After successfully sending the former test subjects back to their homes — since getting the Marque police involved was dubious at best — they’d asked Cryzari to lead them to important documents. The idea was to destroy their research data, so that their findings couldn’t be used to create any more fake-magic users.

“The scientists like to come here,” Cryzari explained. “They put all their clipboards and pages inside these big boxes. Some of them also sit at the computers.”

Lysandra opened one of the filing cabinets and let out a low whistle at the sheer amount of paperwork inside. “So… we just get to burning, yeah?”

“Nothing like the smell of destroying an evil corporation’s work,” Raine said, pulling out a lighter.

Nikolay traced a monitor with his finger. “The computer password is written on a sticky note. I can delete the digital files.”

Raine burst out laughing. “For a secret villainous society, they’re pretty lax with their passwords. I guess employees will always forget their login.”

Without any further delay, Raine and Lysandra pulled out all the paper documents and made a sizeable pile in the centre of the room. Tall filing cabinets lined three of the four walls, so it wasn’t an easy task to unload the years of research. Meanwhile, sitting in front of a computer against the final wall, Nikolay systematically went through the digital database to delete every folder and file he could find.

At some point during their work, Cryzari had gotten bored and wandered out of the room. Since she’d already done everything they’d asked her, there was no reason to stop her. Besides, forcing a kid to sit still was an uphill battle.

Once Raine and Lysandra tossed every single page in the room into the pile, Raine used his lighter to set it ablaze. He held it to the paper for a few seconds, where a small flame budded. Before long, it blossomed into a fire that quickly grew to the entire pile’s size. The pair watched on in pride as their hard work paid off in front of them.

“Phew,” Raine said in satisfaction. “That’s all of them gone. How are things going on your end, Kolya?”

No response.

He turned around. “Uh, Kolya?”

Nikolay sat still in front of a computer. He had a hand over his mouth with an uncharacteristically conflicted expression.

“Lysandra…” Nikolay said slowly. “When did you last see Cryzari before this?”

Heavy silence enveloped the entire room, save for the crackling of burning documents.

“Lysandra,” he repeated.

A long moment passed.

Finally, Lysandra responded. “Eleven years ago.”

Raine frowned, understanding why Nikolay looked concerned. Cryzari didn’t look any older than eight.

“Then, you would’ve been aware that she died eleven years ago,” Nikolay said. “Did you know that they revived her with recreated Time magic?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

To his surprise, Lysandra didn’t look too horrified by the realisation. “That makes sense. Otherwise, how else would she be standing in front of us? But honestly, who cares why she’s here? All that matters is that my friend is alive and I can still talk to her. We can pretend like it never happened and live our lives as normal.”

“I wish life was that easy…” Nikolay sighed. “Come look at this report, Lysandra. I’d rather you read it from the source.”

She glanced back at the fire beside her, then over to the computer. Haltingly, her legs dragged towards Nikolay, as though there were heavy weights tied to her ankles.

Lysandra forced herself to stare at the text on screen, despite never having read anything as complicated as a research paper. The words swam before her eyes, making an already difficult task near impossible to comprehend. Through determination to learn about Cryzari’s strange situation, she pieced together a few choice words to understand the general gist.

“Machine… Time magic… Does that mean there’s a machine in here that keeps Cryzari here?” she asked Nikolay.

He nodded. “It continuously generates Time magic, which is responsible for reverting her consciousness back to the time she was alive. Essentially, keeping her in the way you can see her now.”

At that moment, Raine noticed something. “Hold on, so Cryzari can’t leave this place? Because if she does, it’ll be too far for the machine’s Time magic to reach.”

“That’s right. Not only that, but-” Nikolay’s gaze flitted to Lysandra for a second, then back to Raine. “If we truly want to erase everything in this database, the machine will stop working.”

The fire burning in the centre of the room died down, running out of documents to fuel itself. Glowing embers lay scattered among the blackened and charred remains, still clinging to the hope that more paper would allow it to reignite once more. In the fire’s absence, the room plunged back into a chilly atmosphere from the air-conditioning.

Raine and Nikolay apprehensively awaited Lysandra’s response. It wasn’t an easy decision to make on the spot. She had to choose between saving a departed friend, or the goal that had governed her entire life so far. Both options meant sacrificing the other, and would almost certainly come with their own regrets.

Not wanting to pressure her any more, Nikolay turned to the computer. “We don’t have to make a choice now. You can still-”

“Delete the file,” Lysandra cut in.

Nikolay whipped back around. “Are you sure?”

“It was my fault for not saving Cryzari all those years ago. I should take responsibility, instead of endangering the lives of innocent civilians, to rewrite my own mistake. And besides, I’ve already come to terms with her death.”

“That’s a very mature way of thinking. If you’re certain about this, I’m going to delete the rest of the files now.”

“Do it. Before I regret my choice.”

At Lysandra’s request, Nikolay swiftly typed in a few commands on the keyboard. A pop-up appeared to double-confirm.

Just as he was about to click ‘Yes’, two small hands covered his eyes.

“Miko-wai, guess who? Raine and Lys, don’t tell him!”

Even though he’d only just met Cryzari, a sharp pang of guilt shot through his chest. He was one click away from permanently erasing her life, but didn’t feel a thing until his victim was right next to him.

“Hello, Cryzari,” he said calmly. “We weren’t expecting you to come back so soon.”

The hands over his eyes disappeared as Nikolay swivelled his chair around to face her.

“I got even more bored when I was alone, so I thought watching you guys would be less boring! But it looks like you’re already done…” Cryzari’s voice suddenly went quiet. “Does that mean you’re leaving now?”

“Yes, it does,” Lysandra told her gently. “We have to say goodbye.”

Cryzari pouted, her bottom lip trembling. She looked down at her feet with a bashful expression.

“Lys… Can I have a goodbye hug?”

“Of course, Zari. I’ll never say no to you.”

Lysandra enveloped Cryzari’s small figure in her arms, drawing her close.

A tear ran down Lysandra’s cheek, unnoticed by Cryzari. With no need for a signal, Nikolay grabbed the mouse again and confirmed the file deletion.

The following seconds were hauntingly silent, giving them plenty of space to dwell on their choice. Unseen, powerful processors in the computer worked through gigabytes upon gigabytes of data, until it finally reached the most important file.

Lysandra never let go, even as Cryzari’s body shimmered a golden hue and decayed into a million sparks that faded into the air. Soon after, nothing remained of Cryzari — save for the ache in Lysandra’s heart.