stretched around her, each representing a life she could live, a choice she could make. She reached out and brushed one. Instantly, she was somewhere else.


A meadow she had never visited, sunlight warming her skin, the scent of wildflowers heavy in the air. A life untainted by fear.


Another thread tugged her, and she was in a city she didn’t know but instinctively recognized. Streets crowded with people—some faces familiar from her past, others strangers she somehow loved instantly. Every thread showed joy and heartbreak, victories and losses she had never experienced.


The pendant glowed brighter with one thread. Mara understood intuitively: this was the path she could claim, the life she had the courage to embrace.


The darkness whispered warnings. Are you strong enough to live without turning back?


“I’m ready,” she said.


Threads coalesced, forming a spiral around her, lifting her higher. Memories of other selves surged—her mistakes, her triumphs, loves lost, betrayals endured. She confronted herself fully, feeling the weight of infinite lives pressing against her.


The shadow figure appeared once more, radiant now. “You see now, Mara. All the lives you might have lived. All the regrets, the joys, the pain. Choose, and claim what is yours.”


She touched the glowing thread. Warmth spread through her, anchoring her in something permanent yet flexible. The infinite lives were hers to acknowledge, but this one—the one she chose—was where she belonged.