They ran without stopping.
Behind them, the sky over Evershade continued to change.
Trees grew and rotted within seconds.
Rivers rose from the ground, flowed for a few yards, then vanished as if they had never existed.
The sky changed colors again and again.
Morning.
Night.
Dusk.
Day.
It all happened without order.
Aelion grabbed Lyra's hand.
"Don't let go of me."
"I won't."
"No matter what lies ahead, stay by my side."
Lyra looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because this place is scrambling time."
"And?"
"If we get separated..."
Aelion paused for a moment.
"...we might never find each other again."
Lyra tightened her grip on his hand.
"Then don't let go."
Aelion nodded.
"Promise."
They kept running.
Behind them, the garden where they had met Aelion's future self slowly vanished.
It wasn't destroyed.
It didn't burn.
It was simply...
erased.
A few minutes later, they emerged from the forest.
A city stretched out before them.
Aelion stopped.
Lyra nearly ran into him.
"What is it?"
Aelion stared at the city.
"I don't recognize it."
"Isn't this Lunaris?"
"No."
"A human city?"
Aelion studied the towers, walls, and buildings in the distance.
"It seems so."
They walked closer.
The nearer they got, the stranger the city looked.
There were no guards.
No merchants.
No vehicles.
No sound.
A massive city...
without a single person in it.
Lyra stared at the gate.
"It's empty."
Aelion nodded.
An inscription was carved above the gate:
ASTERA — THE 17TH CITY OF THE KINGDOM OF ELDORIA
Aelion frowned.
"Eldoria?"
"What about it?"
"Eldoria hasn't been founded yet."
Lyra looked at him.
"Not yet?"
"According to Lunaris's history, that kingdom won't be founded until one hundred eighty years from now."
Lyra looked toward the city.
"Then..."
"We're in the future."
Aelion drew a breath.
"And much farther ahead than before."
They entered.
The streets were empty.
The shops stood open.
Food was still laid out on the tables.
Candles still burned.
Water still flowed from the fountains.
Everything looked as if the people had only just left.
Lyra picked up an apple from a table.
The apple immediately turned to dust.
Lyra was startled.
Aelion examined the dust.
"How old was it?"
"I don't know."
"At least a hundred years."
Lyra looked at him.
"A hundred years?"
"Physically, this apple was just picked."
"In terms of time?"
"It rotted long ago."
Lyra slowly lowered her hand.
"So this city..."
Aelion nodded.
"It's trapped between two points in time."
They walked toward the center of the city.
There stood a gigantic clock.
Its hands weren't moving.
But its shadow was.
Aelion approached it.
"This is the source of the anomaly."
Lyra looked at the clock.
"I don't sense any magic."
"Because it's not ordinary magic."
Aelion raised his hand.
Blue light appeared.
He touched the clock.
In an instant...
his vision changed.
He saw the city filled with people.
Children played.
Merchants shouted to hawk their wares.
Soldiers stood guard.
Carriages passed by.
Then...
everything stopped.
A child dropped a ball.
The ball stopped in midair.
Birds stopped flying.
Water stopped flowing.
Everyone froze.
Then the entire city became empty.
Aelion pulled his hand away.
He was panting.
Lyra put a hand on his shoulder.
"What did you see?"
"This city wasn't abandoned."
"Then?"
"Its inhabitants were stopped."
"Who stopped them?"
Aelion stared at the clock.
"I don't know."
A voice rang out.
"I did."
Aelion spun around.
A little girl stood in the middle of the street.
She looked about ten years old.
Her hair was black.
Her eyes were golden.
She wore a white dress.
Lyra approached her.
"Hey."
The girl looked at her.
"You're late."
Aelion asked:
"Late for what?"
"The last day."
Aelion knelt so they were eye to eye.
"What's your name?"
"Nera."
"Where's your family?"
Nera pointed toward the clock.
"Over there."
Aelion looked at the clock.
"They're inside?"
Nera nodded.
"Everyone is."
"Inside the clock?"
"Yes."
Aelion stood.
"How do we get them out?"
