AETERNUM

People always say they were born in the wrong generation.

I never believed that.

I liked my generation.

I liked electricity.

Hot showers.

The internet.

Coffee that didn't taste like burnt dirt.

And, most importantly...

Peace.

Not perfect peace.

The kind where you still argued with strangers online.

Complained about university.

Panicked before exams.

Laughed at stupid videos at two in the morning.

The kind of peace where war belonged somewhere else.

Something you watched on the news.

Something that happened to people you would never meet.

I was nineteen years old.

My name was Niari Animay.

And I had absolutely no idea...

...that my last normal day had already begun.

---

The museum wasn't even on my schedule.

My friend had canceled at the last minute, leaving me wandering through the city with nothing to do.

An exhibition banner caught my eye.

THE LOST WORLD OF ALEXANDER

I almost laughed.

"Why not?"

The air inside was cool and quiet.

Glass cases lined the room.

Coins.

Weapons.

Jewelry.

Fragments of statues.

Objects that had survived more than two thousand years.

People stared at them with admiration.

I stared because it was incredible that they had survived at all.

Imagine holding something that existed before almost every country alive today.

That thought alone was enough to make me smile.

---

At the center of the final room stood a single artifact.

Unlike the others, it had no proper explanation.

Only a small sign.

Origin: Unknown.

Estimated Age: Fourth Century BCE.

Material: Unknown.

I frowned.

"That's... reassuring."

Nobody else seemed interested.

The stone was dark, smooth, and covered in symbols no language expert had managed to identify.

It looked strangely...

Alive.

Then the lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

People looked up.

Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.

Someone muttered,

"That's strange. There wasn't supposed to be a storm today."

I don't know why I reached toward the artifact.

Maybe curiosity.

Maybe stupidity.

Maybe fate.

The instant my fingers touched the cold surface...

The world exploded into light.

---

No pain.

No sound.

Just endless white.

Then...

Silence.

---

When I opened my eyes...

There was no museum.

No walls.

No people.

Only heat.

Endless heat.

Sand stretched to the horizon in every direction.

Above me...

A sky that suddenly felt far too real.

I slowly sat up.

"...Okay."

I looked around.

Nothing.

Not a single building.

Not a single road.

Not even the sound of traffic.

I reached into my pocket.

My phone.

No signal.

Of course.

I laughed.

A nervous laugh.

"This has to be the worst kidnapping in history."

I stood, brushed the sand from my clothes, and looked toward the empty horizon.

I had no idea where I was.

I had no idea how I had gotten here.

The heat was unbearable.

Within minutes, sweat clung to my skin.

My throat felt dry.

The sand burned through the soles of my shoes.

"Fantastic..."

I looked in every direction.

Nothing.

No roads.

No signs.

No buildings.

Just endless waves of golden sand.

I pulled my phone out again.

Still no signal.

The battery read eighty-seven percent.

A useless number now.

I opened my maps.

Nothing loaded.

Compass.

It still worked.

"North..."

Not that it mattered.

I picked a direction and started walking.

Because standing still meant dying.

---

Hours passed.

Or maybe it was only one.

The desert had a strange way of swallowing time.

My legs grew heavier with every step.

I had finished the small bottle of water in my backpack long ago.

The sun refused to move.

"This..."

I wiped sweat from my forehead.

"...is definitely not a museum."

At first I had convinced myself it was some elaborate prank.

A movie set.

A survival attraction.

Hidden cameras.

Now...

I wasn't laughing anymore.

---

As the sun began to sink, I saw something.

Movement.

Far away.

At first I thought it was another mirage.

Then the shapes became clearer.

Camels.

Horses.

People.

A caravan.

Relief flooded through me.

"Thank God!"

I waved both arms.

"Hey!"

No answer.

I started running toward them.

My legs nearly gave out before I reached them.

The moment they noticed me...

Everything stopped.

The conversations.

The animals.

Even the children.

Every pair of eyes turned toward me.

It wasn't relief I saw.

It was confusion.

Some stared openly.

Others whispered to each other.

An elderly woman covered her mouth.

A little boy pointed at my clothes.

I looked down.

Jeans.

A white oversized shirt.

Running shoes.

To me...

Perfectly normal.

To them...

Apparently not.

---

One of the men stepped forward.

He looked me up and down with obvious suspicion.

He said something.

I blinked.

"...Sorry?"

He repeated it.

I still didn't understand a single word.

Not one.

The language sounded ancient.

Harsh.

Nothing like English.

Nothing like Arabic.

Nothing like French.

Nothing I had ever heard before.

My stomach tightened.

"Okay..."

I forced a smile.

"I don't understand."

Blank stares.

The man frowned.

I frowned back.

This was getting awkward.

Very awkward.

---

Another man approached.

This one smiled.

Too much.

His eyes weren't on my face.

I knew that look.

Every woman knew that look.

He spoke to his companions.

Several of them laughed.

He reached for my wrist.

"Don't."

He didn't understand the word.

He understood my expression.

He smiled wider anyway.

Then he grabbed my arm.

That was his mistake.

Instinct took over.

I twisted free.

Shifted my weight.

My foot slammed into his stomach.

He doubled over.

Before he could recover, I caught his arm, turned my hips, and threw him over my shoulder.

He hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Silence.

Complete silence.

The entire caravan froze.

The man groaned in the dust, too stunned to move.

I looked around at the horrified faces.

"What?"

I dusted off my hands.

"Have you never seen a woman defend herself before?"

Of course...

No one understood a single word I had just said.

But they understood the tone.

And judging by their expressions...

I had just broken every rule they had ever known.