The Extra's Transcension-Chapter 90: Return [3]

****"

"Owwww..."

Lyrium groaned, pressing a chunk of ice to the swelling knot on his head.

"By the fucking stars, that hurts."

Beside him stood Margaret, arms locked across her chest, silver eyes flashing like a drawn blade.

Ren lounged nearby, perfectly still but clearly entertained, while Alicia hovered a step back, watching the sparks start to fly.

"Can’t you hit slower? It hurts so much, damn it!"

Lyrium barked, wincing as he adjusted the ice.

"Hit you slowly?!"

Margaret shot back, her voice sharp enough to crack stone.

"You jumped right in front of me! Where in the world did you even come from? I didn’t know you could phase through walls now!"

They leaned toward each other until their foreheads nearly touched, neither backing down.

The air between them sizzled with unspoken challenge, like two storms colliding.

Ren tilted his head toward Alicia, his voice a lazy whisper.

"Are they... making out their love or something?"

Alicia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Honestly, you two..."

Raising her voice, she stepped forward.

"Lyrium. Margaret. Stop it, both of you, right now!"

The room vibrated with a tense silence.

Lyrium and Margaret stayed locked in their mock duel for a heartbeat longer before finally easing back, barely.

The door creaked open, letting in a rush of cooler air. Two familiar figures stepped inside, Silas, calm as ever, and Lily, her eyes already scanning the room.

Silas spoke first, his voice carrying an easy warmth.

"I heard you were injured, so we came to check on you, Lyrium."

Before he could say more, Lily brushed past him with quick, light steps. She crouched slightly to meet Lyrium’s eyes, a gentle smile softening her concern.

"Lyrium, is this the thing?"

She asked, tapping a finger toward the bruise on his temple.

"No, not this one,"

Lyrium replied, lowering the ice pack just enough to reveal the bruise. He cut a sly glance toward Margaret.

"This masterpiece was courtesy of a certain witch."

Margaret stiffened, but didn’t deny it.

Silas caught the side-eye immediately, a slow grin tugging at his lips.

Lily’s brows arched in quiet amusement as she folded her arms.

"So,"

Silas said, a teasing edge creeping into his tone,

"What really happened here?"

Lyrium exhaled through his nose, the ice pack sliding a little against his temple.

’Haaa... there’s no point trying to twist this,’

He thought.

’Ren and Instructor Alicia saw the whole thing anyway. I’ll have to spill it all, the library, the strange surge of mana, blacking out... everything.’

He cleared his throat, feeling every pair of eyes fix on him.

"So... the thing is,"

The room seemed to lean in.

Margaret crossed her arms tighter, Ren tilted his head with a faint smirk, and Alicia’s steady gaze all but pinned him to the couch. Silas and Lily waited, curious and silent.

Lyrium rubbed the back of his neck, searching for the right words.

"It’s... not as simple as a bump on the head."

Lyrium drew a long breath, eyes flicking from one expectant face to the next. Alright... keep the big things buried. Just the parts they can handle.

"So... here’s what actually happened,"

He began, lowering the ice pack to his lap.

"I went to the academy library last night with Ren. We were chasing down an old grimoire I’d only heard rumors about ofc, one of those dusty tomes locked behind the restricted section. Thought it might help with... you know, our next exams."

Margaret arched a brow, unconvinced.

"You, studying for exams? That’s already suspicious."

’Whats with Margaret? She’s acting different’ Lyrium with concern thought.

Lyrium ignored the jab and pressed on.

"When I finally found it, the air felt... heavy. Like static before a lightning strike. The runes on the page started glowing on their own. I tried to step back, but the next thing I knew, a surge of mana wrapped around me. It was like the room itself snapped shut."

Ren leaned forward, interest flickering in his usually unreadable eyes.

"Actuay we triggered a containment spell, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, Something like that,"

Lyrium said with a shrug.

