The evening light was fading, and the darkness that enveloped the space grew so thick that it felt as if Time itself might begin to leak from its borders. Melania stood, gazing at the spot where the figure they had just encountered had disappeared. She felt a strange mixture of anxiety and calm, as if they were walking together through this shadow that had remained after the essence dissolved into the air.
Antem, standing beside her, couldn’t help but ask.
— Do you really believe that Eternity chooses rightly?
Melania was silent, deep in thought. Her gaze remained fixed on the place where the figure had vanished. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly why this meeting seemed so significant. Was it a blessing for Eternity? Or a test? Everything was new, everything was on the edge of the unknown.
— It doesn’t choose wrongly, — she finally replied. — Eternity doesn’t yet know how to choose correctly. It’s still learning. And perhaps all of us need to be a part of this process. To believe that it will be able to make the right decision.
Antem shrugged, his dark eyes, filled with determination, met hers. There was a shared pain and hope, as if they were both part of something larger. Yet the fear remained—the fear that Eternity might choose something they wouldn’t understand, or even something they couldn’t change.
— Eternity walks its own path, — he said, adding weight to his words. — And our actions merely help it find its way. We are its observers and mentors. Sometimes our role is not to point the way but to give it the opportunity to choose.
Melania nodded. She understood that, but today had changed something inside her. Now, Eternity appeared not only as a system to be guarded or restored. It was alive. And she felt that, even if it followed its own path, it might need to choose multiple paths at once.
— Maybe we shouldn’t try to be its protectors anymore, — Melania said, her voice quieter now, but firm. — Maybe it’s time to be its teachers. To let it figure out its own future.
Antem took a deep breath. His earlier words about “observation” now took on a different meaning, and he understood that, even if they couldn’t change everything, they were still part of the process. Eternity was not only alive, but it was also changing.
— Do you think Eternity is ready for this? — he asked, with doubt in his voice. — Won’t this lead to chaos if we let it develop on its own?
Melania looked at him, noticing how his face reflected fear, though he tried to hide it. They both knew that if Eternity couldn’t make up its mind, the consequences could be catastrophic.
— No one is ready for change when that change is part of themselves, — she answered, her gaze resolute. — Eternity won’t wait for our readiness. It has started its path, and we have to help it understand that it can decide for itself how to live.
In that moment, as Melania felt the weight of that statement, a sense of change swept over her. She realized that this wasn’t just her personal journey—it was a journey for all who were trying to understand Eternity.
Eventually, as she returned to the present, her attention was drawn to another figure. It was Endar. He stood in the doorway, watching them, and in his eyes reflected the same tension as in theirs.
— We need to teach it. And learn ourselves. Because every choice changes everything, even when we’re not ready. — His words were soft, but there was a force behind them that carried more weight than any of the previous questions.
Melania silently nodded, realizing that this process was just beginning. And all she had to do was give Eternity the opportunity to choose—even if those choices were unclear and hard to comprehend. They were part of a bigger picture, but like Eternity itself, they didn’t yet know what it would become.
But they had to do it together.