It stops.

Just like that.

Like it was never there at all.

Suddenly, I feel empty.

Not just the absence of pain—something deeper, something wrong.

Like something inside me was taken.

It’s different than anything I’ve felt in a long time, like I’m missing a piece of myself that I hadn’t realized was ever truly there.

I push myself up onto my knees, my breath unsteady, my limbs weak. My fingers curl against the ground—solid yet unreal.

I lift my head—

And see him.

A dark figure, standing between me and the swirling red-purple eyes of Vaelith.

His back is to me, his form shifting at the edges, flickering between shadow and something almost solid.

“Shade?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

“Run, Artemis!”

Shade’s voice cuts through the silence, sharp and urgent—no hesitation, no cryptic warnings this time. Just a command.

Then he moves.

He runs forward, straight toward the swirling red-purple glow of Vaelith’s eyes.

The shadows shift.

The glowing eyes widen—then the entire mass of darkness twists, warping, changing.

A form begins to emerge—

Massive.

Larger than anything I’ve ever seen, its shape unstable, shifting between something humanoid and something far worse. Jagged, elongated limbs stretch outward, flickering between solid and void. A twisted, skeletal torso rises from the dark, its ribs open like a hollow cage, pulsing with an eerie, otherworldly light.

And its face—

No, not one face.

Many.

Flickering, merging, human and inhuman, screaming and grinning and watching.

Vaelith isn’t just a voice anymore.

He’s taken form.

The others are next to me now, their hands gripping my arms, pulling me up. I barely register the movement, my eyes locked on the scene before me.

The darkness is consuming everything, but amidst the chaos, I see it—

Part of the ground has been cleared away, revealing a stone floor beneath the shifting void. Symbols—ancient, glowing faintly—are carved into the stone.

And Lyra is there, doing something.

She moves with purpose, her hands tracing the symbols. I don’t know what she’s trying to do, but the others—Kaida, Hrothgar, Veyron—are already starting to retreat, backing away from the monstrosity that Vaelith is becoming.

I see Shade, still standing between us and it.

“Shade, I can’t leave you!” I shout, my voice cracking.

“You must!” His voice is firm, resolute.

Then—he moves, his hand sweeping through the air. A wave of darkness erupts from him, slamming into me and the others with an overwhelming force.

I can’t fight it.

I’m thrown back, weightless for a moment before I hit the ground hard, skidding across the floor.

“GOOO!” Shade’s voice roars through the air.

Lyra stumbles, but instead of stopping, she runs, quickly following after us.

I struggle to push myself up, my body trembling, my mind screaming—but then Lorien is beside me, gripping my shoulders, his voice urgent.

“Artemis, we have to go!”

I look back—toward Shade, toward Vaelith, toward the swirling abyss—

But I can’t reach him.

And if we don’t leave now, none of us will.

Tears run down my face as we run.

The sound of a battle echoes behind us—Shade and Vaelith, two pieces of the same thing tearing into each other.

But I know.

I know Shade isn’t enough.

He was only ever part of Vaelith. He can’t win.

We reach the door, the light of the temple barely holding back the shifting void. My legs give out beneath me, and I fall to my knees, gasping for breath.

I turn back—

And I see him.

Shade is on the ground.

Tendrils of darkness lash out from his form, striking into the abyss around him. Where they land, something changes—the darkness cracks, revealing glimpses of stone, of a real world hidden beneath the darkness of Vaelith’s ‘body’.

And then—

The rocks fall.

Crashing down, burying both of them beneath tons of collapsing stone, sealing the chamber in an instant.

The door is gone.

The entrance buried.

Shade…

Shade is gone.

“What the hell was that?” Veyron says, still catching his breath.

Their voices fade into the background as I stare at the rock, my hands clenched into fists.

He’s actually gone.

Shade—who had been with me for so long, who had saved me, who had betrayed me and yet—

He had chosen to fight.

And now he’s gone forever.

A heavy hand settles on my shoulder. “Alex,” Hrothgar says gently. “Are you okay?”

I barely hear myself speak.

“Shade’s gone.”

The words feel wrong. Impossible. But they’re true.

Veyron exhales sharply. “So, just to clarify—Lyra, you’re saying that there’s a big evil monster in the back of your house?”

Lyra crosses her arms. “That’s not—” she sighs. “Close enough.”

Veyron gestures at the blocked-off doorway. “Is it dead?”

“No.” Lyra shakes her head. “It can’t be killed. Not by force, at least.”

A heavy silence settles over us.

Then—

“Artemis.”

Lorien crouches beside me, his voice quiet, careful. His hand hovers near mine like he wants to reach for me but isn’t sure if he should.

His eyes search mine, filled with something raw.

“I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t real. Not a real person.

But he felt real.

He was real enough.

I wipe my face quickly, trying to pretend I wasn’t just doing what I was. Trying to ignore the burning in my chest, the emptiness.

I force myself to breathe, to focus.

I turn to Lyra, my voice hoarse. “What were you doing in there? Did… did you do what you needed to?”

