Back in the Time Chamber, Ruby and Annabelle paced restlessly.
The chamber itself remained unchanged, vast yet suffocating in its stillness. The pale glow that filled the space had no visible source, and the air felt heavy, as if time itself had thickened here. Every step Annabelle took echoed faintly, returning to her ears like a reminder that there was nowhere to go.
It had been almost an hour since Adrian left them behind.
An hour that felt far longer.
They had tried everything they could think of. Annabelle attempted to brute-force her way out first, channeling power into the edges of the chamber, pushing against invisible boundaries until her head throbbed. Ruby followed with more methodical attempts, searching for inconsistencies in space, testing corners, observing the way the light bent.
Nothing worked.
They could not step out.
Annabelle eventually turned her frustration toward the system.
