Chapter 11: Don't Look Too Long
They walked side by side.
But never close enough to touch.
Aria carried the weight of her newly filled storage like a secret she hadn't asked for. She glanced sideways at the girl with silver-blonde hair and quiet hands.
Selene never spoke unless she had to.
Never reached.
Never smiled.
⸻
They reached the edge of town as the sun dipped low—everything bathed in that golden light that made the world look too peaceful to be falling apart.
"Selene," Aria said suddenly, "how do you know so much?"
Selene's gaze didn't shift. "I survived longer."
"That's not an answer."
"No," Selene agreed, and kept walking.
⸻
Aria caught up to her, frustrated. "You said I died. That I sacrificed myself. Why would I do that? I'm not brave."
Selene finally turned her head.
Her voice was too steady. "You are."
"You don't even know me."
"I do."
⸻
Aria stopped in the middle of the road. "Then why don't I know you?"
Selene paused a few steps ahead, shadows catching on her jawline.
"Because you haven't remembered me yet."
"…Do I want to?"
Selene's shoulders rose with a breath.
But she didn't turn around.
"I hope so," she said quietly.
⸻
That night, they camped on a rooftop.
The sky overhead was bruised with stars, and in the distance—faint sounds. Not screams. Not yet. But something… shifting.
Selene sat with her back to the wall, blade across her lap.
Aria stared at the sky, wide-eyed.
"I feel like I'm dreaming someone else's life," she whispered.
Selene didn't respond.
But her fingers curled tighter around the handle of her blade.