"The pressure built fast, my vision went black. I must’ve passed out, because when I woke up I was on the Infirmary bed."

Silas whistled low.

"That explains the bruise?"

"Not exactly,"

Lyrium said, casting a pointed glance at Margaret.

Margaret huffed and crossed her arms tighter but didn’t deny it.

"I was freak out when I find myself in the Infirmary and my body suddenly vibrates, well, and phased through the floor directly ending up into our resident stormcloud,"

Lyrium continued, gesturing toward Margaret with a crooked grin.

"She thought I was up to another one of my ’brilliant disasters’ and... here we are."

Lily tilted her head, concern softening her voice.

"But no lingering spell effects? No strange voices, visions... anything?"

Lyrium forced an easy smile.

"Nothing I can’t handle. Just a pounding headache and a very sore skull."

And a few truths none of you need to hear about the upper realm or... whatever that thing was, he added silently.

Alicia studied him for a long moment, as though weighing the spaces between his words. Finally, she nodded.

"Next time, you call for backup before poking at ancient runes. Understood?"

"Yes, Instructor,"

Lyrium said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Lesson learned."

"Well, we’ll let you rest for today,"

Alicia said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied the bruise.

"But you’re still expected in class tomorrow. No excuses."

Lyrium gave a lazy salute with the hand holding the ice pack.

"Yes, Instructor."

Silas stepped forward, reaching out to ruffle Lyrium’s hair with a lopsided grin.

"Rest up, troublemaker. I’ll head out for now."

"Hey, careful, still tender!"

Lyrium winced, but a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Lily followed Silas to the door, her expression soft.

"Rest well, Lyrium,"

She said, offering a gentle smile before turning to leave.

They were nearly through the doorway when Lyrium suddenly called out,

"Miss Alicia!"

Alicia paused, tilting her head back toward him.

"Hmm?"

She asked, her steady gaze inviting explanation.

"Can I... talk to you for a few minutes?"

His voice held an unfamiliar seriousness.

Alicia hesitated, eyes narrowing in thought. After a beat she nodded.

"Alright."

Before the moment could deepen, Ren leaned against the doorframe with a grin that spelled mischief.

"Mate, are you about to confess your undying love to Miss Alicia?"

"REN!"

Lyrium, Alicia, Silas, and even Lily barked in unison.

Ren threw up his hands.

"Okay, okay, chill, everyone. My bad."

Still chuckling to himself, he slipped out behind the others.

The door clicked shut, leaving Alicia and Lyrium alone in a sudden hush.

*****

Alicia lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping slightly beneath her weight.

"So,"

She said, folding her hands in her lap,

"What is the thing you want share?"

Lyrium shifted, suddenly aware of the chill from the melting ice pack.

"Umm... the truth is, I didn’t actually tell everything to you, or to Silas, Lily, or Ren and Margaret."

A faint twitch pulled at the corner of Alicia’s eye.

Her curiosity sharpened into focus.

"Go on,"

She said, voice quiet but firm.

"What’s the truth?"

Lyrium drew a slow breath.

"It’s... bigger than a library mishap."

He hesitated, then began to speak, the words spilling out like stones breaking free of a dam.

He told her of the Book of Destiny, how a mysterious entity uses when it, and how the very fabric of time itself had reset.

He described the strange sensation of standing outside reality as the timeline unraveled and rewove itself, how, when he awoke, the world had shifted just enough to feel wrong.

He explained how there were no Silas, Lily, and Margaret even Ren in that timeline. He spoke of Ember and the hidden people of the Forest, of battles fought and memories forged that no longer existed.

And finally, he whispered of the life he’d lived there as Ash Niclose, a name that felt half dream and half scar.

Through it all, Alicia remained silent, her gaze locked on him.

Only the subtle tightening of her fingers betrayed how deeply she was listening.

When Lyrium finally stopped, the room felt charged, as if the very air held its breath.

Alicia exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as she weighed every word.

