TWO HOURS BEFORE FATE

Light engulfed her —a river of stars in motion. The temple dissolved. The silence lifted. When the world settled once more, Aisha stood upon the porch of her childhood home.

She drew breath, her chest heaving. The clock above the doorway told all: two hours remained before the unthinkable. She had come back.

She entered and saw him —her father, standing in the living room, examining something with reverence. He breathed.

“Father…” she whispered.

He turned, startled, then smiled. “Aisha! I did not expect you so soon. Look what I uncovered in the diggings outside Cairo.” He held up a box of dark, carved wood, etched with symbols that made her skin prickle. “Ancient. Remarkable. Nothing to fear —merely something long forgotten.”

She stepped forward, urgency in every movement. “Do not open it. Please —it is dangerous.”

“Peace, child,” he soothed. “All shall be well. It is but an artifact.”

“It is not merely an artifact!” She took the box firmly from his hands. “Father, I beg you —trust me. You cannot know what I have endured since…” Her voice failed her. “Only believe me. Do not open it.”

She secured the box within her pack, hastened out, and mounted Alejandro’s motorcycle. As she rode, reality seemed to flicker —trees shifted their branches, street signs blurred, and the tragedy that had defined her existence unraveled like thread. What was written was being rewritten.

Ahead, a waste management truck loomed, its compactor arm rising. She pulled alongside, lifted the box, and cast it into the bin. The mechanism engaged —crushing, grinding— and the source of her father’s ruin was reduced to dust and splintered wood.

Relief washed over her, pure and unburdened. She had succeeded. Her mother and aunt would live. The nightmare was ending.

Walking home, lighter than she had felt in years, she found Michelle waiting near the gate, radiant. “Aisha! Just the one I sought —have you heard?”

Aisha smiled, unburdened. “Heard what?”

“Yukki said yes!” Michelle beamed. “He and Sophie are together now.”

The air left her lungs.

She forced a smile that cut deeper than any wound. “I see… then I am glad. He is safe.”

“Are you not pleased?” Michelle asked, perplexed.

“Of course I am.” Her voice trembled. “I wish him happiness.”

She walked toward the house, the sun warm yet offering no comfort. Her family was safe. Yukki lived. But he was no longer hers. The Longibus Gem had granted her wish —yet it had not been free. And as she touched the empty space where the relic had rested, she understood: the full price had not yet been named.