Chapter 1_ last happy Birthday...
It was a joyful morning of November 3, Strom's 25th birthday.
Laughter filled the house. Joy sat easily on every face, unguarded and real. Gifts piled up on the table, cake crumbs dusted the floor, and jokes flew faster than blades ever had. For once, no one was looking over their shoulder.
Strom (proud): "Twelve years as the Dragon Knight. This evening… is for every life we save."
Cheers followed. Loud. Genuine.
There was no sign of the Demon Lord.
No shadow of a plan.
No omen written in the air.
Just peace.
By nightfall, exhaustion claimed everyone. One by one, voices faded, lights dimmed, and the house surrendered to sleep.
Everyone except Strom.
He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, listening to the quiet. Sleep refused to come. A thought circled his mind like a blade testing its edge.
A plan...
One he wasn't sure he had the right to make.
He turned onto his side, eyes open in the dark.
Strom: "What if I do it?"
Near midnight, when even the guards of habit had fallen asleep, Strom slipped out of bed. He moved without armor, without noise, heading straight toward the Valkyries' territory.
Astrid's house.
Flowra, Astrid, and Wraith were all at Strom's place, asleep after the celebration. The house was empty, just as he needed it to be.
Strom climbed through the window and landed softly inside Wraith's room.
He began searching.
Shelves. Corners. Drawers.
But Nothing.
He knew the book was here. Wraith would never leave it unguarded. Too careful to leave it in plain sight.
Strom exhaled slowly and knelt and found a box under the bed.
He opened it and there it was.
The Book of Time and Space.
For a moment, he didn't touch it.
Then he did.
Strom closed the box, slipped back through the window, locked it behind him, and vanished into the night.
He returned home alone and hid the book carefully.
Not to use it.
Not yet.
because if anyone finds out…
Chaos would follow.
Chapter 2 – Who Are You?
Morning arrived gently.
The house woke up in pieces.
Astrid and Zyphus were already outside, blades clashing and laughter cutting through the air.
Wraith and Violet were busy in the garden, hands stained with soil and sunlight.
Sam stood alone, practicing spells with focused breaths.
Nia was still asleep, wrapped in silence.
Dravyss and Flowra were deep in conversation while cooking, voices calm, movements familiar.
Everything was alive.
Everything was peaceful and It was the perfect time for him.
Strom moved quietly.
He told them he was going to clean the basement.
That was the lie and the truth waited in darkness.
He descended the stairs, each step heavier than the last, and reached the corner where he had hidden it.
Strom pulled the book out and opened it, searching for spells but its...
Blank.
Every page.
Empty.
Strom (confused) : "What the hell?"
He flipped faster. Again. And again.
Nothing. Only Pure white pages.
Frustration surged through him. In anger, Strom threw the book across the basement then a voice echoed.
Book (cold): "Disrespect."
Strom froze and turned sharply (alert): "Who?"
Book (mocking): "Don't act foolish. You know me."
Strom walked toward it, picked the book up again, and this time… a face stared back at him from the cover.
Strom (irritated): "Roses are red, sky is blue. I'm Strom, and who the fuck are you!?"
Book (annoyed): "Manners, boy. That demoness talks the same way."
Strom (sharp): "Who? Wraith?"
Book (casual): "Yes. Your Love."
Strom tightened his grip on the book (steady): "So… you know her. Then you already know what I wanted, right?"
Book (matter-of-fact): "You wish to go back in time and fix everything. But it has a cost."
Strom already knew the rule.
Wraith had paid with her blood magic and He didn't hesitate for once.
Strom (determined): "Yes. I want to fix everything. A world where no one loses anyone. Where families stay together. No pain."
Book (slow): "It will cost something special."
Strom didn't even blink (confidently): "I'm ready. Take my dragon blood. Give me that damn power."
The book paused for a moment then talked.
Book (firm): "I don't want your blood. I want your identity."
Strom stiffened (confused): "What?"
Book (clear): "Your identity. When you change the timeline, no one in the present will remember you."
Strom's breath caught (shaken): "Wait… you mean they'll all be happy, but no one will know me?"
Book (final): "Yes."
Strom (offended): "No. Take something else. If you want to kill me, fine. But not this."
Book (unmoved): "This is the only cost I accept."
Strom's hands trembled (breaking): "What will I do in a world where my friends, my mother, my love… look at me like a stranger?"
Book (cold): "If you wish to change the world, you must pay."
