The Final 24 Hours

Ordo withdrew his hand from Haru’s forehead, and slowly, his consciousness began to return. He shook his head vigorously. "No… no! This is just an illusion! None of this can be real!" he muttered.

With a knowing smile, Ordo gently touched Haru’s forehead once more. A flash of light flickered in Haru’s eyes. In an instant, every memory flowed back into his mind in excruciating detail. Overwhelmed, Haru collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face. His very presence shifted, an air of quiet maturity and clarity settling over him. He felt like a different person entirely. Choking on his sobs, he murmured, "We are nothing but puppets in your hands. Our lives rest on the edge of your words. With a single command, we exist in one place or another. This… this is not fair."

Ordo inhaled deeply.

"A puppet?" he repeated, his voice now as hard as steel. "Does a puppet have choices? Does a puppet weigh its own decisions? You are not a puppet, Haruma. Look at yourself, you are here, questioning, resisting. Do you think that happens in a predetermined script? If you were truly bound, would you have made it this far, standing before me, challenging me?"

Haru averted his gaze. His hands clenched into fists, pressing against his chest as his breathing spiraled out of control.

"Then… what am I rejecting?" His voice was hoarse, trembling. "What am I fighting for?"

The Scribe met his eyes. "You are searching for a truth without knowing its outcome. But tell me, Haruma, is there any reality that is truly unknown?"

In that moment, something inside Haru fractured. A deep, gnawing void spread through his core. Reality itself seemed to warp before his eyes, his thoughts clashing, twisting into chaos. He began to shake. "You’re trying to deceive me!" he shouted, violently shaking his head. His voice cracked as he whispered, "No, no… this can’t be real!"

Haru’s breath grew ragged. His chest tightened painfully. He clutched his head, trembling as the world around him spun. The weight of reality bore down on him, suffocating. As he gasped for air, he felt Ordo’s shadow loom beside him.

"The day you stop running and start thinking, you will truly be free, Haru," Ordo whispered.

He stepped toward Haru, inhaling deeply, measuring his words carefully.

"The number of Voidwalkers isn’t increasing as expected, Haruma. The system can no longer renew itself. The balance has been disrupted. And your energy being here has pushed things even further into uncertainty. Even I can’t predict how much longer Orbis will last."

Haru tensed at Ordo’s words.

"It seems you and your friends are much closer to achieving your goal than I had anticipated," Ordo added, a bittersweet smile on his face.

As he watched Haru’s reaction, Ordo let out a slow sigh. "Now go," he said in a solemn tone. "Be with Luna in her final moments. She doesn’t have much time left."

                                                                                 ***

As Haru walked through the stone pathways of Solace, the faint crunch beneath his feet was the only sound in the air. The murmurs around him had faded into silence. Everyone had stopped where they stood, watching him, disbelief written across their faces. They couldn’t believe he had returned, but it wasn’t just his presence that shocked them, it was how he had changed.

Once, his eyes held the uncertainty of a lost boy. Now, they carried the weight of a man who had endured lifetimes of struggle. The lines on his face were sharper, his posture firmer, his steps heavier. Even those unaware of what he had been through could see the storm that had passed through him, leaving scars in its wake.

He sat down on a nearby chair, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. Then, with a steady yet trembling voice, he asked,

"Where is Luna?"

The crowd parted. At the sound of Haru’s voice, Luna stepped forward. Her heart pounded wildly. Her eyes scanned his face, sensing something had changed, but she couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

"I’m here…" she said, her voice tinged with both excitement and hesitation. "How… how did you get here?"

Haru rose from his seat slowly, his gaze locked onto hers. There was a depth in his eyes, a blend of sorrow and longing, the look of a man who had been lost and had finally found his way home. His vision blurred. When he reached her, he stopped, saying nothing. He simply stared, memorizing every detail of her face. Memories poured into his mind, voices, scents, touches. Everything was the same, yet one thing was impossibly different: the person he had lost was standing right in front of him.

