The tower door closed behind Aelion and Lyra.
The simple CLICK sounded far too loud in the silence.
There was no way out.
No sound of wind.
No sound of birds.
Even the sound of their breathing felt foreign.
Aelion stood before the door, his hand still gripping his sword.
He tried to open it.
It did not move.
He used magic.
It still did not move.
Aelion stared at the surface of the door.
“Interesting.”
Lyra turned toward him.
“Interesting?”
“Yes.”
“We’re trapped inside a tower that shouldn’t exist, and you call that interesting?”
Aelion gave a faint smile.
“I’m trying not to panic.”
“Your way of calming yourself down is terrible.”
“I know.”
Lyra approached the door.
“Can you destroy it?”
“I should be able to.”
“Should be able to?”
Aelion touched the door.
“This structure isn’t in the same space as us.”
Lyra frowned.
“Explain.”
“This tower is here, but it isn’t entirely here.”
“Be clearer.”
Aelion sighed.
“Imagine a book.”
“Okay.”
“We’re on one page.”
“Yes.”
“This tower is on another page.”
Lyra began to understand.
“So?”
“The strange part is that both pages are open at the same time.”
Lyra looked around.
“And we’re trapped between them.”
Aelion nodded.
“Exactly.”
Lyra was silent for a few moments.
“Is that bad?”
“Usually?”
“Yes.”
“If we’re very lucky, we’ll only get lost.”
“And if we’re not lucky?”
Aelion looked toward the dark corridor ahead.
“We could lose our place in time.”
Lyra stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“If we stay here too long, the outside world might start forgetting that we ever existed.”
Lyra fell silent.
Then she let out a small laugh.
“Don’t joke.”
“I’m not joking.”
Lyra’s smile vanished.
A light appeared at the end of the corridor.
It wasn’t white.
It wasn’t blue.
It was a pale silver, like the moon hidden behind clouds.
Aelion raised his hand.
“Follow me.”
They walked.
Every step felt strange.
The stone floor beneath their feet sometimes changed into wood.
Then it changed back into stone.
The wall on their left became a palace wall.
Then a forest.
Then ruins.
Lyra stopped.
“Aelion.”
“Don’t look at it for too long.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know whether what we’re seeing is the past or the future.”
Lyra stared at the wall.
“I see Lunaris.”
Aelion turned.
A city was indeed visible on the wall.
Lunaris.
But the city was different.
There was no palace.
No tower.
No life.
The entire city was covered in snow.
A statue stood at its center.
A statue of a white-haired man.
Lyra moved closer.
“Who is that?”
Aelion did not answer.
He studied the statue.
It wore a long robe.
A sword hung at its waist.
And its face...
was exactly Aelion’s face.
Lyra turned toward him.
“Why does that statue look like you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
Aelion stared at the statue.
“Yes.”
Then he noticed something.
Small writing beneath the statue.
AELION VAELARIS
Beneath it was another sentence.
THE LAST WITNESS OF THE FIRST WORLD.
Aelion touched the writing.
Suddenly, his head began to ache.
A voice appeared in his mind.
“Don’t remember.”
Aelion immediately pulled his hand away.
Lyra caught his arm.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re pale.”
“I’m just a little dizzy.”
Lyra eyed him suspiciously.
“You’re terrible at lying.”
Aelion smiled.
“And you’re too good at reading my lies.”
“Because I know you.”
Aelion fell silent.
The sentence was simple.
But for some reason...
his chest hurt.
They continued walking.
A few minutes later, they found a large room.
A round table stood in the center.
There were two objects on it.
An hourglass.
And a white flower.
Lyra approached the flower.
“This is Moonveil.”
Aelion nodded.
Moonveil flowers only bloomed once every hundred years.
“How can this flower be here?”
Lyra touched a petal.
The flower immediately turned to ash.
Lyra pulled her hand back.
“What happened?”
Aelion examined the ash in her palm.
“Its time was up.”
“But it looked fresh just a moment ago.”
“Because we were seeing its past.”
Lyra looked at the hourglass.
The sand inside it was moving upward.
Not downward.
Aelion stepped closer.
“Don’t touch it.”
Lyra stopped.
“I won’t.”
Aelion examined the symbol at the bottom of the hourglass.
It was shaped like a crescent moon surrounded by a circle.
He recognized it.
“This...”
“What?”
“An ancient symbol.”
“How ancient?”
“Older than the Kingdom of Lunaris.”
Lyra was startled.
“Then who made this tower?”
Aelion shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
A voice suddenly rang out.
“Because it wasn’t made by anyone.”
Aelion spun around.
The old man from the library stood in the doorway.
Lyra immediately drew her sword.
Aelion raised a hand.
“Lower it.”
Lyra did not move.
The man smiled.
“At least your friend is more cautious than you are.”
Aelion stared at him.
“Who are you?”
“I already told you.”
“Your name isn’t important.”
“Correct.”
“Then give me a name that is important.”
The man laughed.
“You’re still the same.”
Aelion narrowed his eyes.
“The same as who?”
The man did not answer.
He walked to the table.
His hand touched the hourglass.
The sand immediately stopped.
