The cracks in reality continued to pulse around them, deepening and darkening with each passing moment, swallowing even the essence of time itself. They no longer felt the ground beneath their feet. The space around their bodies blurred like water, and time became a mist, barely able to retain its form. Every movement seemed like eternity, every breath was a whole cycle of epochs. And they walked towards a place where there was no beginning or end — towards the Gates of Time.
The first steps were light, but with each following one, everything grew heavier. They advanced, and the space around them changed, forcing them to sink into the darkness that consumed everything in its path. Yet, they did not retreat.
The Guardian led them, his blue light dispersing in the darkness, acting as the only beacon in the chaos. His hand trembled more and more, but he did not stop.
— The Gates of Time cannot simply be passed through, — the Guardian said, stopping before a massive wall that appeared from nothing. — They are the very boundary where all that was and will be meets in a single moment. If we cannot pass through them, we will remain here, in the void, forever.
Ardalys turned to Emiren with a deep sigh.
— Are we really ready for this? Or are we just playing with something we cannot understand?
Emiren looked at him. His eyes glowed with determination.
— If not us, then who? If we do not return everything to the beginning, we will allow this darkness to engulf us, and everything will vanish. Maybe we don’t understand what awaits us, but it’s the only thing we can do.
Before them, a vast canvas opened, and as the Guardian raised his hand, part of the canvas began to tear apart, forming dark gates. They had no shape that could be described — it was simply an infinite distance they were approaching.
Sighing, the Guardian led them through these gates. Step by step, they moved into an endless space that had no beginning or end. All the parts of the world that once existed seemed to dissolve into this emptiness, and there was nothing to indicate time.
— This place has no history, — whispered the Guardian. — It never had any events. Only memories that have already disappeared.
Suddenly, before them appeared an image, blurry and ever-changing, but it seemed to carry within it the entire world that had once existed. It was like something between a dream and reality. There was no beginning in it, nothing clearly defined, just endless possibilities.
— This is the beginning, — said the Guardian. — We must leave this place, without allowing it to become a new reality.
And then they saw it. A figure stood in the very center of this space, as if part of time itself. It was undefined, yet powerful. Its presence was so great that it absorbed all sensations.
— You have come, — said a voice that came from the figure. It did not sound like one word, but like the entire spectrum of existence with only one purpose. — But you cannot change what has happened.
— We must do it, — replied Emiren, for the first time with full determination. — We cannot leave this world in endless darkness.
The figure, which was like the embodiment of time itself, extended its hand, and an unseen force began to fill the space.
— If you want to change the beginning, you must be ready for everything to not turn out as you expect. And you cannot be certain that your story will be the one you imagine.
— We are ready to pay any price, — said the Guardian, his voice heavy with despair.
And then, as they reached the very center of this endless void, the moment of rupture arrived, and the world around them began to transform.
Time ceased to be linear; it became intermittent, and with every step they took, it echoed in all possible directions. They felt how the space around them began to contract and expand simultaneously, as worlds they had not created, and worlds that never existed, approached them from all sides.
Emiren took a deep breath.
— We have to do this, — he said, locking eyes with the Guardian.
And the Guardian nodded.
— If not now, then never.