Jayden stared at the pile of dry foliage, completely utterly stunned. He slowly turned to look at Darius, expecting the man to be screaming in terror.

Instead, Darius just shrugged and flipped a burger like that scene was something he was already used to. "She does that a lot," he chuckled.

Jayden stepped forward, deciding to use that opportunity to pry. "Wait, so... where do you know her from?" he asked.

"Who?" Darius asked, turning a patty.

Jayden blinked. "Uh... the lady that was just here?"

Darius’ expression became thoughtful. "Oh, that’s just a customer I met today," he said.

Jayden frowned. That didn’t make sense. He was so sure they were acquainted beyond a typical vendor and customer relationship. "I thought you knew her well. Lady Coraline?"

Darius paused, his spatula mid-air, and gave Jayden a blank look. "Who?"

Jayden tilted his head in surprise. How could the man already forget a person that was just here moments ago. "The woman who just turned into leaves," he tried to explain. "She was just here. Coraline de la Rose? Corey?"

Darius shook his head, looking genuinely confused. "I don’t know anyone by that name, kid."

Jayden felt a cold chill run down his spine. "The woman I was just sitting with. The one in the fancy European dress and the wide-brimmed hat. The one who paid for my meal?"

Darius laughed. "Buddy, I haven’t seen anyone dressed like that all day. And nobody paid for your meal but you. Are you sure you’re not hallucinating from the meat sweats?Titan burgers pack a punch."

Jayden backed away slowly. He looked at the empty chair. The crushed soda can.

A cold realization suddenly washed over him.

She had wiped the man’s memory. Plucked the very concept of her existence from Darius’s mind the second she left. It was a terrifying, god-like display of power.

"No... I’m fine," Jayden muttered. "Thanks for the food."

He turned and practically bolted out of the park. As he hit the main streets of Autumn City, he took a deep breath, dropping into a runner’s stance. As he lunged forward, his tactical suit materialized over his clothes. Within three seconds, he broke the sound barrier, blurring into a streak of black as he began the 1,000-kilometer sprint back to Jade City.

Meanwhile.....

Deep within the towering, neon-lit labyrinth of Autumn City, a figure suddenly materialized out of thin air, a swirling vortex of magic coalescing into a woman wearing vintage 20th-century aristocratic clothing.

Coraline exhaled softly. With a casual snap of her fingers, reality warped around her. The wide-brimmed hat and elegant gown dissolved, instantly replaced by a sleek, modern white blouse, a fitted black skirt, and a dark overcoat. Even the vintage Louis Vuitton morphed into the latest, high-end designer bag of the current era.

"Much better," she sighed in satisfaction, adjusting her collar.

She turned to leave the alley, but after two steps, she paused. The air around her grew unnaturally still, indicating the presence of something... or someone.

She wasn’t alone in the alley,

A mischievous, dangerous grin broke across her face. "Are you going to keep stalking me from the ether?" she called out. "Or are you going to come out and face me like a man?"

From the deepest corner of the shadows, a silhouette shifted, and a towering, heavily muscled man stepped into the dim neon light. His sported a low cut, and he wore a fitted black tactical vest, dark cargo trousers, and a thick scarf wrapped around his neck. But it was his eyes that was most attractive. They were a piercing gold, glowing faintly with a cosmic, all-seeing light.

The man stopped a few paces away, his expression entirely indifferent. His voice rumbled like distant thunder.

"Hello, Circe," he said.

The woman dropped the ’Coraline’ facade entirely. Her smile sharpened into something feral and ancient.

"Hello, Heimdall," she said, turning to face him.

"You look as beautiful as I remembered, Circe," Heimdall began, his deep voice resonating off the brick walls. "A millennia has passed, yet you haven’t aged a single day."

Circe didn’t smile. She took a slow, deliberate steps toward him, stopping just a few feet away. The air around her seemed to warp, bending slightly under the sheer weight of her presence.

"What do you want, Heimdall?" she asked, cutting straight to the point and completely ignoring the compliment. "I have places to be."

Heimdall tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "And might I be so bold as to ask what places these are?"

Circe tapped a manicured finger against her chin, an amused glint returning to her eyes. "Well, I plan to visit Callisto first. I want to see the expression on her face when I tell her that I met her grandson before she did." She let out a soft, wicked chuckle.

Heimdall gave a slow nod, absorbing the information. "And then where?" he asked carefully.

Circe’s amusement vanished. She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Why are you so interested in my whereabouts? Did the Order put you up to this?" she said sharply.

"The Order didn’t have to," Heimdall replied, his tone steady. "I volunteered to make contact with you."

"And here I thought you simply came to say hello," Circe scoffed, crossing her arms over her sleek black overcoat. "So, let’s hear it. What is it the Order wants?"

