Before I go any further, let me make one thing clear.
I'm Ziel Valtieri—
And I destroyed my world.
And now, somehow, I found myself here—standing in front of her.
She stepped forward, hands clasped behind her back. The very air bent around her as she strolled, her presence warping space itself.
The ground rippled beneath her heels with every step she took.
"You!, Shattered so beautifully" her voice resonated like a thousand whispers, echoing deep within his bones.
She smiled, her amusement palpable, as she circled around him.
Ziel stood frozen, unable to move or speak, eyes wide as he watched her, each of her steps like a subtle pull on the very fabric of reality.
He blinked— And just like that, she was gone.
"What the—?"
The words slipped out, confusion racing through his mind before the shock could settle in.
The stars pulsed once, then, in an instant, she reappeared, lounging on her throne, one leg casually crossed over the other.
"Who are you?"
Ziel's voice faltered, though deep down, he already knew the answer. This place, the silence, the stars, the bending of reality around her—it all felt... divine.
"You may call me Khaelystra. The Goddess of Twisted Fate."
"...A goddess?"
A bitter laugh came out but hollow.
His mind reeled, memories of a trigger— The blood, the silence, the end of his life, the apartment where it all ended. He should be dead. His brain should've been splattered across those wall—
He froze mid-sentence, instinctively reaching for a wound that wasn't there.
"Too dramatic, wasn't it? A bang, and then nothing," Khaelystra murmured, her eyes glinting with amusement.
"So, why am I here?"
Desperation creeping into his tone, as though to make sense of this inexplicable situation.
Khaelystra's finger traced invisible patterns in the air, sending ripples through the stars themselves. With a smile curling on her lips, she stopped and pointed directly at him.
Ziel's body jerked upward, as though gravity had forgotten its place.
He floated toward her, powerless, until they were face to face.
A screen of stars flickered to life between them.
A girl with blonde hair and obsidian eyes walked alongside a handsome figure—someone Ziel recognized all too well.
Before he could even begin to process what was happening, the screen vanished.
Khaelystra smirked, her eyes gleaming. "Do you know her?" she asked, her voice teasing as her fingers twisted a strand of starlight, like it was something sweet.
"I do," Ziel replied, his voice steady despite the turmoil brewing inside. "And... she died."
Sophie. Her name lingered in the air, bitter and heavy. She died, right after Ziel destroyed everything.
It seemed insane, but I could've stayed, tried to fix things, but after the bombs, after Sophie's death, I didn't have it in anymore.
Khaelystra's gaze sharpened, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
"Then why is she with him?"
The question hit him like a punch to the gut. His chest tightened. But... why didn't it burn like it used to? The anger, the certainty that I was right, now it felt like a lie I had told to myself.
"Why..." Ziel's voice cracked, a vulnerability he didn't expect.
"Why don't I feel anything for her?"
The question escaped his lips before he could even understand it himself.
Khaelystra's smile deepened, and in the blink of an eye, she yanked him through a portal.
The world blurred. When his vision finally cleared, he was standing in his old apartment.
The scent hit him first. Smoke, dust, the sharp, metallic tang of dried blood, still clinging to the walls.
"What... the hell?"
The words barely left his lips. This place should've been ashes. Was this an illusion? Did she simply will this reality into existence?
His gaze snapped to the living room. It looked exactly as I had left it—empty bottles scattered across the floor, a shattered phone on the couch. A bullet hole scarred the wall—right where—
Ziel froze, the words sticking in his throat.
Khaelystra moved through the room as though it belonged to her, fingertips gliding over the rim of a chipped mug.
"Your threads," she said, her eyes flicking toward him.
"They're broken."
Ziel stared at her for a moment, then asked, confused, tilting his head.
"My what?"
Khaelystra turned, stretching her arms like she'd just woken from a long, luxurious nap.
"The threads of fate," she murmured softly, her voice carrying a strange echo in the air. "Everyone has them. Delicate, glowing strands. They tether you to people, to choices... to the story you were meant to live."
She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"But yours?"
She lifted her hand, and between her fingers, threads shimmered like spider's webs in the moonlight. They stretched beyond his reach, intertwining with every memory, every choice he had made.
"You broke them," she said, her voice vibrating with weight. "You were never meant to bring about your planet's ruin, Ziel."
