The light from the crack in the sky gradually dimmed, leaving only memories etched deep within each of their souls. Melania, Endar, and Kairen stood on the shattered ground, exhausted and silent. They had seen their fears, their mistakes, their failures. This was only the beginning of the trial the new Eternity had prepared for them.
Melania was the first to break the silence. Her voice was hoarse but filled with determination.
“We can’t just stand by any longer. This chaos has a source, and we need to find it if we want to restore stability.”
Endar, who still couldn’t tear his eyes away from the crack, nodded slowly.
“I know where to look,” he said. His voice carried a hint of reluctance, as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to share this information. “There’s a place… the boundary between the old world and the new Eternity. There, we might find the key to understanding why our world is unraveling so quickly.”
Kairen raised an eyebrow, looking at Endar.
“And you decided to tell us this only now?”
“Because I didn’t want to go back there,” Endar snapped. “But now we have no choice.”
Melania studied Endar’s face intently. She knew he was hiding more than he said, but that didn’t matter right now. They had only one path forward.
“What is this place?” she asked.
Endar took a deep breath and, after a moment’s hesitation, replied:
“It’s called the Forgotten Node. It’s a remnant of the old Eternity—a place we never fully destroyed. It holds fragments of the old structures, memories, and… maybe even a will.”
“A will?” Kairen repeated. “Are you saying something alive is in there?”
Endar shrugged.
“I’m not sure. But if this chaos has a beginning, it’s there.”
Melania raised her hand, signaling for them to stop arguing.
“Fine. We’ll head to this Node. But not yet. We need to prepare first.”
“Prepare for what?” Kairen asked mockingly. “More memories to haunt us?”
Melania didn’t answer. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, where faint glimmers of light flickered like beacons in the chaos.
That evening, the heroes rested by a small fire that pushed back some of the oppressive darkness surrounding them. The silence was heavy, but eventually, Endar broke it.
“Have you ever wondered why Eternity won’t listen to us?”
Melania lifted her head but didn’t respond immediately.
“Because it’s… new,” she finally said. “It has no experience. Like a child who doesn’t yet know how to walk.”
“No,” Endar said, shaking his head. “It’s not just a lack of experience. It reflects us—our fears, our uncertainty, our doubts. We created it, but we’re broken ourselves. And this chaos? It’s not its fault—it’s ours.”
Melania stared into the fire, her thoughts lost in its flames.
“Maybe you’re right,” she said softly. “But if that’s true, then the only way to fix it is to change ourselves.”
Kairen laughed, but there was no joy in his laughter.
“You’re saying we need to become perfect so that the world we created can stabilize? That’s impossible, Melania.”
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”
Endar nodded silently, agreeing with her words.
The next morning, they set out for the Forgotten Node. The path was harsh and dangerous. The world around them changed with every step, its elements transforming into new shapes that defied logic. Solid ground suddenly turned liquid, and the sky shifted to shades that had never existed in the old Eternity.
When they finally reached the Node, they were met with a massive structure of tangled threads of light and shadow. The place felt alive—it breathed, emitting a low hum that penetrated their minds.
“This is it,” Endar whispered. “The center of the old Eternity.”
Melania stepped forward but felt something pulling her back.
“Careful,” Endar warned. “This place remembers us. And it won’t forgive.”
Kairen, without hesitation, drew his sword and stood beside Melania.
“If it remembers us, we remember it too. We didn’t come here to retreat.”
“And not to fight,” Melania said firmly. “We came to find answers.”
They took a few more steps forward, and the world around them began to shift. Images of the past resurfaced, memories became reality, and their voices echoed back at them.
“Who are you to dare to change Eternity?” boomed a voice that seemed to emanate from the Node itself.
Melania stopped and answered:
“We are its creators. And we’ve come to restore balance.”
The Node remained silent, but new trials awaited them.