Nera smiled.
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"Because they're already dead."
Lyra fell silent.
Aelion looked at her.
"If they're dead, why are you still here?"
Nera answered:
"Because I haven't been born yet."
Aelion froze.
Lyra stared at the girl.
"What?"
Nera smiled innocently.
"I haven't been born in this world yet."
The wind blew.
Aelion watched the girl warily.
"Explain."
Nera pointed at herself.
"I'm the memory of a child who was supposed to be born twenty years after this city was destroyed."
"A memory?"
"Yes."
"Then you're not human?"
Nera shook her head.
"I'm nothing."
Aelion sensed a strange energy coming from her body.
Not a soul.
Not a spirit.
Not a human.
She was...
a possibility.
A possibility that had not yet come to pass.
Lyra whispered:
"Aelion..."
"I know."
Nera looked at them.
"You'll become like that too."
Aelion frowned.
"Like what?"
"People who once existed."
Nera smiled.
"But were never recorded."
Aelion felt a chill.
The words reminded him of the tower.
The One Who Was Never There.
Nera led them to an old building.
Inside were hundreds of books.
They were all covered in dust.
Yet some of the pages were still new.
Aelion picked one up.
Its title read:
HISTORY OF ELDORIA
He opened it.
The first page:
The Kingdom of Eldoria was founded in the year 317.
Aelion turned the page.
Year 318.
319. 320.
Then...
page 401 was blank.
Page 402 was blank.
403 was blank.
Aelion kept turning the pages.
Nearly two hundred blank pages.
Then...
a sentence appeared.
YEAR 587 NEVER HAPPENED.
Aelion stared at it.
"What does this mean?"
Nera answered:
"That year was erased."
"Who erased it?"
"The king."
"Why?"
"Because in that year..."
Nera looked at Aelion.
"...Aelion Vaelaris came."
Aelion's heart pounded.
Lyra immediately turned to him.
"Aelion?"
Aelion didn't answer.
He stared at the page.
"That's impossible."
Nera shook her head.
"According to the history you know, you've never been here."
Aelion closed the book.
"Because I haven't."
Nera smiled.
"Not yet."
They left the library.
Aelion walked in silence.
Lyra followed.
After a while, she asked:
"Do you believe all that?"
"Some of it."
"Which part?"
"That time is breaking down."
"And what about you?"
Aelion stopped.
"I don't know."
Lyra approached him.
"Are you afraid?"
Aelion looked up at the sky.
"Yes."
Lyra looked surprised.
Aelion rarely admitted he was afraid.
"What are you most afraid of?"
Aelion was silent.
Then he answered:
"Seeing something I can't change."
Lyra looked at him.
"Then we'll change it together."
Aelion looked at her.
Lyra smiled.
"It's that simple."
Aelion smiled back.
"It's that simple."
But deep in his heart...
he knew nothing was simple anymore.
They returned to the center of the city.
The gigantic clock still stood there.
Nera waited beneath it.
"I know how to fix it."
Aelion approached her.
"How?"
"Turn the hands."
"To where?"
"To the right day."
Aelion looked at the clock.
Its hands pointed to twelve.
"Which day is the right one?"
Nera pointed behind them.
"Over there."
Aelion turned around.
There was nothing there.
Only a narrow alley.
He walked into it.
At the end of the alley stood a door.
An old wooden door.
A moon symbol was carved above it.
Aelion touched it.
The door opened.
Behind it was a staircase.
The stairs descended deep into the earth.
Lyra looked down.
"This isn't on the map."
Aelion nodded.
"We're going down."
Nera followed.
Aelion looked at her.
"You don't have to."
Nera shook her head.
"I have to."
"Why?"
"Because something is waiting for me."
They descended.
Ten steps.
A hundred.
Five hundred.
The stairs had no end.
Lyra began to tire.
"How much farther?"
Aelion looked down.
"I don't know."
Nera walked calmly.
As if she had done this before.
At last, they reached a room.
A gigantic crystal stood in its center.
The crystal was black.
Inside it...
were thousands of lights.
Aelion approached.
