The Choice That Burns

The world stilled — not from peace, but from unbearable tension.

Three Kaels stood before Aeris, each forged by different pasts, each echoing truths she didn't want to face.

The battlefield had turned surreal.Floating shards of timelines spun slowly in the air — like pieces of broken glass holding memories:– A silver wedding band stained with blood.– A child's laughter fading in static.– The first night she and Kael saw stars, curled beneath a dying tree.

Each memory whispered: Choose.

Aeris clutched her chest. Her heartbeat wasn't just hers anymore. Time was inside her now, pulsing, demanding resolution.

"You have to decide," the third Kael said softly, stepping forward. He was calmer, eyes ancient — holding the weight of countless timelines.

"Why me?" she whispered, voice cracked. "Why does it always come down to me?"

The original Kael, bruised and bleeding, turned to her. His hand trembled as he reached out.

"Because you're the axis," he said. "You're what we all revolve around. You're the only one who remembers the truth in every version."

The dark Kael chuckled, folding his arms.

"Romantic. Pathetic. But she knows I'm right — we ended the war. We won. Our hands are stained, yes, but we survived."

"At what cost?" real Kael snapped.

They were arguing, but Aeris heard none of it.

She stared at her reflection in a floating mirror shard. But it wasn't her — not entirely. Her eyes shimmered gold and violet, flickering between timelines.

One eye belonged to the Aeris who forgave.

One to the Aeris who destroyed.

"What if I don't choose?" she said aloud.

The third Kael — the Watcher — tilted his head.

"Then the Rift consumes everything. No futures. No pasts. Just void."

And suddenly, a scream shattered the air.

From above, the sky ripped open like a wound — and the Architect's shadow slithered out, serpentine and endless.

His voice echoed in every Kael's tone at once.

"You were never meant to choose," it hissed. "You were meant to break."

Aeris fell to her knees.

Around her, time distorted violently — cities forming and collapsing in an instant. Children aging into skeletons in flashes. Stars going supernova and reversing. The air became heavy with paradoxes.

"AERIS!" the original Kael shouted, reaching for her — but a blast from the Architect knocked him away.

The false Kael — dark and sharp — stepped in front of her instead.

"You want strength?" he growled. "Then burn with me. Burn him down."

But the Watcher Kael raised his hand, and the air stilled again.

"She needs to remember."

He pressed his palm to her forehead — and suddenly Aeris saw everything.

Every version of herself.

Every death. Every kiss. Every betrayal. Every rebirth.

"You're not a fragment," the Watcher whispered. "You are the constant."

Aeris rose, eyes glowing with the fire of infinite tomorrows.

"I choose…" she said.

Lightning cracked.

Time buckled.

But before the name left her lips — the Architect struck.

Darkness surged.

Someone screamed her name — Kael? Or all of them?

And then—

Blackout.

🔥 In next chapter we will find out who survived. Did Aeris make a choice — or did time steal it from her? What secret does the Architect still hide in the deepest Rift?