The air felt heavier, thick with something unseen but undeniable. The clearing, once eerily familiar, now pulsed with an almost sentient presence, as if the very fabric of reality held its breath, waiting for the inevitable. The dagger still hovered between them, its silver edge gleaming under the moon's cold light.
Vivian's heartbeat thundered in her chest. She could feel it—the way the curse coiled around her, the way fate had always brought her back to this moment, this decision. Every time, she had refused to make a choice. And every time, the cycle had reset, binding her and Sebastian to a story with no end.
But now… something was different.
She wasn't just seeing flashes of memories anymore. They weren't just fragmented echoes of the past—they were her own.
She could remember everything.
The night she had first spoken the words that cursed them.The betrayal that had led to it.The promise she had sworn never to break.
And yet, she had broken it. Again and again.
Sebastian's grip on her wrist tightened, pulling her back into the present. His touch was grounding, but his voice was laced with barely contained fury.
"We're not playing this game," he repeated, glaring at the two figures standing before them. His stance was defensive, protective, as if he could shield her from fate itself.
The woman sighed, shaking her head. "That's not how this works, Sebastian."
The man beside her folded his arms, his gaze unreadable. "You've said the same thing before, and yet, here you are. Again."
Vivian clenched her jaw, her mind racing. If she had been here before—if she had failed to make a choice—then what had happened next?
What stopped her from choosing?
A shiver ran down her spine.
It was her.
She had always been the one to hesitate. The one to reject the truth. The one who let the curse reset instead of breaking it.
She had refused to choose.
And now, standing here once more, she realized with a sickening certainty—this was the final time.
She wouldn't get another chance.
The world around them was already unraveling at the edges. The trees, the sky, even the air itself—it all flickered, unstable, as if existence itself was struggling to hold this moment together.
"Tell me," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "What happens if I don't choose?"
The woman's dark eyes softened. "Then it all begins again."
Vivian's stomach twisted.
She had spent lifetimes trapped in this cycle, bound to the same people, making the same mistakes. And every time, she had chosen nothing.
Sebastian took a slow step in front of her, blocking the dagger from her view. "Vivian, listen to me." His voice was lower now, gentle, like he knew exactly what was going through her mind. "You don't have to do anything they say."
"But that's the problem, isn't it?" Her voice wavered. "I never do anything."
He faltered. "Vivian…"
She looked at him, truly looked at him. His face was worn, tired in a way that went beyond this single night. As if his soul—like hers—had been burdened by a thousand lifetimes of unspoken words, of unfinished endings.
She had met him before.
She had loved him before.
And every time, she had lost him.
Not because she had made the wrong choice.
But because she had made no choice at all.
Her breath shuddered as she turned back to the dagger. It floated there, an unmoving promise, waiting for her hands to claim it.
Sebastian's fingers curled around her wrist again. "We'll find another way."
Vivian's chest ached. "That's what I always say, isn't it?"
He didn't respond.
Because they both knew the answer.
Tears burned at the edges of her vision, but she forced herself to breathe. She had been running for so long—running from a truth she had buried deep inside her, refusing to look at it, refusing to believe it.
But she couldn't run anymore.
The curse wouldn't let her.
The woman—her past self—watched her with knowing eyes. The man beside her remained silent, waiting.
Sebastian wouldn't understand.
Not yet.
But if she didn't do this, he never would.
Vivian slowly stepped forward.
Sebastian moved to stop her. "Vivian—"
She turned to him, her heart hammering against her ribs. "I remember now, Sebastian."
A flicker of something unreadable crossed his face. "Remember what?"
She swallowed hard, the dagger now close enough that she could feel the magic thrumming around it. It recognized her, even after all this time.
"I know how to end this."
The woman exhaled softly. "Then do it."
Vivian reached out—her fingers wrapped around the dagger's hilt.
The moment she touched it, everything changed.
A pulse of energy exploded outward, sending a shockwave through the clearing. The trees bent, the ground trembled, and the stars overhead flickered like dying embers.
Sebastian staggered back, shielding his eyes. "Vivian—!"
She didn't hear him.
Her mind was flooded with memories.
Not just glimpses.
Not just flashes.
Everything.
Every life she had lived. Every decision she had ever made—or refused to make. Every time she had come to this moment and failed to see it through.
And in every one of those lives, one thing had remained the same.
She had never finished it.
She had always turned away.
She had always chosen to let the cycle continue, believing that another way would present itself.
But no other way existed.
There had only ever been one path forward.
Her grip on the dagger tightened.
The woman smiled, understanding dawning in her gaze. "You see it now."
Vivian inhaled sharply.
Then she turned—
And plunged the dagger into her own chest.
Sebastian's scream ripped through the air, raw and broken.
The world shattered.
Light—blinding, all-consuming light—erupted from the wound, spilling out of her like a river breaking through a dam. It wasn't pain she felt. It was release.
The cycle—it was breaking.
She could feel it fracturing, crumbling around her, the curse unraveling at last. The weight of a thousand lives lifted from her soul, the chains that had bound her snapping one by one.
Her knees buckled.
Sebastian caught her before she hit the ground, his hands shaking as they pressed against the wound. "No, no, no—Vivian, stay with me."
She smiled through the blood on her lips. "It's over."
His eyes were wild with desperation. "This isn't how we win."
"Yes." Her fingers brushed his cheek, her voice barely above a whisper. "It is."
Sebastian shook his head violently, but the world was already fading. The past selves—the cursed reflections—watched in silence as time itself stitched together.
She had broken the cycle.
And now, she was finally free.
Darkness crept at the edges of her vision, but she wasn't afraid anymore.
For the first time in countless lifetimes—she had chosen.
And this time, there would be no reset.
There would only be an ending.
To be continued...