Cherreads

Chapter 56 - The ‽

[Opening Scene: A Rift in Destiny]

Time halts. A surreal silence blankets the battlefield. The Architect, his siblings, Chelestar, and the others freeze mid-motion. From a shimmering rift in the fabric of existence, a new figure emerges—older, calmer, radiating unfathomable power.

Future Nel steps forward. His aura is dense with time itself, layered with experiences, wars, losses, and victories that never came.

> Future Nel (calmly): So... this is the moment you're born.

Nel stares, stunned.

> Nel: You're me... then help me stop him. Before everything ends!

> Future Nel (turns his back): No.

> Nel (shocked): Why? You've fought him before, haven't you? You know how it ends!

> Future Nel: Yes. And that's exactly why I won't help. Because this is your battle. Your choice. I already became what I needed to be. This path? It's yours alone.

He steps into the Mirror Nexus, a realm where every reflection is a different future, and vanishes.

---

[Scene 2: Shattered Trust]

Time resumes. The cosmic battlefield trembles. Monsters of paradox and collapsing stars ravage through layers of space-time.

Neo, swinging his Kriz Scythe, yells through the chaos:

> Neo: Nel! Snap out of it! We need you!

Chelestar, foxfire flaring, rushes to his side:

> Chelestar: What did you see?!

> Nel (quietly): Myself. The version that already gave up everything.

---

[Scene 3: Nel's Breakdown]

Nel collapses into the golden dust of the Primordial Bang's memory realm. All sound fades.

> Nel (broken): Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I was never meant to win. I was just... an accident.

The Crystal Feather in his hand shatters. Light fades... until voices begin to echo.

> Voice of Artheon: Even in a cage, I never stopped dreaming.

Voice of Velcyra: Doubt is power's shadow. But it doesn't define you.

Voice of Elly May: Big bro... you said you'd never give up. Not even when the stars forget how to shine.

Nel looks up. Shards of mirror surround him.

Each mirror shows a version of Nel: corrupted, broken, victorious, indifferent...

But one shows him rising with balance—gray light, not good or evil.

> Nel (softly): I'm not you. Not him. Not what the Architect wanted. I'm what he feared most.

A variable he couldn't predict. The Bang he couldn't contain.

The crystal feather reforms into a glowing Primordial Halo — half light, half shadow.

---

[Scene 4: The Architect Watches]

The Architect stands at the center of his great countdown. Only minutes remain before the universe collapses into zero.

> Architect (monotone): My return to unexist is inevitable. Creation has served its cycle.

He lifts a hand, ready to deliver the final blow to existence.

But Nel appears, standing alone between him and the core of all that exists.

> Nel: If you want to end everything... then you'll have to go through me.

The siblings of the Architect pause. Even Velcyra and Azryael lower their weapons.

> Azryael (whispers): He's not just the Child of the Bang anymore...

Chelestar (awestruck): He's become the Balance.

---

[Final Scene: The Clock Strikes One]

The Architect lifts his arm. Reality begins to twist.

Nel's halo pulses. Light and void merge. Time cracks. Every version of Nel looks toward him.

And then—he charges.

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