Izunna stared at him.
The train rattled loudly around them as it sped toward Oshodi, metal wheels grinding against the tracks. People shifted and swayed with the motion, unaware of the tension that had just filled the carriage.
"You've been hiding?" Izunna repeated, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Chidubem didn't answer immediately. His hollow white eyes studied Izunna carefully, as if confirming something he had already suspected.
Then he spoke a single word.
"Hie ụra."
Sleep.
The word landed softly in the air.
Nothing happened.
The passengers continued scrolling through their phones. The train continued moving. Izunna remained standing exactly where he was.
Chidubem's smile widened slightly.
"As expected," he murmured.
Izunna frowned. "Expected what?"
Chidubem tilted his head.
"Speech techniques don't work on you," he said. "Not surprising… considering whose vessel you are."
Before Izunna could ask what that meant—
Chidubem vanished.
One moment he stood in front of him.
The next—
A presence appeared behind him.
Izunna felt it instinctively and turned just in time to see Chidubem's hand swinging toward the back of his neck.
Everything blurred.
The train.
The passengers.
The sound of metal.
Gone.
The world snapped apart like a torn photograph.
For a split second there was nothing but darkness.
Then—
They were standing in an empty schoolyard.
The ground was cracked and dry. Broken classroom buildings surrounded the open space, their windows shattered and roofs partially collapsed. Grass pushed through the concrete like the place had been abandoned for years.
The air was still.
Too still.
Izunna stumbled forward slightly, disoriented.
"What—"
A loud laugh cut him off.
Chidubem stood a few meters away, holding his stomach as he laughed freely.
"That look on your face!" he said between breaths. "You really don't know anything, do you?"
Izunna's head spun as he looked around.
"This… this place wasn't—"
"Relax," Chidubem said casually. "You're not dead. Just somewhere people won't interrupt us."
Izunna opened his mouth to demand answers.
Then his chest burned.
Not pain.
Pressure.
A strange pulling sensation spread from deep inside him, like something stretching after a long sleep.
He staggered slightly.
"What is—"
Something moved.
Not outside him.
Inside.
Before he could react, a dark shape slid out from his body like smoke leaving a cracked vessel.
It landed lightly on the ground in front of him.
Izunna froze.
The figure looked exactly like him.
Same height.
Same face.
Same eyes.
The only difference was the expression.
This one looked relaxed.
Comfortable.
Like it had been waiting a very long time.
It sat down on the dusty ground, crossed its legs, and casually took a bite from a bright red apple that hadn't been there a second ago.
Crunch.
Juice ran down its chin.
It chewed slowly, watching Izunna with amused eyes.
Chidubem stopped laughing.
"Ah," he said quietly. "There you are."
The other Izunna sighed like someone annoyed by a familiar problem.
"So you still haven't learned," it said, taking another bite of the apple.
Its voice was identical to Izunna's, but older somehow.
Heavier.
It glanced toward Chidubem briefly, then back at the stunned boy standing in front of it.
"Your descendants chased me all the way into this era," it continued casually. "And yet here you are again… still confused."
Izunna's mind struggled to process the words.
"Descendants?" he repeated. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"
The other Izunna ignored the question.
It finished the apple, tossed the core aside, and slowly stood up.
Its smile widened slightly.
"Well," it said.
"If you're going to keep chasing me through time…"
Its eyes sharpened.
"Let me teach you a lesson."
It took a step forward.
And the air in the abandoned schoolyard suddenly grew heavy.