The walls surrounding them quivered and trembled as if alive. The space around them was not just darkness, but a mosaic of infinite possibilities. What seemed formless suddenly took the shape of ancient cities, only to dissolve into an endless ocean moments later. The sense of time here was completely different — it had lost its linearity, scattering into millions of directions.
Emiren stood, surrounded by the boundless void, feeling every thought, every stir of his soul collide with the unknown laws of this world. His hand trembled as he reached forward. Before him, like a beacon of light in the darkness, appeared a figure — one of those who guarded Eternity. Their gaze was as cold as the wind that cuts through to the bone.
— We came for answers, — Emiren said, his voice heavy, like wind through cracks in stone.
The Guardian of Eternity remained silent. They only inclined their head slightly, as though evaluating Emiren’s presence, his purpose. Time here did not take form, but that did not mean it was a powerless entity. It was alive; it was part of their souls, part of their choices.
— What must we do to restore the balance? — Ardalys asked, stepping closer to Emiren. His voice trembled with concern.
The Guardian raised a hand, and a light appeared around them, shifting and creating sounds like a million held breaths.
— Only understanding that you are willing to pay the price will allow you to move forward, — the Guardian spoke.
They nodded toward a massive stone pillar rising from the void. On it were carvings that had never existed in any world, shifting as they looked upon them, merging with time itself.
— This is your path, — said the Guardian. — You must decide whether you will restore what was once destroyed or let it all disappear to give birth to the new.
Emiren took a deep breath and glanced at Ardalys. They knew that the decision they made now would be decisive for the entire Garden, for the world itself.
— We must return time to its place, — Emiren declared, feeling an inner unity in his choice for the first time.
The Guardian’s shadow grew more distinct, and their figure towered to unimaginable heights, as though it consumed the space around them. Yet, there was something serene in this presence, almost tender.
— Are you ready to face your own fears? — the Guardian said. — Only by overcoming them will you restore balance.
Suddenly, everything around them shuddered, and the darkness mixed with light. Figures appeared, once creations, but now part of the very space. They were neither people nor beings — they were the energy that had accumulated in reality, created by the hands of Emiren and Ardalys.
With every step they took, they ventured deeper into the void, and then, suddenly, in the heart of this boundless emptiness, they saw something that astonished them.
Before them stood a stone throne, upon which sat an existential figure. It was a form both familiar and unknown — Eternity itself. It had no face, but its presence was so powerful that it felt as though the entire world around them was compressed.
— I have been waiting for you, — the voice of this figure was both near and far at the same time.
— Who are you? — asked Ardalys.
The figure silently pointed to the throne. And then they understood — they had to sit down and accept this path. Only then could they unveil the future’s veil, only then could they restore the balance.
— Everything we have done, — Emiren said, — has led us here. And only when we make the right choice will we gain the power to change time.
Eternity remained silent. Its powers were limitless, but they felt that only by their own choice could they change this world. The further they went, the clearer the truth became — they had to become those who would not only change time but the very essence of reality.
Only when they sat on the throne and gazed upon the endless space around them did time truly stand by their side. And before them opened the path to what they must do.