Isla looked at Elion with a deadpan expression on her face, "That was not what I expected you to say."

"It is real," Elion continued. "You are real, your brother is real, your mother is real. Every person living in Haven, every soldier who died during the war, every demon, every village, every city, every memory you have..." He paused. "All of it is real."

Isla watched him silently, trying to make sense of what he was trying to say.

Elion continued, "But this world is also part of something larger."

A faint crease formed between her brows. "What does that mean?"

"This place exists inside a trial," he said. "A world created, preserved, or trapped inside some kind of larger system. I do not understand every detail myself, and I am not going to pretend that I do, but I know that I was sent here from somewhere else."

Isla stared at him.

For several long seconds, she said nothing, and then she laughed lightly. It was a quiet, uncertain sound, "You are joking, right?"

She expected him to smile and say he was, but Elion did not indulge her. Her laughter slowly faded.

"Elion?"

"I am not joking."

The colour slowly drained from her face. He could see the disbelief spreading through her expression as her mind tried to make sense of what he had just said.

"What do you mean you were sent here from somewhere else?"

"I mean that I did not grow up in this world," Elion said. "The version of Haven I know is different. The people are different. The kingdom is different. The academy I used to attend does not exist here yet, at least not in the form I know."

Isla shook her head slowly, "I’m sorry, but that does not make sense."

"I know, but I was brought here because of a trial, and as you can guess, so were the other heroes. We are not really heroes, just normal people from a Haven in the distant future."

"What? You can’t be serious. How is that possible? All that time we spent together, all those battles you fought in, my father died, people died, families were plundered and destroyed!"

"I remember all of it," Elion interjected before she could go any further.

"And now you are telling me this world is some kind of..." She hesitated, struggling to force the word out. "Trial?"

Elion nodded as Isla rose from her seat. She walked a few steps away from him, then stopped near the window, her arms folding lightly over herself.

"No." She said in a quiet voice. She couldn’t seem to come to terms with his claims.

Elion remained seated, "No?" he asked.

"No," she repeated. "That cannot be true."

He expected the reaction. It would have been strange if she had accepted everything immediately. Isla looked out through the window toward the city below.

"Haven is real," she said. "I was born here, I grew up here. My mother lives here, my brother lives here, and my father..." Her voice faltered briefly. "My father died protecting this kingdom."

Elion’s expression softened, "I know."

"You cannot simply walk into my room and tell me that everything I have ever known exists inside a trial."

"I am not saying your life was meaningless."

"That is what it sounds like."

Elion stood slowly, "No," he said. "That is the opposite of what I am saying."

Isla turned toward him. Her eyes were glistening faintly, not with tears yet, but with a mixture of grief, frustration, and confusion.

"If this place was not real, then none of this would matter," Elion continued. "Your father’s death would not matter. The people who died during the war would not matter. The time I spent here would not matter." He paused before adding. "But it does."

He looked directly into her eyes, "You matter."

Isla’s expression softened slightly, and Elion moved closer, though he stopped before invading her space.

"I do not understand why this world exists the way it does," he said. "Maybe someone created it. Maybe it existed long before the trial and was pulled into it somehow. Maybe the trial simply trapped everyone here. I do not know." He shook his head lightly. "But I stopped believing that the people here were illusions a long time ago."

Isla looked down at her feet. Her breathing had grown slightly uneven, "You expect me to believe that there are other worlds just like this one?"

That is not what he had said, but he nodded, "Yes." The finer details didn’t really matter anyway.

"And that you came from one of them?"

"Yes."

"And that you will leave this one soon?"

Elion went silent. That was the real reason he was here.

Her eyes lifted slowly, "When?" she asked.

Elion hesitated for a moment, "Tomorrow."

Isla’s lips parted slightly, "Tomorrow?"

"Yes."

She looked toward the window again, though this time it seemed as though she was no longer truly seeing the city below. Her gaze was distant and unfocused.

"Tomorrow?" she repeated quietly.

Elion moved closer, "Isla."

"You are leaving tomorrow."

"I do not have a choice."

Her jaw tightened, "Everyone keeps leaving." Isla looked down toward the floor.

"My father left for war," she said. "He came back in a coffin. Alexander is no longer my brother in the way he was before. He is king now, and everyone looks at him differently. Everyone expects something from him, but how am I supposed to look at him?" She swallowed dryly. "And now you are telling me that you are leaving too."

Elion did not know what to say immediately, so he stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around her.

Isla stiffened and tried to push him away, but he still held onto her until eventually, her resistance faded. Her forehead rested against his chest as she clutched the front of his clothes.

Elion held her quietly, "I am not asking you to stay behind," he said softly.

Isla froze; she slowly pulled back enough to look up at him, "What?"

"I came here because I wanted to tell you the truth," Elion said. "But I also came here because I want to ask you to come with me, if you want to of course."

Her eyes widened, "What? really? To another world?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I have someone who can help."

Isla stared at him. Elion knew the next part would not be easy either.

But perhaps it was better not to introduce Zenith immediately. There was already too much for Isla to process.

"You would be safe," he continued. "At least, as safe as anyone travelling into an unknown situation can be. I will do everything I can to protect you."

Isla took a small step back.

Her emotions flashed rapidly across her face. Confusion, hope, fear, and guilt all within the space of a few seconds.

"What about my mother?"

Elion had expected that question, but honestly, he did not have a proper answer for her.

Honestly, he was already taking a considerable risk by bringing Isla with him. There were far too many unanswered questions surrounding what that would mean once they returned to his own time.