Rebirth: 100 Days Before Doomsday

Grace walked out of the shower and settled down in one of the couches calling for her in the cozy living room of the Villa.

It was late in the afternoon and she just returned from another hunt. While she came to the villa to freshen up and relax a little, her men were still out there in the city, working as usual.

2025 was flying around the house, sprinkling some kind of powder on the plants sitting around the house. The powder was the harvest from a mutated plant and was supposed to help the plants grow healthier.

"You want me to find Rune's pursuers?" It asked, confirming the task that it just received from her.

Grace nodded in response as she took care of her wet hair. "Yes. You have always been able to scan the ruins, track energy fluctuations, and even monitor beast movements. Can you do the same for people? Specifically, this group of people?"

To her surprise, the little creature perked up, and its tiny mouth curled into a confident smile. "Of course, I can! You are asking the right source."

She raised a brow. "You sound… too sure of yourself."

The little creature huffed. "Well, I am the host of the most advanced system in the world! Scanning seven people, no matter where they are on Earth, shouldn't be too difficult. I just need a little time."

Grace leaned back in her chair as she asked, "How much time are we talking about?"

"Give me a few hours," 2025 replied. "I need to comb through the old world's energy fluctuations, analyze the disturbances in the atmosphere, and cross-check it with any non-native presences. Since they aren't originally from this realm, they should leave behind traces of foreign energy."

She nodded, impressed that it wasn't asking for days but only a few hours. "Do it."

"On it!" 2025 chirped and vanished in a flash, likely diving deep into its system's processing space.

With this matter taken care of, Grace was ready to catch some much-needed sleep as she had been out on hunt mission since the previous night. But just as she was about to relax, 2025 popped back up.

"Oh, one more thing!"

She frowned. "What now?"

2025 twirled in the air, as if debating how to phrase its next words. Then, it floated closer and finally spoke. "I have another suggestion."

"Let me guess… something I won't like?" She asked, somehow coming to that conclusion by the clear hesitation she was seeing in the Little creature's behavior.

2025 just gave her a cheeky smile before speaking, "Depends on how you look at it."

Grace exhaled, wanting to get over with whatever the creature had to say. "Just tell me."

2025's tiny body glowed slightly as it explained, "This is about Rune... and his jade ring." Without giving her time to react, it continued, "If he can allow me to connect with the ring, I might be able to unveil the secrets of it."

Grace's eyes widened, she wasn't sure from exactly where these ideas were coming from or leading to. "What do you mean?"

"It means these spacial artifacts have memories of everything they have been through," 2025 revealed. "If I can access those memories, I might be able to find out a lot more about Rune's past."

Grace's heartbeat slowed.

Rune's past. His Master. The events before the ring landed in his hands. Maybe even details about his realm… and the people after him.

This was huge.

If they could uncover the jade ring's memories, they might finally understand a lot more about Magik Realm and the jade's past.

But...

Her stomach twisted. "That's… not something I can just decide," she said slowly.

2025 hummed in response. "Of course. That's why you should ask Rune. It's up to him if he wants to share."

Grace exhaled, pressing her fingers against her temples. She hated this feeling. The idea of digging into Rune's past without his consent made her uneasy.

Now, she had the opportunity to uncover everything.

But was it right?

She drummed her fingers on the table. "I don't know if he'll agree," she admitted moments later.

2025 floated closer. "That's his choice to make."

"Still…"

"You care about his privacy," 2025 guessed.

In response, she nodded. "Though he has never tried to keep his past and identity hidden from me, we still haven't talked much about these things. And while our intention of digging into the ring's memory is to find answers, it still is invading too much."

2025 sighed dramatically, floating onto her shoulder.

"You humans are so complicated," it muttered. "You do realize that knowledge is power, right? You can't afford to let your emotions slow you down, especially when you have enemies lurking in the shadows."

Grace shot it a dry look. "Thanks for the lecture, oh wise Glow."

The little creature snickered. "Hey, I'm just saying. You are in a war now. You need every advantage you can get. If Rune's past holds any clues that could help us, shouldn't we use them?"

Grace bit her lip. She knew the little creature was right. Still, the thought of confronting Rune about this made her feel uneasy.

- - -

Later that evening, Grace found Rune where she always did... standing at the edge of Starfall Isle's highest cliff.

She took a deep breath before walking up to him. "You are staring at the sky a lot lately," she said.

He glanced at her and replied, "I always do."

She let out a soft sigh before speaking, "You know what I mean."

He exhaled but didn't argue.

Silence stretched between them for a moment before she finally said, "Rune… I need to ask you something."

His sharp gaze met hers instantly. "What is it?"

She hesitated for a moment. But in the end, she forced herself to speak. "It's about your jade ring."

Much to his credit, he barely showed any reaction and just waited for her to continue.

Taking in a deep breath, she continued, "2025 told me that spatial realms… can hold memories. If it connects the system to your jade ring, it might be able to unveil its memories and secrets even you might not be aware of."

His expression still didn't change, but she could feel the shift in his energy. "I see," he finally said after a long pause.