Silence filled the basement.
Strom closed the book slowly and turned away.
Strom (bitter): "If everything is already fine… then who the hell am I to change anything?"
He returned to the hall.
Watched them.
Laughing. Training. Talking. Living.
All Together.
Strom (silent whisper): "We're happy because we're together… I can't leave them."
Chapter 3 – Remaining Scar
Evening
The sunset painted the sky in soft gold and dying crimson, the kind of view that invited honesty. That was why Strom spoke.
Only two figures stood on the cold balcony. Strom and Zyphus. The wind moved like a whisper between them.
Strom: "Zy… can I ask you something?"
Zyphus (grinning): "Yeah, anything. Just don't ask my girlfriend's name."
Strom: "No sir. Single knight. I know you'll die alone."
Zyphus: "Alright, enough. What is it?"
Strom (hesitated, then looked at the horizon). "How do you want it to end?
I mean… the death you'd be satisfied with."
Zyphus (blinked, then laughed): "A satisfied death?
Dying in war, obviously. That's an honor. Imagine a knight dying of a heart attack because he got old. Lame."
Strom: "No war. No old age. Then what?"
Zyphus (fell quite his smile faded. His voice slowed): "If it's like that…
Then I'd rather die by Violet's hands."
Strom turned sharply: "What?"
Zyphus: "Yes. Violet."
Strom: "Any special reason?"
Zyphus exhaled, the wind stealing part of his breath.
Zyphus: "Strom, listen.
She is everything to me. I was three years old when I first called her my sister. Even a single day without seeing her feels like punishment."
He paused...
Zyphus: "It's nature. Everyone needs a partner. I can't change that.
She deserves someone special. Someone who can protect her. Someone to marry her."
Zyphus: "But when that day comes… she will have to leave me.
And I don't think I'll survive that."
Pure silence for a moment.
Zyphus: "So it would be better if she killed me before leaving.
At least I'd die knowing my sister didn't abandon me while I was alive."
Strom said nothing.
There was nothing to argue. Nothing to correct. Zyphus's love for Violet was heavier than any blessing or power the gods could ever offer.
Zyphus (forced a smile): "Sorry! That got dark. Don't take it seriously."
Strom: "…Hmm."
Zyphus: "Enjoy the sunset. I need to pack. Vacations are over."
Zyphus left but Strom remained on the balcony, staring at the fading light. He thought everyone was happy. Now he understood.
'Happiness was just scars learning how to smile.'
Later that evening, Strom found Violet packing her things.
The room was quiet except for the soft sound of folded cloth and shifting bags.
He approached with a calm expression.
Strom: "If you're not busy… may I ask you something?"
Violet: "Why not."
There was no hesitation in her voice, just familiarity.
Strom paused for a moment. Not because he didn't know what to say—because he was deciding how to say it.
Then, casually, almost too casually—
Strom: "Have you ever thought about… dating anyone?"
Violet froze for a moment because this question didn't belong to Strom.
Violet: "Nah… I don't think so."
She continues packing, but slower now.
Violet: "There's no one built for me."
Strom: "But you're actually very pretty… I don't think it's hard to find someone."
Violet: "Maybe. But still no."
She tied the strap of her bag and finally looked at him.
Violet: "Because there's no one who can tolerate me…"
A pause...
Violet: "…except my brother."
Strom (blinked slightly): "That's just a joke, right?"
Violet: "Even when I tease him… prank him… ruin his mornings…"
She gave a small, almost tired smile.
Violet: "I've hurt him too. Many times."
A pause...
Violet: "But if I ever get even a small cut… the first tear I see isn't mine... It's his. And then the bandage follows right after."
Her eyes filled with tears so she looked up to hide them.
Violet: "We both grew up without parents… but for me, it wasn't the same kind of emptiness."
A faint breath.
Violet: "Even when there was no one to guide us… he just… filled every role without asking."
Her voice was low but she was proud.
Violet: "Brother. Father. Mother. Friend. Even when I didn't deserve any of it… he never left that space empty."
Strom went completely silent.
Later that night
Zyphus and Violet left for Elesta, returning to their caste.
Wraith, Astrid, and Flowra departed as well.
Sam and Nia had already left earlier in the evening.
Only Strom and Dravyss remained.
---
Dinner Time
Dravyss: "So, my baby boy. What do you want for dinner?"
Strom: "Anything made with your love."
Dravyss laughed softly and went to the kitchen. Strom followed.
