Chapter one


Clara wasn't in the mood for cosmic nonsense. She'd had exactly three hours of sleep, spilled coffee on her favorite sweater, and the universe had the audacity to sprinkle rain just as she forgot her umbrella. A stranger sat at her table, claiming to be her soulmate, Clara had precisely zero patience for nonsense, which is why she didn't even look up from her coffee. The café was crowded, the rain outside drumming a miserable rhythm against the windows, and the last thing she needed was another weirdo mistaking her for someone who cared. She didn’t even bother looking up from her lukewarm latte.“That’s nice,” she muttered. “I’m married to existential dread. We’re very happy together.” But the stranger didn’t leave. Instead, he leaned in, eyes glinting with the kind of confidence only cult leaders or people with zero social awareness had, resting his elbows on the table with the kind of casual arrogance usually reserved for people who thought they were charming.“I’m serious,” he said, flashing a grin that probably worked better on people who hadn’t been awake since 6 AM. “I’m your soulmate. Destiny. Cosmic alignment. All that jazz." Clara finally looked up. The man was… underwhelming. Messy dark hair, a slightly crooked nose, and an ancient-looking coin dangling from a chain around his neck. The coin caught her attention more than his face did-something about it shimmered oddly, like it wasn't entirely sure it belonged in this dimension. She squinted at him.

Did you hit your head, or are you always like this?" He laughed. "Oh, definitely always like this. Name's Felix, by the way."

"I didn't ask." Not deterred, Felix reached into his jacket and pulled out the coin, holding it between them as if it were some kind of proof of something important. "This," he said dramatically, "is how I found you."

Clara stared at the coin, then at him.

She pulled out what could only be described as a very old coin. "That's just an old coin," she said, disgusted. "No, it's not just an old coin! It's got magical capabilities! Being this beautiful, it can grant magical wishes or open portals to parallel dimensions, take your pick!"

Clara burst out laughing.

"Oh, really? Let me guess: you got it from your great-grandfather, who was a gypsy magician?" "If you don't believe me, it will fall through." "Oh, yeah, right," she blurted out, fiercely waving away the strange coin. "If the coin goes away, then so does the stupid thing with souls. Just call it worker's compensation for my trouble."

"Well, you do have this uncanny ability to crush my dreams every time I start hoping. Just think about it: whoever places the coin in a random person's palm is actually searching for somebody else.

“Congratulations. You’ve mastered the art of GPS.” Felix groaned. “It’s not that kind of tracker. It’s… complicated. Magic, ancient curses, a bit of soul geometry—you know, the usual.” Clara was about to tell him to take his magical geometry somewhere else when the coin pulsed with a faint glow.

“sure it belonged in this dimension.

Let me guess," Clara said, exasperated. "You need money, my social security number, or both?" He grinned. "Nope. Just your help breaking an ancient curse. And maybe your Wi-Fi password." Clara blinked.

"That's a new one." Turns out, the stranger-who introduced himself as Felix-wasn't cursed. The coin was. It wasn't just some trinket; it was a tracker. A soul beacon forged by Ancient Magic, designed to find one's true soulmate across time, space, and very bad coffee shops.

“It’s been following you,” Felix explained, tapping the coin. “Technically, I’ve been following it, so… stalking with cosmic permission?” Clara raised an eyebrow. “You realize how creepy that sounds, right?”

Felix nodded solemnly. “Extremely. But destiny’s not known for its subtlety.” It was a coin that had led him to Clara, after all, due to the unique signature of her soul, which matched his. The problem? It was malfunctioning. Instead of finding her, it was now drawing in other things, unwanted things: supernatural things not too thrilled about soulmates messing with the delicate balance of… whatever dimension they crawled out from.

On cue, the lights in the café flickered. A shadow slithered unnaturally across the floor, completely ignoring physics and personal boundaries. Clara sighed, standing up and grabbing her bag.

"Well," she grumbled, "I suppose that is marginally more interesting than spreadsheets. The shadow curled, like a fume with an attitude, across the cracked café tiles and withered the potted fern in the corner melodramatically, as if it knew that wasn't normal ambience. Clara stared at it, then at Felix.

"Is that… normal?" she asked, because apparently, this was her life now.

Felix peered into the darkness. "Not really. They usually wait till after the first date."

Smooooooth, Clara snatched for the nearest weapon at hand-a stale baguette off the café counter. She had absolutely no idea what she would use it for, but it was comforting to hold carbohydrates in a time of crisis.

The shadow pounced. Felix yelped and cowered behind her.

