Reed woke in a silence that was too perfect. There was no wind. No sound of the living earth. Even the sound of his own thoughts seemed to be swallowed up by the void. The fourth world had collapsed—not with a bang, but with a slow obliteration. And he now stood on the threshold of the fifth universe.
His steps were heavy, not because he was hesitant. But because the ground he was on was no longer the ground that knew him.
"This is not our territory," Rina murmured behind him.
Reed turned. Rina looked different under the fifth heaven—her eyes sharper, and the tension in her face seemed to merge with the fabric of a world that was no longer human. Here, meaning was not just shifted. It was dragged. Twisted.
"There is no 'us' here," Reed said flatly. "Just me… and whatever is left of them."