Lyra hesitates, glancing back toward the blocked passage. The faint glow of the temple reflects in her eyes, making her look almost otherworldly.

“…I think so,” she says finally. “But I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”

“Why did you go in there, Artemis?” Kaida’s voice is sharp, frustration and worry tangled together. “Why didn’t you wait for us?”

I swallow hard, my throat tight.

“I—” My voice falters for a second, but I push through. “Shade was… part of it. Or he used to be.” I glance back at the collapsed passage, my chest tightening. “Vaelith wanted to use me to escape. But Shade—” I pause, the words catching in my throat.

“He betrayed him.”

The weight of it all crashes over me again, but I force myself to stay steady.

Kaida’s anger flickers, fading away. She exhales sharply, running a hand through her hair.

“I’m sorry, Artemis,” she says quietly. “I know he meant a lot to you. Even if you didn’t say it.”

I nod, not trusting myself to speak.

There’s a long silence before I finally force out the question that’s been hanging in the air.

“Do you think you can leave now, Lyra?”

Lyra’s expression is unreadable. She glances toward the temple, toward the symbols still glowing faintly beneath us.

And then, softly, she says—

“…I don’t know.”

“Let’s… let’s get out of here,” I say, my voice hollow. “And head back to the castle.”

Hrothgar hesitates. “Alex, if you need a minute—”

“Let’s just get this over with.” I don’t mean for it to come out so sharp, but I can’t handle standing here any longer, staring at the collapsed passage, feeling the emptiness where Shade used to be.

No one argues.

Lyra lifts her hand, fingers moving fluidly through the air, and suddenly—

A portal flares into existence on the other side of the temple.

The orb from the castle hovers just beside it, pulsing with familiar energy. A direct way back.

A way out.

Lyra glances at me, her expression unreadable. “Let’s go.”

I take one last look at the ruins behind us.

Then I step forward, and we leave the Nexus behind.

End of Chapter 48.

Epilogue

We’re back.

The air is still heavy, thick with the same quiet weight as before. The castle walls around us, the orb pulsing faintly in front of us. The glow of it reflects in the still-damp stone beneath our feet, making the chamber feel smaller, like the walls are pressing in.

We all reach out—one by one—our hands brushing the orb’s surface.

A pulse of energy hums through the air.

And just like that, we are exactly where we left off. In only a moment we got here.

The chamber hasn’t changed. The carvings still shift, flickering in the dim light. The symbols on the pillars seem to move, rippling like reflections in water.

Except now, we’re not just here for answers.

We’re here with Lyra.

And we know what’s waiting for us.

I let out a slow breath, my fingers curling into a fist. “Alright,” I say, my voice tight. “Let’s finish this.”

“You have returned.”

The voice echoes through the chamber, the same deep, omniscient presence from before. It isn’t loud, but it doesn’t need to be—the weight of it settles inside my bones, pressing down like gravity itself.

The whispers along the walls grow louder, overlapping in a chorus of words we can’t understand. The carvings pulse, shifting in slow, unnatural waves.

“You seek escape. You seek freedom. And yet, you have brought back one who does not belong to your path.”

I glance toward Lyra.

She stands motionless beside us, her face unreadable in the faint glow of the orb.

“Why have you come again?” the voice asks. “What is it you hope to change?”

“We are leaving with her,” I say firmly, stepping forward. My voice doesn’t waver. I won’t let it.

The chamber hums, the symbols on the walls shifting like something alive. The whispers rise, overlapping, twisting around us.

The voice doesn’t sound angry. It doesn’t need to. It simply states, absolute and unyielding—

“You have tried to separate yourself from this place… but it will not be enough.”

I glance at Lyra.

She stands still, her face set, her fingers curled into fists at her sides. But for the first time, there’s something raw in her expression.

“I don’t want to stay,” she says, her voice steady but filled with something desperate. “I won’t.”

The air shifts.

Like the castle itself is listening.

“And are you prepared for this?”

The voice reverberates through the chamber, sinking into my bones. The walls pulse with a slow, rhythmic glow, the symbols shifting like something alive.

“To give up what is required? All of you?”

A heavy silence falls.

I glance at the others—Kaida, Veyron, Hrothgar, Lorien. Their faces are tense, uncertain. None of us know what the cost will be.

And Lyra—

She stands firm, but I can see the hesitation flicker in her eyes.

I swallow hard, forcing down the knot in my throat.

“Can’t you tell us?” I ask, my voice sharp with frustration.

“No.”

Just that. No explanation. No reassurance.

Just a single, absolute denial.

I clench my fists, my heart hammering against my ribs. Of course. Of course it won’t tell us. This place—this thing—it’s always been like this. Always demanding without explaining, taking without giving.

I glance at the others. Kaida shifts uncomfortably, gripping her staff tighter. Veyron exhales sharply, muttering something under his breath. Hrothgar’s face is unreadable, but his stance is firm. Lorien is watching me, waiting for my call.

And Lyra—

She stares ahead, her jaw set. Determined.

I take a slow breath.

“…I guess this is it, then.”

