Chapter 5: Shattered
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Rowan woke up, this time not drenched in sweat, which was a rare occurrence. His body felt lighter, his mind clearer, though the fog of confusion still lingered at the edges of his consciousness. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the soft, warm light filtering through the room. The space he found himself in was unlike anything he had seen before. It was a medical room, but it had an air of elegance and comfort that made it feel more like a sanctuary than a clinic. The walls were lined with shelves filled with books, their spines worn and faded, suggesting they had been read countless times. A cabinet in the corner held an assortment of medicines, neatly organized in glass bottles and boxes. Beside it stood a few machines—a blood pressure monitor, a heart-rate monitor, and another device he didn’t recognize, its purpose a mystery to him.
He turned his head to the left and saw her—Aria. She was asleep, her head resting on the edge of the bed, her dark curls spilling over her shoulders. Her breathing was soft and steady, and for a moment, Rowan simply watched her, a strange mix of emotions swirling within him. Then, it hit him like a tidal wave. The rooftop. The conversation. Her words. *“I am your damn wife.”* The memory rushed back, vivid and undeniable.
“SHE IS MY WIFE!” Rowan yelled, his voice echoing through the room, loud enough to startle Aria awake.
Aria jolted upright, her green eyes wide with surprise. “Why are you screaming?” she asked, rubbing her eyes as she tried to shake off the remnants of sleep.
“YOU ARE MY WIFE! LET’S GOO!” Rowan exclaimed, jumping out of bed and dancing around the room like a man possessed. He laughed, a deep, unrestrained sound that seemed to fill every corner of the space. “This pretty lady is my wife? Those pearly green eyes, immaculate black hair, with a slight touch of brown skin! I cannot believe it!”
Aria watched him, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, though her eyes held a hint of sadness. “Well, I *am* your wife,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “But you, mister, did NOT get your memory back.”
Rowan stopped mid-dance, his laughter fading as he turned to look at her. “What do you mean? I remember you. I remember the rooftop. I remember everything you told me.”
Aria shook her head. “No, Rowan. You remember what I told you, but you don’t remember *us.* Not really. Not yet.” She reached out, her fingers brushing against the back of his head. Before he could react, she snapped her fingers, activating a small chip she had placed there on the rooftop when they first met in this timeline.
The effect was instantaneous. Rowan’s vision blurred, and a rush of memories flooded his mind. It was as though a dam had burst, releasing a torrent of images, emotions, and experiences that had been locked away for far too long. He saw himself with Aria—laughing, arguing, holding each other in moments of joy and sorrow. He remembered their life together, the battles they had fought, the timelines they had saved and lost. He remembered the day they had stood together, facing the CRONARCHS, knowing that their world was about to be erased. He remembered giving Aria the chip, the one that held his memories, and telling her to find him again, no matter what.
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“Ohhh! I feel it! I remember it! Those times with you! Those precious times with you! I remember it!” Rowan said, his voice breaking as tears streamed down his face. He rushed to Aria, pulling her into a tight embrace. “I remember everything.”
Aria clung to him, her own tears falling freely. “Oh, Rowan! You don’t know how MUCH I missed you! It killed me, the realization that you might never recover your memories. That chip—the one you gave me before timeline A-6.7 got erased—it kept me going for so long. Just imagine how I felt when I saw you on the road, stumbling about, with no idea who I was. It breathed new life into me.”
Rowan held her tighter, his heart aching with the weight of everything they had lost and everything they had fought to regain. “Don’t cry,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “We are together now. And trust me, I won’t let those morons erase anything or anyone again. I swear an oath today.”
Aria pulled back slightly, looking up at him with those piercing green eyes. “You mean that?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“I do,” Rowan said, his voice steady and resolute. “I don’t care how powerful the CRONARCHS are. I don’t care how many timelines they’ve destroyed. We’re going to stop them. Together.”
Aria nodded, a fierce determination lighting up her face. “Together,” she repeated.
For a moment, they simply stood there, holding each other, the weight of their shared past and the uncertainty of their future binding them together. The room was silent, save for the soft hum of the machines and the occasional beep of the heart-rate monitor. Outside, the world continued to turn, oblivious to the battle that was about to unfold.
Rowan finally broke the silence. “So, what now? Where do we start?”
Aria took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her face. “Now, we plan. The CRONARCHS are powerful, but they’re not invincible. We’ve faced them before, and we can do it again. But this time, we’ll be smarter. Stronger. And we’ll have something they don’t.”
“What’s that?” Rowan asked.
Aria smiled, a glint of mischief in her eyes. “Each other.”
Rowan grinned, feeling a surge of hope and determination. “Then let’s get to work.”
As they sat down together, poring over maps, timelines, and strategies, Rowan couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. It was as though they had done this a thousand times before, in a thousand different worlds. And perhaps they had. But this time, it felt different. This time, they were whole. This time, they were ready.
The shattered pieces of their past had been put back together, and though the cracks still remained, they were stronger for it. Together, they would face whatever came next, knowing that no matter how many timelines were erased, their bond would endure. For in a world where nothing was real, their love was the one thing that could never be shattered.
To be Countineud......