It was an unwinnable case. At least, that's what Astian's lawyer told him. He was also told he was absolutely sure to go to prison. He could only hope for a reduced sentence.

How had things gone wrong so quickly? When Astian first learned magic existed, a whole new world opened up. One without rules and laws to hold him back. One where he could do anything he wanted. And he planned to do just that.

But all that came to an end when he woke up one day handcuffed in the back of a car. He was told he had just committed the crime of magic abuse, and was about to be prosecuted.

It had started with Astian's desire for a girlfriend. He could never get one, no matter how hard he tried. So he came up with a solution. An easy fix magic could take care of. He turned his best friend, Nathan, into his girlfriend, Natalie. He altered reality so that Nathan had always been Natalie, and changed all of Nathan's memories to match his new self.

Astian was stunned when he first got caught. After all, Nathan technically never existed, how could anyone find out magic had been used?

That's when Astian was told nothing in the universe can ever fully be erased.

What Astian really created was a merging timeline, as his lawyer put it. The old timeline, where Nathan was a man, cut off and converged into the new timeline where Natalie was a woman. The universe Astian and Natalie were in now followed that timeline, but the other timeline still existed. The phenomenon was called a merging timeline because it could be represented in a diagram in the same way roads merge on a highway.

Astian's trial was nearing its end, having gone on for two weeks now. And it seemed the worst was about to happen, going to a prison full of people convicted of magic abuse.

His body grew cold as his inevitable fate drew closer.

Astian didn’t care what anyone said. He did Nathan a favor. That miserable joke of a man couldn’t go one day without shoving shot after shot of alcohol down his throat. Aside from Astian, he had no friends. Not even his family liked him. With Natalie, it was all the opposite. She was happy, had friends, wasn’t an alcoholic, and most of all, her family actually liked her.

It didn’t matter what the judge or jury thought, Astian did nothing wrong.

“Seems the jury has reached a verdict.” The judge announced.

Astian tensed up, bracing himself for the worst.

“Astian Dover has been declared guilty of the crime of identity death. He is to be sentenced to twenty-five years in magic prison. That will be all.”

The judge banged his gavel.

Even though it was exactly what Astian expected, he was still astonished. His eyes widened with terror as he was handcuffed. No, he couldn’t go to prison. He wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t evil.

Desperate, Astian looked over to Natalie, sitting near the front of the courtroom. He was hoping she would fight against this ruling, or do anything at all to save him. But instead, she stared at the floor, refusing to even acknowledge him.

“Please Natalie.” Astian begged as he was led out of the courtroom. “Please.”

Growing impatient, the people leading Astian out began pushing.

“Please Natalie!” He yelled. “Help me!”

Again, Natalie ignored him.

Astian shouted as he was forced out. “I love you, Natalie! I always will!”

Those were the last words he got out before the front doors slammed shut. In a way, they weren’t false. He did love Natalie, but much in the same way a child loves a toy. She was something he could play with. A good relationship requires seeing the other person as human first. Astian never got that far. If he was actually given the chance, he never would have been a good boyfriend.

Shortly after Astian’s exit, the court was excused, and the long exodus began. Where they were going, Natalie had no idea. The world the courtroom was in was mostly a white void. As in, nothing but white as far as the eye could see, with a few buildings scattered about. The world itself was meant to monitor magic abuse on Earth, and serve as a form of law enforcement. If it weren’t for them, they insisted, no one would ever face any consequences for abusing magic. They’ve run the figures, not even a percent of a percent of people on Earth know magic exists. They’re the only ones who can do it.

Right now, Natalie was wishing they had left her alone.

While people were scrambling their way to the exit, she stayed put in her seat, still staring at the floor, still acting as if she were paralyzed.

It had all happened so fast. Her mind refused to process it. She and Astian were supposed to get married. His proposal occurred only a week before. And now she was never going to see him again.

Astian was a great man, she thought. He’d never do anything to hurt her.

But apparently that’s exactly what he wanted her to think.

Natalie was told being in this world would slowly make her remember her male life, but after two weeks it still wasn’t happening. Sure, she knew her old name and what she used to look like, but only because it was shown to her. She couldn’t connect any of it to herself.

Did she even want to remember? How could she possibly live after hearing her entire life was a lie that never happened? False memories put into place by a psychopath. What are you supposed to do after that?

Natalie felt someone tap her shoulder. Very slowly, she raised her head and saw a woman who looked to be in her 30s.

After a long moment of hesitation, Natalie finally asked “what is it?”

“Hi. Natalie, is it? I’m gonna need to talk to you for a second.”