After agreeing they ran to a alley and it was silent except for Chara’s ragged breathing. Her body leaned against the brick wall, trembling. Her ghost hovered beside her, flickering like a candle in a storm.

The Architect stood guard at the alley’s mouth, cosmic energy swirling around him like a living shield.

Chara’s body finally managed to speak. “Okay… okay… so that was The End. Again. And it tried to eat us. Again.”

Her ghost added, “And we almost died. Again. Well I almost died again. You almost died for the first time. Which is worse.”

Her body glared. “Not helping.”

The Architect turned toward them, expression grim. “We cannot stay here. The End will regroup.”

Chara’s ghost crossed her arms. “Yeah, no kidding. It just deleted a whole building.”

Her body nodded. “And it’s hunting me. Because I’m… what? A cosmic glitch with potential?”

The Architect hesitated. “You are more than that.”

Her ghost raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do tell.”

He looked at both of her the living body and the spectral soul and said

“You are becoming a nexus.”

Chara’s body blinked. “A what?”

“A point where creation and destruction intersect. A being capable of shaping reality.”

Chara’s ghost stared. “That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“It is,” he agreed. “Which is why we must control it.”

Chara’s body suddenly doubled over, clutching her stomach.

“Whoa HEY what’s happening?!”

Her ghost flickered violently. “Oh no. Oh no no no—”

The Architect rushed to her side. “The tether is destabilizing.”

Chara’s body gasped. “Destabilizing?! What does that mean?!”

“It means,” he said, “your soul and body are drifting out of sync.”

Her ghost’s voice trembled. “If we drift too far… I fade.”

Her body whispered, “And if we get too close…?”

The Architect didn’t answer.

Because the air around them warped.

Chara’s ghost flickered.

Chara’s body flickered.

For a moment just a moment they overlapped.

Her ghost’s hand passed through her body’s hand…

…and for a split second, they felt each other.

A shockwave burst outward, rattling the alley.

The Architect grabbed both versions of her, pulling them apart. “Enough! You must not touch.”

Chara’s body panted. “Why?! What happens if we do?”

He looked at her with a seriousness that made her stomach drop.

“You merge.”

Her ghost whispered, “Is that… bad?”

“Catastrophic,” he said. “Your soul is not ready. Your body is not ready. And the universe is certainly not ready.”

Chara’s body groaned. “Great. So I’m basically a walking paradox bomb.”

Her ghost added, “And I’m the fuse.”

A low rumble echoed through the alley.

The Architect stiffened. “It found us again.”

Chara’s ghost panicked. “Already?! We just ran!”

“The End does not tire,” he said. “And it has sent something new.”

A shape emerged from the shadows tall, skeletal, its limbs too long, its eyes hollow voids. It moved like a puppet with invisible strings.

Chara’s body whispered, “What… is that?”

“A Harbinger,” The Architect said. “A hunter. It tracks anomalies.”

Her ghost squeaked. “I AM AN ANOMALY!”

“Yes,” he said. “Which is why it is here.”

The Harbinger tilted its head, sniffing the air like a predator.

Then it lunged.

The Architect threw up a barrier, but the creature slammed into it with enough force to crack the cosmic shield.

Chara’s body screamed. “It’s breaking through!”

Her ghost shouted, “DO SOMETHING!”

The Architect gritted his teeth. “I am trying!”

The Harbinger struck again the barrier shattered.

Chara’s ghost darted backward. “We’re gonna die!”

Chara’s body stumbled. “We’re gonna die AGAIN!”

The Harbinger lunged straight for Chara’s body

And then something impossible happened.

Chara’s ghost moved instinctively, throwing herself between the creature and her body.

Her ghostly form flared with light.

A shockwave blasted outward.

The Harbinger was thrown across the alley, slamming into a dumpster with a metallic crash.

Chara’s ghost stared at her glowing hands. “What… what did I just do?”

The Architect’s eyes widened. “You manifested again.”

Chara’s body whispered, “But… I thought I needed training.”

“You do,” he said. “Which means this should not be possible.”

The Harbinger rose, snarling.

The Architect stepped forward. “Stay behind me.”

Chara’s ghost shook her head. “No. I can help.”

“Chara—”

“I’m tired of running.”

Her body nodded. “Me too.”

The Architect hesitated.

Then he stepped aside.

“Very well,” he said. “But be careful. Your power is unstable.”

Chara’s ghost floated forward, trembling but determined.

The Harbinger lunged.

Chara raised her hands.

Light erupted.

The creature dissolved into dust.

Silence fell.

Chara’s ghost stared at her hands, shaking. “I… I did that.”

Her body whispered, “You saved us.”

The Architect stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You are stronger than you know.”

Chara’s ghost swallowed. “But I’m not ready.”

“No,” he said softly. “But you will be.”

The dust swirled.

A voice echoed through the alley.

“She awakens.”

Chara’s body shivered.

Her ghost whispered, “That was The End.”

The Architect nodded grimly. “It knows your potential now.”

Chara’s body looked at him. “So what do we do?”

He met both of her gazes the living and the spectral.

“We train,” he said. “We hide. We fight. And we prepare for the moment when you must face The End.”

Chara’s ghost trembled. “And if I’m not ready?”

He placed a hand over her heart her ghostly one.

“Then I will stand with you.”

Chara’s body stepped closer. “Both of us will.”

The Architect smiled — tired, proud, and terrified.

“Then we have a chance.”