Strom: "Mom… can I ask you
something?"
Dravyss (softly): "Of course, sweetie."
Strom hesitated, then spoke.
Strom: "Why didn't you ever leave Earth… when there was nothing left for you here?"
The kitchen fell silent.
Not the normal kind…
The kind that carries memories.
Dravyss didn't answer immediately.
Then—
Dravyss (quietly): "If you want the honest answer… it's not because I was rejected by the council."
A pause...
Dravyss: "It's because this place never felt… distant."
Strom (frowned): "…What does that even mean?"
Dravyss let out a faint breath.
Dravyss: "I was the greatest knight of my kind. Everyone respected me… but no one ever spoke to me like family."
Her eyes lowered slightly.
Dravyss: "Every time I returned from war, people thanked me. Children would run up and say 'Knight Ma'am' with shining eyes…"
A small breath.
Dravyss: "And yet I... felt jealous."
Strom (blinked confused): "Jealous?"
Dravyss (nodded): "When I saw someone walking with their children… laughing… living something I could never have."
Strom: "But why? You could've just—"
Dravyss (cutting gently): "I'm a Knight-class Dragon, Strom. We are not allowed to have families if we choose to protect the world."
A beat.
Dravyss: "And if we leave that duty… we lose everything. Our name. Our place. Our worth. So we either die in war… or live long enough to wait for the next one."
Pure Silence...
Dravyss (lower): "People don't pray for their children to become knights… they pray it never happens."
Strom had no answer.
Still—
Strom: "But you were the strongest of them all…"
Dravyss looked at him: "Strong for what?"
A pause.
Dravyss: "To bleed in every battle… to sit alone while others celebrate… to be respected so much… that no one dares to get close?"
The words settled.
Strom fell silent.
Dravyss exhaled slowly, her tone softening.
Dravyss: "When I came to Earth, people feared me at first… but later, they didn't."
A faint warmth appeared.
Dravyss: "Villagers invited me into their festivals. Children climbed over me like I was part of their games."
A small smile.
Dravyss: "They didn't treat me like a goddess… they treated me like family."
Silence.
Lighter now.
Strom (quietly): "…So that's why you stayed."
Dravyss (nodded): "Humans are strange… but they gave me something my own world never did."
She glanced around, then back at him.
Dravyss: "They let me call this place home."
A soft pause.
Dravyss (gently): "Earth can be chaotic… loud… unpredictable…"
Then—
Dravyss: "But it's still beautiful."
---
Later after dinner, Dravyss went to sleep but Strom did not, he just couldn't.
Sleep refused him.
He wanted to change everything. Every fate. Every scar.
But the price was being forgotten.
And that… was worse than death itself.
Chapter 4 – It's not true
Strom tried to sleep, but couldn't.
Thoughts crowded his mind like restless ghosts, circling, whispering. Finally, he gave up. He rose from the bed and walked to the kitchen for water.
He picked up a glass, filled it, drank, and turned back toward his room.
Strom finally fell asleep.
But sleep didn't bring rest.
He stood in a place where nothing existed.
No ground. No sky. Just a hollow darkness stretching endlessly.
Silence.
Then a voice—
"Not strong enough."
Strom (confused): "Who?"
Voice: "Tell me… are you strong enough?"
Strom (irritated): "Enough for what? And who are you?"
A figure began to form.
Slowly… it stepped closer.
And then—
He saw himself standing in front of him.
Not a mirror.
Not a reflection.
Strom (real, shaken): "What… how?"
Nightmare Strom: "Tell me… are you strong enough to be alone for everyone's happiness?"
Strom stayed silent.
For the first time... he didn't have an answer… or he refused to face it.
Then—
Laughter.
Soft at first. Distant.
But familiar.
Strom turned.
The void began to fill.
Shapes formed. Faces followed.
Sam stood there, practicing spells like nothing ever changed.
Wraith leaned nearby, calm, watching with Nia.
Astrid laughed, loud and alive.
Violet and Zyphus argued like always.
And in the center—
Dravyss.
Smiling.
Strom stepped forward: "Hey—"
No one reacted.
Not a glance. Not a pause.
His steps slowed.
But something felt deeply wrong.
They weren't ignoring him.
They just couldn't see him anymore.
Nightmare Strom (quietly):
"This is your perfect world."
Strom shallow hard.
Nightmare Strom:
"No pain. No loss. No suffering…"
(A small pause.)