“This tower wasn’t made.”
He looked at Aelion.
“This tower is a remnant.”
“A remnant of what?”
“The First World.”
Aelion fell silent.
Lyra asked,
“The First World?”
The old man nodded.
“The Elarion you know now isn’t the first world.”
Aelion stared at him.
“How many?”
“Four.”
“Four worlds?”
“Four versions of reality.”
The man pointed at the hourglass.
“And all of them have collapsed.”
Lyra asked,
“Because of Chronos Rift?”
“No.”
The man shook his head.
“Chronos Rift was only the result.”
“Then what caused it?”
The man looked at Aelion.
“The presence of someone who shouldn’t exist.”
Aelion immediately understood where the conversation was going.
“Don’t say I caused it.”
The man smiled.
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
“Not yet the cause.”
Aelion gripped his sword.
“Explain.”
The man sighed.
“A hundred years from now, Elarion will enter the greatest war in its history.”
“A war with whom?”
“The human race.”
Aelion was stunned.
“Humans?”
“The human kingdom will discover a source of time magic.”
“And?”
“They’ll try to use it to change history.”
Lyra frowned.
“For what?”
“To win the war.”
The man paused.
“But time is not a weapon.”
“When they force it...”
He looked at the hourglass.
“...reality begins to fracture.”
Aelion thought.
“Then we just need to stop the war.”
The man smiled sadly.
“If only it were that simple.”
The man raised his hand.
The room changed.
The walls vanished.
They stood in the sky.
Elarion was visible beneath them.
But it wasn’t the Elarion they knew.
The human kingdom was burning.
Moon Elf forces filled the sky.
Dragons descended from the clouds.
Mountains shattered.
The sea rose.
Then...
everything changed.
Time turned back.
The same war happened again.
But this time, the humans won.
Then time turned back again.
The Moon Elves won.
Then it turned back again.
Both sides were destroyed.
Then it turned back again.
There was no war.
Yet the world still collapsed.
Lyra covered her mouth.
“How many possibilities are there?”
The man answered,
“Countless.”
Aelion stared at everything.
“What are we seeing?”
“Possibilities.”
“Will all of this happen?”
“No.”
“Then there’s one true timeline.”
The man shook his head.
“There is no true timeline.”
Aelion stared at him.
“Because?”
“Because reality hasn’t chosen yet.”
Aelion began to understand.
“So the future can still be changed.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Aelion smiled.
“Then we’ll stop all of it.”
The man stared at him for a long time.
Then he said,
“You always say that.”
Aelion froze.
“What?”
“The same sentence.”
The man looked at Lyra.
“And in the end...”
He looked back at Aelion.
“...you still choose one thing.”
“What?”
The man answered,
“Her.”
Aelion fell silent.
Lyra looked between them.
“What are you two really talking about?”
The man did not answer.
Neither did Aelion.
Night passed outside the tower.
But inside...
time did not move.
Aelion realized something.
“How long have we been here?”
Lyra looked at the hourglass.
“I don’t know.”
“I feel like we’ve been here for days.”
“But I’m not hungry.”
Aelion looked at her.
“Because time doesn’t flow normally here.”
“Then how do we get out?”
The old man answered,
“You don’t.”
Lyra stared at him.
“What?”
“This tower will take you to the place you’re meant to go.”
Aelion frowned.
“I don’t like that answer.”
“I know.”
“And I like it even less that you know so much about me.”
The man smiled.
“Because I do know you.”
“Who are you?”
This time, the man remained silent for a long while.
Then he answered,
“My name is Eryndor.”
Aelion stared at him.
“Who is Eryndor?”
“A guardian.”
“A guardian of what?”
“Memories.”
Aelion was silent.
“Memories?”
Eryndor nodded.
“Every world has a Memory Keeper.”
“Why?”
“Because when reality changes, something has to remember what really happened.”
Lyra asked,
“And you remember the previous worlds?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
Lyra looked at him sadly.
“Then you’re alone.”
Eryndor smiled.
“Yes.”
Aelion watched his expression.
For the first time, he saw the sadness behind the man’s eyes.
“How long have you lived?”
“Longer than I should have.”
“How long?”
Eryndor answered,
“Six thousand years.”
Lyra fell silent.
So did Aelion.
Then Eryndor walked to the shelf on the side of the room.
He took out a book.
The book was ancient.
Its cover was made of white leather.
“This is for you.”
He handed it to Aelion.
Aelion accepted it.
“What is this?”
“Records from the Second World.”
Aelion opened it.
The first page contained only one sentence.
DO NOT TRUST THE MOON.
Aelion frowned.
“Why shouldn’t I trust the moon?”
Eryndor answered,
“Because the moon isn’t merely the source of your power.”
“What else is it?”
“A window.”
“To where?”
Eryndor looked at the unseen sky.
“A place where something is waiting.”
Suddenly...
DONG.
The hourglass rang.
The sand moved.
Every light in the room went out.
Lyra moved closer to Aelion.
“What’s happening?”
Eryndor looked up.
“It’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“For the tower to open its door.”
The wall in front of them split apart.
A long corridor appeared behind it.
At the end of the corridor...
there was light.