Luna shifted uncomfortably under his silence. "Haru… are you alright?" she whispered.

Without a word, Haru lifted his hand and gently placed his fingertips against her cheek. Luna flinched for a moment, but as their skin met, something surged through her. Memories, emotions—everything Haru had seen, everything he had felt, flowed into her like a rushing river.

Her breath caught. Her eyes widened, her knees buckling beneath her. She was falling into the depth of his memories, her world tilting beneath her feet. Tears welled up in her eyes as the overwhelming flood of emotions crashed over her. Her hands trembled as they reached for his, gripping them tightly. There was no stopping the storm of emotions raging within her.

Haru could no longer hold back either. Warm tears slipped from his eyes, falling onto Luna’s hands as he pulled her close. Every ounce of pain, grief, and longing that had built inside him consumed him. Without speaking, without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as though she might disappear again.

Luna rested her head against his shoulder, silent tears soaking into his shirt.

And there, in the heart of Solace, in the midst of war and chaos, two lost souls found their way back to each other. No words could capture the intensity of the moment. Because sometimes, words were unnecessary. Sometimes, a single touch was enough to change a life forever.

                                                                                ***

The atmosphere, once shaken by the weight of emotions and tears, had gradually settled. Solace’s strongest figures, Nihilos, Seraphis, Riven, Travis, Mat, Gilbert, and Rika, had gathered around Haru and Luna. Though the silence had returned, the shock remained. Haru took a deep breath, scanning the faces around him before he began to speak.

In the hushed anticipation, he recounted everything, the past he had rediscovered, his confrontation with Ordo, the true nature of Orbis, the systematic structure of fate, and how he had regained his lost memories. He spoke of his bond with Hikari and how the system had erased him. Yet as he spoke, his voice no longer wavered. It was steady, resolved. And as his words faded, a tense silence settled over the room, thick with unspoken thoughts.

Seraphis exhaled slowly, contemplating for a moment before speaking. "Are we truly expected to accept this? Could Orbis have really dictated our fates like this?"

Haru nodded. "Luna, you know it too. You saw what I saw. You heard Ordo’s words."

Luna lowered her gaze. "Yes, I know," she said softly. "And unfortunately… so does Rika."

Rika sighed, confirming Haru’s words. "Orbis was built as a flawless system. But we… we are anomalies, beings that exist outside its intended design. The system has always viewed us as errors, and it has developed its own methods to ‘correct’ us."

Riven clenched his fists. "So that’s why you were wandering around the base? Were you trying to reach Hikari?"

Rika met his gaze. "Yes. I believe Hikari still remembers something, fragments, at least. And if even the smallest ember of memory remains, we can reignite it."

Mat grumbled, clearly unconvinced. "But isn’t everything already predetermined? Haru, you just said fate cannot be changed. Then what’s the point of all this?"

Haru locked eyes with Mat. "Fate’s flow may be set, but our choices still matter. Even Ordo admitted that. As long as we are here, we are the system’s unpredictability."

Seraphis nodded thoughtfully. "So what we’re saying is… Orbis sees our existence as an anomaly, but our decisions can still influence the system?"

"Yes," Haru confirmed. "But there is one more truth..."

Luna saw the hesitation in Haru’s eyes, and she was the one to say it instead.

"I don’t have much time left."

The room froze. For a moment, it felt as though no one even dared to breathe. Then, in an instant, both Travis and Mat leaped to their feet.

"What the hell are you talking about, Luna?!" Travis shouted. "How can you say that so calmly?!"

Mat slammed his fist against the table. "No! We can’t let this happen! There has to be a way!"

Luna offered them a small, reassuring smile, but the sorrow in her eyes was too deep to hide. "I’ve known for a long time that this was coming. But now, with my memories returned… at least I can spend my final moments the way I choose."

Haru’s jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides. In his mind, Ordo’s words echoed once more. "The same thing happened to Luna…"

But this time, he would have the chance to say goodbye.

24 hours… That was all they had left together.