Beyond The Shores

Time had always been an endless blur to Rio, slipping through her fingers like sand, meaningless and vast.

After living for millennia, days blurred into weeks, weeks into years, and centuries became nothing more than a whisper in the wind. The world kept moving, but Rio felt no urgency, no tether to any moment. Time was infinite for beings like her. There was no need to grasp at fleeting seconds, no reason to hold anything close—until she met Agatha.

Everything changed when Agatha stepped into her life.

Time, which had once been a relentless, indifferent current, suddenly became precious. Agatha had made it so. Every second, every glance, every breath they shared turned into something Rio wanted to capture and hold forever.

Time slowed, but in the best way.

With Agatha, each moment was sharp, vivid, seared into her memory. Rio started marking the eras of her existence differently: Before Agatha, With Agatha, and After Agatha.

It was the only way to make sense of what she'd lost.

She had met Agatha when she was 23—560 years ago. She remembered the way Agatha's laugh had caught her off guard, how it seemed to ripple through the very fabric of existence.

Rio had fallen in love when Agatha was 25—558 years ago, unable to resist the pull of her bright, fierce soul.

By 30, they were married—554 years ago. It felt so ordinary in the grand scheme of things, yet it was the most extraordinary thing Rio had ever known.

And then, at 43, Agatha gave birth to Nicky—546 years ago. Their son had been the light of their lives for such a brief time.

And then they lost him—541 years ago. In that moment, everything shattered. Agatha withdrew, spiraling into a grief that Rio couldn't touch.

For 203 long, aching years, Rio watched her from the shadows, never able to comfort her the way she longed to. She was always near, always checking in, but never close enough to hold her, to heal the wound that had torn them apart.

The witches' road brought them back together, and then for the next 338 years, Rio had her again. And for 338 years, she loved Agatha as if those centuries were all they'd ever have. Each day, each night felt like a stolen gift, a treasure she knew could never last.

Those 560 years with Agatha felt like a lifetime. For someone who had lived eons, they were the only years that had ever truly mattered.

But then, Agatha was gone.

This time, for good.

Death took her—she took her, and with her, Rio's fragile grasp on time.

Time, which had once slipped by unnoticed, now dragged. Each day without Agatha felt like a thousand years, stretched painfully over endless hours of hollow silence. The world had lost its warmth, its meaning, and Rio was left stranded in it, unable to escape the aching void Agatha had left behind.

10,000 years or more Before Agatha—an eternity that now felt meaningless.

560 years With Agatha—fuller than any lifetime Rio had ever known.

And now... 17 days After Agatha.

Seventeen excruciating days.

That's all Rio had survived before she realized she couldn't bear this existence without her. Agatha had ruined everything—time, life, even Rio herself. Agatha had been the one thing that made eternity bearable, and now she was gone, leaving Rio adrift in a world that no longer made sense.