The morning sun crept over the peaks of distant mountains as our party left the cozy sanctuary of Willowshade Haven. The town’s warm glow faded behind us as we followed a winding forest path, the air filled with the faint scent of dew-soaked leaves and morning mist.

The waypoint on my HUD pulsed faintly ahead, guiding us toward the next anomaly signal.

[OBJECTIVE: TRACE ANOMALY SIGNAL – ESTIMATED DISTANCE: 14 KM]

Devon walked close to me—too close. His shoulder occasionally bumped mine, his sharp gaze scanning the treeline, but it flicked toward me more often than not. Selene was further up the path, her daggers drawn and amber eyes sharp as glass. Mason and Fi brought up the rear, their chatter unusually subdued.

The tension was so thick it could’ve been sliced with one of Selene’s blades.

Devon’s hand brushed against the small of my back as we stepped over a crooked root. “Careful, Kiera.”

“I’m fine, Devon,” I muttered softly, my shadows curling lightly at my feet in response to my unease.

Ahead, Selene’s jaw tightened at the sight of Devon’s hand lingering at my back. Her gaze flicked away, her shoulders stiff as she moved further ahead.

Fi caught my eye from behind Mason. Her expression said everything: Oh, girl…this is a mess.

The glitch noise started softly—a faint hum, like static crawling across glass. The air grew colder, the sky above flickering like a broken monitor.

Selene froze. “Something’s coming.”

Devon’s hand went straight to his greatsword, and Selene’s daggers twitched in her hands as she scanned the trees.

From the shadows, they emerged—glitching humanoid shapes with sharp claws and hollow, glowing eyes. Their limbs jerked and twitched unnaturally, their outlines distorted with scattered code fragments.

[ENCOUNTER: GLOOMWRAITH SWARM – LVL 26]

“Hold formation!” Selene barked, dropping low into a defensive stance.

Devon stepped forward, his greatsword gleaming. “Kiera, stay back—”

“No,” I cut him off, my voice firm. “I can fight.”

The creatures lunged.

I summoned my shadows as two enemies lunged at me.

“Shadow Embrace!”

Thick tendrils of darkness erupted from beneath the enemies, coiling tightly around their glitching forms and holding them in place. They twitched violently, their health bars ticking downward as the ability siphoned HP.

Selene dashed past me in a blur, her daggers flashing as she struck one enemy in the throat and spun to parry another claw strike. Her movements were fluid, precise—but distracted. Every few seconds, she glanced back at me.

Devon, on the other hand, was brute force in motion. His greatsword cut massive arcs through the enemies, but he stayed too close to me. Every time an enemy got within striking range, Devon intercepted it.

“Devon, I can handle this!” I shouted, frustration seeping into my voice.

“Kiera, stay behind me!” he barked, his voice sharper than usual.

Selene spun, her amber eyes blazing. “Devon, you’re crowding her! Stop babysitting and fight!”

Their voices tangled in the chaos, their focus fracturing. I felt a creeping unease at how disjointed our group felt—like broken gears grinding against each other instead of turning smoothly.

An enemy lunged at me from the side, and Devon’s greatsword slammed into it before I could react.

“Kiera, pay attention!” he snapped, his tone sharp with panic.

I gritted my teeth. My shadows flared violently, and I turned to the nearest cluster of enemies.

“Essence Feast!”

A vortex of shadows erupted around me, a powerful pulse of energy sucking life from nearby enemies and funneling it into me. My HP bar ticked upward,.

But something else happened—a pulse, faint and glitch-like, radiated outward, and some of the enemies stumbled, their forms flickering briefly before stabilizing.

Selene’s voice cut through the haze. “Devon, fall back! You’re going to get her killed if you don’t start acting like part of the team!”

Devon’s glare was sharp enough to cut steel. “Don’t tell me how to protect her.”

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Mason’s hammer slammed into the ground with a heavy THUD, sending two enemies flying back. “Guys! This is not the time for a lovers’ quarrel! You’re throwing off the rhythm!”

His voice cut through the tension like a bell tolling in an empty church. Both Devon and Selene went still for half a second, their eyes snapping to him, and then—finally—back to the enemies swarming us.

“Focus!” Mason barked.

We regrouped, forming a tighter circle. Selene dashed past Devon without another word, her daggers flashing as she tore through the remaining enemies with surgical precision. Devon gritted his teeth and followed suit, his greatsword carving paths of devastation through the swarm.

I took a steady breath and whispered my next command.

“Life Drain.”

