Creation Of All Things-Chapter 191: Alexandria’s Pain

Alexandria didn't say anything.

She just turned.

Quiet. Controlled. No dramatic gasp, no angry outburst. Just a small step back, a blink, and then her heels clicked softly as she walked out of the forge room. Like she wasn't walking away from a heartbreak, but from a meeting that had gone on too long.

Still, everybody noticed.

Even the forge, with its low flame and creaking metal, seemed to dim just a little more.

Kaiden looked up, eyes following her retreating form, brows pulling together like he was going to say something—but didn't. Maybe he didn't know what to say. Maybe he wasn't supposed to.

Aurora didn't turn. She knew.

Jordan rubbed the back of his neck, glanced around. Everyone else was still rooted in place—processing. The truth, the kid, the Spiral, the future. All of it.

But Jordan, he stepped away.

"I got it," he muttered before Alfred or Draken could even say anything.

He jogged after her, boots echoing across stone as he turned the corner.

He found her in the corridor outside, arms pressed against the cold iron wall, head bowed between them. Her shoulders didn't shake, but her fingers gripped the edge like she wanted to punch through it.

"Hey," Jordan said gently.

No answer.

He walked up, gave her space, leaned on the wall beside her.

"Kinda heavy night, huh?"

She didn't laugh. Didn't even look at him.

"He's real," she said. "That's the part that hurts the most. Kaiden… he's real."

Jordan nodded slowly. "Yeah. Realer than a ghost story."

She turned her head, eyes wet but not spilling. Not yet. Her voice came out quieter. "That means Adam ends up with her."

"Aurora."

She nodded, the motion stiff. "I spent years… trying to be close. Not forcing it. Just… hoping. Thinking maybe, if I stayed strong enough, fought long enough, if I was there at the right moment, he'd choose me. That maybe, I'd be the one beside him when it was all over."

Jordan watched her. He didn't interrupt.

"But now we know, don't we?" she whispered. "There's a son. A timeline. An ending that doesn't have me in it."

She looked away fast, like the tears were starting to win.

Jordan stepped in a little closer, not pushing, just enough.

"It doesn't mean you don't matter," he said.

Alexandria let out a bitter exhale. "Don't give me that. I'm not one of the cadets who needs a pep talk. I know how this stuff works. Time isn't gentle. It's brutal. If he ends up with Aurora, if Kaiden exists, then that's it. That's the fixed line. I never had a chance."

"You had more than a chance," Jordan said. "You had him. For a long time. And maybe not in the way you wanted, but don't pretend that didn't mean something. To both of you."

She shook her head. "It wasn't enough."

Jordan went quiet. Then he looked at her, really looked, and his voice lowered.

"You want to know the part that hurts me?"

She blinked at him, surprised.

"I saw you fight for him. I saw you bleed beside him. I saw you hold your ground when he did not even look at you the same way you look at him. I thought, damn, if anyone's going to make it into Adam's heart, it's her."

"And then?" she asked.

"And then he looked at Aurora like she was gravity. Like everything else was noise. And I hated it."

Alexandria's eyes widened slightly.

"You weren't the only one hoping for something that never landed," Jordan said.

The silence stretched long after that.

A wind stirred down the corridor. Cold. Hollow.

"It's not fair," Alexandria said finally. Her voice was small now. Tired. "All this training. All this loyalty. And I still end up… alone."

Jordan leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Maybe you're not as alone as you think."

She glanced sideways.

"You mean you?"

He shrugged. "I mean me. And them. And this whole stupid messed-up team of misfits and legacy freaks. We may not be love stories, but we're not nothing."

A pause.

Then she laughed. Just once. Short. Rough.

"You're an idiot."

Jordan grinned. "Takes one to love one."

She rolled her eyes. But she didn't walk away.

Instead, she slid down the wall and sat beside him.

For a few minutes, neither of them said anything. Just sat there in the long hallway, letting the world settle around the cracks in their hearts.

After a while, Alexandria looked up again. Her eyes were clearer now.

"You think Kaiden's ready for what's coming?" she asked.

Jordan thought about it.

Then he said, "Nah."

She blinked. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "But I think he's got the right people around him."

She leaned her head back against the wall. "Yeah. Guess he does."

Another beat.

Jordan side-eyed her. "Still mad?"

"At time? At fate? At Adam?"

"All of the above."

Alexandria smiled faintly. "Yeah. A little."

Jordan nudged her shoulder with his. "Good. Means you're still you."

She let her head rest there. Just for a moment. Against his.

Not because she was in love.

But because she needed someone who stayed.

And Jordan always did.

Back in the forge, Kaiden stared at the place where Alexandria had stood.

Aurora placed a hand on his shoulder. "Give her time."

Kaiden said nothing.

Because deep down, he knew:

Time was exactly the thing they'd already lost.

Back To Krayon Sol

"What would you do if you suddenly found out you're a dad?" Joshua asked, a sly grin creeping across his face.

Adam blinked, caught off guard. "That'd be pretty damn hard, considering I haven't been with anyone in… a long time."

Joshua couldn't hold it in—he burst out laughing, shaking his head. "Oh man… I can't wait to see your face when we get back to the Ostarius."

Adam narrowed his eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

Joshua just kept walking, hands behind his head like he was out for a stroll. That smug look on his face wasn't helping.

"Josh," Adam said again, firmer this time. "What do you know?"

"I'm just saying," Joshua said, drawing the words out, "life's full of surprises. Especially when you've got… legacy energy hanging around your aura."

Adam froze in his tracks. "Don't mess with me. What do you mean legacy energy?"

Joshua turned to face him, walking backward now, clearly enjoying every second of this.

"Can't say. Sworn to secrecy," he said, tapping an invisible zipper across his lips. "But let's just say you've got a future-shaped surprise waiting for you. And oh man… it's gonna be rich."

Adam's expression flattened. "If this is another one of your dumb pranks—"

"No prank," Joshua said, spinning back around. "You'll see soon enough. Just… remember to breathe when it hits you."

Adam walked in silence after that, jaw tight, gears clearly turning in his head. Joshua didn't say another word either—he didn't have to.

The smirk on his face said it all.