Parallel Lines

The explosion ripped through the air, sending Y/N hurtling through the chaos. She didn't remember how or why she had survived, only that a shield had sprung into existence at the last moment. It had protected her, cradling her against the blast, before dissolving into nothingness.

The world around her was a cacophony of smoke, rubble, and the distant cries of the wounded. Dust filled her lungs, and as she stumbled to her feet, her new leg, a grotesque combination of shimmer and arcane, threatened to buckle beneath her.

She coughed violently, blood smearing her hand as she wiped at her nose. Her voice was a broken whisper, barely audible amidst the chaos. "W-what...?" The word hung in the air, fragile and uncertain.

And then she saw it. A body.

Her heart seized as recognition struck her like a lightning bolt. It wasn't just any body. It was his.

"Viktor, no!" The scream tore from her throat, raw and guttural, as she stumbled toward him. Her knees hit the ground with a sickening thud as she reached his side, her trembling hands hovering over his still form. Her fingers curled into his arms, clutching at him as though sheer force of will could bring him back.

"No, no, no!" Her voice cracked, each word a desperate plea. "I don't get to lose you too! I can't lose you too!"

Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the blood and grime that clung to her skin. She shook him, her hands gripping his shoulders as if she could shake him back to life. But his body remained limp, unresponsive, and cold.

The pain was unbearable, an ache so deep it felt as though her very soul was being torn apart. Strands of her white hair lifted, defying gravity, curling and twisting like flames caught in a windstorm.

The kaleidoscope of colors in her eyes began to pulse, the glow intensifying with every beat of her shattered heart.

The power inside her was building, surging like a tidal wave threatening to drown her. It was too much— too much grief, too much love, too much suffering. She had done this to herself, why was it that she had everything then lost it all?

She replayed moments over and over in her mind, her expression flickering between faint smiles and sudden winces as she relived the happiness and the pain.

"I should've done better," Y/N choked out between sobs, her voice trembling with guilt and anguish. "I can do magic. I can save you! I swear, I can!"

Her hands moved on their own, guided by desperation and the fragments of arcane knowledge etched into her very being. The runes on her body flared to life, glowing with a brilliant blue light.

They floated around her like fragments of a puzzle, shifting and aligning, as though the universe itself was responding to her cries.

She was trapped in an ache of longing, the unbearable awareness of absence. Her voice cracked, every word heavy with regret and yearning.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She whispered, the words spilling from her lips in an endless chant. She buried her face against Viktor's chest, her tears soaking into his skin. "I should've been faster. I should've been stronger. This is my fault. It's all my fault."

Her sobs wracked her body, each one tearing through her like a physical blow. The runes glimmered brighter, spinning faster as the air around her crackled with raw energy. The earth beneath her trembled, resonating with the force of her grief.

Her grief was quiet but consuming, a storm raging within that left her exterior eerily still. How would she move forward because of this? Y/N was caught in a loop of the night they met and the nights that followed, spiraling into silence.