She stood still.
Not in hesitation.
Not in fear.
But in something deeper. Something ancient. At that moment something invisible in the air moved before her body as if all of time had stopped to watch.
The dark reflection of Elijah which had been corrupted remained in front of her. Not blinking. Not breathing. The artificial digital form appeared deformed because of destructive programming meant to violate humanity.
"Natasha," Alison whispered behind her.
The emptiness swallowed her name while it carried a weight of its own.
Her brother's form flickered just once. Like static on a screen. A dark liquid formed a trail from the infected eye of the form. She remained uncertain whether the moment was a system error or a stored memory.
Time suspended itself until it completely disintegrated.
System Glitch Detected
"Soul Link Merge Protocol Unsealed"
A system notification announced the activation of the Heart of Dual Worlds secret trait.
The procedure to fuse different realities potentially causes permanent damages to something unknown. Proceed?
Words moved through the sky while being illuminating with a sterile light. And then silence.
The conflict area froze solid in its current state while the stone bridge and screaming shadows both remained immobile at that precise moment. Dren's blade hung mid-swing. At that moment Ira felt his hand start shaking between them. Stardust immediately swallowed the space where their feet once stood because the ground beneath them split open.
The universe split open into reality like torn paper showing fresh dimensions that shimmered purple and glowed with gold. The two radiant light streams appeared before Natasha like two paths that seemed ready to be selected.
A single stream of light revealed nostalgic scenes of her younger time spent with Elijah at picnic lunches together along with memories of the house that faded into the past.
These two streams possessed the collective strength that Natasha developed here through the dedication of Alison and the fierce spirit of Ira and the courageous determination of Dren.
A world with Elijah saved, whole.
A world with her party .alive, victorious.
Her throat burned.
The void's softness welcomed her as she collapsed from her knees giving way and then she began gasping from the internal damage happening to her reality. She avoided watching both timelines at this moment.
She was in them.
Flash
They were six and eight. Elijah served as her bicycle teacher when he tried to help her learn to ride. His excessive effort resulted in her loss of balance which caused her elbow to scrape against the ground. Elijah displayed more distress than she did by holding her close while making a pledge that he would always keep her safe.
Flash
The group stayed in a dark space as Alison used a bandage to treat her injured shoulder. Her mirth kept flowing despite her injuries while she amused him about his worried demeanor. His face lacked any sign of happiness but his expression warmed his eyes. No matter what happens he would ensure she achieved her goal.
Flash
Elijah became the loudest clapper at her graduation while people cheered around him.
Ira protected Natasha when he hit his staff onto the ground as a temple collapsed above them.
Dren picked her up when fire engulfed their path because he would never abandon her.
Every remembrance reached her skin as if they were physical sensations which refused to be a distant screen presentation but instead left raw traces upon her body.
Then came the voice.
Elijah expressed his apology through the dreamscape with his corrupted voice showing signs of gentleness. "I should've listened to you. I should've stayed."
Her chest cracked open.
"I tried to reach you," she whispered. "All those nights... I prayed you weren't dead."
He smiled just once. A flicker of the old Elijah. "You never stopped looking for me."
A different voice interrupted her time in that dream.
Alison moved out of the dark void to tell him "You must understand that you will not make this choice between us." He didn't look sad. Just… sure.
Your decision determines the kind of conflict you will engage in for the future.
The trembling hand of the girl faced him as she stared into his eyes.
"And what if I want both?" she asked, voice breaking.
Alison didn't hesitate.
"Then take both."
The Soul Link pulsed between them. The link thrummed like human skin pulses during heartbeats while emitting its genuine warmth. Not a mechanic. Not code. A soul's wish made manifest.
The system responded.
Processing emotional resonance…
Trigger threshold reached. Soul Merge Protocol Initiated.
"Warning: Consequences are permanent. Reality instability at 92%."
The two individuals moved unhurried behind her while protecting her motionless form as their bodies appeared indistinct to her senses. Feral code creatures started escaping through broken holes in the void as they sought to disrupt their environment.
The two combatants maintained total silence because Natasha's focus remained the only thing holding the delicate merge together.
Natasha continued descending deeper inside the Soul Link core system.
Deeper.
Into herself.
Into truth.
And that's where she saw it. Not a timeline. Not a fight. Within that part of her mind she found a small child hunched in the corner.
It was her.
But not just her.
The point in Natasha that existed since she started making choices between people during her survival as well as her emotional connections remained present inside the Soul Link core.
Her personality had kept Elijah's guilt secret and declined to confront her deepest terror facing reality.
She breathed these words softly before her eyes snapped open.
The younger Natasha stared with large eyes as she raised her face.
I wish to avoid living with constant doubts about my inappropriate decision.
The words slid out of her mouth with a glass-shattering tone.
The design of my destiny was to connect instead of selecting between the two. The purpose assigned to me was to act as the connection between these worlds.
Even the system paused.
System Note: Core Revelation Detected
Integrating truth into Merge Pathway…
Warning overridden by Host Command.
Her eyelids flew open inside the void of nothingness.
She stood.
Time strands shifted from their separate positions. They swirled like rivers colliding.
Alison extended his hand. So did Elijah.
The decision between them was not something she needed to make.
She took both.
The fingers of both parties touched simultaneously.
A silver-white fire emerged in the Soul Link that could never be duplicated by code.
New Pathway Unlocked: Unified Timeline
The air split open.
A voice appeared for the first time that no ears had ever heard before clearing the light.
Through its creation The Chosen established an unexpected course which no previous standards had outlined. A new path is forged now that the game will rewrite itself.
Everything went white.