I extended my hand toward an enemy on the outskirts. Dark tendrils shot from my fingertips, latching onto the creature and pulling streams of faint violet light back into me. My HP ticked upward again, stabilizing after the costly Essence Feast.

The last enemy fell to Mason’s hammer, and the clearing went still.

In the center of the clearing, embedded in a pedestal, lines of corrupted binary drifting outward from it like spiderweb cracks.

[FRAGMENTED BINARY CODE DETECTED]

We approached it cautiously. I hesitated, my shadows curling around my ankles as if sensing something dangerous.

Devon stepped beside me, his hand lightly grazing my back again. “We’re right here, Kiera.”

Selene didn’t speak, but she stood close to my other side, her sharp eyes fixed on the fragment.

I reached out and touched it.

[FRAGMENT COLLECTED: 5/???]

A pulse of energy radiated outward, washing over us and leaving the air crackling faintly in its wake. For a brief moment, I thought I heard a faint whisper—distorted, fragmented—but then it was gone.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

We set up camp in a small clearing nearby, the faint glow of the fragment still pulsing softly from my inventory.

Mason and Devon tended to a makeshift campfire while Selene sharpened her daggers nearby, her back half-turned to us.

Fi plopped down beside me on a mossy rock, her sharp eyes fixed on me. “Okay, spill.”

I blinked. “What?”

Fi smirked faintly. “That fight? The tension? The looks? Kiera, I’m observant. I'm not blind.”

I sighed heavily, shadows curling faintly around my boots. “It’s… complicated, Fi.”

“Try me,” she said lightly, her sharp green eyes softening slightly.

So, I told her—about my almost-kiss with Selene, about the way she made my chest tighten. And then, about Devon—the night we logged out, the conversation in my room, the kiss, the way he stayed with me afterward.

Fi let out a low whistle when I finished. “Girl, that’s… wow. You’re stuck in an love triangle.”

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “What am I supposed to do, Fi?”

She patted my back gently. “You’re going to do what Kiera always does—stumble your way through it and somehow, miraculously, make it work.”

I let out a dry laugh despite myself. “Come on, seriously.”

Fi’s playful smirk faded slightly, her brows knitting together as her gaze grew sharper, more focused.

“Well then...who do you love?”

The question cut through the night air like a blade. My breath caught in my throat. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. The weight of her question pressed against me, the reality of it sinking deep into my chest.

“I…” I started but faltered.

Fi didn’t push. She didn’t smirk or make a joke. She just waited, her eyes locked onto mine.

“I love them both,” I said softly, the words spilling out before I could stop them. “But it’s not… it’s not the same kind of love. Or maybe it is, and I just—” I buried my face in my hands again, my voice muffled. “I don’t know, Fi. I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

Fi leaned forward slightly, her voice low but steady. “Kiera, love isn’t something you’re supposed to have all figured out. It’s messy. It’s confusing. And sometimes, it’s a little bit terrifying.”

I glanced up at her, my eyes stinging faintly. “What if I mess everything up? What if I lose them both?”

“You might,” she said bluntly, her words sharp but not unkind. “But if you let that fear decide for you, you’ll lose them anyway. And worse? You’ll lose yourself.”

My chest tightened at her words.

Fi sighed, leaning back on her hands again and staring up at the faint outline of glitching stars overhead. “Listen, you don’t have to figure it all out right now. But you do have to start being honest with yourself. What do you want, Kiera? Who makes you feel… alive? Who makes you feel like you can breathe easier just by being near them?”

Her words lingered in the air, heavy with meaning.

I thought of Selene—her sharp wit, the way her amber eyes softened when she looked at me, how she’d stood with me in the quiet moments, unafraid of my shadows.

And then I thought of Devon—his protective warmth, the weight of his arms around me when the world felt like it was falling apart, the way he looked at me like I was something fragile and precious all at once.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I care about them both so much. And… I’m scared.”

Fi nodded slowly. “That’s okay. It’s okay to be scared. But don’t let fear make your choices for you. And don’t let guilt stop you from being honest—with yourself and with them.”

She stood up, brushing dirt off her pants. “Come on. The others are probably wondering what we’re whispering about out here.”

I followed her back to the campfire, the weight of her words settling deep in my chest.

As we approached, Devon glanced up from where he was sharpening his sword. His gaze lingered on me, softening briefly before flicking away. Selene sat nearby, her amber eyes catching the firelight as she glanced toward me as well, her expression unreadable.

Fi gave me one last knowing look before she dropped down next to Mason, nudging him in the ribs and cracking some joke I didn’t catch.

I settled down near the edge of the campfire, staring into the flames.

Who do you love?

The question echoed in my mind, unanswered.