Juno leaned against its stone base, arms crossed over her chest. Her breath curved in the air; her eyes, fixed on the horizon. The city glowed in the distance, very different from how she felt inside.

Next to her, Yves stood with his hands in his coat pockets, tilting his head back to look at the top of the tower.

After a moment, he murmured: "Do you think I could climb that?"

Juno slowly turned her head, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"The clock tower," he said, as if it were obvious. "I'm just saying. I have long legs. Good balance."

She blinked at him. "You'd fall and die in like, twenty seconds."

He nodded as if she had confirmed a scientific theory. "Probably. But imagine the view."

Juno stared at him. "Yves."

He kicked a small stone. "What? Haven't you ever wanted to do something incredibly stupid just to prove you could?"

"I literally just ruined a birthday cake and ran from a party like an idiot," she muttered.

He paused. “Okay, so we’re both dumb, then.”

He took a small step toward her, looking at her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, now gently, but without condescension. Rather, it seemed like he was genuinely interested in knowing if she had broken in half and was too proud to admit it.

Juno shrugged and looked back at the horizon. "Yeah. I'm just... tired."

He tilted his head, squinting, as if it were a puzzle he wasn't smart enough to solve, but was determined to keep looking until it made sense.

"Well," said Yves, scratching the back of his neck, "you just destroyed a cake and dramatically fled from a social gathering. That must burn some calories."

Juno froze. Her eyebrow twitched and she turned her head, slowly. "Really?"

Yves blinked, like a deer in headlights. "What? No– I mean, yes, but not in a bad way. I’m not making fun of you, I swear. I’m just saying… it was kind of badass? Like, in a villain origin story kind of way."

Her arms crossed tighter. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

He raised his hands, surrendering immediately. “Okay, not funny. But like, cinematic? Come on, you don’t just do that and vanish into the night without style. You’ve got... panache.”

Juno stared at him, completely blank. “Panache,” she repeated.

He nodded, too quickly. “Exactly.”

A moment of silence passed as she gave him a long and unimpressed look. He smiled like an idiot anyway.

Of course he tried to fill the silence and screwed up instead.

“I mean, don’t worry about it too much, okay? People suck. And uh, hey, for what it’s worth, you were kinda... cute when you ran out.”

At first, Juno's expression didn't change, but the atmosphere between them certainly did. She frowned, just a slight downward pull of her eyebrow.

Yves noticed it. “Wait, that sounded creepy. I didn’t mean– like, just when you ran out. You’re… you always look hot– I mean, no! Not hot. I mean, yes, but not like I stare! I don’t! I just have really big eyes and a strong sense of facial awareness–”

He visibly panicked, waving his hands as if he could physically rewind time.

“Unless… you're actually feeling hot?” he suddenly stammered. “Like, fever-hot? You were coughing earlier, maybe it’s a flare-up or... or something? I don’t know how your condition works! Is that offensive? I just– are you sick-sick right now?”

Juno said nothing, just gave him a long, unreadable look.

Yves stepped back as if her silence had physically slapped him. “Stop that! Don’t look at me like that.”

"I'm not doing anything," she said calmly.

"You're frowning."

"I'm not."

"You absolutely are. It's subtle, but it's there. You look like you just saw me kick a kitten."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, her face still visibly frowning.

Yves pointed at her face as if it had betrayed him. "There! That! That's the face! I said something stupid and now you're judging me."

Yves covered his face with both hands, visibly blushing, and let out a groan.

"Why do I keep doing this?" he muttered through his fingers, almost as if he were talking to the universe itself.

Juno's lips twitched at seeing him, and before she could stop it, a laugh escaped her, a quiet, almost reluctant sound.

Yves lifted his hands from his face. "Yes! There it is. That's what I was looking for. You laugh, I win."

Juno rolled her eyes, but this time, the edge of her irritation had melted. "Whatever."

"And now that I've succeeded in my noble quest to restore your humor, it's time for the next chapter."

She narrowed her eyes. "Which is?"

He extended a hand dramatically. "Escort the princess safely to her tower. Obviously."

Juno blinked. "Princess?"

"Non-negotiable," Yves continued, ignoring her look. "There are demons out here, Juno. Monsters, ugly things with claws and weird breath. It's a nightmare."

She stared at him.

"Seriously," he added with a fake serious tone, "who believes in that demon stuff, anyway? That's like... fantasy novel level nonsense." He laughed, shaking his head. "God, I sound ridiculous."