Each light was a memory.
He saw a child being born.
A king dying.
A city burning.
A wedding.
A war.
A betrayal.
Everything was stored inside the crystal.
Then he saw something.
A particularly vivid memory.
Aelion himself.
Standing in the same room.
But much older.
His hands were covered in blood.
Lyra stood before him.
Crying.
Future Aelion held her face in his hands.
Then he said:
"I'm sorry."
The vision vanished.
Aelion stepped back.
Lyra took his hand.
"What did you see?"
Aelion shook his head.
"It doesn't matter."
Lyra looked at him.
"You're lying again."
Aelion met her gaze.
"I don't want you to know."
"Why?"
"Because maybe..."
He paused.
"...if you know, the future will change."
Lyra fell silent.
"Isn't that what we want?"
Aelion didn't answer.
Nera stood before the crystal.
"This is the Memory Core."
Aelion looked at her.
"The Memory Core."
"Yes."
"Who made it?"
Nera answered:
"The one who first lost the world."
"Who?"
"His name..."
Nera stopped.
Then the crystal suddenly began to shake.
BOOM!
A fracture appeared.
Nera screamed.
"Aelion!"
Aelion immediately raised a shield.
LUNAR SHIELD!
The blast slammed into them.
BOOM!
Aelion was thrown backward.
Lyra created a wind barrier.
But the fracture in the crystal grew larger.
A voice emerged from within it.
"Aelion Vaelaris."
Aelion gripped his sword.
"Who are you?"
"You must not be here."
"I'm tired of hearing that."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
"Your existence is a mistake."
Aelion fell silent.
The voice continued:
"Every time you try to save the world..."
The crystal trembled.
"...another world will die."
Lyra looked at Aelion.
Aelion asked:
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
The voice answered:
"Let Elarion be destroyed."
Aelion gave a short laugh.
"No."
"You'll kill millions of people if you preserve this reality."
"Then I'll find another way."
"There is no other way."
Aelion raised his sword.
"If there isn't..."
Moonlight filled the room.
"...then I'll create one."
BOOM!
Aelion attacked the crystal.
His sword struck its black surface.
Fractures spread.
But the crystal did not break.
Instead...
the entire room changed.
Aelion saw thousands of versions of himself.
Some became kings.
Some became mages.
Some died young.
Some never met Lyra.
Some married Lyra.
Some killed Lyra.
Some saved Lyra.
Some destroyed Elarion.
And there was one...
standing alone.
He had no name.
No shadow.
No memories.
Aelion stared at the last version.
"Who is he?"
Nera answered:
"That's you."
Aelion frowned.
"Me?"
"The version who chose never to exist."
Aelion fell silent.
"How is that possible?"
Nera looked at him.
"Because one day..."
She pointed at that version.
"...you'll choose to erase yourself."
Lyra immediately took Aelion's hand.
"Don't listen to her."
Aelion looked at her.
Lyra tightened her grip.
"Whatever happens..."
She looked into Aelion's eyes.
"...don't choose alone."
Aelion couldn't answer.
Suddenly, the Memory Core shattered.
KRAAAAAK!
Black light filled the room.
Aelion pulled Lyra close.
Nera stood before them.
"I know how to stop it."
"How?"
Nera pointed at herself.
"Use me."
Aelion shook his head.
"No."
"I'm not human."
"Exactly."
"I'm only a possibility."
"If I use you as a time anchor..."
Aelion understood what she meant.
"...this city will return to its proper time."
Nera smiled.
"Yes."
"But you'll disappear."
Nera nodded.
"I was never supposed to exist."
Aelion looked at her.
"How long have you known?"
"From the beginning."
Lyra whispered:
"So you came here to die?"
Nera smiled.
"No."
She looked at Lyra.
"I came to make sure you could go home."
Aelion shook his head.
"I won't sacrifice you."
Nera answered:
"You will."
Aelion fell silent.
"Because that's who you are."
Nera smiled.
"You always save other people."
Then she touched the crystal.
Golden light exploded.
Aelion tried to stop her.
"Nera!"