"You're the soulmate-chosen-one-whatever!" Clara shouted back over her shoulder. "Shouldn't you be fighting the supernatural nightmare smoke?" "Technically, the coin does all the heavy lifting!" Felix hollered back, fumbling for the glowing trinket. Tapped it like someone trying to reboot a stubborn Wi-Fi router. The coin sparked and sputtered and— FWOOSH!

A puff of light shot out, striking the square of shadow in its smoky face. It hissed like an overcooked kettle, recoiling before it dissolved on the air with the faint smell of burnt toast.

Silence. Clara blinked, still holding the baguette like a sword. "So… that's done?" Felix dusted himself off, utterly missing the fact that Clara just saved his life with nothing but baked goods and abysmal impulse control. "More or less," he said. "Although they'll probably send backup."

Clara groaned. "Of course they will."

They left the café in a hurry, ignoring the barista’s unimpressed stare as if supernatural attacks were just part of the lunch rush. As they walked down the rainy street, Clara finally asked the question nagging at her: “So why me? Why does the coin say I’m your soulmate?”

Felix looked down at the coin, innocently swinging around his neck now, as if it wasn't some kind of cosmic GPS with a penchant for chaos.

"It doesn't choose based on romance or destiny," he said. "It tracks the person whose soul is most compatible for… survival." Clara stopped in her tracks.

"Survival?"

Felix gave a sheepish grin.

"Yeah. Fundamentally, you are the one that's statistically less likely to allow me to die terribly." Clara glared at him, baguette in her hand, with rain dripping off of her hair.

"Well," she said quietly, "they aren't wrong."

Clara stuffed the baguette in her satchel like an accomplished warrior would sling their sword on the run. "Well, all right then, Soul Survival Buddy. Since I'm the only statistic standing between life and gruesome, tortured death for you, try and stay caught up.

Felix ran after the pack, looking a lot more practiced in dramatic entrances than in doing any kind of actual cardio. "So. what was that shadow thing back there?" Clara dodged suspiciously toward one of the puddles, looking as though it might bite back at her. "Oh, that?" Felix gave the situation a dismissive wave. "Just a small Void Wraith. Horrid little things. They are attracted to the coin's signal. Like cosmic mosquitoes, but worse-EXISTENTIAL DOOM instead".

"Great," Clara said. "Always wanted to be mosquito bait for interdimensional horrors."

They turned a corner into an alley, Felix fiddling nervously with the coin. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat-or maybe a tiny, glowing panic attack.

"Is it s'posed to be doing that? " Clara asked. Felix squinted at the coin. "Only when it's detecting something dangerous nearby." Before Clara could say anything else, the brick wall beside them shifted. It hadn't crumbled. It hadn't cracked. It shifted, like it had decided it no longer wanted to be a wall and instead morphed into a towering figure made entirely of shadow and jagged teeth. "Oh, great," Clara groaned. "Upgraded mosquito." The creature lunged, faster than logic should allow. Felix tripped over his own feet, landing with a heroic "oof." Clara, now officially tired of today's nonsense, did the only logical thing.

She slung the baguette. It hit the shadow creature square in its non-face. The impact made exactly zero difference. "Okay, that was Plan A," Clara muttered. "Plan B?" Felix scrambled to his feet, clutching the coin like it owed him rent. "Hold it off for a second! " he shouted, fumbling through his bag. "With what? My sparkling personality? " The creature lashed out. Clara dodged and picked up a torn-off pipe lying on the ground, swinging through as if trying for a home run. And to her surprise, it actually hit something, creating ripples on this shadow form of a monster. Felix finally pulled out a glow stick-no kidding. "Seriously? That's your big plan? " Clara shouted, ducking for cover from its counterattack again. Felix cracked the glow stick and started shaking it like it was some magic potion.

At that point, to be fair, it kind of was.

The light flared unnaturally bright, humming with energy.

He tossed it towards the creature.

The effect was immediate. It recoiled with a screech like it had stepped on LEGO, and writhing, it then disintegrated into nothing, leaving only that faint smell of ozone and regret. Clara stared at the glow stick now innocently lying in the ground below. "That was your secret weapon?"

Felix dusted himself off. “It’s infused with spectral light energy. Very rare. Extremely powerful.”Clara picked it up. “It’s from a party store, isn’t it?” Felix cleared his throat, looking away. “I… may have repurposed some things.” Clara sighed, stuffing the glow stick into her bag next to the baguette.“Alright, coin-boy. If I’m stuck with you, we’re doing this my way.”

Felix grinned. “Deal. Just one thing—” The coin pulsed again before he could finish. "Oh no," Felix groaned. "I think it's picked up another signal."Clara rolled her eyes."Of course it has.