With Victor set on coming along, we started getting ready to leave. Though, to be honest, when I say "leave" it's not like we were actually heading anywhere specific. Technically, the flow of time exists on a plane invisible to human eyes.
My memory might be a little fuzzy on the details of the place, but one thing I do remember — it was impressive. Too bad the guy who lives there doesn't make it any better — that annoying dude is enough to ruin the charm. Anyway, it's not exactly the ideal vacation spot.
Victor, who had been standing by my side with his arms crossed, watched Chronas closely as she stood just a few inches from us, examining the clone we would use as her replacement. I couldn't quite tell what was going through Victor's mind, but given the circumstances, it was likely that his concern was directed toward Chronas.
After all, if things didn't go as planned, Chronas would end up trapped within the flow of time. Of course, even if things went wrong, I had no intention of leaving her there.
While I was lost in my own thoughts, I noticed Emily approaching Victor, carefully holding a camera in her hands. Victor's eyebrows slowly lifted — a small sign of surprise — as he stared at the object with a mix of curiosity and confusion.
"What's that for?" he asked, his voice tinged with a kind of almost comical puzzlement, his eyes searching Emily's face for answers.
Emily walked up to Victor with a light, almost contagious smile and replied right away: "A camera built from one of the anomalies in the facility" she said casually: "Normally, it works in any environment or situation. Plus, it doesn't need batteries or recharging. Of course... I can't promise it'll work where you're going" She shrugged with an easy, laid-back gesture.
She leaned forward slightly, as if to emphasize what she was saying, and added: "Even if the camera doesn't work, try to describe everything you can see when you come back. We've been studying the "Flow of Time" for a long time, and now we finally have a real chance to learn something about it" Emily's eyes gleamed with contained excitement and hope as she spoke those last words.
Victor gave Emily a cold, distant look before turning toward Laura, who was just as excited as Emily herself. He let out a long, resigned sigh.
Yeah, I could completely understand how Victor felt; even after all this time, Emily and Laura were still remarkable in their own ways.
Still, from my perspective, even if that camera was made from an anomaly, I honestly didn't think it would work. The "Flow of Time" exists in its own space — a place where the concept of time simply doesn't exist. After all, the Flow itself is time, in its purest essence.
It's, without exaggeration, an impossible realm for a human like Victor. Even if, by some extraordinary chance, he managed to enter it, the outcome would be catastrophic: his very existence would be erased instantly.
Humans are temporal beings — every cell, every thought, every memory depends on time. To step into a place where time doesn't exist would, in practice, mean that Victor had never existed at all — vanishing irreversibly the moment he touched the Flow of Time.
"I'll do my best" Victor said, his voice filled with indifference as his fingers closed around the camera. He turned it over in his hand for a moment, weighing it, before tucking it away with a faint sigh.
Watching closely, I turned to Victor and shared my thoughts directly: (That camera probably won't work there)
Victor heard me but didn't look away. He simply raised an eyebrow and gave a crooked, ironic smile before replying: "Yes, I figured you wouldn't"
Seconds after Victor's words, Chronas approached us. Her face — cold and unreadable — passed over me and Victor like a silent shadow, stopping for neither of us.
Then, she extended her starry hands, softly glowing as if each speck of light were a miniature constellation. Instinctively, I raised my arm and took one of her hands.
Victor, meanwhile, turned toward Sara, confusion etched across his face, his brow furrowing as he tried to make sense of Chronas's sudden gesture.
Noticing Victor's hesitation, Chronas moved her lips slightly, her voice firm and resonant in the air: "We need to hold hands. If you let go, you could get lost in the void of time"
With that explanation, Victor let out an understanding "Ah!" before extending his hand to take hers. We stood side by side, fingers tightly intertwined, and he let out a short, almost nostalgic laugh, as if remembering something funny. Then he said: "You know, this reminds me of when you got lost at the amusement park. You cried so much, saying you'd been separated from our parents and your older brother. When we finally found each other a few minutes later, we held hands just like this because you said you didn't want to get lost again"
I listened in silence, trying to recreate every gesture, every nuance of that moment in my mind. Beside me, Chronas slowly turned her gaze toward him. Her eyes — cold and calculating — remained unmoved, as if nothing he said could reach her.
