The Shattered Paradox

The weight of the revelation hung heavy in the chamber. Idris could still hear the guardian's words echoing in his mind—The Echo was created. The Echo was a consequence.

It changed everything.

Elise took a step back, her fingers twitching near her holster. "So what, we're fighting something that's basically a universal reset button? A mistake trying to erase itself?"

The guardian's form flickered, its voice layered with countless echoes of time. "Not a mistake. A correction."

Rook exhaled sharply. "Great. So how do we stop it?"

The guardian regarded them in silence before stepping toward the massive obsidian pillar. As its fingers touched the ancient carvings, the symbols ignited in a burst of blue fire. The air warped, and suddenly—

The room transformed.

The grand hall flickered away, replaced by a massive chamber of interwoven light and crystalline structures. Strange machines floated mid-air, their components shifting as if adjusting to unseen forces. The floor was made of liquid metal, shifting beneath their feet but somehow solid.

Idris's breath caught in his throat. "What… is this place?"

The guardian turned. "This is the Aeternum Vault. The last vault of the Sa'Khel, hidden outside the reach of time itself."

Elise looked around, her expression unreadable. "And why are we here?"

"Because," the guardian said, gesturing toward a massive, floating console, "this is the only place where time can be rewritten."

The group moved cautiously, eyes scanning the impossibility of their surroundings. Nyla was the first to approach the console. Its surface shimmered, displaying countless star maps, timelines, and glyphs in a language none of them recognized.

But Idris…

He understood.

The symbols rearranged themselves, shifting into something his mind could process. He hesitated before placing a hand on the console, feeling a pulse of energy rush through his veins.

Then—

Visions.

A war unlike any in history. The Sa'Khel harnessing the raw power of time itself, creating weapons that could erase entire civilizations before they even existed. Machines of pure energy. Blades forged from condensed starlight. Cities suspended in paradoxical bubbles where years passed in moments, and moments stretched into eternities.

And then—

The fall.

The Echo unraveling everything. Reality itself fracturing.

Idris yanked his hand away, gasping. The vault's light pulsed in response.

The guardian watched him carefully. "You saw it, didn't you?"

Idris nodded, his pulse still racing. "The Sa'Khel… they weren't just scholars. They were warriors. They built things beyond imagination."

The guardian inclined its head. "And now, you must reclaim what was lost."

Elise frowned. "And how exactly do we do that?"

The guardian gestured toward the far side of the chamber, where a massive circular portal flickered to life. It wasn't like the other gateways they had seen—this one pulsed with layers of shifting time, the edges warping and bending like a living thing.

Beyond it, Idris could see glimpses of something impossible.

A city.

Floating above an ocean of molten energy.

Its towers were constructed of interwoven glass and gravity-defying metal, spiraling into the sky with no regard for physics. Massive rings hovered above it, each one crackling with energy.

Nyla took a step forward, her eyes wide. "That's… a Sa'Khel city."

The guardian nodded. "One of the last. Frozen in paradox."

Rook's eyes narrowed. "You want us to go there?"

The guardian's gaze burned brighter. "There lies the key to stopping the Echo. If you can retrieve the Eidolon Core, you will have a weapon powerful enough to rewrite fate."

Idris clenched his fists. "And if we fail?"

The guardian's form flickered. "Then time itself will collapse."

A heavy silence followed.

Then Elise sighed. "Well. No pressure."

Idris turned toward the others. "We don't have a choice. We go."

The guardian stepped aside. The portal expanded, humming with energy.

Idris took one last breath and stepped through.

The future awaited.