Juno didn't respond immediately, her gaze staying on him for a moment longer. There was something disarming about his casual and silly behavior. It was refreshing. He wasn't trying to be anything more than himself: stupid, sincere, and exactly what she needed at that moment.

But… the ticking.

It was there again. Just beneath her thoughts. A pulse she couldn't ignore.

Her heart beat to its rhythm, a constant beat she couldn't escape, and suddenly she felt as if the shadows around her were darker, as if something was moving in the corners of her vision again.

Dong.

The sudden, loud toll of the bell echoed through the city.

Juno flinched; it wasn't subtle. Her entire body tensed as if the sound had detonated right behind her. Her head snapped upwards and her breath caught in her throat.

Yves blinked, eyebrows lifting. “Whoa. Easy, princess. It’s just a bell.”

Juno didn't respond. Her eyes were fixed on something high above their heads.

Yves squinted. “Wait, did that actually scare you? Are you, hold on, are you jumpy right now? That’s kind of adorable.”

Still, she remained silent. The light starting to drain from her face.

“Hey…” His tone softened. “Juno?”

But she wasn't looking at him. Instead, her gaze was fixed on the roof of the clock tower. Her expression had turned pale and her mouth was set in a tight line. Her body was rigid with something beyond discomfort and fear.

Yves followed her line of sight, now feeling curious. “What are you–”

Then he saw it:

Perched on the edge of the tower's stone balcony. A cat.

But not just any cat. This one was darker than shadow, darker than the night around them. It was as if a hole had been torn through reality itself. Its fur drank in the moonlight and left nothing behind. Its eyes glowed violet: bright, unnatural and, worse still, aware.

They watched, pinning Juno in place like a moth caught in a web.

Yves's breath caught in his chest. He took a step towards her, his voice dropping. “…Juno?”

She spoke without taking her eyes off it. Her voice was quiet and broken, filled with dread.

“It’s here.”

Dong.

Juno's knees buckled under the weight of the cat's violet gaze. A burning pain ignited in her chest, sharper than ever before, as if invisible hands were crushing her ribs. She gasped as the world tilted.

It wasn't just her lungs collapsing; her heart was too. It was beating irregularly, first frantically, then faltering as if it had forgotten how to beat properly. Each uneven beat splintered through her chest until she felt as though she was cracking right down the middle.

She was dying. Her time was up. This whole night… no, this whole day, it’s been building up to this and she didn’t even notice. She didn’t pay attention to her body that had been giving up on her.

Pressing her palm to her sternum, she felt her vision blurring at the edges as her fingers dug into her blouse. The pain radiated outwards into her arms and throat, it was too much to bear.

Yves lunged forward, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Juno! Hey, look at me. What’s wrong? Talk to me!”

She tried to speak, but only a ragged breath escaped her lips. Her body trembled as sweat and goosebumps fought for dominance across her skin.

“I… can’t…” she began, trying to speak.

Yves's brow furrowed with alarm. He moved closer, his voice rising with panic. “Breathe with me. In… out… come on, stay with me.”

Juno forced herself to comply, finding each inhalation a struggle and each exhalation rougher than the last. But the pain was relentless, tightening its grip on her heart.

Dong.

Yves looked over his shoulder and froze.

Across the street, he saw something moving in the alley. Shadows peeled away from the walls. First one, then more, sliding and reshaping themselves into impossibly tall figures. Their long, inhuman limbs bent at odd angles. Faces,or rather the lack of them, stared back with glowing eyes.

Yves squinted. “Okay, what the– What the heck is that?!”

One of the shadows tilted its head.

“Oh my god,” he yelled. “Nope. Nope! That’s a demon. That is an actual demon.” He looked wildly at her, shaking her by the shoulders. “Juno, there’s demons! Like, plural! Demons with limbs and breath and that one has way too many teeth–”

The nearest creature began to crawl toward them with a gait that was almost curious. Yves screamed.

“Nope! No thank you. Absolutely not!”

He reached down, grabbed Juno’s hand, gentler than his panic should have allowed, and hauled her to her feet. “Okay! Time to go, princess. I’m not about to let you get eaten by whatever that ugly thing is,” he said with a nervous chuckle, but the joking tone didn’t match the panic rising in his voice.

Juno stumbled forward, one hand pressed tightly against her chest and the other gripping Yves' fingers. With every other step, her legs buckled, forcing her into a half-running stumble where she nearly pitched forward onto the pavement. The burning sensation in her chest worsened and spread up her throat, but she never let go of his hand.

