Chapter 17: The Battle Within

The team worked together, using every tool at their disposal to counter the dark energy within Alec. They knew it was a race against time—the longer the curse remained, the harder it would be to break it. As Lina and the others held Alec down, trying to keep him grounded, Ken worked frantically to piece together the missing parts of the anachronization. They needed to reverse it—pull Alec back from the edge before it was too late.

"Alec!" Lina cried out, her voice cutting through the chaos. "You’re not alone! We’re here with you!"

The words seemed to reach Alec, just for a moment. The shadow inside him flickered, as if sensing the resistance. But it was a fleeting hesitation. Alec's eyes glowed with an unnatural light, a sign that the curse was still very much in control. His body trembled, as if the struggle between the Alec they knew and the darkness inside him was reaching its breaking point.

Ken’s mind raced. He had been reading about time anomalies, but the depth of this curse, this dark energy, was something he hadn’t prepared for. He couldn’t understand how it had taken hold of Alec so completely.

“We have to get to the source of the anachronization,” Ken muttered. “There’s something in the timeline—something that’s tethered Alec to this darkness.”

With a unified effort, they managed to stabilize Alec enough to confront the source of the curse. In a moment of clarity, Alec’s mind broke free from the overwhelming tide of darkness, and he remembered the moment everything had changed—the night of the accident, the figure that had haunted his memories. It wasn’t just the past that had been altered—it was his very essence that had been twisted.

“I… I remember,” Alec whispered, his voice breaking through the storm inside him. “I remember what happened that night.”

The team gathered around him, ready to pull him back from the brink. Ken nodded at Lina, signaling her to step forward. Together, they focused their energy, channeling everything they had to break the hold of the curse.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Alec’s body tensed, his face contorting in agony, and then—just as quickly—it was over. The darkness that had consumed him began to fade, and Alec’s eyes returned to their normal state. He collapsed, exhausted, his body limp as the team rushed to catch him.

“Alec?” Lina whispered, her voice filled with relief.

Alec’s breath was shallow, but he nodded weakly. "I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—"

Ken’s voice cut through the air. “It wasn’t you. It was never you.”

For a long moment, they stood there in silence, the weight of what they had just gone through sinking in. Alec had been touched by something dark, something born of the fractured timelines, but he had come back. He was still there.

The danger had passed, but Alec knew the road ahead wouldn’t be easy. There were still truths to uncover, and mysteries to solve. But for now, he was free from the darkness that had threatened to consume him. And with the team by his side, he knew he could face whatever came next.