Ziel swallowed her words, her words weight settling heavily in his mind.
What the hell does that even mean? That I wasn't supposed to destroy my world?
His brows furrowed in confusion as he asked, "What are you talking about?"
Khaelystra's voice turned cold. "In all 1,282 timelines I've witnessed," she intoned, "your thread frayed, but never broke. Until this one. When you chose to end the world, it snapped, shattering what no other path ever could."
She held the threads between her fingers and tore them apart.
Suddenly, Ziel wasn't in his apartment anymore.
He was back on the same seashore—the one he'd spent years trying to forget, as if the tides could wash away the past. But memory clung like salt on skin. It never really faded.
Then he saw him—his younger self, standing there just as he had before.
"Don't leave… Please."
His voice trembled with desperation, hands outstretched as though he thought he could hold onto her forever. If he reached far enough, she might stay.
Ziel's lips curled into a bitter smile.
This again? He hadn't expected to be dragged back to this moment. It was like watching an old play, but this time, he wasn't a spectator. He was the fool who wrote the script.
Sophie looked torn, like she wished she could split herself in two.
"I… I can't stay, Ziel. I love Leon."
Ziel crossed his arms, watching the drama unfold. His past self stumbled, face pale, unsure, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. It was almost pathetic. Almost.
"Please," he whispered, a sound so fragile it barely seemed like his own voice.
Sophie wiped her eyes, voice barely audible. "I'm sorry. But… I love Leon. I can't be with you."
She turned, and he just let her go, didn't fight, didn't try to stop her. He stood there, watching her walk away, like someone watching the last ship drift from the harbor.
Ziel sighed. That face…
Suddenly, time stopped.
Sophie froze. She never made it. And his past self—he too, stood paralyzed in that one moment of failure, of grief.
They both locked in place.
"You look pathetic, like a tragedy waiting to happen," Ziel said, his voice cutting through the stillness.
He turned, startled. "W-who—?"
"I'm you," Ziel replied flatly. "Or at least, the version of you that made it past this moment."
He blinked, confusion flooding his face, raw emotion spilling from him. "Why... are you here?"
Ziel smiled bitterly. "To tell you the truth," he whispered in a soft voice. "To show you what happens when you stop begging, stop hoping, and start acting."
"You want me to just... give up?"
"No," Ziel said, his voice cold.
"I want you to wake up."
He took another step forward, his voice softening but with a heaviness that only grew.
"She left you because you were weak. Because you were easy to throw away. The world did the same—over and over again."
His past self looked at him, their eyes locked in silence.
"So why not burn it?"
The words hit like a physical strike, and his past self flinched.
"What are you talking about?"
Ziel leaned in, their eyes unblinking.
"I'm saying you don't need to be loved. You need to be feared. They'll never understand you. So give them something they can't ignore."
His voice dropped to a whisper, just for him.
"Destroy the world that made you like this."
He didn't answer, didn't have to.
Ziel stepped back, leaving him with the silence, and the spark he knew would soon become a flame.
"You'll understand soon enough."
The vision shattered, blurring into nothingness, and Ziel found himself back in his apartment.
"You do realize you've just shattered another timeline with that advice?"
Khaelystra's tone laced with teasing amusement.
Ziel turned to her, his gaze sharp and piercing through the confusion still clouding his mind.
"Tell me something," he asked, his voice trembling slightly. "Why don't I feel anything for Sophie anymore?"
The love that had once filled me had vanished into thin air. Was it the passage of time? The sting of rejection? Or... was it something deeper that I couldn't grasp?
Before he could dwell further on it, Khaelystra appeared behind him, her presence like a divine gust of wind.
She leaned in, her breath cool against his ear, and whispered with the weight of eternity.
"You never truly loved her."
Ziel's heart skipped a beat. He blinked, dazed, and whispered, "What? But... how could that be?"
Her voice dropped into a teasing whisper—playful, yet divine.
"The threads meddled with your feelings, twisted them... but your final choice? Oh, that was all you. You wanted to burn it all, didn't you?"
Her words hung in the air, heavy with a knowledge that stretched far beyond his comprehension.
Before he could even speak, her voice echoed in his mind.
"So tell me, Ziel… Will you unmake fate itself for a second chance?"