Chapter 16: Against the Current

The chamber was silent except for the rhythmic pounding of Kai's heart. He stood at the center of a massive circular platform, the edges lined with glowing inscriptions that pulsed with an eerie golden light. Around him, the Keepers observed, their faces unreadable.

Kai wiped sweat from his brow, steadying himself for what he knew would be his hardest trial yet. His training had pushed him to the brink of exhaustion, but he refused to stop. He had to be ready.

The lead Keeper raised his hand, and suddenly, everything shifted.

The walls blurred, the ground beneath Kai's feet melted into something unfamiliar. The air thickened, vibrating with unseen forces. He blinked, and when his vision cleared, he was no longer in the training chamber.

He was standing in the ruins of a city.

Except… it wasn't ruined. Not yet.

Kai's breath caught in his throat.

This was the past.

Buildings still stood tall, their neon signs flickering in the early evening haze. People bustled through the streets, unaware of the impending catastrophe.

And in the sky—

The Moon loomed, whole and unbroken.

Kai's mind reeled. This isn't real. He had to remind himself of that. The Keepers had crafted this illusion to test him. But it felt too real. The sounds, the smells—the weight of time pressing down on him—

And then, a scream.

Kai spun around. Across the street, a young woman stood frozen in horror, staring up at the sky. People around her followed her gaze. Whispers turned into cries. The ground trembled.

A fragment streaked through the atmosphere like a falling star.

Kai's heart pounded. He remembered this moment. This was exactly how it had begun. The first piece of the shattered Moon had crashed down here, reducing the city to ash.

And now he was reliving it.

The Keeper's voice echoed through the void, distant yet clear.

"This is your final test, Kai Voss. You must change nothing—only observe."

Kai clenched his fists.

He had watched this happen before. He had lived it. And now he was expected to stand by and do nothing?

The first explosion erupted in the distance. A wave of fire and debris tore through the skyline, sending buildings collapsing like dominoes. The crowd screamed, scattering in every direction.

A small child tripped in the chaos, left behind as the street buckled beneath her.

Kai's instincts screamed at him to move.

He knew he wasn't supposed to interfere. He knew this was just a test. But watching it unfold again—feeling the helplessness sink into his bones—

He couldn't.

He launched forward, time bending around him. The world blurred as he crossed the distance in an instant, scooping the child into his arms just as the pavement behind her crumbled.

The second his fingers brushed against her skin—

Everything shattered.

The illusion cracked like glass, splitting into a thousand shards. The world around him collapsed, folding inward as reality reasserted itself.

And then—

Kai was back in the training chamber.

He collapsed to his knees, his breathing ragged. The Keepers stared down at him, their expressions unchanged.

"You failed," the lead Keeper said.

Kai's hands trembled against the cold floor. "I saved her."

"You broke the rules of time." The Keeper's voice remained firm. "You cannot alter what has already happened. You may think you changed something, but all you did was unravel the illusion. Time rejected your interference."

Kai gritted his teeth. "Then what's the point of this power? If I can't fix anything—if I can't help—what's the point?"

The Keeper regarded him for a long moment before answering.

"The point is to understand time before you try to control it. You are not ready to change fate, Kai Voss. Not yet."

Kai exhaled sharply, his mind spinning.

If he wanted to master this power, he had to push even further.

He had to find a way to make time bend to his will—without breaking it.

Meanwhile, across the shattered remains of a fallen city, Ava moved with purpose.

Her forces had gathered in the heart of the ruins, their numbers swelling with each passing day. Survivors, mercenaries, even rogue Keepers—every one of them drawn to the power she wielded.

She stepped onto the remains of an old overpass, staring down at the crowd below. Their voices hushed as she raised a single hand.

"The world we knew is gone," she called out, her voice carrying over the ruins. "And yet those who call themselves Keepers would have us cling to the past. They fear what we can become. They want to control the fragments, to limit us, to chain us to their will."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.

Ava's eyes burned with conviction. "But we are not meant to be chained."

She lifted her arm, revealing the fragment embedded in her palm. Energy crackled around it, distorting reality itself. The very air twisted, warping as time itself bent in her presence.

"We are meant to rise."

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Ava let the energy pulse through her, feeling the power course through her veins.

She had waited long enough.

It was time to make her move.

She turned to her second-in-command. "Begin the operation. We're taking the next fragment—tonight."

The woman nodded, slipping into the shadows to carry out the command.

Ava exhaled slowly, staring up at the broken sky.

Kai was out there, training under the Keepers. She knew they were trying to shape him into their weapon.

But it didn't matter.

When the time came, she would show him the truth.

And if he refused to see it—

She would force him to.

Back at the training compound, Kai sat alone beneath the remains of an ancient tree. His body still ached from the trial, but his mind was sharper than ever.

He had made a mistake.

He had tried to change something that couldn't be changed. But what if he wasn't supposed to fight against time?

What if he was supposed to work with it?

The fragment in his arm pulsed gently, almost as if responding to his thoughts.

Kai stared at his hands.

He wasn't done yet.

He would push further. Learn more.

And when the time came—

He would decide his own fate.