Seventeen Years in One Night
THE OCEAN BETWEEN THE STAR · August 21, 2026
The second eye opened.
Mira stood beneath the silver tree, unable to move.
Above her, the ocean of stars had turned completely black.
Eren stood beside her.
The mysterious woman watched them with sad, knowing eyes.
“Who are you?” Mira asked again.
The woman smiled.
“You already know.”
“No. I don’t.”
“You simply forgot.”
The silver tree trembled.
Thousands of glowing leaves began falling around them.
Each leaf contained a memory.
Mira caught one.
The moment her fingers touched it—
A little girl appeared.
Mira.
She was perhaps five years old.
She was sitting beside a lake beneath a blue moon.
A boy sat beside her.
Eren.
But he looked exactly the same as he did now.
Mira dropped the leaf.
“That isn’t possible.”
The woman spoke softly.
“On Earth, impossible things are called miracles.”
She looked toward Eren.
“Here, they are called memories.”
Eren stared at the little girl in the vision.
“I remember this.”
Mira looked at him.
“You remember me?”
“Yes.”
“But we never met.”
Eren shook his head.
“We met here.”
“When?”
He looked at the silver tree.
“Before I disappeared.”
Mira’s voice became quiet.
“You were twenty-three when you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“And I was…”
“Three.”
Mira’s eyes widened.
“You’re saying I was here when I was three years old?”
The woman nodded.
“You were brought here.”
“By whom?”
“Your mother.”
Mira froze.
“My mother died when I was four.”
“I know.”
“What did she know about this place?”
The woman looked toward the black ocean.
“Everything.”
The ground shook.
Eren grabbed Mira’s hand.
“We have to go.”
The woman remained beneath the tree.
“You cannot run from the ocean.”
Mira looked back.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Remember.”
“Remember what?”
The woman touched the silver tree.
A glowing doorway appeared.
“Your first promise.”
Mira stared.
“What promise?”
The woman smiled.
“The promise you made to Eren.”
The doorway pulled them inside.
Mira fell through darkness.
She landed on soft grass.
The sky was bright blue.
A warm wind moved through the trees.
She heard laughter.
A little girl ran across a field.
Three years old.
Mira.
Behind her ran a young man.
Eren.
He was laughing.
“Slow down!”
Little Mira turned.
“You’re too slow!”
Eren laughed.
“You’re three!”
“I can run faster than you!”
“You’re impossible.”
She stopped beneath a tree.
“Promise me something.”
Young Eren sat beside her.
“What?”
“Don’t leave me.”
Eren smiled.
“I won’t.”
“Promise?”
He held out his little finger.
“Promise.”
Little Mira linked her finger with his.
The memory faded.
Mira stood in silence.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I remember.”
Eren stared at her.
“You do?”
She nodded.
“You promised.”
“I know.”
“You disappeared.”
“I know.”
“You left me.”
Eren looked heartbroken.
“I didn’t choose to.”
Mira stepped closer.
“Then what happened?”
Eren’s eyes lowered.
“The ocean took me.”
The memory changed.
A spacecraft.
The Aurora.
Seventeen years earlier.
Eren stood inside the cockpit.
The planet Nerith filled the window.
His crew members were shouting.
“Eren, something is coming!”
He turned.
A wave of blue light passed over the ship.
Every system failed.
Then a voice entered his mind.
COME HOME.
Eren looked toward the planet.
The ocean above it opened.
He saw a little girl.
Mira.
Standing beneath the silver tree.
She was crying.
“Eren!”
He reached toward her.
“Mira!”
The ocean swallowed the spacecraft.
Everything went dark.
Mira opened her eyes.
Eren was kneeling beside her.
She was crying.
“You tried to come back.”
“Yes.”
“Why couldn’t you?”
“Because every time I reached the gate…”
He looked toward the sky.
“…it moved.”
“Where?”
“Into the future.”
Mira stared at him.
“So you’ve been trapped here.”
“Yes.”
“For seventeen years.”
“For Earth.”
Mira shook her head.
“But you said only three months passed for you.”
Eren nodded.
“Three months here.”
He touched the ground.
“One night there.”
Mira frowned.
“What?”
Eren looked at her.
“Every day on Nerith is one night on Earth.”
Mira’s eyes widened.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Neither does this planet.”
He smiled sadly.
“That’s the problem.”
Suddenly, the sky turned red.
