Chapter 5: The Price of Eternity
The chapel was silent, save for the faint hum of the Chrono Key in Lila's hands. Elias sat on a broken pew, his infected arm glowing faintly under his sleeve. The paradox infection had spread, tendrils of blue light creeping up his neck like veins of frost.
Kael leaned against the wall, his holographic form flickering. "You've got maybe 24 hours before the infection consumes you. After that…" He trailed off, but the implication was clear.
"After that, I become a paradox," Elias said flatly. "A walking time bomb."
Lila knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she examined the infection. "There has to be a way to stop it. The Key—maybe it can reverse the damage."
"The Key isn't a cure," Kael snapped. "It's a lock. And if you use it wrong, you'll just make things worse."
Elias stood, his movements stiff. "Then we use it right. We lock the Core away before it's too late."
"And what about you?" Lila asked, her voice breaking. "You're dying, Elias. We can't just ignore that."
He met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "I've been dying since the moment I touched the Hourglass. This mission isn't about saving me. It's about saving everyone else."
Kael pushed off the wall, his form glitching violently. "You're both missing the bigger picture. The Core let us take the Key. It's playing us. And if we walk into its trap, we're handing it exactly what it wants."
"Which is?" Lila demanded.
"A catalyst," Kael said. "Someone to activate the Key and complete its cycle. Someone like Elias."
The room fell silent. Elias clenched his fists, the infection flaring brighter. "Then we don't give it a choice. We force it into the lock."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Kael asked.
Elias turned to Lila. "The Temporal Engine. If we use the Key to stabilize it, we can create a feedback loop. The Core won't be able to resist the pull."
Lila's eyes widened. "That could work. But it's insanely risky. If the loop destabilizes, it could tear apart the entire city."
"It's the only shot we've got," Elias said.
Kael sighed, running a hand through his glitching hair. "Fine. But if this goes sideways, I'm not sticking around to watch the fireworks."
---
The Temporal Institute loomed before them, its glass facade reflecting the storm clouds above. The streets were eerily empty, the city's usual hum replaced by an oppressive silence.
"Something's wrong," Lila whispered as they approached the entrance. "Where's the security?"
Elias frowned, his infected arm pulsing faintly. "The Core's already here."
They stepped inside, the air thick with the smell of burnt circuitry. The lobby was a war zone—shattered glass, overturned furniture, and the bodies of Institute personnel, their faces frozen in expressions of terror.
"This isn't just a paradox," Kael said, his voice low. "This is a purge."
A sudden crash echoed from deeper within the building. Elias drew his pistol, motioning for the others to follow. They moved cautiously, the only sound their footsteps and the faint hum of the Key in Lila's hands.
The engine room was worse. The Temporal Engine, once a marvel of technology, was now a twisted mass of metal and light. Fractures in time spiderwebbed the air, each one a window into a different nightmare.
And standing before the engine was her—the woman from Elias's visions. She looked like Lila, but her eyes were voids, her body flickering like a broken hologram.
"Elias Voss,"she said, her voice layered with a thousand others. "You've come to fulfill your purpose."
"Who are you?" Lila demanded, stepping forward.
The woman smiled, a cold, empty expression. "I am the Core's will. Its voice. Its hand. And you, Lila Kane, are its heart."
Elias raised his pistol. "Stay back."
"You cannot harm me," the woman said, her form shifting into a monstrous amalgamation of limbs and eyes. "I am the sum of all timelines. The end of all stories."
Kael grabbed Elias's arm. "Don't. She's a projection. You'll just waste ammo."
"Then what do we do?" Elias growled.
"We stick to the plan," Lila said, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes. "Stabilize the engine. Lock the Core away."
The woman laughed, the sound echoing through the room. "You cannot lock away what is already free. The Core is eternal. Inevitable."
Elias ignored her, moving to the engine's control panel. His fingers flew over the keys, inputting the sequence Lila had provided. The engine groaned, its light intensifying.
"It's working," Lila said, holding up the Key. "The feedback loop is forming."
The woman's form flickered, her smile faltering. "You cannot win."
"Watch us," Elias said, slamming his hand on the final key.
The engine roared to life, its light engulfing the room. The fractures in time collapsed, pulling the Core's projection into the vortex. The woman screamed, her form unraveling into motes of light.
But the victory was short-lived. The engine shuddered, its light flickering dangerously.
"It's destabilizing!" Lila shouted.
Elias grabbed the Key from her hands. "I'll stabilize it. Get out of here."
"No!" Lila grabbed his arm. "You'll die!"
"I'm already dead," Elias said, his voice calm. "This is the only way."
Kael appeared beside them, his form barely holding together. "He's right. We need to go. Now."
Lila hesitated, tears streaming down her face. "Elias…"
"Go," he said, pushing her toward the door. "I'll see you on the other side."
As Lila and Kael fled, Elias turned back to the engine. The infection had spread to his chest, his body glowing like a dying star. He inserted the Key into the engine's core, the light intensifying until it consumed him.
The last thing he saw was Lila's face, smiling at him from a sunlit timeline.
And then, there was nothing.
---
The Temporal Engine stabilized. The fractures in time sealed. Neo-Pandora was saved.
But Elias Voss was gone.
Lila stood outside the Institute, the Key clutched in her hands. Kael stood beside her, his form flickering faintly.
"He did it," she whispered.
"Yeah," Kael said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "He did."
Somewhere, in the folds of time, Elias Voss smiled.
To Be Continued…
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