Another Life, Another World, Another Ending

A wave crashed against The Black Tide, shaking the entire ship. The mast groaned, ropes snapping in the wind.

Calloway, his first mate, was shouting something, but the words barely registered.

Daniel forced himself back into the moment. The ship was in danger, and if he died here, would he still wake up? Or would he be erased, just another life lost in the reset?

No. He wouldn't risk it.

"Hold course!" Daniel shouted, gripping the wheel. His hands moved like they had been doing this for years, steering the ship against the crashing waves.

The storm was trying to take them under.

But Daniel wasn't planning to go down yet.

He had one mission now, to see what else he had left himself in this world.

The note on the mast had worked. Which meant there had to be more.

His cabin.

Daniel rushed down the steps, pushing past crew members securing the lower decks. His boots slammed against the wood as he reached the captain's quarters and shoved open the door.

The room was dim, lanterns swaying wildly with the movement of the ship. A massive wooden desk sat against the far wall, maps and logbooks scattered across its surface. An old cutlass was mounted above a cabinet, and bottles of expensive liquor rattled in their holders as the ship swayed violently.

Daniel's eyes immediately landed on what he was looking for.

A second note.

This one wasn't nailed to a mast—it was hidden, tucked between the pages of an open book.

Daniel's pulse quickened as he snatched it up.

His own handwriting, rushed but legible.

"This is a dream. Remember Kaia. Find the others."

The words sent a chill down his spine.

Because now, he knew what the dream was hiding.

There were more people like him.

More dreamers. More prisoners in these endless, looping lives.

And Kaia, who he had already found in the waking world, was just like them.

The Voices That Shouldn't Be There

As soon as Daniel read the note, the temperature in the room dropped.

The lanterns flickered. The wooden floor creaked unnaturally beneath his feet.

And then—

A voice.

"You shouldn't be here, Daniel."

Daniel's blood ran cold.

The voice was coming from nowhere. From everywhere.

Low. Whispered.

Like something watching from the cracks of the world.

Daniel turned sharply, heart pounding. "Who the hell are you?"

No answer.

Only the creaking of the ship. The distant roar of thunder.

Then—

Another whisper, barely a breath.

"They are watching."

Daniel's stomach twisted.

Something about those words unnerved him more than anything else so far.

"They"?

Who the hell were they?

And why did it sound like this thing, this voice, was warning him?

A sudden crash rocked the ship, and Daniel stumbled, gripping the edge of the desk to stay upright.

Calloway's voice bellowed from above deck.

"CAPTAIN! WE'RE TAKING ON WATER!"

Daniel shoved the note into his coat pocket.

Whatever this world was hiding, he was running out of time to uncover it.

Daniel burst back onto the deck, the storm worse than ever.

The sails had torn apart, leaving them helpless against the violent waves.

Crew members were scrambling to keep the ship afloat, bailing water and tying down whatever cargo they could. But it was obvious.

They weren't going to make it.

The world was collapsing.

Just like it always did.

Daniel gritted his teeth.

Not yet.

The ship lurched violently, throwing Daniel to his knees. A massive wave, dark as the night itself, rose high above them.

Calloway grabbed onto the wheel, shouting something, but Daniel could barely hear him over the howling wind.

The wave came crashing down.

The ship split apart.

Wood shattered. The deck gave way beneath Daniel.

He was falling.

Falling into darkness.

And just before the world vanished entirely, he heard the whisper one last time—

"Find the others."

Then—

Nothing.