"…and not even you."
Strom rushed forward, trying to reach them.
His hand passed through Sam like air.
Nothing.
The laughter continued.
Warmer now.
Real.
Complete.
But without him.
Another voice echoed—
Mocking.
Familiar.
"See? You're still that worthless boy."
Strom froze.
He knew that voice.
He turned—
Nothing.
Empty.
Then he turned again and he stood there.
Holding something.
Strom's served head, eyes closed, blood dripping slowly into nothing.
Darkius dropped it.
The head vanished before it even touched the ground.
Darkius stepped closer.
Darkius (cold):
"You fix everything…"
Another step.
"…and erase yourself."
The world around them began to crack.
The smiling figures shattered like glass.
The laughter distorted into something unbearable.
Darkius (whisper):
"Tell me… are you strong enough…"
A pause that felt endless.
"…to disappear?"
Everything collapsed.
Strom woke up instantly.
Breathing hard. Sweat dripping. Heart pounding like it was trying to escape.
Strom (shaken): "No… it can't be."
Moments later he tried to sleep again, tried to forget what he saw, but it wasn't possible anymore.
So he got up and walked to Dravyss.
She was sleeping calmly.
Strom sat near her feet even if the floor was cold, but it was the only place where he felt safe.
Strom (low, breaking): "I'm not strong enough."
———
Next Morning
Strom entered the basement and reached the table.
Book (teasing): "What happened? Saw someone?"
Strom snapped his head up: "How do you know that?"
Book: "I know everything, brat."
Strom: "Mind your language, or I'll rip every page of you."
Book: "You won't. You need me."
Strom leaving the place in anger, things aren't going as he planned.
---
Later, when his mind returned to silence, Strom took the book and went back to the basement.
This time, he was different.
Calmer. Sharper, like something has changed in him.
It feels like Strom knows something that the Book doesn't.
Book: "So… are you ready?"
Strom (without hesitation):
"Yes. But on one condition."
Book: "Oh? Trading with me now?"
Strom: "I need a partner on this mission."
Book: "You want the dragon with you.
But remember… when you change everything, she will forget y—"
Strom (cutting him off): "I'm ready. Just tell me how time travel works."
Book: "That's my power. You'll travel with me.
Anything bound to you will remain but only non living things."
Strom: "My weapons? My armor?"
Book: "Yes, knight."
Strom (paused): "One more thing. When everyone forgets me… will I forget them too?"
Book: "No.
You'll remember everything.
You'll live with the memories while the ones you love won't even know your name."
Strom (swallowed): "How many times can I go back?"
Book: "As many times as you want."
A brief pause followed, like pages turning in a place without wind.
Book: "But when everything ends… I will take the price and leave you."
Strom (narrowing): "So you're not allowed to leave mid-mission?"
Book: "Correct."
Its tone was flat, almost tired.
Book: "As long as the contract is in progress… I cannot leave."
Strom: "Okay fine."
---
Strom took the book and went to the hall.
Dravyss was sitting there, reading another book.
Strom: "Mom… I need your help."
Dravyss: "Of course. Anything."
Strom explained the time travel. The plan. The chance to fix everything.
He didn't tell her about the cost.
Dravyss (shocked): "Son, changing the past can destroy the future. Leave this idea."
Strom: "We can handle it.
Imagine, Mom. No one loses their family. Everything is perfect. Everyone stays the same.
Dravyss: "I still don't think this is right."
His voice softened.
Strom: "Please.
I can save my real partners. I don't have to lose them... Please."
Dravyss went silent.
Then she spoke, because she is still his dragon mother not the real one.
Dravyss: "…Okay.
Anything for you. If this makes you happy, I'll help."
Strom's face lit up: 'Thank you, Mom!"
---
He ran to the cave forge, gathered what he needed to save.
Armor on.
Spear in hand and returned home.
Dravyss: "Strom, there's still time to stop. This could be dangerous."
Strom: "Danger?
I know my mother is strong enough to make fear lose control."
Dravyss smiled faintly.
Then her expression hardened.
Dravyss: "Alright, Let's do this."
Chapter 5 – The House of Memories
After convincing Dravyss and collecting his Armour Strom prepared himself for the time travel.
On the surface, he was ready.
But deep inside, Dravyss knew this choice might change everything.
Before traveling back, Strom went somewhere alone.
A place he had only seen in nightmares. A place he never ever had the courage to visit.
