Ascension Of The Villain

As Elian's upbeat nature dropped for the first time, Vyan tried to analyze the sudden shift in him.

"I do," he murmured, staring at his lap. "But I don't think Daddy feels the same way."

"What do you mean by that?"

Elian sank down on the couch, his head lowered and his voice quiet. "I heard Daddy once telling Mommy in their bedroom that he feels like she doesn't give him enough time, that she's always either busy with work or me or Amy."

"When did you hear that?" he inquired.

"I think it was a month ago?"

"Did your dad sound mad?"

He shook his head. "No, he just sounded really hurt." Then, he sighed dramatically, as if he were a tired eighty-year-old man. "Then again, Daddy has always been like that. He really likes Mommy's attention. And if he doesn't get that for a long time, he throws a tantrum."

Vyan felt attacked.

He could see himself in the future acting like this—so childish and still so obsessive after ten years.

"But he can't stay upset with Mommy for long, either. He's a real loser when it comes to her, you know?"

Vyan felt attacked once again. Why was Adrian so much like him? Geez.

"So, it's gonna be fine," Elian perked up again. "I know so. Because they always work out their issues. They never keep anything in their hearts."

Vyan smiled genuinely. Because he could relate to that part as well.

———

Vyan sat in the passenger seat of Adrian's car and stared out the window. Adrian was quiet beside him initially, then he spoke up as they neared their destination.

"She's a little odd. But if there's anyone who might figure out a way home for you… it's her."

Vyan didn't reply immediately. His fingers absentmindedly traced the seatbelt. "And what does she do exactly?"

"Officially? She's a theoretical physicist. Unofficially? She researches things that make no sense to normal people—unnatural phenomena, energy shifts, fourth dimension, lost time cases."

"She sounds promising," Vyan muttered.

The car slowed and turned into a narrow, tree-lined path that led to a modest but oddly futuristic glass-paneled house.

Adrian parked and turned to Vyan. "Ready?"

"Not like I've a choice."

They approached the door, and before Adrian could knock, it creaked open.

Standing there was a woman in her thirties, her short black hair tied into a messy low bun, glasses askew on her nose. She wore a lab coat over a T-Rex-in-space T-shirt and mismatched socks. Her eyes went straight to Vyan like she was scanning him with her brain.

"You must be the interdimensional misfit I was warned about," she announced without a hint of subtlety.

Vyan arched a brow. "And you must be the eccentric genius with no concept of greetings."

"Correct on both counts," she said briskly. "Come in, honored anomaly. And you, Evans, shoes off."

Adrian sighed as he kicked off his shoes. "Nice to see you too, Eira. Ever considered being nice to me once in your life?"

"Once. Didn't like it." Eira stepped aside to let them in.

Vyan followed, the corners of his lips twitching in amusement. Something told him this was going to be… interesting.

He simply followed inside, stepping into a living room that looked like a cross between an elaborate control room and a five-year-old's dream laboratory. Holograms hovered midair, projecting star charts and data Vyan couldn't begin to decode.

Eira motioned to a reclining chair in the center of the room. "Sit. Let me scan your presence."

"Scan my... presence?" Vyan gave Adrian a look that said Is this your idea of help?, but obeyed.

She ignored him and pulled out a tablet with wires attached to glowing diodes. She placed a few on Vyan's forehead, wrist, and chest. The machine beeped furiously.

Her brows furrowed. "You're not from here. That much is obvious. Your molecular resonance is vibrating at a frequency this planet doesn't even register. Like, if Earth had allergies, it would sneeze you out."

"Right, I'll pretend I understood all of that," Vyan drawled.

Eira sighed and went around her lab, tapping and scanning weird things which Vyan had no idea about.

"Basically, I can already tell you're not from Earth. Are you?"

"I'm not. I know that. What's there to test it?"

Eira rolled her eyes. "It's to reassure Evans, to prove to him that you really are not from here."

Vyan shot a glare at Adrian, who just shrugged innocently.

"Anyway, so now that you know I'm not from this universe, can you find a way to send me back? Open a portal, a wormhole, or... I don't know."

Eira turned to him with a flat look. "This isn't a fantasy novel, darling. I can't open a rift to a universe I can't map. Time and space aren't threads you can pull at will. Whatever brought you here, it's beyond current understanding. It's almost at the level of being magical."

"It is magical. I came here through a time-travel magic mishap. In fact, I'm a mage myself."

"Interesting." Eira's eyes sparkled. "Can I dissect you?"

"No, Eira, you can't," Adrian spoke up sternly, as if she seriously meant it with every fiber of her being. "He's a human; it doesn't matter from where. He's not a lab rat, so mind it."

Eira groaned dramatically, dragging a hand down her face. "Ugh. Fine." She shook her head, genuine disappointment clouding her eyes. "What a golden opportunity wasted. If I could just isolate the variables, map the field dynamics, maybe even time-travel through you—"

"You can't," Vyan cut in. "It's magic. And magic doesn't exist in your world."

There was a beat of silence. Then, slowly, Eira's lips curled into a sly smirk. "Mmm... Or maybe it does."

Vyan's gaze snapped to her. "What are you talking about?" The undercurrent of his voice shifted, tinged with desperation now.

Adrian stepped closer, frowning. "Eira, you once told me about... anomalous zones. Places where electronics glitch out, satellites fail, and compasses spin like bottle tops. Places where the laws of physics seem to forget themselves. Is that what you're hinting at?"

Eira's eyes flicked between them. She was no longer joking. Her expression turned grave.

"There are stories," she said quietly. "Whispers from old pilots, lost expeditions, even modern-day reports scrubbed from official records. There are places charged with energy that no instrument can fully explain. Radiation patterns that don't match any known decay models. Frequencies we can't trace back to a source."

"Where?" Vyan pressed, stepping forward, urgency lacing every syllable now. "Where are these places?"

Eira exhaled, as if debating whether to say it out loud. "It's still a theory," she murmured. "But one of them… is the Bermuda Triangle."