"You realize," She said at last, "that if anyone else heard this, they’d think you’d lost your mind."

Lyrium gave a weak laugh.

"I wouldn’t blame them."

But Alicia didn’t look away.

"I don’t think you’re lying,"

She murmured.

"And that scares me more."

Lyrium pressed his fingertips to his temple, a faint frown creasing his brow.

"But here’s the strange part... Margaret, Lily, Silas, they’re all different now. In the original timeline, Margaret was distant, practically ice. We were barely even acquaintances. Lily didn’t know me at all, not personally. And Silas..."

He gave a small, disbelieving laugh.

"He practically had a grudge against me, barely spoke to me unless he had to. Ren’s the only one who’s stayed exactly the same."

Alicia tilted her head, her eyes searching his face.

"What about me?"

Lyrium blinked. "Hmm?"

"I mean," she said, her voice quieter, "have I changed?"

He studied her for a moment, then shook his head slowly.

"No... I don’t think so. You’re the same as you were in the original timeline. Steady. Unchanged."

Alicia exhaled softly and gave a small, almost relieved nod.

"Good,"

She murmured.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Alicia finally spoke.

"I’m not really an expert in science... or time travel... or quantum relativity theory, but I can tell you a thing or two."

She stood up from the bed and began rummaging around, searching for something. After a moment, she returned holding a simple cup.

"This’ll work,"

She said, settling back onto the edge of the bed.

Lyrium leaned forward slightly, eyes sharp with focus.

"So..."

Alicia began, turning the cup in her hands,

"Let’s say this cup represents the space-time continuum."

"Whenever, you travelled back in time,"

She said as she raised it, then whispered a thread of mana around her fingers. With a delicate gesture, a single shard popped from the cup’s side as if it had broken on its own.

"It breaks,"

She said simply, holding the tiny shard between her fingers.

"Now, let’s say you try to fix the timeline, reset everything, put it back the way it was."

She carefully placed the shard back where it had been, but the fit wasn’t perfect. Tiny cracks ran through the glass, faint but undeniable.

"It... won’t ever be exactly the same,"

She said softly, eyes locked on Lyrium.

"Even if you try to reset it, the cracks remain. The timeline may appear whole again, but it’s been changed forever."

Lyrium’s jaw tightened.

He stared at the cup, then back at Alicia, the weight of her words pressing down like a silent storm.

"And I think that’s why they seem... different from how you remember them in the original timeline,"

Alicia continued, her gaze steady.

"The cracks in the timeline change things. Small differences build up, and people... they shift. Their personalities, their choices, it all gets altered."

She took a breath, then added softly,

"Also... I don’t know if this happened in the original timeline, but in this reset timeline... you, Ren, Silas, Lily, and I, we grew up together."

Lyrium froze, his eyes widening.

"What...?"

"Yes,"

Alicia said gently, her voice quiet but firm.

"Everything was going well... until your mother suddenly disappeared."

Lyrium sat upright, horror and disbelief lacing his voice.

"Wait, my mother disappeared in this timeline?!"

Alicia nodded, biting her lip.

"Yes, I guess... and after that, you started withdrawing. Becoming a loner. Your sister... she was worried about you, but you blamed your father for not taking care of your mother properly. And... I was the only one you talked to every day back then. I took care of you... and eventually helped bring you back together with them."

Lyrium’s hands trembled slightly, the ice pack forgotten in his lap.

"I... I don’t even know what to say..."

Alicia gave a small, reassuring smile.

"You don’t have to say anything. Just... understand why things feel different now. People change when the timeline shifts, even if they look the same on the surface."

Alicia looked at Lyrium, her eyes soft but filled with quiet strength.

"Listen, Lyrium... life isn’t about how many times the world resets, or how many cracks appear in our path. What matters is how we choose to walk through it, and who we decide to become along the way. Don’t let what’s lost define you, let what you do now shape the future."

*****