I was having trouble breathing, and the man in the room called out, panicked:
"I think she's hyperventilating! I don't know what to do!"
"Move!" a woman barked as she rushed in. She knelt in front of me, holding my shoulders firmly but gently. "It's okay, Snowe… Calm down. Breathe with me. Deep breaths… It's going to be okay."
Her voice was steady and grounding. After a few minutes, my breathing slowed, and I began to feel normal again. The man from earlier sat down across from me.
"I'm sorry… I should have been more considerate with how I gave you that information."
You think?! I bit back the sarcastic comment, glaring instead.
He continued, "Now the question is… do you want to stay here, or are you requesting transport back to our homeworld? It'll take two days to process your ID and passport if you decide to remain here…"
"I'll… go back. I want to see what I missed."
"Oh—my name is Muko, by the way. Forgot to mention." He reached over the table to shake my hand. I accepted the gesture.
"If you return within a week, there's no charge. After that… I can't promise it'll be easy."
I nodded in understanding and pulled my hand back.I'm going home. I should be excited… but instead, my thoughts are a mess.
It took a few more hours for the teleportation device to be ready, since others were traveling too. The woman from earlier and Muko were both waiting, along with five people I didn't recognize. The transport room had a skylight, and I saw the sun setting—my first time truly noticing it.
It made me wish… No. I shouldn't think about him.Not right now.
But it would've been nice if he were here.If he could hold me while I cried.
The tears had started ever since I heard about my father's death…But I hadn't made a sound. Maybe no one noticed.
"Stand in the center of the circle! The trip will only take a few seconds, but you may feel queasy upon landing. Please ready yourselves—we depart in 30 seconds!"
A timer lit up above the circle. We all gathered close and waited.The moment the timer hit zero, a white light enveloped us.
And then—I was back on Infaniya.
Some buildings looked unfamiliar, but the air… it felt like home.Still, I was the last to fly away. Maybe because I had no real home to return to.
Instead, I headed to the prison—the only one on the entire planet. It was on an island governed by all three continents. As I approached the gates, a guard stepped forward.
"What's your business here?" he asked, arms crossed.
"I… want to visit a prisoner."
He looked surprised but led me to the visitor entrance anyway.When I told them I wanted to see Qon Ark, the warden commented:
"Oh, him? He's surprisingly popular. We rarely had visitors before he arrived."
That churned my stomach, but I kept my disgust to myself.
After signing some paperwork, I was led to a visitation room: one table, three chairs. I sat down while the officer remained standing.
A moment later, Qon was brought in.
His hair was unkempt, and he looked tired—but otherwise, exactly the same.
"Snowe…? Snowe?! It's really you!" He turned to the guard. "See? It's her! I'm not a murderer! Look!"
"Sit down!" the guard barked, shoving him into the seat across from me. Then he left the room.
Qon was giddy—practically bouncing.
"Where've you been?" he asked, all smiles, as if he had a right to speak to me that way.
"I… don't remember. I disappeared from your house and ended up on Earth a month ago."
He muttered something under his breath, then said, "A month? Then why are you just now getting here?"
"You should be grateful I showed up at all!" I snapped. The guard outside shushed me, and I lowered my voice.
"It's just… I've been in here so long. For something I didn't even do," Qon said bitterly. "Even a month less would've been nice."
He didn't care where I'd been. He only cared about being freed.
"You deserve to be here," I said coldly.
He rolled his eyes. "You don't really believe that."
I glanced toward the glass, then whispered:"You raped me. And I'm sure you've manipulated plenty of others and gotten away with it."
"Rape? Even if I did, that was a long time ago—and I didn't even get to finish! The max sentence for rape is forty years. I've spent ninety-nine in this hellhole!"
"It doesn't feel like it's been that long to me," I said, my voice quivering. "I'm still not over it. The least you could do is show some remorse."
But his face remained indifferent.
"Well, your perception's the problem, not mine. I'm not the one who lost a hundred years of memory," he said with irritation.