But this was the last time because after tonight, it would exist only as a memory.
The house of his real parents...
Strom stood before it in darkness and silence.
The house was still the same as he remembered faintly. Old. Quiet. Slowly fading, as if time itself was trying to erase it. He had no memories of his childhood, stolen by Darkius, yet the place still felt familiar.
He placed his hand against the wall.
Strom: "Maybe in another life."
He closed his eyes.
This was his farewell.
To everything he never had.
To everything he was about to sacrifice.
With that weight in his chest, Strom returned home.
---
Dravyss was waiting. Tears filled her eyes. The Book of Time and Space lay open on the table. And she knew the cost now.
Strom (trying to speak): "Mom, it's just—"
Dravyss (cutting him off): "What did I do wrong?
Didn't I give you enough love? Why are you doing this?"
Strom (lowered his gaze):"It's not your fault… I'm doing this by my own choice."
Dravyss: "Your own choice? By making us forget everything?
Is that how you plan to fix the world?"
Strom (stayed quiet for a second, then stepped closer): "You won't lose anything this time…"
Dravyss (shook her head): "I don't believe you. You want everyone to have a perfect life… but what about you?"
She stepped closer, voice trembling.
Dravyss: "Even your real parents won't recognize you after that. You'll be alone again."
Strom (shaking slightly):
"Then I'll deal with it… I always do."
Dravyss (broke): "No! You can't do this! You deserve happiness too! You deserve a life where you can smile!"
Strom (didn't raise his voice): "I do have a life…
and I want to spend it seeing everyone happy..."
Dravyss (voice cracked completely): "But I don't want to forget the feeling of being your mother."
That line hit.
Strom (stepped forward, quieter now): "You won't forget it… you'll just have someone better to remember."
Dravyss (froze for a second, then shook her head hard):"No… I won't accept this."
Her foot slammed the ground, the table cracking under her fist.
Dravyss: "I won't sit here and listen to you erase yourself like it means nothing!"
Strom didn't argue. He moved instantly, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Strom (low, urgent): "Calm down… please… you won't lose anything."
Dravyss: "See? This… is what I'll lose. In your perfect world… there won't be anyone left to hold me like this."
Strom (eyes trembled, but he forced the words out): "There will be someone… I promise."
She pushed back just enough to look into his eyes.
Dravyss: "I don't believe you."
Strom: "Please… just believe me… for the last time."
She stared at him, long and heavy, like memorizing something that was already leaving. Then she nodded once.
Dravyss: "Yes… the last time."
She pulled him closer, holding him like she was trying to stop time itself.
Dravyss: "You really grew up."
Strom (closed his eyes). "No… you raised me."
They stayed like that, wrapped in silence and everything they couldn't say.
Finally, she let go.
Not because she agreed with him.
But because she couldn't hold him forever like this.
And if this was what made Strom happy… she would accept it.
Strom (low voice to book): "I'm ready."
The book's voice echoed in the quiet hall.
Book: "Great. Here we go."
The book split open.
Its pages glowed brighter and brighter until light surged forward, swallowing Strom, Dravyss, and the room itself.
Then—
Silence.
The world folded.
Chapter 6 – The First Life to Change
The book could read minds.
So it took them exactly where Strom wanted.
The Dark Swamp.
A forest drowned in mud and shadow. Trees stood twisted and leafless, their branches clawing at the sky. Laughter echoed through the air, thin and distant, even though no one was there.
Dravyss (looked around slowly): "Where are we?"
Strom: "The place that destroyed countless lives."
Dravyss (frowned): "It feels like a witch forest."
Strom: "It is.
And we're here to stop it from being born."
Dravyss: "Stop what?"
Strom: "Yeyna!."
Dravyss (snapped): "What?
You came here for that witch?
The one who tried to kill the people you love?
The one who made you suffer?"
Strom (trying to explain): "Mom, listen to me."
She hesitated and didn't want to listen to anything about her.
Strom: "She wasn't evil by choice.
She became what she was because someone once asked her a simple question."
Dravyss narrowed her eyes.
Strom: "I asked her if she was okay."
Silence.
Strom (low): "I became the only light she ever felt… and then left her in darkness."
A pause of guilt.
Strom: "It was my fault. I gave her false hope."
Dravyss (mocking): "And how do you plan to do that?"
Strom (firm): "There's a book.
A record where special witches are marked as the Chosen Daughters of the Hell Knight.
If we change that… the curse never begins."
