CHAPTER 12 THE HOURGLASS BROKEN

Thanks for your patience! Here's Chapter

Legacy of Shadows – Chapter 12: The Hourglass Broken

The Summit of Silence was no longer silent.

After five trials, the air vibrated with untold energy—fire, shadow, steel, ice, and light all pulsed in the stone beneath Kael's feet. Each trial had left a mark on him, not only in power, but in memory, in emotion, in loss.

Kael stood at the edge of the final portal.

Unlike the others, this one had no shape. It didn't shimmer. It moved, folding in on itself, swirling in a loop that seemed to go backward and forward at once. It looked like a crack in space. A place where existence unraveled.

The Trial of Time.

"This one," Cynthia said, her voice low, "isn't just about strength."

Kael looked at her, eyes unreadable. "What's it about, then?"

"Regret. Memory. Choices you didn't make—and the ones you did." Her voice faltered. "Kael… whatever you see in there… whatever version of you you meet… remember who you are now."

Kael turned back toward the portal. "I'm ready."

He stepped forward.

Time tore.

The Temporal Fracture

Kael didn't fall or teleport.

He drifted.

The world warped around him, like he was being pulled through a ribbon of moments—each one a version of his own life. He saw flashes:

A younger Kael, sitting alone as others laughed.

A battle he lost that could've changed everything.

Cynthia walking away from him, expression unreadable.

Himself standing at a grave.

Each image pulsed with emotion. They weren't just memories.

They were possibilities.

And then the ribbon snapped.

Kael landed hard—on cracked stone, beneath a violet sky streaked with lightning.

He was in a ruined city.

Familiar.

It was his home town—or a version of it. Buildings shattered. Roads torn. Trees dead. There was no life.

Just echoes.

Echoes of the Future

Kael stood slowly. Gengar emerged beside him, as silent as the wind.

"This isn't real," Kael muttered. "This… hasn't happened."

"No," came a voice.

Kael turned, hand ready at his belt.

The figure before him was cloaked in a tattered version of his own jacket. His hair was longer, wild. Eyes hollow. A scar carved across his left cheek.

It was Kael. Older. Hardened. Broken.

"I'm what you become," the older Kael said. "If you win everything. If you survive."

Kael stared. "You're… me?"

"A version. The one who passed this trial. Who bore the full power of Shadow and Flame. Who claimed every Relic, defeated every Titan. And lost everything."

Gengar floated back, unnerved.

"I don't believe you," Kael said.

"You don't want to."

Older Kael turned away and gestured toward the ruins.

"I won. I reached the Summit's end. Faced what lay beyond. Became strong enough to protect everyone."

He looked over his shoulder. "And in doing so, I destroyed them."

The First Collapse

Flashes surrounded Kael—visions of battles fought in godlike proportions.

He saw Gengar, massive and snarling, unleashing shadows that consumed stadiums.

Ceruledge leaping through firestorms to strike down monstrous forms.

He saw Cynthia, standing beside him—until she was gone.

"Your power grows," the older Kael said. "But so does the weight. We weren't meant to carry this alone. And we didn't listen."

Kael clenched his fists. "If you lost your way… that's not on the power. It's on you."

The older version laughed, bitter and low.

"I said the same thing. Back then."

He reached into his coat and threw something to the ground.

It was an Hourglass. Broken, leaking stardust-like sand into the wind.

"This is what they gave me. The final Relic. The Chrono Sigil. But I used it… wrong. I tried to fix everything."

Kael stared. "Fix… what?"

"Her."

The Turning Point

A vision flared—Cynthia, impaled, falling, her final breath whispering Kael's name.

"No—" Kael recoiled.

"I couldn't accept it," older Kael said. "So I turned back time. Again. And again. And again. But no matter how many timelines I created… I always lost her."

He stepped forward, eyes blazing.

"You don't get to be the hero and save everyone. That's the real trial."

Kael stood his ground. "You failed. I won't."

The older Kael's voice sharpened. "Then prove it."

He pulled a Poké Ball from his belt.

"Let's see if your truth can withstand mine."

Battle of the Self – Kael vs. Kael

The ground split between them.

On one side, Kael. Young. Burning.

On the other, Kael. Old. Cold.

The older Kael sent out a Pokémon Kael had never seen—but instantly recognized.

Umbreon. But not his Umbreon.

This one was warped, corrupted—its rings no longer gold, but blood-red. Its eyes hollow.

"Time twisted it," the older Kael said. "Made it stronger. But lost its soul."

Kael breathed. "Then let's bring it back."

He sent out Snivy—now evolved into Serperior, radiant with confidence.

The battle began.

Snivy vs. Umbreon

Umbreon moved first—Foul Play in a blur. But Serperior coiled, evading with grace.

"Glare!"

Umbreon froze mid-movement, eyes locking with Serperior's. Paralysis took hold.

"Now—Leaf Storm!"

Serperior unleashed a torrent of emerald fury, sending Umbreon skidding across the ruined stones.

Older Kael narrowed his eyes.

"Pain makes you sharper."

He returned Umbreon and threw another ball.

Galarian Farfetch'd—Kael's own, but twisted with armor. Its leak was now a blackened halberd.

Kael stared. "No… not him too."

"Time changes us all."

Present vs. Future

Kael swapped to Ceruledge.

The swords clashed like thunder. Ceruledge's Bitter Blade met Farfetch'd's Brutal Swing.

Neither held back.

The fight raged, each blow sparking with raw power. They were equals—because they were the same.

But Kael fought with heart. The older one with hate.

And in the final strike, Ceruledge slipped under a downward blow and landed a clean hit.

Farfetch'd collapsed.

The older Kael staggered back.

"…You've surpassed me already," he whispered.

The Hourglass Restored

Kael approached the broken hourglass. The older version fell to his knees.

"I wanted to stop you. I didn't want you to carry the pain."

Kael placed a hand on the hourglass.

And something changed.

The sand stopped falling.

Time itself stilled.

Kael looked at his future self and said, "Then help me carry it."

A glow rose from the hourglass—radiant, golden-white. It hovered, whole again.

The voice of the Arbiter echoed through time:

"You have faced your end… and chosen another path. The Trial of Time is complete."

The ruins faded.

The wind blew.

Kael stood alone—hourglass in hand, light in his eyes.

Return to the Summit

Kael emerged from the portal, slow and steady.

Cynthia turned, stunned by what she saw. The mark of time shimmered on his neck—a spiral hourglass surrounded by runes.

"You did it," she whispered.

Kael nodded. "Barely."

The Arbiter's voice boomed.

"Six Trials. Six Relics. The Shadowbearer has walked through Flame, Frost, Steel, Light, and Time. The path is open."

A staircase unfurled before them—ascending to the heavens.

Above it, something shimmered.

Not a throne.

But a mirror.

"Your final battle," Cynthia said. "Is with the one who started this. The one who gave you the shadow."

Kael tightened his fists.

"I'm ready."

End of Chapter 12 – The Hourglass Broken

Next up: Chapter 13 – The Mirror King