The blue flowers outside the forest began burning.
Liora appeared beside the silver tree.
“It’s awake.”
Mira looked at her.
“What?”
“The Ocean Keeper.”
Eren reached for his weapon.
“Where?”
Liora pointed upward.
The enormous floating ocean began descending.
Slowly.
Silently.
Until it covered the entire sky.
A shape moved inside it.
Mira looked up.
The creature from the previous night appeared again.
But this time she could see its body.
It was enormous.
Its skin was transparent.
Inside its body were millions of stars.
It looked less like a monster—
And more like a living galaxy.
Eren whispered:
“Don’t look into its eyes.”
Mira stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because it shows you the life you want.”
The creature opened its eyes.
Mira looked away.
Too late.
She was suddenly standing in a garden.
Earth.
Beautiful.
Warm.
Her mother was there.
Alive.
Mira’s heart shattered.
“Mom?”
Her mother smiled.
“You’re home.”
Mira ran toward her.
Her mother hugged her.
For the first time in sixteen years, Mira felt safe.
No spacecraft.
No loneliness.
No strange planets.
No impossible memories.
Just home.
Her mother touched her hair.
“You can stay.”
Mira closed her eyes.
“I want to.”
Her mother whispered:
“Then forget him.”
Mira opened her eyes.
“Who?”
“Eren.”
Mira’s heart tightened.
Her mother smiled.
“He was never real.”
Mira looked around.
The garden began changing.
Her mother’s face became blurry.
The house disappeared.
The sky turned black.
Mira whispered:
“No.”
A voice came from behind her.
“Stay.”
She turned.
The Ocean Keeper stood there.
Its enormous body filled the sky.
It reached toward her.
“Stay here.”
Mira stepped backward.
“You’re lying.”
The creature smiled.
“Everyone chooses the dream.”
Mira shook her head.
“I choose reality.”
The creature’s smile disappeared.
“Then remember.”
Mira suddenly saw everything.
The first meeting.
The promise.
The disappearance.
The signal.
The future.
The girl in the photograph.
The silver tree.
The woman beneath it.
And one terrible truth.
Mira screamed.
She woke in Eren’s arms.
He was shouting her name.
“Mira!”
She gasped.
“Eren…”
“You were trapped.”
“For how long?”
“Seconds.”
Mira stared at him.
“I saw everything.”
Eren’s face changed.
“What did you see?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“You didn’t disappear because of the planet.”
Eren became still.
“Then why?”
Mira looked toward the silver tree.
“Because you chose to stay.”
Eren’s eyes filled with tears.
“I had to.”
“Why?”
He whispered:
“To protect you.”
Mira shook her head.
“From what?”
Eren looked toward Liora.
The little girl was crying.
Then he said the words Mira had been afraid to hear.
“From yourself.”
The mysterious woman stepped out from beneath the tree.
“It’s time.”
Mira turned.
“For what?”
The woman raised her hand.
The silver tree opened.
Inside was a glowing heart made entirely of stars.
“This is the first Star Engine.”
Eren stared.
“It still exists?”
“Yes.”
“What does it do?”
The woman looked at Mira.
“It controls the Star Sea.”
Mira approached it.
“Why show me?”
“Because only you can activate it.”
Eren stepped forward.
“No.”
The woman looked at him.
“You know what happens if she does.”
“Yes.”
“Then you understand.”
Mira turned.
“What happens?”
Eren didn’t answer.
The woman did.
“She will remember every life she has ever lived.”
Mira froze.
“And?”
“She will also remember every life Eren has lived.”
Mira looked at Eren.
“Every life?”
He nodded slowly.
“We have found each other before.”
“How many times?”
Eren whispered:
“Thirty-six.”
Mira’s heart broke.
“And every time?”
“We lose each other.”
The Star Engine began glowing.
The black ocean descended closer.
The Ocean Keeper was coming.
The woman spoke:
“This is your thirty-seventh life.”
Mira stared at Eren.
“And this time?”
Eren took her hand.
“This time, I’m not letting go.”
The Star Engine exploded with light.
Across the universe, thousands of stars suddenly changed direction.
The Ocean Keeper screamed.
And somewhere far beyond Nerith, Earth received a new signal.
Mira’s voice.
But this time she wasn’t warning humanity.
She was saying:
“We found the beginning.”
Then the signal changed.
Another voice answered.
Eren’s.
“And something is coming with us.”