The girl's body began to turn into light.
Lyra was crying.
Aelion called her name.
But Nera only smiled.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For coming."
Her body grew increasingly transparent.
"I never had a life."
She looked at Aelion.
"But at least I have an ending."
Then her body vanished.
Light filled the crystal.
The clock in the center of the city began to move.
Click.
The first hand moved.
Click.
The second hand.
Click.
The entire city trembled.
And in a single second...
all time returned to its proper place.
Aelion opened his eyes.
He was standing in a city street.
The sun was rising.
The residents began to appear.
Merchants opened their shops.
Children ran through the streets.
Birds took flight.
The city came back to life.
Lyra stood beside him.
"Did we do it?"
Aelion nodded.
"Looks like it."
Lyra looked behind them.
"Nera?"
Aelion fell silent.
He tried to remember the girl's face.
He could.
But the harder he tried...
the blurrier it became.
"Who is Nera?"
Lyra looked at him.
Aelion froze.
"You..."
Lyra frowned.
"What?"
"You don't remember?"
"Remember who?"
Aelion stared at the place where Nera had stood.
There was no one there.
No house.
No books.
No crystal.
No proof.
As if the girl had never existed at all.
Aelion felt something in his chest.
For the first time...
he understood the true meaning of time.
Time didn't only kill.
Time also erased.
They returned to Lunaris three days later.
But something had changed.
Not the city.
Not the kingdom.
Aelion.
He had become quieter.
He stared at the moon more often.
He thought more often about the tower.
About Eryndor.
About his future self.
About the words that continued to haunt him.
Don't repeat my mistake.
That night...
Aelion returned to the balcony where he and Lyra had spoken several days earlier.
Lyra came to him.
"Were you looking for me?"
Aelion nodded.
"Yes."
"What did you want to say?"
Aelion looked at her.
This time there was no fracture.
No war.
No monster.
Only the moon.
And Lyra.
Aelion drew a breath.
"Lyra."
"Yes?"
"I..."
He stopped.
Then he smiled.
"It's nothing."
Lyra frowned.
"You called me here just to say it's nothing?"
Aelion shook his head.
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow."
Lyra smiled.
"Okay."
They stood together.
Unaware...
that far above the moon...
a black eye had opened once more.
And in a space no one could see...
Eryndor held a book.
Its final page had just changed.
It had previously read:
AELION WILL SAVE THE WORLD.
Now the sentence changed.
To:
AELION WILL SAVE THE WORLD.
Then a second line appeared.
BUT HE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO REMEMBER WHY.
Eryndor closed the book.
"So you've begun changing fate."
He looked at the moon.
"Good."
His smile disappeared.
"Because your enemy has started moving too."
On the other side of reality...
a black room opened.
There were no walls.
No floor.
Only empty space.
Someone stood in the center.
His face could not be seen.
In his hand was a shard of crystal.
Inside the crystal...
were memories of Aelion.
The man smiled.
"He's beginning to understand."
Someone in the darkness asked:
"Should we kill him?"
The man shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because his death isn't our goal."
He crushed the crystal.
"What we want..."
The crystal shards fell like snow.
"...is to make him choose to erase his own existence."
Another voice spoke:
"And Lyra?"
The man fell silent.
Then he smiled.
"She's the key."
The night grew late.
Aelion was still standing on the balcony.
Lyra had left.
He looked at the moon.
Then he felt something in his palm.
A Moonveil flower.
The flower his future self had given him.
Aelion stared at it.
The flower was still alive.
Even though it should have withered.
Then one petal fell.
Beneath the petal was a tiny inscription.
Aelion read it.
"Don't fall in love with a predetermined future."
Aelion frowned.
He turned the petal over.
There was a second sentence.
"Because that future is lying to you."
Aelion looked at the moon.
And for the first time...
he began asking himself:
If I'm truly going to erase myself to save the world...
who is really deciding the price of my sacrifice?
There was no answer.
Only the moon.
And the shadow of a man standing alone beneath the silver light.
A man who would one day...
become someone who never existed.
To be continued.