The Woman From Tomorrow
952 Words
The conference room was silent.
No one spoke.
Victoria's final words echoed through the room.
"You're the one who saves my life... twenty-three years from now."
Kael was the first to break the silence.
"Well..."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Things just became considerably more complicated."
Lucien's silver eyes never left Victoria.
"You have exactly one chance."
"Tell me the truth."
Victoria nodded slowly.
"I've been waiting six years for this conversation."
---
She placed her palm on the holographic table.
A beam of blue light scanned her hand.
Nothing happened.
Then...
She removed the elegant silver bracelet from her wrist.
Instantly, her appearance changed.
The smooth skin around her eyes became marked with faint scars.
A long burn stretched across her neck.
Even the color of her hair shifted slightly.
Alina gasped.
"A disguise?"
Victoria gave a sad smile.
"A temporal camouflage field."
"I couldn't let history recognize me."
Lucien stared at her.
"You've been hiding your real identity..."
"...from everyone."
"Yes."
---
EVA completed another scan.
"Identity confirmed."
The AI's voice hesitated for the first time.
"Biological age..."
"...forty-eight."
Alina blinked.
"But she looks thirty."
Victoria nodded.
"I was born twenty-three years from now."
Silence.
"I am not from your present."
"I am from your future."
---
Kael folded his arms.
"So..."
"You traveled through time?"
Victoria looked at him.
"No."
"I escaped."
The room fell silent again.
---
She activated the holographic display.
The modern skyline of Beijing disappeared.
Another city appeared.
Ruined.
Dark.
Covered in towering black crystal vines.
The sky was permanently crimson.
Massive floating fortresses drifted above the broken buildings.
Creatures resembling living shadows hunted through the empty streets.
Alina whispered,
"What happened?"
Victoria's voice broke.
"This..."
"...is Earth in the year 2049."
---
She enlarged the image.
The Great Wall of China had collapsed.
The Eiffel Tower lay in ruins.
New York was flooded beneath black water.
Entire continents had disappeared.
"The Devourer won."
Lucien closed his eyes.
"So we failed."
Victoria looked directly at him.
"No."
"You succeeded."
Everyone frowned.
"What?"
Victoria nodded.
"You defeated the Devourer."
"But victory came too late."
---
She switched to another image.
A battlefield.
Millions of soldiers.
Celestials.
Humans.
Shadow creatures.
At the center stood one man.
Lucien.
His obsidian armor was cracked.
His crown was broken.
He held the Nightfall Blade with both hands.
Behind him...
stood Alina.
Wearing the complete Obsidian Crown.
Together...
they faced a darkness larger than a mountain.
Victoria whispered,
"You won the final battle."
Kael smiled.
"So history has a happy ending."
Victoria looked at him.
"No."
She zoomed in.
The image froze.
Lucien was smiling.
Then...
He dissolved into thousands of black crystal fragments.
Alina screamed.
The battlefield vanished.
---
The room was deathly silent.
Alina couldn't breathe.
"No..."
Victoria looked at her.
"He used Project Eclipse."
Lucien slowly lowered his head.
"So that's how it ends."
Victoria nodded.
"You erased yourself from existence."
"Not just death."
"Not just sacrifice."
"You removed every trace of your soul from reality."
---
Alina grabbed Lucien's arm.
"No."
"We'll find another way."
Lucien didn't answer.
Because he already knew.
There wasn't one.
---
Umbra suddenly stood.
His amber eyes fixed on Victoria.
The enormous wolf slowly approached her.
Everyone became tense.
Instead of attacking...
Umbra gently rested his massive head against her shoulder.
Victoria smiled through tears.
"I missed you too."
Alina frowned.
"You know Umbra?"
Victoria nodded.
"He protected me when I was a child."
Lucien stared at her.
"You've met him before?"
"My entire childhood."
---
Kael suddenly froze.
His expression changed completely.
"Wait..."
He looked carefully at Victoria's face.
Then at Alina.
Then back again.
"No..."
He whispered.
"That's impossible."
Victoria looked away.
Lucien frowned.
"What is it?"
Kael spoke slowly.
"Her eyes..."
"They're exactly like yours."
Alina blinked.
"What are you saying?"
Kael swallowed.
"I've only seen those eyes once."
He looked directly at Victoria.
"Who are your parents?"
Victoria remained silent.
Tears rolled down her face.
She couldn't answer.
---
Before anyone could press further...
Every light inside the conference room exploded.
The walls shook violently.
EVA shouted.
"WARNING!"
"TEMPORAL BREACH DETECTED!"
A circle of brilliant blue light opened in the middle of the room.
Wind howled.
Time itself seemed to bend.
A man stepped through the portal.
He wore a long black coat.
His face was covered by a silver mask.
In his hand...
He carried another Nightfall Blade.
Lucien immediately drew his own sword.
The masked man laughed softly.
"Relax."
"I'm not your enemy."
His voice...
Sounded exactly like Lucien's.
Alina stared in disbelief.
The stranger slowly removed his mask.
Every person in the room froze.
It was Lucien.
Older.
His silver hair was streaked with black.
A scar crossed one eye.
He looked exhausted.
Broken.
As though he had fought for decades without rest.
Future Lucien looked directly at his younger self.
"You have less than thirty days."
"You must not activate Project Eclipse."
Current Lucien narrowed his eyes.
"If you're me..."
"Then why are you still alive?"
Future Lucien smiled sadly.
"Because..."
"I refused to let you make my biggest mistake."
Before anyone could ask another question...
A black spear erupted from the portal.
It pierced straight through Future Lucien's chest.
Blood splattered across the marble floor.
He staggered forward.
His eyes locked onto Alina.
With his final breath, he whispered,
"Don't..."
"...let her remember..."
Then he collapsed.
Behind him...
A tall figure stepped slowly out of the portal.
Dressed in obsidian armor.
Wearing a shattered crown.
His face remained hidden in shadow.
But the voice...
Made Lucien's blood run cold.
"Move aside."
"I'm here..."
"...to kill the Queen."
The figure slowly raised his head.
And beneath the cracked crown...
Alina saw Lucien's face.
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