Eryndor said,
“Go.”
Aelion did not move.
“You’re not coming?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the next place only accepts people who still have a future.”
Aelion stared at him.
“And you?”
Eryndor smiled.
“I’ve lived in the past for too long.”
Aelion wanted to ask more.
But Eryndor vanished.
Just like that.
There was no light.
No teleportation.
He simply...
was gone.
Lyra stared at the spot where he had stood.
“He disappeared.”
Aelion nodded.
“Yes.”
“Like...”
Lyra stopped.
“Like he never existed.”
Aelion looked at her.
The sentence made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
They walked toward the light.
The closer they got...
the clearer the sounds became.
The sound of water.
The sound of birds.
The sound of children.
Then...
the sound of someone laughing.
Lyra stopped.
“I know that voice.”
Aelion turned toward her.
“Whose?”
Lyra shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
But her eyes were beginning to glisten.
“I really don’t know.”
They continued walking.
The light grew brighter.
Then they emerged.
Aelion stopped immediately.
They were in a garden.
A beautiful garden.
A massive tree covered in white flowers stood in the center.
Lyra stared at it.
“I’ve seen this before.”
Aelion nodded.
“So have I.”
“Where?”
Aelion pointed.
There were two chairs beneath the tree.
One was empty.
The other...
had a man sitting in it.
The man had his back to them.
His hair was white.
His clothes were simple.
He held a Moonveil flower in his hand.
Lyra whispered,
“Who is he?”
The man slowly stood.
Then he turned around.
Aelion saw his face.
The same face.
The same eyes.
The same hair.
But the man looked much older.
Much more tired.
And much sadder.
Lyra took a step back.
Aelion raised his sword.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“Me?”
He looked at Aelion.
“I’m you.”
Aelion froze.
“That’s impossible.”
The man shook his head.
“Not the you who exists now.”
He raised the Moonveil flower.
“The you who will come.”
Lyra stared at the man.
“Why does he look so much like you?”
The man did not answer Lyra.
He only looked at Aelion.
Then he said,
“I’ve come to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?”
“Don’t let Chronos Rift reach Elarion’s core.”
“What happens if it does?”
The man looked at Lyra.
“She’ll die.”
Lyra froze.
Aelion immediately stepped in front of her.
“Then I’ll stop it.”
The man smiled sadly.
“You will.”
Aelion frowned.
“Then?”
“You’ll save her.”
“Good.”
“But you won’t come back.”
Aelion fell silent.
The man continued,
“And when it’s all over...”
He looked Aelion directly in the eye.
“...she won’t remember you.”
Lyra clutched her chest.
For some reason, those words made her heart ache.
Aelion shook his head.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I didn’t believe it either.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
The man smiled.
“Because I was once where you are.”
He tossed the Moonveil flower to Aelion.
Aelion caught it.
“And I want you to have one chance.”
“What chance?”
“To say it.”
Aelion fell silent.
The man looked at Lyra.
Then back at him.
“Don’t repeat my mistake.”
“Your mistake?”
The man smiled.
“Waiting too long.”
His body began to turn into light.
Aelion tried to approach.
“Wait!”
But the man had already vanished.
Only one sentence remained.
“Say it before the world takes that chance away from you.”
Aelion stood motionless.
The Moonveil flower was still in his hand.
Lyra approached him.
“Aelion.”
“Yes?”
“What did you want to tell me?”
Aelion looked at her.
His heart pounded.
This was the chance he had put off for two hundred years.
There was no war.
No council.
No excuses.
Just the two of them.
Aelion opened his mouth.
“Lyra...”
“I’m here.”
“I...”
Suddenly, the sky turned red.
An explosion rang out in the distance.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground shook.
The massive tree behind them cracked.
Lyra turned around.
Aelion looked up at the sky.
Chronos Rift had reached the horizon.
And there were no longer dozens of them.
Instead...
there were thousands.
Aelion gripped the Moonveil flower.
Once again...
the world had taken that chance from him.
He drew a breath.
“We have to go.”
Lyra nodded.
They ran.
But before leaving the garden...
Aelion looked back.
The chair where his future self had been sitting was now empty.
Beneath it was a new engraving.
The words slowly appeared.
WHEN THE WORLD FORGETS YOU, DO NOT FORGET YOURSELF.
Aelion touched it.
And for the first time...
he felt something he couldn’t explain.
Not fear.
Not sadness.
But...
longing for a life he had never lived.
Far above Elarion...
the moon changed again.
One side was silver.
The other was black.
Then a voice came from beyond space.
“He has seen his future.”
Another voice answered,
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Why not?”
“Because the future he saw...”
The voice laughed.
“...isn’t the future that will happen.”
Then a massive eye opened behind the moon.
“We’ll give him a different future.”
And on the surface of the moon...
a black fracture slowly began forming a symbol.
The same symbol that appeared on Aelion’s chest.
The Moon Gate.
Without Aelion realizing it...
the journey to save Elarion had begun.
But the farther he went...
the clearer one truth became:
He wasn’t fighting the world’s destruction.
He was fighting...
a fate that already knew how his story would end.
To be continued.