At least, that's what her expressionless face seemed to suggest. Still, Chronas moved her lips and said: "I remember you bribed me that day, saying that if I smiled, I'd get ice cream"
Hearing her words, Victor's brow furrowed slightly — surprise flickering for a brief second — before he let out a quiet, restrained laugh: "Didn't think you'd still remember that" he said, his eyes shining with a mix of nostalgia and amusement as a faint smile curved his lips.
Listening closely to Victor's words, I felt the need to share my thoughts with him: (Virtues have an impeccable memory) I said, my voice soft but laced with conviction: (We never forget an event)
Victor didn't look surprised when he heard my words. On the contrary, a confident, teasing smirk appeared on his face, followed by a short laugh: "You're a lot more proud than you let on..." he said, tilting his head slightly, his eyes full of curiosity: "Well... that was kind of unexpected"
I stayed silent for a moment, letting Victor's words echo in my mind. Proud? Me? I'd never seen myself that way. Sure, I felt proud of my little sisters—of what they were capable of—but this was different. It was affection, not vanity.
As I was still trying to process Victor's words, Chronas turned his gaze toward me for a brief instant. His eyes—cold and impassive—showed no hint of emotion. Then, just as quickly, he shifted them back to Victor.
Silence filled the room for a few seconds, until it was broken by his voice—firm, but utterly devoid of feeling, as always: "We're leaving"
As Chronas spoke, I noticed Victor's expression harden. His face, once neutral, took on a more serious—almost grim—air, and his posture stiffened, as if something inside him had shut down.
I watched this change for a few seconds, feeling the weight in the air, before glancing at Emily and Laura. Both were staring silently, thoughtful and distant, but with no intention of speaking.
Moments later—or perhaps in the blink of an eye—it was hard to tell, the air grew heavier, denser. It was as if something had simply appeared, tearing through the fabric of the space around us.
Physically, I felt nothing different; only a strange certainty that something had changed. Victor, however, reacted differently. His expression tightened, becoming more closed-off, and I noticed a slight tremor in his hands, as if he were struggling against some invisible pressure.
Then Chronas gripped his hand firmly—and in that instant, it was as though an intangible barrier formed around Victor, enclosing him. His tension eased, and a subtle sigh escaped his lips, as if he could finally breathe again.
Victor looked around for a moment before letting out a short breath. He didn't seem to notice that his sudden relief came from Chronas.
Regardless, in the next moment, it felt as if something was enveloping us—not exactly pulling us, but guiding us. The sensation was like being carried by an invisible current, gentle and irresistible, leading us somewhere.
***
(POV – Victor Hale)
In an instant, Victor felt the ground vanish beneath his feet—and then his body plummeted. The fear was brief. Before he could even scream, the fall stopped, and he realized he was no longer falling but... floating.
Or was he swimming? Maybe drifting? None of the words seemed quite right. It was like being suspended in something invisible, dense yet light at the same time—a strangely comforting sensation, yet impossible to define.
When he opened his eyes, he realized he wasn't exactly in a place—he was inside a flow. Around him, the "sea" stretched to infinity, a colossal vortex of liquid, glowing currents that seemed to breathe silently.
Above and below, strands of light spiraled slowly, intertwining like ethereal snakes. Victor didn't know what to think, let alone what to say; his mind dissolved into absolute white, as if every thought had been swept away by the current, and no sound escaped his mouth.
For a moment, the only thought passing through Victor's mind was whether he was dead—or perhaps in heaven. Yet a firm grip on his hand brought him back to awareness. When he looked, he saw his sister, Sara.
Her appearance had changed so much she could barely be called human. Still, there was something familiar in that touch. Their hands intertwined, the subtle warmth of her skin, the way she held him—not too tight, not too soft—reminded him exactly of the Sara he once knew.
Victor allowed a brief, cornered smile before returning his gaze to the "Flow" ahead. He didn't know where it led—not even if it led anywhere. The surroundings seemed unreal, silent, and heavy, as if the air itself had weight.
Still, Victor felt strangely calm, wrapped in a sense of artificial comfort, as though something kept him steady against his own instincts.
It was at that exact moment, when the thought crossed his mind, that Victor sensed—something. Someone. A presence. A thing. It approached, invisible yet impossible to ignore. The air seemed to thicken, heavy enough to crush his lungs. An unseen force made him stagger, almost faint.
In the blink of an eye, Victor felt like a baby—fragile, exposed, insignificant before it. Yet even with his body trembling and heart racing, he gritted his teeth. Because he understood. The entity before him, whatever it was, was the final obstacle. It was the thing. The one they had to face to free Sara—once and for all.