Trapped In Elysium: A Virtual Reality Nightmare-Chapter 173: Timeline 2

Marcus felt his pulse quicken. His jaw clenched as he turned to the queen, his voice low but intense. "Which day exactly?" he asked. "Tell me the exact moment you saw the other me."

The queen didn’t answer at first. Her gaze was distant, almost haunted, as if still entangled in the threads of Marcus’s memories. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. It was clear she was choosing her words carefully.

"It was the day Liam and the others were summoned by Nexus Corporation," she finally said. "The day they were chosen to test the game."

Marcus blinked. "That day? The last day on Earth?"

"Yes," she said softly. "The day everything changed."

A wave of silence crashed over the group. Even the wind outside the tomb’s entrance seemed to still. Each of them stood frozen, caught between disbelief and realization.

Jason stepped forward slowly. "Hold on... you’re saying Marcus—an older Marcus—was there? On Earth? Before we were even transferred to Elysium?"

The queen nodded once. "He was there. I saw him. Not in your memories, but in the folds of time itself. He was watching."

Marcus felt his stomach twist. "Watching what?"

"You," she said, eyes narrowing slightly. "Or more specifically... Liam."

Sophia’s head jerked toward her. "Wait, what?"

"He didn’t come into contact with Marcus," the queen explained. "Not even once. He avoided himself entirely. It’s as though he knew. As though he understood the risk of paradox... but Liam?" She exhaled slowly. "He always saw Liam. Quietly. Carefully. Many times. Enough to slip something into his path."

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, looking deeply disturbed. "But we never noticed anything strange happening that day. Liam never said anything."

"Because he was never meant to remember," the queen said. "And neither was Marcus. The older version of him knew what had to be done—and he did it in a way that wouldn’t disrupt the mission. At least, not yet."

Von squinted, crossing his arms. "You’re saying the timeline’s already been touched once?"

"More than once," the queen murmured, "but that moment... that day... it was the first that mattered."

Marcus paced away from them, his mind spinning. He remembered that day clearly—standing outside the Nexus building with Liam, Sophia, and the others. The sun was bright. The sky was that strange kind of blue that only appeared when the world was about to change. They had laughed. They had joked. None of them knew what awaited them. None of them had any idea that stepping through those doors meant leaving Earth behind forever.

But now... now there had been someone else.

Him.

Older. Silent. Watching from the edge of memory.

"I need to remember," Marcus whispered, mostly to himself.

The queen’s eyes snapped to him. "No," she said firmly. "Not yet. If the seal on that memory breaks now, it could fracture what little protection Liam still has. The timing must be exact. If we awaken it too soon, we could doom him before he makes his choice."

Eleanor frowned. "What exactly did this older Marcus give Liam?"

The queen didn’t answer.

Because she couldn’t.

"Something he was never meant to have," she said instead. "But something that may be the only hope of saving him from himself."

Sophia folded her arms, her voice filled with tension. "So... you knew about all this? The other Marcus? The contact with Liam?"

The queen hesitated. "No," she admitted. "Not until I touched his memories. And even now, I see only glimpses. Shadows of a decision made long ago, buried beneath layers of purpose and sacrifice."

Jason tilted his head. "So... what now? We just hope whatever this mystery object is does its job?"

"No," the queen said, her voice hardening. "Now we wait. And we prepare. Because Liam is already at the edge. And if he falls, he won’t be the only one lost."

Marcus’s fingers tightened into fists. He felt a pressure in his chest, like a memory trying to claw its way out. But it remained trapped in shadow. All he could do was trust that the version of himself—whoever he was, whatever he had become—had done the right thing.

Or that he still had time to make it right.

The queen stepped toward Marcus, her expression a tight knot of urgency and quiet dread. The light around her soul shimmered, flickering like a candle in a storm. Her form was barely holding together, but her gaze—her voice—remained steady.

"You must meet him," she said.

Marcus looked up, his brows knitting. "Who?"

"Your older self," the queen replied. "You must find him. Speak to him. Convince him to give Liam what he was meant to receive that day."

The words struck like thunder. Everyone fell into stunned silence.

The wind howled just beyond the tomb’s entrance, kicking up loose sand and broken leaves, as if nature itself paused to listen.

Marcus blinked, his mind resisting the notion. "You want me to—what? Just go back and find... an older version of me? How?"

"You must," the queen insisted. "He knew what had to be done. But he didn’t complete it. Liam was never meant to receive it that day. Not directly. But now, everything has changed. The mission is on the verge of collapse. The king has awakened the deepest wound in Liam’s heart, and he’s about to give everything to get his sister back. If that happens, he will fail."

Sophia shook her head slowly. "You can’t be serious. We don’t even know what this thing is. Or where to find Marcus’s older self. Or even if we can find him."

"But I do," the queen said, eyes locked on Marcus.

Then everything shifted.

It hit Marcus like a wall of ice. His breath caught in his throat. A searing pain bloomed behind his eyes, sharp and unrelenting. He staggered back, clutching his head as if something inside his skull had cracked open. Heat and light exploded through his mind—images, sounds, flashes of memory that didn’t belong to the present.

He gasped. "Nngh—!"

The others rushed to him, but the queen threw out her arm. "Don’t touch him."

Jason hesitated. "He’s in pain!"

"He’s remembering," she said grimly. "And if you interrupt him now, it’ll shatter everything."

Marcus groaned as the flood continued—pieces of something buried deep, locked away behind the careful design of time. He saw the glass doors of Nexus Corp. He saw the sunlit street outside. He saw Liam... standing alone in the early morning haze, headphones on, backpack slung lazily over one shoulder.

And then—he saw himself.

Older.

Tired eyes. A faint scar along the right cheek. Dressed differently. Taller. More silent. Watching from the edge of the crowd. Just for a moment.

Then gone.

A memory never meant to return.

Marcus fell to one knee, sweat pouring from his brow. His heart thudded like a war drum, each beat slamming against his ribs. But the images had come. The seal was broken, if only a crack—and that was enough.

He looked up, panting.

"I know where to go," he whispered hoarsely. "I know what to do."

The queen stepped closer, her voice quiet. "Do you remember what he held?"

Marcus nodded slowly, his eyes glassy with realization. "Yeah. A small box. I didn’t notice it at the time. But now... I see it."

Sophia took a step forward. "What was in it?"

"I don’t know," he said. "But whatever it is... it was meant for Liam. And it might be the only thing that can save him."

A long silence passed between them all.

The queen’s form flickered again, growing weaker. "Then you must find yourself," she said. "Before it’s too late."

Marcus closed his eyes, gathering the fragments of memory now alive in his chest. Somewhere, in that fractured day, his older self waited—quiet, calm, carrying the one thing that might keep Liam from losing himself forever.

The pain still echoed in his skull. But with it came a certainty.

He knew what he had to do.

And time was running out.