Dravyss (took a breath and still hesitated but agreed at last): "Alright. I'm ready."
Strom: "This is the timeline where the Hell Knight was captured by the gods.
Before the curse starts… we rewrite it."
---
Dravyss transformed into her Dragon form.
Scales, wings, flame and claws
She lifted Strom in her claws and took to the sky, a moment later they saw it.
Book: "See that castle?
The book is there."
They landed atop the castle roof and instantly Strom leapt through a library window.
Inside, a wizard sat at a large table, writing in a thick brown book.
The wizard froze after seeing him.
Wizard (shocked): "Who are you?"
Strom: "Is that the Book of Chosen Daughters?"
Wizard: "Yes, but how are you—"
Strom's fist struck his face.
The wizard collapsed instantly.
Strom: "You know memory-erasing spells, right?"
Book: "Yes."
Strom: "Good."
Strom picked up the quill, dipped it into ink, and began to write.
He rewrote fate itself.
The New Fate was written :- Witches born with a demon-head mark upon their back are rare and sacred. They are blessed by ancient demons and must be protected, not feared.
He closed the book.
Then the spell activated.
The wizard's memory was erased completely. He would never know whether he finished the book himself… or if someone else had touched it.
Strom (to the book): "Use that spell again."
Book: "On who?"
Strom: "Time will tell."
For the first time, the book hesitated.
Even with its power, reading Strom's mind was difficult. His plans shifted constantly, changing faster than thought itself.
---
Later, Strom, Dravyss, and the book stood on quiet ground.
The forest around them had gone still, like even the wind didn't want to interrupt what was about to happen.
Dravyss had her own plan within all this chaos.
She intended to pull Strom back mid-mission… before anything could truly go wrong.
But that 'small hope' of hers didn't understand the rules of the universe.
Dravyss: "Did you finish?"
Strom (nodded). "Yes."
The book shifted slightly in his hand, its pages whispering against each other like something alive stretching awake.
Book: "Understood."
For a brief second, nothing happened.
Then—
A faint glow slipped out from between the pages.
Thin at first. Then sharper.
It moved like a thread of light… slow, deliberate… until it reached Dravyss.
She didn't even have time to react.
The moment it touched her—
Her body went still.
Her eyes widened just slightly…
Then—
She collapsed.
Strom (stepped forward instantly): "Mom!"
He caught her before she hit the ground, lowering her carefully. Her breathing was there… steady… but something felt off.
Too quiet.
Too empty.
Strom (tense): "Did it work?"
The book didn't answer immediately.
Like it was… checking something.
Then—
Book (calm, certain): "Yes. The spell worked perfectly. I never fail."
Strom exhaled slowly, tension leaving his shoulders.
Strom: "…Good."
A few seconds passed.
Then Dravyss stirred.
A faint movement of her fingers.
Her eyes slowly opened, unfocused at first… then settling.
Dravyss (weak, confused): "…Where are we?"
Strom's expression softened instantly, stepping into the lie without hesitation.
Strom: "Mom? You forgot again?"
Dravyss: "Again!, Forgot what?"
Strom: "Darkius did this.
He cast a spell on you. That's why you're losing memories."
She looked confused.
Dravyss: "I don't remember anything like this."
Strom: "You asked to find a way and I brought a time travelling book, so now we are going to change the past then cure your memory."
Dravyss (still confused): "So… this was my plan?"
Strom: "Yes. It's Yours and I'm helping you now."
He smiled gently.
Strom: "We'll fix everything and return to our real timeline.
Okay?"
Dravyss (nodded slowly): "Okay."
Strom (thought): "I'm sorry, Mom.
Without this spell… the ending would hurt you far more."
But then Dravyss collapsed from a sharp headache, laying still on the cold ground.
Chapter 7 – No Mercy
Hours later, Dravyss finally recovered from the headache that had been tearing her skull from the inside.
It was the aftereffect of the spell from the book, though he had told her it was Darkius.
Strom remained silent, watching her closely.
He knew tomorrow was a future where everyone would forget him, so he held onto every second like it was fragile glass.
Strom (thought): "The very last time… the feeling of having a mother."
He knew that when everything changed and he returned to the present, even his real parents wouldn't ever recognize him.
That timeline would be different.
A timeline where Dravyss never came to Earth.
Book (quietly, mocking): "Be ready to live with memories that never happened."
Strom (irritated): "Can't you just shut your mouth? I want to fix everything… but I don't want to lose anything."
