Voyager Of Ages

The crystalline stairway gave way to a vast plain of silence. Ethan and Lily emerged into what looked like an infinite library, floating in an ocean of stars. Each book hovered gently in the air, glowing faintly, whispering to itself in languages that defied human structure. The Archive.

"This is where knowledge lives after it's been erased," Lily said, her voice hushed. "This is where the Assembly hides their truths."

Ethan stared in awe. "You've been here before?"

"Once. Briefly. Not many return from the Archive unchanged."

The air itself vibrated with time—decades in every breath. Ethan could feel memories brushing his skin like static. They walked forward, guided by the shard's soft glow, past corridors of unwritten history and towers made from the bones of forgotten futures.

Suddenly, the books began to shift.

One floated down toward Ethan and opened of its own accord. Its pages were blank, but his shard flickered wildly.

Then, words appeared:

Ethan Temporal. Witness to the fracture. Bearer of the shard. Seeker of the Vault.

"It's reading me," he whispered.

A voice echoed from the darkness above.

"Because you have finally asked the right question."

A figure emerged—draped in robes spun from dusk and dawn, face hidden by a helm shaped like an hourglass. The Archive Keeper.

"Who are you?" Ethan asked.

"I am the custodian of lost decisions," the Keeper replied. "The last librarian of the unwritten. And you, Voyager, are both question and answer."

Lily stepped forward. "We seek the Chronal Assembly."

The Keeper turned. "Do you seek their truth, or their permission?"

Ethan responded, "We seek to heal the first fracture. To understand what caused the timeline to split."

"Then you must see it for yourself."

The Keeper extended a hand, and space folded inward. A portal opened—its shape jagged, unstable, and throbbing with raw potential. Through it, Ethan saw a world he didn't recognize: ancient, luminous, and eerily quiet.

"The original divergence lies there," said the Keeper. "But beware—the past does not enjoy being seen."

Ethan stepped closer to the portal, but before entering, he turned. "Why now? Why let us find this place?"

The Keeper's voice lowered. "Because someone else has entered the Archive. And they carry a shard... much darker than yours."

Ethan's blood chilled. "Marcus?"

"No. Another."

Behind them, the library trembled.

Far in the distance, books began to burn—silently, efficiently—as if they'd been touched by a timeline that wasn't supposed to exist.

Lily drew her blade. "We're not alone."

The Keeper vanished in a ripple of shadow.

Ethan clutched his shard tightly and stepped through the portal.

Light swallowed them.

And the past awoke.