[BEGIN Intertemporal Message]

My dearest Nyx,

The twenty-first century, you say? What a tantalizing mystery! You always find ways to make time itself seem like an open door, where I see only locked passageways. I confess, I am restless with curiosity—what sort of music will you hear? What will the air smell like? Will the people there seem more like yours or mine? And, most importantly, will there be a path for me to follow? I long to stand beside you in this strange middle ground, to see the world as you do, even if only for a fleeting moment. If the stars align, if the portals allow—if fortune is on our side—I will come.

But my love, there is something I have been holding back. Something I have feared to put into words. After our last meeting, when I took the long road home through the passages of time, I was nearly lost. The Beast found me. I felt it at my heels, clawing at the edges of the portal, pulling at the seams of existence. I have never been so close to vanishing—so close to slipping between the cracks and never finding my way back. I do not know what saved me, only that I arrived gasping on the cold floor of my time, half certain I had left pieces of myself behind.

I have been afraid to tell you, afraid of what it might mean. The incursions are getting worse, our travel more dangerous. I cannot bear the thought of being lost to you. And yet, how can I stay away? How can I resist the pull of your voice calling me forward, of the chance to meet you once more, even in an era not our own? Tell me, my love—do I dare risk the journey again? Or is time itself conspiring to keep us apart?

Yours, now and always,
Jules

[END Intertemporal Message]