The world shattered like glass, and they were swallowed by radiance—not white, not black, but something undefined, as if existence itself had merged into a chaotic stream. They were not falling, not flying, not standing still—their bodies stretched into infinity and compressed into a single point at the same time.
Emiren wanted to scream, but his voice was lost among countless others emerging from the void. He heard his own thoughts, yet he could not grasp them. The Garden was punishing them for interference. Or perhaps… testing them?
The Weaving of Reality
Suddenly, the chaos ceased.
Emiren found himself standing on the familiar platform, but now it was ruined. The stone beneath his feet was cracked, dim light seeping through the fissures, while fragments of the Creators’ Archive loomed around him. The air was heavy, humming as if it were breathing with a life of its own.
— Ardalys?! — he called out, but his voice echoed into emptiness.
There was no answer.
He was alone again.
But this place… It was neither the past nor the future. He sensed he was in an in-between space—a realm where branches of time intertwined but had not yet solidified into reality. His heart clenched: if he was here, then their conversation with the young Ardalys had consequences.
Something had changed.
And he needed to find out what.
The Shadow That Follows
Stepping forward, Emiren felt the ground tremble beneath him. Instinctively, he pulled back, but it was too late. From the cracks, long black vines slithered out, twisting as if alive. They were not of plant origin—their surface shimmered, reflecting glimpses of faces, events, voices.
— These are… memories? — he whispered.
Then, one of the vines lashed toward him. Emiren didn’t have time to react—it touched his forehead, and the world flared up again.
A vision unfolded before him.
He saw the young Ardalys standing in the Archive hall. But he was no longer the same as Emiren had left him. His eyes had changed—fear now flickered within them.
— I don’t want this future, — he whispered into the void.
And took a step forward.
At that very moment, time around him began to shift.
Emiren froze.
The young Ardalys had not merely witnessed his fate—he was rewriting it.
The Forbidden Choice
The vine released Emiren, and he gasped, returning to the present. His body was cold, his heart pounding.
He understood what had happened.
Their encounter had not just shown Ardalys his destiny—it had given him the means to change it. And if the Garden had tried to erase their presence in the past but instead cast him here, it meant something had gone terribly wrong.
Ardalys had made a forbidden choice.
He had decided to escape his own death.
And now, time was collapsing.
Consequences
The air around him tightened, the platform crumbling further. In the distance, through the mist, figures appeared—blurred, as if torn from other branches of time.
Emiren knew who they were.
Creators who no longer existed.
The Garden could not allow such a violation. If someone altered their fate, they had to either accept a new path or… be erased.
— I have to find him, — Emiren whispered, his voice swallowed by the wind that breathed with Eternity itself.
He had to stop Ardalys.
Or perish with him.