The starlight bubble around them exploded.

Emma screamed as reality tore apart like wet paper. The force threw her against Kael, and for a terrifying moment, she thought they would fall into the endless darkness between worlds.

"Hold on!" Marcus shouted, grabbing both of them as chunks of their prison spun away into nothing.

The Cosmic Judge’s massive galaxy-eye watched them struggle. When it spoke, Emma’s bones shook.

"THE UNIVERSE IS BREAKING BECAUSE YOU BROUGHT BACK THE DEAD. FIX IT, OR EVERYONE DIES."

"How much time do we have?" Emma gasped, her hands still glowing with leftover resurrection power.

"MINUTES."

Emma’s stomach dropped. Around them, more cracks appeared in the fabric of space. Through the holes, she could see other worlds splitting apart too.

"This is all my fault," she whispered.

"No," Kael said firmly, pulling her close. "You saved me. That’s not wrong."

But Emma could feel it now - every time her heart beat, the cracks got bigger. Her power was too much for reality to handle.

"There has to be another way," Kael insisted, looking at Marcus. "You’re the time expert. Can’t you fix this?"

Marcus shook his head sadly. "Time can’t fix what she did. She broke a law that existed before time began."

The Cosmic Judge’s voice boomed again: "TELL THEM ABOUT THE NECRO-SOVEREIGN, TIME WALKER."

Emma’s blood went cold. "The what?"

Marcus’s face went pale. "I was hoping we wouldn’t need to talk about this yet." He pointed through one of the cracks in space. "Look."

Emma squinted into the darkness and saw something that made her want to throw up. It looked like a giant skeleton made of stars, but its bones were filled with screaming faces.

"That’s the thing behind all of this," Marcus said quietly. "The Necro-Sovereign. It used to rule a universe where nobody could die."

"That sounds good," Emma said, confused.

"No, it was horrible. People lived forever, but they went crazy from boredom and pain. They begged to die, but couldn’t. Finally, they destroyed their own world just to escape."

Kael gripped Emma’s shoulder. "What does this have to do with us?"

"The Necro-Sovereign survived by hiding between life and death. Now it wants to turn our universe into the same nightmare. It’s been using the Devourer to collect souls for a massive resurrection spell."

Emma felt sick. "You mean it wants to bring back everyone who ever died?"

"Everyone from its dead universe AND ours. Billions of immortal, crazy souls with nowhere to go."

The truth hit Emma like a punch to the gut. "That’s why I have resurrection power. It needs me to complete the spell."

"Exactly. And now that you’ve proven you can bring back the dead..."

A new voice joined their conversation. It sounded like nails on a blackboard mixed with crying children.

"Hello, little resurrection girl."

The Necro-Sovereign had found them.

Its terrible star-skeleton face pushed through the largest crack in their bubble. Up close, Emma could see that the screaming faces in its bones were people it had collected over millions of years.

"You’ve made such a mess," it said with fake sadness. "Poor little Emma, breaking reality just to save daddy."

"Stay away from her!" Kael moved protectively in front of Emma.

The Necro-Sovereign laughed. "I don’t need to take her. She’ll come to me willingly."

"Never," Emma said, though her voice shook.

"Oh, but you will. Because I’m about to show you what happens when you don’t."

The monster waved one bony hand, and suddenly Emma could see everything. Every crack in reality was spreading like a disease. Whole planets were vanishing. Billions of people were dying as their worlds collapsed.

And it was all because she had brought back one person.

"Stop it!" Emma screamed. "I’ll do whatever you want!"

"Emma, no!" Kael grabbed her arm. "Don’t listen to it!"

But Emma could see children falling into the cracks between worlds. She could hear mothers crying for their babies. All because she had been selfish enough to save her father.

"I have to," she whispered. "If I don’t help it, everyone dies anyway."

The Cosmic Judge’s voice cut through her despair: "THERE IS ANOTHER WAY, CHILD. BUT THE PRICE IS HIGHER THAN JOINING THE NECRO-SOVEREIGN."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"TO STOP THE NECRO-SOVEREIGN’S PLAN AND SAVE REALITY, YOU MUST USE YOUR RESURRECTION POWER ON A SCALE NEVER ATTEMPTED. YOU MUST BRING BACK EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER DIED, FROM EVERY UNIVERSE, ALL AT ONCE."

Emma’s mind reeled. "That’s impossible."

"NOT FOR YOU. BUT REMEMBER THE PRICE - YOU WILL EXPERIENCE EVERY SINGLE DEATH AS IF IT WERE YOUR OWN. TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS OF DEATHS, ALL AT THE SAME TIME."

"That would destroy her mind!" Kael shouted.

"IT WOULD DESTROY ANYONE’S MIND. BUT IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO CREATE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. ONLY THEN WILL THE NECRO-SOVEREIGN BE POWERLESS."

Emma looked at her father’s worried face, then at the collapsing reality around them. More worlds were disappearing every second.

"How long would I have to hold that power?" she asked quietly.

"LONG ENOUGH TO ESTABLISH PERMANENT BALANCE. PERHAPS MINUTES. PERHAPS HOURS."

"And then?"

"THEN YOU WOULD DIE FROM THE STRAIN, BUT EVERYONE ELSE WOULD LIVE IN A BALANCED UNIVERSE."

The Necro-Sovereign snarled. "Don’t listen to cosmic nonsense, child. Join me, and I’ll make you a goddess of death. Refuse, and watch everyone suffer."

Emma closed her eyes. She could hear Kael begging her to find another way, but she already knew there wasn’t one. She could either become a monster like the Necro-Sovereign, or die saving everyone.

When she opened her eyes, silver light was pouring from her hands again.

"Emma," Kael whispered, understanding what she had chosen. "Please don’t do this."

"I have to, Daddy. You taught me to protect people, remember?"

"Not like this. Not if it kills you."

Emma smiled through her tears. "You died to save me once. Now it’s my turn."

She began to gather her power, preparing for the most massive resurrection spell ever attempted. The light around her hands grew brighter and brighter.

But just as she was about to begin, something unexpected happened.

The Necro-Sovereign started laughing.

"Foolish little girl," it cackled. "Did you really think I would let you choose your own death? I have one more surprise for you."

It reached through the cracks in reality and grabbed something Emma couldn’t see.

When it pulled its hand back, Emma’s heart stopped.

The Necro-Sovereign was holding her mother.

Not a ghost or a memory, but her actual mother, alive and terrified.

"Surprise, Emma," the monster whispered. "She never died in the first place. I’ve been keeping her prisoner this whole time, waiting for the right moment."

Emma’s world tilted sideways. "Mom?"

"Emma!" her mother called out. "Don’t trust it! This is all a trap!"

But Emma barely heard her. If her mother was alive, then everything she thought she knew was wrong. Why had everyone told her that her mother was dead? What else had been a lie?

The Necro-Sovereign’s grin widened. "Here’s my final offer, resurrection girl. Help me complete my spell, and you get your whole family back. Refuse, and watch them both die slowly while reality collapses around you."

Emma stared at her parents - the father she had just brought back from the dead, and the mother who had never actually died.

The weight of choosing who would live and who would die was crushing her.

And she had exactly thirty seconds to decide before reality finished tearing itself apart.