The broadcast hijacked every screen on campus at exactly 3:17 p.m. It didn't matter if it was a smartphone, a lecture hall projector, or the digital billboards looming over the city center; everything glitched into a unified, official seal.
A woman's voice, devoid of emotion and terrifyingly steady, filled the air. "This is a national emergency announcement."
The dorm lounge, usually a cacophony of overlapping conversations, went deathly quiet. Nox stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the horizon. Lucien was right beside him, so close that Nox could feel the heat radiating from his shoulder.
"Earlier today, an unprecedented atmospheric rupture was recorded globally. Governments worldwide are coordinating to assess the phenomenon."
"'Atmospheric rupture,'" Mira whispered, her voice trembling. "That sounds a lot worse than 'unusual weather.'"
Seris didn't offer a reassuring laugh this time.
"Citizens are advised to remain calm," the voice continued. "There is currently no confirmed threat."
"That sentence is always the preamble to a confirmed threat," Kaida muttered, her eyes locked on the screen.
Footage began to loop: the silver seam cutting through the sky over London, Tokyo, New York, and others. It wasn't just a local anomaly. The world was being unzipped.
Lucien's jaw tightened until the muscle jumped. "They're lying through their teeth."
"They're minimizing," Orion corrected, though he looked just as shaken. "They don't have a protocol for the sky breaking."
The broadcast ended as abruptly as it began, leaving the room in a ringing silence. Then, the dam broke. Phones started screaming with notifications; panic began to simmer just beneath the skin of everyone in the room.
Mira looked at Nox, her brow furrowed. "You don't look surprised, Nox. Why aren't you surprised?"
Lucien turned sharply, his eyes narrowing. "You said that before, Mira." He didn't wait for an answer. He reached out and grabbed Nox's wrist; not roughly, but with a grip that made it clear he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.
"Outside. Now."
__
They ended up in the narrow alley behind the dorms, where the frantic noise of the campus faded into a dull roar. Lucien let go of Nox's wrist slowly, as if he were afraid Nox might vanish if he didn't keep him grounded.
"You knew something was coming," Lucien said, his voice low and dangerous.
Nox looked at the brick wall, unable to meet those searching eyes. "I suspected."
"Suspected what? That the laws of physics were going to take a vacation?"
"That this wasn't some random act of nature."
Lucien stepped into Nox's personal space. "You've been counting days, Nox. I've watched you do it. You're looking at a calendar no one else can see."
Nox remained silent, which was an admission in itself. Lucien exhaled a sharp, frustrated breath. "How? How could you possibly know?"
Nox hesitated. The truth was a madness that would break them, but the silence was already poison. "It's not the first time," he said, the words barely audible.
Lucien frowned. "What the hell does that mean? 'Not the first time'?"
Nox closed his eyes, and for a second, the alleyway vanished.
__
He was ten years old again. He was sitting in the dirt, wiping blood from a split lip after a neighborhood bully had shoved him. Lucien, small but fierce, stood over him with bruised knuckles and a defiant glare.
"You don't get to push him," ten-year-old Lucien had snarled. "You didn't have to do that," Nox had whispered. "You could've gotten hurt."
Lucien had just shrugged and grinned through the blood. "So? I will always stand in front of everything, Nox. Watch me."
__
Back in the present, Nox opened his eyes. The memory hurt. "You've always run toward the fire, Lucien. Since we were kids."
Lucien blinked, caught off guard. "That's your explanation? A trip down memory lane?"
"I'm trying to make sure you survive the fire this time."
Lucien's expression shifted from anger to something softer, more wounded. "That's not an answer, Nox. That's a riddle."
"If something happens—"
"It already did!"
"If something worse happens," Nox corrected, his voice trembling just enough to be noticed. "Don't assume you have to be the one to carry the weight. Don't go out there thinking you're invincible."
Lucien stared at him for a long, quiet moment. "...You're scared."
Nox didn't deny it. He couldn't.
"You think I'm going to die," Lucien said, the realization landing between them like a physical blow.
Nox's breath hitched. He hadn't meant to let the mask slip, but the sheer weight of the "previous" Lucien dying in his arms was too much to suppress.
"You do," Lucien whispered, stepping closer until they were inches apart. "You really think I'm not going to make it."
Nox looked away, his composure cracking at the edges. "I won't let that happen."
"Let what happen? Let me what?"
__
Another memory surged: They were thirteen, sprinting through a downpour. Lucien had slipped on the slick pavement, sliding toward the path of a bus. Nox had caught his sleeve at the very last second, yanking him back.
"You're reckless!" Nox had screamed over the rain.
Lucien had laughed, breathless and exhilarated. "You always catch me, Nox. It's fine."
"Don't make that my job."
"Too late."
__
In the alley, the rain began to fall again. Lucien's eyes were searching Nox's face, looking for the man he thought he knew. "You don't get to decide my fate, Nox," he said softly.
"I know."
"Then stop acting like you're the one holding the leash."
Nox finally met his gaze, his eyes dark with a desperation Lucien couldn't comprehend. "I'm not trying to decide it. I'm trying to change it."
Lucien went still. "Change it? What does that even mean?"
Nox didn't answer. He couldn't explain the smell of ozone and the feeling of a heart stopping under his palms. Instead, he reached out, gripping Lucien's jacket. "If something breaks through that sky again... don't move alone. Do you hear me? Don't be the hero."
Lucien studied him for a long beat, seeing the ghost of a much older grief in Nox's eyes. He nodded once. "Fine."
It wasn't a promise of safety; it was an act of trust. Lucien stepped back, though the air between them remained heavy. "But you don't get to shut me out. We do this together, or we don't do it at all."
Nox swallowed the lump in his throat. "...I won't."
Above them, the clouds shifted in a slow, unnatural spiral. The sky looked intact, but to Nox, it looked like thin glass.
"If something's coming," Lucien said, looking up at the gray expanse, "we'll face it together."
Nox's chest tightened. In his first life, they had done exactly that. And it had cost them everything. This time, Nox had the one thing the world didn't: he had a map of the tragedy.
This time, he would be the one to catch Lucien before he hit the street.