Zylas sat frozen in the passenger seat, his body feeling heavy. He was unable to process the sheer impossibility of what had just happened. If that ruined world had truly been a dream or a hallucination brought on by stress, then why could he see the silver ring on his index finger? Why was its weight still pressing against his skin?
He desperately wanted to forget everything, the smell of the sewage, the sight of the collapsed skyscrapers, and the terrifying glow of the altar. He wanted to tell himself that he had just dozed off for a few seconds while Grant was adjusting his mirror.
But there was only one conclusion that made sense, and it was the most terrifying one: it was all real. Somehow, time itself had been bent, broken, and reversed.
Zylas stared at the ring on his index finger, his mind racing with questions that felt like hornets stinging his brain. Who was the Cosmic Entity? If it possessed enough power to easily manipulate reality and turn back the clock without any visible limitation, then why was it using him? Why make a human teenager do its dirty work? If it wasn't a God, then what kind of monster was it?
And most of all, out of all the ten billion people on the planet, why did it choose him? Zylas was a nobody. He was the kid who worried about school and being average. Now, he was a pawn in a game that seemed to involve the fate of the universe.
He was so riddled with these thoughts that he didn't even notice the silence in the car until Grant's smartphone suddenly began to blare a loud, rhythmic ringtone.
"Why's the Dean calling me? We just left his office a minute ago," Grant muttered, pulling the phone from his pocket. He glanced over at Zylas, noting the boy's pale face. "Zylas, stay silent for a moment, would you?"
"Sure," Zylas responded. His voice sounded hollow, even to his own ears. He would have agreed to anything at that moment. He wasn't even listening to the words Grant was saying, he was completely zoned out into his own world of complete imagination.
"Hey Qydal, why'd you call me? Did something happen?" Grant said into the phone, his tone shifting into a professional, slightly worried edge.
"Something did happen, but it's not a situation that should worry you. Or at least, I hope so," Qydal's elderly voice replied on the other end.
"What do you mean? Could you elaborate?" Grant asked, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.
"I just got a message from Sylvia Vingólf, The Paragon of Creation. She wants to meet Zylas."
"What? How does she even know Zylas?" Grant's voice rose in pure confusion. "I literally registered him into the Academy records a few minutes ago. There's no way she's even seen his file yet."
"I don't know," Qydal responded, sounding just as baffled. "You'll have to figure that out yourself, but we have to comply. I have set the meeting for tomorrow morning."
"I understand. I'll talk to Zylas about it," Grant said, his eyes darting toward the conversation mirror, he looked indirectly at Zylas with a look of intense confusion.
"Please make sure to do so," the Dean replied, and the line went dead with a click.
Grant slid the phone back into his pocket but didn't start the car immediately. He turned in his seat, looking at Zylas as if he were seeing a stranger. "Hey kid."
Zylas didn't respond. He was thinking continuously about the ruined dimension.
"Hey, Zylas, wake up already," Grant said. He reached over and gripped Zylas's shoulder, shaking him slightly.
Zylas blinked, the world coming back into focus. "Oh. What is it?"
"Do you know Sylvia Vingólf personally?"
The question felt like it was stripping Zylas bare. Grant was asking about a connection that shouldn't exist in this timeline. To Grant, they were strangers. To Zylas, they had just survived a nightmare together.
"Why… Why do you ask?" Zylas asked, his voice cracking.
"Well, the Dean says that she requested a personal meeting with you. Specifically you."
Zylas sat there, stunned. Why would she ask for a meeting? Did she remember too? Or did the Goddess of Creation tell her something? Zylas felt the emotion of surprise finally burn out. He was just done with being shocked.
"Yeah, I do," Zylas said, his voice becoming flat. He stopped caring about how suspicious he sounded. "It's not something I can explain right now. You wouldn't understand."
Grant stared at him for a second, then a wide grin spread across his face. He let out a short laugh. "Oh, how great it is to be young."
Grant had clearly jumped to a very different conclusion. Zylas didn't care enough to correct him. He had gone through enough mental trauma for ten lifetimes in a single afternoon, he didn't have the energy for an interrogation.
"So when's the meeting?" Zylas asked, trying to move the conversation along.
"You're excited, it seems. It's tomorrow morning," Grant said, finally putting the car into gear. "Let's head to my residence right now so we can reach there faster. You look like a ghost, Zylas. You require rest, and we've wasted too much time just sitting inside the car today with your daydreaming and the call from the Dean."
"Sure," Zylas said. He looked at the road ahead as Grant started moving the car. "Make sure to drive safely, though." The image of the white car flying off the cliff and the sound of the wind rushing past the windows flashed through his mind.
"Why the sudden warning? My driving is great," Grant responded as he steered out of the parkway and began the descent down the long hill.
"I know," Zylas muttered. "But there are some stupid people out there. People who drive too fast. People who don't look where they're going."
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll keep you safe at the very least if something happens," Grant replied, his voice full of casual confidence. He was smiling, completely unaware of the past that never happened.
"I know… I know it for a fact," Zylas said softly, lowering his eyes. He knew exactly what Grant would do to save him.
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Grant asked. The hum of the tires on the asphalt made it hard to hear Zylas's low voice.
Zylas let out a long, heavy sigh. "No. Nothing important worth repeating."
"I'm all ears if I missed it and it's something you wanted to share," Grant assured him.
"No, as I said, it's nothing worth your time."
As they continued down the hill, Zylas saw it. A car was heading upward, rounding the same blind corner from the reversed timeline. It was moving with a lot of speed. Zylas' body tensed. He was about to alarm Grant, but at the last second, the oncoming car slowed down. The driver saw them and passed by safely.
Zylas watched it go in the rearview mirror. He wondered why it was different this time. Was it just luck? Or did the Entity do something again? But after thinking about it he found that he didn't care much about the "why" anymore. He had changed.
The rest of the drive was silent. Neither Zylas nor Grant said another word as they navigated through the campus streets and up the private drive to Grant's residence.
"I'd recommend you rest," Grant told Zylas as they got out of the car. He looked at the dark circles under Zylas's eyes. "You seem a lot more tired for some reason. You remember the way to the room you were in, right? Left up the stairs. Here are the keys."
Zylas took the keys. "No thank you. I'll keep the keys, but I need more training than rest right now."
Zylas knew he couldn't just sleep this off. He had to become stronger. He was the Freshman Representative. He was going to be standing on a stage with Kai and Sylvia. If he didn't increase his own power, he would be left in their shadows. But most of all, he had to understand the Ring of Eternity.
"Are you completely sure about this? You look like you're about to collapse, you've gone through a lot already." Grant asked with genuine concern.
"And I'm going to go through a lot more if I don't practice," Zylas responded, his voice firm. "I can't afford to be weak anymore."
Grant scoffs and shakes his head. "That's true. Well, I can't stop you. Go on I guess. It's that way." Grant pointed toward the back of the property, where a massive, black, windowless building sat like a giant box.
"I'll be heading off then," Zylas said.
He didn't wait to hear if Grant had anything else to say. He turned and rushed toward the black building, his footsteps echoing on the stone path. He didn't want to talk anymore. He didn't want to think about Sylvia. He just wanted to see what the ring could do.