“This is not what I signed up for,” Yves panted as they ran. “I thought we were having a moment. I was being charming. There was banter. But now demons are real. Great!”

Dong.

“Left! Left!” Yves barked, trying to sound heroic but sounding very much like someone one bad scare away from sobbing. “I am never going to another party again!” he wheezed. “Remind me next time someone says ‘casual get-together’ to bring holy water and a bat!”

That's when they saw it.

It was standing at the mouth of the narrow side street. Enormous and looming. It was a demon unlike any they had seen before. It was black as pitch, covered in dozens of eyes fixed on them.

Yves skidded to a halt. “Oh. Oh no. No no no no.”

It leaned forward and Yves acted without thinking. He gently but urgently shoved Juno hard to one side.

“Yves–!”

“Down, Juno!” he shouted, flashing a panicked grin. “I’ve got this! No, I don’t! But go!”

And then the demon moved.

Faster than something that size should. It opened, not a mouth, but something that stretched too wide and it swallowed him whole.

One second he was standing there, trying to look brave like an idiot. The next, he was gone.

Dong

The sound was deafening now.

It wasn't just a bell; it was a countdown, a curse and a noose, tightening with each toll.

Juno clawed her way forward on trembling limbs, her skin torn by the pavement and her palms embedded with sand. Her muscles screamed with every inch she gained. Her knees were slick with blood and her breath was a ragged gasp, barely escaping her throat. The cold tore through her clothes and sank into her spine like needles, but she barely felt it.

The demon was still there. She didn't need to look to know. It pressed into her bones, her lungs and her mind. It was as if something was inside her skull, cracking it from within. It was as if her blood was flowing backwards and her insides were folding in on themselves.

It’s getting closer.

Juno's body jerked into motion, driven by terror and instinct. Her legs screamed with each step and each breath cut her throat like glass. Her arms ached, her side hurt and her body refused to carry on. It wanted to give up and die.

But she ran anyway.

Dong.

Wind howled against her cheeks. Then the snow started; fat flakes that hit her face like little slaps, each one stinging more than it should. She could barely feel her fingers anymore.

Somewhere, deep beneath the panic, past the pain and terror, a thought broke through:

Wasn't this what she had been waiting for?

She had always thought she was running out of time. Always waiting for the end to come quietly. She had convinced herself that it wouldn't matter when it happened because she had already let everything go. Let everyone go.

Hadn't she accepted it? The emptiness, the loneliness, the inevitable silence?

So why were her feet still pounding against the pavement? Why did her chest ache like it was fighting to stay whole? Why were her hands shaking with fear and not relief?

She was supposed to be ready... but she wasn't. She was terrified.

Dong.

Her legs buckled beneath her. Pain flared through her knees as they hit the frozen pavement, but she didn't feel it. She was still drowning, her esophagus tightening every second. Her arms trembled as she tried to push herself up, but she couldn't.

The demon's presence was everywhere now, in the cracks of the concrete, in the snow that scratched her skin, in the ticking of that damned clock.

She was going to die here, so she turned onto her back and closed her eyes, and just waited for death to come.

But then… a voice.

"I can save you, Juno."

Her body, raw and tormented by fear, went still. Her eyes cracked open.

The cat.

No longer perched on high, but sitting now, directly on her chest, its weight pressing down on her racing heart.

It tilted its head, a mockery of sympathy in its expression. Its voice curved around her ear. "You have a choice," it murmured. "One thread left to pull."

It raised a paw, placing it gently on her sternum. The touch was light as a feather, but she felt it inside her like a needle sewing through her ribs.

"I can give you more time," the cat said, its voice persuasive. "But you'll be bound to me. To the Time Devil."

She couldn't breathe. Her body screamed to crawl away, to fight, but all she could do was lie there, wide-eyed, the world collapsing inward, snowflakes falling on her face.

"You can escape death, Juno," the cat whispered. "But you'll never be free again."

Its eyes gleamed, waiting... and she knew deep in her marrow, that there was no other door left to open.

One choice, one curse, one second chance.

Her lips barely moved, but the words came out.

"...I accept."

The world shattered.

She was falling. It felt like sinking through black ice into water so cold it felt like burning. The ticking of the clock exploded in her ears as she sank deeper, reality folding and buckling around her like ripples on a dark surface. And as time twisted around her, Juno, who had never been shown mercy, never been given time, who had lived like a question mark in the margins of everyone else's story; finally, impossibly, was getting another chance.