Heimdall took a deep, measured breath. "We simply wish to know what brings the mighty Sorceress Supreme to our realm at this particular time," he said, choosing his words with the care that the subject warranted and the company required.

Circe frowned, her eyes flashing with irritation. "Flattery has no effect on me, Heimdall. You should know that by now. And might I remind you that I was granted explicit permission by the Universe to travel the realms as much as I please," she said sharply, already getting annoyed.

"We are well aware of that, Circe," Heimdall maintained his calm, though his golden eyes narrowed a fraction. "But the fact remains that you only visit our realm every two thousand years. It hasn’t even been a thousand since your last visit. We are simply... curious as to why this is so."

Circe clenched her fist, and the atmosphere in the alley collapsed. The air grew violently thick and suffocatingly heavy. Above them, the clear evening sky of Autumn City abruptly darkened, choked by a sudden, unnatural swirling of black storm clouds. The temperature plummeted, sending chills down Heimdall’s spine.

"Are you implying something?" Circe’s voice dropped to a lethal, ancient whisper.

Heimdall felt the crushing atmospheric pressure bear down on his shoulders. He quickly shook his head, holding up a placating hand. "No. Not at all," he muttered. "We just wanted to know if there is a particular reason for your visit, or if you are just passing through."

Circe held his gaze for a long, agonizing moment, studying his cosmic eyes for any trace of deceit. Finding none, she exhaled, easing her stance.

Instantly, the suffocating pressure vanished. The dark clouds above dissolved into the ether as if they had never existed, revealing the clear, starry sky once more.

"The reason for my visit doesn’t concern you or the Order," she began, smoothing out the lapels of her coat. "But you are right. I came here rather early for a specific purpose."

She paced a few steps, her heels clicking sharply against the pavement.

"As you know, the thousand-year grace period is almost at an end," Circe continued, her tone turning grim. "And that implies that war is upon us. The Lightning Bolt will make his move on the First Realm, and everyone in this realm will be forced to join his army."

Heimdall nodded grimly. "Yes. We are aware of that. And I assure you that preparations are already being made."

"Preparations?" Circe spat the word out like poison. "You have been saying this for a thousand years. When are you actually going to be fully prepared? According to Apollo’s prophecy, Mjolnir will attack and conquer every planet in the realm that holds civilization. That is going to happen at any moment in this very timeline! Yet you and your precious Order still haven’t found a single viable way to stop him."

Heimdall sighed, the weight of centuries showing on his usually stoic face. "It has not been easy, Circe," he murmured. "We haven’t been able to locate Darkstorm or his army over the past few years. He has managed to conceal himself somehow, masking his energy from even my sight. Which is why we are focusing heavily on defense. We’ve been gathering powerful individuals and Celestials to join our cause."

Circe stopped pacing and stared at him in utter disbelief. "And then what? You will sit back and wait for the enemy to come to you?" She scoffed, shaking her head in disgust. "That is the most ridiculous plan I have ever heard. Apollo and Artemis would be thoroughly disappointed in you all. They sacrificed their very lives to give you a fighting chance, and this is the best you could come up with? Pathetic."

She turned her gaze back to the glowing neon skyline of the city. "But then again, Apollo knew this would happen. He foresaw your incompetence. That is why he asked me to help out when the time came. And I believe that time has finally come."

Heimdall furrowed his brows, stepping closer. "So that is the real reason you are here?" he asked. "To help us?"

Circe turned her head, offering a snicker. "Yes. But we will be doing things my way. If the Order has a problem with that, they know exactly where to find me," she revealed a wicked, razor-sharp smirk. "I would be more than happy to take on all of them. Including you, Heimdall."

Heimdall shook his head, a wry, defeated smile touching his lips. "Oh, no, Circe. I wouldn’t dream of it. And I’m sure the rest of the Order will also find themselves similarly disinclined," he stated. "I promise you we won’t stand in your way."

Circe chuckled softly, her eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction. "Good. You wouldn’t even dare," she said matter-of-factly. Then she turned her back to him, facing the bustling, brightly lit streets at the end of the alley. "Until next time, Heimdall. Give my unkind regards to Frigga and the rest of the squad."

Without waiting for a response, the Sorceress Supreme walked smoothly out of the shadows and blended seamlessly into the crowds of Autumn City, leaving nothing but the faint scent of ozone in her wake.

Heimdall stood alone in the alley. He let out a long, heavy sigh, shaking his head in quiet defeat. He turned around, walking deeper into the dead-end of the brick corridor. A second later, a brilliant, blinding flash of golden light erupted from the concrete, tearing a hole through the fabric of space.

When the light faded, the alley was empty.