Book (calm): "I told you. Every miracle has a special cost."
He continues.
Book: "I don't care whether your actions are morally good or not. I simply help… and take the price."
Strom stayed silent.
He didn't want to answer.
Book: "Most of them leave when they realize they cannot afford the cost."
A brief second later.
Book: "But you did this to yourself."
Just before Strom could reply, Dravyss slowly stood up, holding her head.
When the memory-erasing spell is used on her that time she was in her dragon form.
In human form, the pain was far worse and unbearable.
Dravyss (wincing): "Ouch… it hurts so much."
She sat beside Strom, resting her head on his shoulder, eyes closed.
A quiet moment or the last moment.
Strom's chest tightened. He wanted to cry, to scream, but he couldn't.
Revealing the truth now would destroy his plan.
Dravyss (eyes still closed): "What are you thinking, son?"
Strom (quietly): "Nothing… just planning to kill someone."
Dravyss (opening one eye): "You told me we were here to save lives. Then why killing?"
Strom (firm): "Some just don't deserve redemption."
Dravyss (serious): "And who are we to decide who lives and who doesn't?"
Strom (steady): "We're creating a new timeline. Pure evil ends here."
Book (suddenly loud): "Hey! That's not in our plan!"
Dravyss (shocked): "Wait—how is a book speaking?"
Strom (casual): "Oh, that book? It's just a helping motherfucker. Don't pay attention to him."
Book (offended): "Didn't you get anything better to introduce me?"
Strom (lips moving, no sound): "Fuck you!."
Book (thought): "I belong to gods… and now I'm getting roasted by a mommy's boy."
Dravyss stood up again, fully composed.
The headache was gone.
And somehow… she agrees with him.
Dravyss (resolved): "Alright. Where's the first target?"
Strom (cold): "Let's go."
Strom (in his mind): "If saving everyone means becoming the thing I hate… then so be it."
The book instantly teleported them far away, into a quiet forest near a dark tree house.
The house was dim. Silent.
Someone was inside.
Strom couldn't see her.
But the book could.
Dravyss could.
The Crimson Witch...
Dravyss (calm): "So… how are we going to kill her?"
Strom: "Anything you suggest?"
Dravyss: "What about leaving her?"
Strom (confused): "What?"
Dravyss: "What if we just let her live happily?"
Strom (cold): "Then Nia won't!"
His words were enough to pull up a memory she always tried to forget.
The day the Crimson Witch attacked when Nia was in the kitchen.
Dravyss saved her at the right moment, everything ended… but not peacefully.
Because even after she was safe in Dravyss's arms, Nia just couldn't stop herself from trembling.
Even while being protected… she kept crying.
After that in a blink, Dravyss transformed into her dragon form and rushed the house.
No mercy.
No hesitation.
Only one bite and mission completed.
The forest fell silent, as if even the trees refused to comment on what had just happened.
The book's pages fluttered once, unsettled.
Book (shocked): "How can someone call her… mother?"
Strom didn't answer immediately.
His eyes stayed on the ground where life had just ended.
Strom (proud): "I can say that… because it was different for me."
Book: "Different?"
A pause.
Not hesitation.
Something heavier.
Strom: "Everyone gets a life to live…"
(His voice lowered)
Strom: "…but mine isn't like that, never."
The wind moved faintly through the trees, carrying nothing with it.
Strom: "I wasn't given a life."
(A hollow breath...)
Strom: "I was allowed to have one."
The book went quiet for a second, then replied, almost curious—
Book: "You mean… she let you breathe?"
Strom's grip on his weapon tightened slightly.
Strom: "Don't ask me how someone calls her 'mother'…"
A pause.
His eyes finally lifted.
Strom: "…ask how someone like her… could ever call someone like me 'son'."
Silence answered him.
Strom (quiet, final):
"My life… is just a borrowed time."
The forest didn't react.
But something in the air shifted.
Like the world had heard a truth it wasn't supposed to.
Book (curious): "She must be proud of you. I've seen humans act for greed, but you're different. Why?"
Strom (calm): "I don't know."
Dravyss returned, blood staining her jaw, eyes bright, genuinely happy with murder.
Dravyss (satisfied): "No more red bitch hurting my daughter."
Strom (nodding): "Yeah. We saved Nia."
Dravyss (stretching): "Anyone else, or are we done?"
Strom (smile): "Not yet."
To be continued…