The night was a shroud of velvet despair, the bright moon hanging heavy and swollen above a world drowned in shadow. Midnight winds hissed through the skeletal trees, chilling the earth where animals slumbered in uneasy silence, save for the wolves—those feral sentinels—howling mournfully to their pack. In a clearing, a fire crackled, its amber tongues licking the air, casting a hellish glow over two figures: Luna, curled in sleep, her breaths soft as whispers, and David, sprawled beside her, his body drenched in sweat, trembling as if possessed. His mind was a battlefield, a nightmare unfurling in relentless waves.
In his dream, David staggered forward through a pitch-black void, the air thick with the coppery stench of blood. His boots sank into the unseen ground, and then he saw it—himself, kneeling, cradling Ruby's lifeless body. Her once-vibrant eyes stared blankly, her throat gashed open, blood pooling like a grotesque halo around her head. Before him stood a legion—hundreds of Davids, each a warped reflection from fractured timelines, their eyes blazing with murderous intent. One stepped forward, masked, his voice a venomous rasp cutting through the silence.
"Hmm, David," the masked David sneered, his blade glinting in the dim light. "It's time to meet your end. I know what it feels like to lose a Ruby, but after you die, the world—the timelines—can finally know peace."
David's knees buckled, his hands clutching Ruby's corpse tighter, her blood soaking into his skin. He screamed, his voice raw, jagged with anguish. "I've time-traveled millions of times! No matter the timeline, no matter the situation, I can't save her! If her destiny is death, why—why did she have to die in such horrific ways? I've seen her torn apart, crying in agony, drowning in her own tears—millions of deaths, and I'm powerless! This is all because of me!" His crimson eyes flared, glowing like twin infernos, tears streaming down his face, mingling with the blood drooling from his mouth. "And you—all you fucking Davids—want my timeline to resurrect your Rubys, your precious student, your sister lost to time? Fuck you! FUCK YOU ALL!"
Laughter erupted from him, unhinged, a madman's symphony as his rage consumed him. "If I can't save my Ruby, then no one deserves to live happily. I'll destroy everything—let's see what happens then!"
The masked David lunged, his blade slicing through the air. In one brutal arc, it severed the kneeling David's head. The head rolled, eyes wide in eternal shock, blood spraying in a crimson fountain as the watching David recoiled, the scene shifting violently around him.
Suddenly, he stood before a throne-like chair, its edges jagged as if forged from a nightmare. The void was still black, suffocating, but now chains rattled—a figure bound in them, sealed tight. David edged closer, heart pounding, and gasped. It was him—another David, shackled, his face gaunt yet defiant.
"Well, well, well," the sealed David croaked, his voice a cold, hollow echo. "Who do we have here?"
David froze, his mind racing. A vision… but how can he see me? His eyes widened in shock as the chained figure smirked.
"I see you clearly, David. Or should I say… my past self?"
"Past self?" David whispered, his voice trembling. "What the hell is this? Why are you sealed? Did the other Davids do this? The gods?"
The sealed David's laugh was bitter, cutting. "No one had the power to seal me—not them, not gods. I sealed myself." His tone darkened, icy and deliberate. "Don't worry, Ruby's alive. She's safe. But you're wondering why I'm here, aren't you?"
David nodded, silent, hanging on every word.
"Time will reveal it," the sealed David continued, his voice dropping to a desperate plea. "Listen, David—you're the key to stopping Ruby's death. It's not her fate to die—it's a glitch, a fucking cosmic error I can't explain. You're the key, David. Don't let her suffer like I did. Don't repeat my mistakes. Please—protect our timeline's Ruby. Please!"
The void shattered, the sealed David vanishing as the darkness bled into blinding white—a heavenly expanse of rolling hills, deer bounding through golden grass. David knelt again, staring at a figure ahead, obscured by glitches. A voice slithered into his mind, unseen, venomous.
"This was your plan all along," David snarled, his fists clenched. "You made me suffer, made Ruby suffer, just for your amusement—because you were bored, weren't you?"
The glitching voice chuckled, low and sinister. "Yes, David. It was all my design. And I enjoyed every second. Now, the time has come, hasn't it?"
The kneeling David snapped his head up, locking eyes with the watching David. "This is all I can show you," he gasped. "Don't trust him. Save this universe—from you."
The heavens dissolved into ash. David stood in a burning world, the sky choked with smoke, the ground a graveyard of Ruby's corpses—millions of them, stacked in grotesque piles, their lifeless eyes staring accusingly. A man sobbed nearby, his voice broken. "I couldn't save you, Ruby. I'm sorry. No matter how many times I tried, it was useless. I'm so sorry."
The dead Rubys stirred, rising like marionettes on unseen strings. Their heads turned in unison, locking onto David. Their voices merged into a deafening chorus, a million anguished cries piercing his soul.
"Why did you make us endure this hell?"
"What did we do to deserve this?"
"Why didn't you save me, Master?"
"Why? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY?"
The cacophony clawed at his sanity, a relentless tide of guilt and horror. David jolted awake, drenched in sweat, his chest heaving. Beside him, Luna slept on, oblivious. He stared into the dark, his mind a storm of questions. I'm the key? Who was that voice? Why did I seal myself? His fists clenched. "I need answers. I can't trust anyone—not even myself. Ruby… I'll protect you, even if it kills me."
The fire flickered, casting long, menacing shadows as the wolves howled louder, their cries a dirge for the damned. The chapter closed in suffocating suspense, the air thick with dread.