“If anyone forgets this—us, everything that’s happened—we need to find each other when we get back. Okay?” My voice is steady, but my hands are shaking.

I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what we’ll lose. But if we do forget—if this world rips something from us—we have to remember somehow.

I take a breath, grounding myself.

“My name is Alex Carter.”

A pause.

Veyron exhales, running a hand through his hair. “Sean Walker.”

Kaida swallows hard before speaking. “Alyssa Monroe.”

Hrothgar crosses his arms, his expression unreadable. “Jason Caldwell.”

Lyra hesitates, just for a moment, then—

“Emily Hayes.”

Lorien is last. He looks at me before saying, firmly—

“Mike Lawson.”

The names hang in the air.

Our real names.

I let out a nervous laugh, trying to shake off the weight of it. “I’ll… I’ll look you all up.”

Kaida forces a smirk. “You better.”

Veyron cracks his knuckles, rolling his shoulders like he’s shaking off nerves. “Alright, who’s going first?”

Lyra exhales, glancing at the orb, then back at us. “I think… I should go last. Just in case anything goes wrong when I do.”

I don’t like the way she says it.

Like she’s not sure she’ll make it through.

But before I can argue, Hrothgar steps forward, rolling his shoulders. “I’ll do it.”

“I hope I’ll remember you all.”

His voice is steady, certain.

He doesn’t hesitate. Doesn’t second-guess.

Just plants his feet, takes one last look at all of us—then reaches out and touches the orb.

The air shifts. The glow pulses, wrapping around him.

And in the next instant—

Hrothgar is gone.

“Guess it’s time for me,” Veyron says, rolling his shoulders like this is just another job. But there’s something in his eyes—something real.

He turns to Kaida, smirks—then kisses her.

“See you soon,” he murmurs against her lips.

Then he steps back, reaches for the orb—

And vanishes.

Kaida exhales sharply, staring at the spot where he stood. Then, without another word, she steps forward, gripping her staff tightly.

Her hands tremble just a little, but her voice is steady. “Guess I’m next.”

She reaches out—

And the light takes her too.

“Together?” Lorien asks, his voice softer now.

I can’t help but smile, even through the nerves tightening in my chest. “Okay.”

We step forward, side by side. His fingers brush mine for just a second before we both reach for the orb.

The moment his hand touches it, the glow intensifies—

And then—

He’s gone.

Just like that.

I blink, my breath catching. The orb’s glow settles, steady again. The air is still.

I take my hand back, my heart pounding.

Confused.

Why didn’t it work?

My mind flashes back—

To the menu.

The party screen.

Back when I first returned, when I was Alex again.

It still showed me as Artemis.

The game didn’t know where I was.

Didn’t recognize me as a player anymore.

And now—

The orb isn’t taking me.

Because as far as the game is concerned…

I don’t exist.

I stare at the orb, my pulse pounding, panic creeping in—

Then Lyra steps forward, her expression calm. “Don’t worry,” she says, lifting a hand. “I’ve got it.”

Before I can ask what she means, a wave of golden light washes over me. It’s warm, gentle—not like Shade’s darkness, not like the void of the Nexus.

And then—

I feel it before I even look down.

The weight of my hair against my back. The familiar fit of my clothes. The sense of rightness settling into my bones.

I’m Artemis again.

I exhale sharply, running a hand through my now long hair. “You’re full of surprises, Lyra.”

She just gives me a small, knowing smile. “Go home, Artemis.”

I swallow hard, nod—then reach for the orb. Before stopping “Promise me you’re coming too.”

“Artemis-“

“Promise.”

“I promise I’ll try.”

“Close enough I guess.”

I grab the orb and-

A flash of light.

Then—darkness.

I blink, my vision hazy, my head pounding. The cold ground presses against my back. The air smells damp—pavement, rain, the faint scent of something distant, like a city.

I sit up slowly, my breath coming in short, uneven gasps.

I’m in an alley.

Tall buildings loom on either side, their windows dark. The dim glow of a streetlight barely reaches where I’m sitting. The world around me is silent, empty.

A thought crosses my mind—

And ice settles in my veins.

I don’t know where I am.

Worse—

I don’t know who I am.

The panic rises instantly, my fingers curling against the rough pavement. Think. Remember.

Nothing comes.

I scramble up, my breath quickening, and then—

A flicker of movement catches my eye.

A puddle.

I step forward, hesitantly looking down.

A woman stares back.

Green eyes, wide with confusion. Long blonde hair falls past her shoulders, framing a face I should recognize—

But I don’t.

I touch my cheek instinctively, and the reflection mirrors me perfectly.

This is me.

But I have no idea who I am.

-To be continued in Eidolon Nexus:Echoes of Memory.

Authors note.
There we go what’d you think didn’t go as you expected probably. I tried to make things where if you go back it would seem obvious via hints while still making it have some twists.

A sequel is already being written however I also have a plan for a separate story that might come first hopefully that’s ok!

Lastly what do you think will happen next? Will Artemis find out the truth? Will she find her friends? How and why did she wake up as Artemis?