The golden glow brightened, filling the temple with fractured light. The ice that covered the walls cracked like glass, revealing intricate murals beneath—scenes of stars being born, dying, and reborn again. In the center of it all floated the Keeper of Moments.
It looked almost human, yet not. Its body shimmered between ages—at one glance, young and radiant, at another, ancient and weary. Every second, it seemed to shift, as if time itself could not decide when it belonged.
When it finally spoke, its voice carried across the silence, echoing directly in Elyra's mind.
"You carry the scent of the Marauder… and the echo of the boy who defied the void."
Elyra's heart skipped. "Kael?" she whispered. "You… know him?"
The Keeper smiled faintly. "I remember him. He passed through my current long ago—before the collapse of the Fifth Age. His choices reshaped time's current, binding this world."
The Marauder stepped forward, his shadow curling protectively around Elyra. "You mean he caused this?"
"Not caused," the Keeper corrected, "anchored. To keep the darkness at bay, he traded motion for safety. Every tick of Mirath's clock has not moved since."
Elyra clenched her fists. "Then he froze this world to save the galaxy?"
The Keeper's gaze softened. "To delay its death. But the balance has begun to fracture. If you unseal me, the flow will resume—but so will the chaos Kael sealed away."
For the first time, Elyra hesitated. She wanted to free this planet, to restart its heart—but if that meant undoing Kael's sacrifice…
The Marauder's voice broke through her thoughts. "Elyra. The darkness he feared—it's already here. The Void is stirring again. If we don't move time forward, everything he protected will die frozen."
The Keeper floated closer, its eyes shimmering with timelines. "You speak truth, shadow-born. Yet freedom has a cost. The moment motion returns, so will the Void's will. Are you ready to face what he could not?"
Elyra raised her hand. "I am."
Light flared. The ground beneath them shattered as the frozen energy began to pulse again. Wind howled for the first time in centuries. The sound of the planet's heartbeat returned—slow, powerful, ancient.
The Keeper of Moments smiled sadly. "Then let time resume."
The temple exploded in radiant waves. The glaciers cracked apart, the skies bled with light, and the stillness of centuries dissolved.
Elyra gasped as memories not her own flashed through her—Kael standing before the Keeper, bleeding starlight, whispering, "Forgive me, Mirath."
Then, silence again. The Keeper's form dimmed, its energy dispersing into the air.
"The seal is broken," it said softly. "Now… run."
The Marauder grabbed Elyra's arm as the horizon darkened. From the planet's core, a massive pulse of black energy surged upward—like a scream from time itself.
The Void had awakened.