The trio walked in the dimly lit hallway for what felt like an eternity. They finally managed to see a door at the end of the hallway, and without hesitation, Silva opened it. A blinding light filled the room, contrasting with the corridor they were in. Inside, Silv was waiting for them, along with Emel. The room seemed to serve as storage for paintings and other art supplies, with Silv sitting on a throne sculpted out of stone. She stood up and walked toward them with a mischievous smile on her face.

"So you finally arrived! I'm glad we're all family now, if we exclude Emel."

"Am I not your family? We're practically sisters at this point." Emel smiled at Silv, who looked disgusted by her words.

"Say that once more and I'll kill you."

"You got it, sis!"

Silv let out an exhausted sigh but quickly focused back on her three guests.

"Silva, I'm glad you're here. I'm a bit disappointed the time-traveling loser is here but... I can improvise something."

Silva was about to ask why Emel was here, Neige and Sepide were supposed to go get her. However, she quickly understood when Silvy pointed her firearm at Snowflake, too far away to be interrupted.

"Silva, 'Snowflake', if you try anything funny you'll both die. We're three against two."

"You monster!" Yelled Snowflake "How did you convince Silvy to work for you?"

"Don't you know? All my alter egos are monsters. Silva's the only that can't accept it, but we're all the same."

"I'm not crazy like her, I swear." Objected Silvy "She promised me that she'd help me overthrow the Atlas, I know I'm the best suited for that. I swear, I'm not crazy!"

Despite her words, no one believed in her sanity. Silva was more focused on finding a way out but still felt a bit swayed by Silv's argument. However, Snowflake yelled at Silv before she could say anything.

"My... Silva is not like that!"

"Really? I mean if you're here, it's probably that future her didn't try hard to stop you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know that Silva will survive, you've been pretty clear on that. However, you don't know whether you'll survive or not. It seems like your mother didn't care much about you, she should know what will happen." Silv sarcastically put her hand on her mouth, pretending to be shocked "Oops, it wasn't important, right?"

Silva wasn't sure whether her other self was lying or not. There was no way Snowflake could be her daughter after all.

"But I have to thank you 'Snowflake', now I have more information for the future. It looks like you ended up changing everything."

"Y-You weren't supposed to even know I'm from the future!"

"Too bad, your mother was right, should have stayed in the present. Now then, I'll offer you a choice, Silva. Either you shoot at Silvy and save your daughter, either you shoot me and save the universe. One life against order, what will you choose."

"And what do you get out of that?" Asked Silva "You're just risking your life."

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"I want to show you your real self, the one that kills others to get to her goal, that's your fate.

"I'm nothing like you, Silv. The only thing we share are four letters in our name."

Silva gripped her firearm, looking enraged at Silv. In an instant, she shot Silvy's arm to disarm her and was about to do the same at Silv, but the latter vanished out of tin air. Without thinking, she took Silvy's firearm to make sure she was no longer a threat. Snowflake ran toward Silva with guilt on her face, ready to start a hard conversation.

"Silva, about what Silv's said..."

"That it's my fate to be like my other selves? That's bullcrap, I'm me and only me. And fate can go fluff itself, I'm not following it. And if it's about the daughter-mother thing, I know it's not true."

"You... Know?"

"Of course, children are annoying, I'm with another girl, and there's no way I name my kid something as dumb as Snowflake. And Silv seems pretty determined to change the future, so your present and my future are different now."

"I guess you're right. But Snowflake is not a dumb name." Said Snowflake while pouting.

"Go complain about it to your mother, now we need to take care of the traitor and go find the others."

"I'm not a traitor!" Yelled Silvy "I deserve to be the leader! Silv will help me, she promised!"

"And I can promise you she already forgot your name."

Snowflake took the member of the Atlas and started climbing the long stairs with Silva. It took them a few long minutes but they managed to reach the exit without much trouble. The ascent left Silva with more than enough time to reflect on Silv's words and plan, she felt like Silv would show up again very soon.

They found Neige and Sepide out of the school. They explained what happened to them with Silv and Silvy while Neige told about the call he got from the Atlas.

"I figured Silvy was up to no good. She sent us to an empty place to split us up. I'm glad you managed to both get away safely."

"Me too." Said Snowflake "I suppose Silv changed the timeline to lure us here."

"Yeah, I can't tell what's her plan. Let's go back for now, we fulfilled our part of the deal."

"Before that, I wanted to..." Snowflake looked at the ground with embarrassment before looking at Sepide in the eyes "Can I spend a bit of time with Sepide before we go?"

Sepide looked at Neige who nodded at her. Snowflake smiled widely and dropped Silvy on the floor before taking Sepide away from anyone's hearing. Neige looked at them talking from a distance before turning toward Silva.

"You already know that Silv didn't lie, right? She's your daughter, she even has some of your habits."

"I guess so. Maybe Emely will want to adopt a child later, but still, Snowflake sucks."

"That's not her real name, I think you gave her a pretty name."

"She told you her real name? And how do you know I was the one that named her?"

"I can tell, you'll understand too. I'm glad I got to see my granddaughter, she grew up to be a good person."

"Yeah, I'm proud of her too. I hope my future self doesn't make the same mistakes as my parents."

Snowflake took Sepide very far away, knowing that Silva could hear them from a long distance. Once she made sure she was far away, she turned toward Sepide with a smile.

"I wish I could see everyone but I'm glad I got to see you three."

"Me too?"

"Especially you, aunty Sepide." Snowflake took a necklace from her pocket. The face of a cat was sculpted in wood and attached to a chain that she gave to Sepide "I made it for you, I know that cats are your favorite animal."

"They are?" Sepide looked at the necklace for a while and smiled at it before putting it in her pocket "I guess they are now."

"I'm glad if you like it. I know that you like keeping a souvenir from every place you visit so... I figured you might use it. I know you're fighting together against something bigger than you for my future. I wasn't always grateful for it but... I wanted to make up for it. You're like a second mother to me and... Everyone is my family. I may have been raised in weird circumstances, but you all did your best for me. I decided it was my time to do my best for you. So please, whatever happens, don't blame yourself."

"Something will happen?"

Snowflake made a sad smile and gently took Sepide's hand.

"I can't tell you..."

Sepide took Snowflake in her arms and softly caressed her hair.

"I'll... Try my best. Even if the future changes, we'll do our best to give you a bright one."

"I'm glad... Take care of everyone for me while I'm away. You and Remiel are like sisters to me, we're not even that far away in age when I think about it, so get along well in the meantime."

"We are, she just has to accept I'm better than her." Sepide said with a confident smile "I'm not scared of the future anymore. Even if something bad happens, I'll do my best to not regret it."

"That's great, we should go now. I don't want to make everyone wait much longer."

Sepide and Snowflake went back to their friends. Snowflake couldn't help but smile brightly at everyone when they grouped back, ready to return to their time.