I flinched. Even now, part of me feared him.
"And besides, your boyfriend tortured me enough."
Boyfriend? He could only be talking about one person.
"Smoke… tortured you?"
"Oh, yes. Every day. For ten years." He held up his hands, revealing missing fingernails and stitch marks, like they'd been crudely reattached. "He made healing feel like a curse… these scars won't fade. Some parts of me will never recover."
He rubbed his wrist, where I now noticed similar stitches, some trailing down his neck.
"I didn't know…" I said quietly, keeping my eyes down.
"These aren't even the worst of it. He's… very skilled with toxins."
"I… I'm glad he did it," I blurted.
Qon's eyes blazed. "You selfish bitch! I took you in when no one else wanted you! And you think I deserved this?! I wish I had killed you, b*tch!"
The guard burst in and restrained him.
"Visitation's over."
I guess that was his breaking point.
Just how badly had Smoke hurt him?
I'd seen Smoke fight. He always won, but I never imagined him as sadistic.I left the prison and headed straight for my next destination:The Southern Palace.
It was unguarded, as usual, home to the world's most powerful beings.I made my way through the vast gardens and knocked on the grand door.
Serco answered—Smoke's older brother. He looked just like an older version of him, red eyes flickering like flame.
"What?" he asked curtly.
I smiled despite myself—he reminded me of Raijian.
"I'm here to see Smoke."
He stared for a moment, then stepped aside.The palace shimmered with gold-lined walls and flecks of light in the marble floors.
I remembered the way to Smoke's room, thankfully. I had to escort myself—Serco vanished somewhere.
I'd only been here once before, with Ibij, to pick up Smoke for a party.
I knocked. He opened the door—shirtless, smoking. His hair was longer now, falling to his waist.
When he saw me, he dropped the cigarette and stomped it out. He looked completely uncomposed—something I'd never seen from him.
"Hi," I said shyly.
He immediately pulled me into a tight embrace.
"Snowe… Is it really you?! What the heck?!"
His reaction was such a relief after everything today.
"Let's talk in the library," he said, tugging me along before I could even respond.
Inside, he sealed the door and erected a soundproof barrier.
"Where have you been?" he asked, hopping onto a reading table.
I sat beside him.
"So… I may have accidentally used time travel," I admitted sheepishly.
"…What?"
"Let me explain! I was caught in a dangerous situation—"
"I know that part," he interrupted.
"Mhm. I was scared. I wanted to escape… and the next thing I knew, I was in the future."
Smoke turned to vapor and materialized twelve copies of himself, each scanning the shelves.
"Oh, here it is!" one clone shouted. The others vanished into him, and he pulled a book from the shelf.
"You can have this."
I looked at the title.The Tale of the White Rabbit
Smoke sat beside me again.
"It's about a rabbit who travels through time to escape danger. Supposedly, the rabbit chooses a host and gives them its power, but the downside is, it can't control what time it lands in. I always thought it was fiction. I guess not."
I flipped through it. No author listed. But the story—it was mine.I hugged the book to my chest.
"Thank you."
Smoke laughed. "You've always been awkward. I guess you didn't have time to change."
I lowered my gaze. "Thank you for standing up for me... For everything."
He hugged me again. "Of course I did. I felt useless for not being able to protect you. I had to do something."
"That wasn't your fault. It was mine. I didn't tell you what I was going through. I was ashamed. You… you did more than enough."
Smoke sighed and gently pushed me away.
"You should go."
My heart sank. "I'm sorry."
He chuckled. "You haven't done anything wrong. It's just… someone's waiting for me. In my room."My stomach dropped. Wait… What? He was shirtless and disheveled when I arrived. Am I cockblocking?! "Plus, you keep reminding me why I liked you back then. That's not good," he added.
I blinked. "I always wondered why you liked me."
"Snowe… I'm engaged. But…" he looked into my eyes, "I might just have to leave her now that you're back."
My heart stopped.
Is he serious? I didn't even know what to say.