The night sky trembled as Kai sprinted through the fractured remains of the city. His heart pounded in his chest, the weight of what he had just seen still pressing against his mind. Ava had made her move, and the shockwave of her power had torn through reality itself. He had no time left to hesitate.
But it wasn’t just Ava that worried him.
That
figure
—the one he had seen in the vision—was something else entirely. Something worse.
Kai clenched his fists, feeling the pulse of his fragment beneath his skin. If he was going to stop this before it was too late, he needed answers.
And there was only one place left to find them.
The ruins of New Horizon Lab stood in the distance, its skeletal remains hidden beneath a thick layer of fog. Once a center for advanced research, it had been abandoned after the Moon's destruction. But whispers among the survivors spoke of something still lurking beneath the rubble.
Something powerful.
Kai exhaled sharply.
If Ava was after the fragments buried here, then he would find them first.
He stepped forward—
And the shadows moved.
The moment Kai entered the ruins, he could feel it—an unnatural stillness, as if time itself had grown wary of what lay beneath. The remnants of the old world loomed around him: shattered glass, twisted steel, walls half-collapsed and scorched by fire.
But what unsettled him most was the silence.
No wind. No distant cries of survivors.
Just an oppressive, waiting stillness.
Kai pressed on, his footsteps barely making a sound. His fragment hummed against his skin, reacting to something unseen. He reached the entrance to the lower levels, where a collapsed hallway led deeper underground.
Then—
A whisper.
Not from his mind. Not from his past.
But from right behind him.
Kai spun, his instincts screaming—
Too late.
A force
ripped
him backward, yanking him into the darkness.
Miles away, Ava stood at the heart of the vault, the fragment pulsing in her grasp. The air around her distorted, warping in unnatural waves as the energy bled into her veins.
Her body felt like it was burning.
Like she was being
reborn
.
The voice from her vision echoed in her mind—deep, powerful, ancient.
"You are ready."
Ava gritted her teeth, pushing past the searing pain. She could
feel
the knowledge buried within the fragment. The secrets of the universe itself, locked away for centuries.
And now, they belonged to her.
She opened her eyes—
And reality itself
shattered
.
For a single, fleeting moment, she saw everything. The past. The future. The endless threads of time, unraveling and weaving back together.
She saw herself standing at the precipice of something
far greater
.
Then, the vision snapped.
She gasped, staggering forward, her heart pounding in her chest.
Her lieutenant, Serah, caught her arm. “Ava! What happened?”
Ava exhaled slowly. “I saw…” She hesitated. “I saw something.”
Serah’s eyes darkened. “What did you see?”
Ava tightened her grip on the fragment. “…The end.”
Serah stiffened. “Of what?”
Ava met her gaze. “Everything.”
Kai hit the ground hard, his breath forced from his lungs as he tumbled into the depths of New Horizon’s ruins. Dust and debris rained around him, but he barely had time to react before he felt it—
A
presence
.
Something ancient.
Something
watching him
.
He pushed himself up, his muscles aching, and turned toward the source of the disturbance.
And then he saw it.
A chamber, hidden beneath the facility, untouched for years. Unlike the ruined upper levels, this place was pristine—smooth black walls lined with symbols that pulsed with an eerie blue light. At the center of the room was a pedestal, and upon it…
A fragment.
But not just any fragment.
This one was
different
. Larger, darker, humming with a power that seemed to shift between time itself.
Kai stepped forward, his breath shallow.
As he reached out—
The shadows around him
moved
.
A voice whispered from the darkness.
"You should not have come here."
Kai
froze
.
The air grew
thick
, charged with an energy that sent a shiver down his spine. He turned slowly, scanning the chamber—
And then he saw them.
Figures, barely visible against the darkness. Moving without sound. Watching without eyes.
Kai’s heart pounded.
These weren’t survivors.
These weren’t Ava’s people.
They were something
else
.
One of them stepped forward, its form shifting like a mirage. When it spoke, its voice was layered—like multiple realities speaking at once.
"The fragments do not belong to you."
Kai swallowed hard. “Then who do they belong to?”
The figure tilted its head.
"To time itself."
A cold chill ran through Kai’s bones. “Who
are
you?”
The figures remained still for a long moment. Then, the lead one spoke again.
"We are the Keepers of the First Fragment."
Kai’s eyes widened. “The
first
fragment?”
"The one that fell before all others. The one that was never meant to be found."
Kai turned back toward the pedestal. The dark fragment pulsed, its energy beckoning him closer.
But before he could move—
The figures
rushed
forward.
The chamber erupted into chaos.
Back at the vault, Ava steadied herself. The fragment in her grasp had changed her—she could
feel
it in the way the world bent around her presence.
Serah looked at her warily. “Ava… what happens now?”
Ava smirked, rolling her shoulders. “Now?” She turned toward the entrance of the ruined facility. “Now we stop playing defense.”
Serah nodded. “The factions won’t stand idly. If they realize what you’ve taken—”
“They’ll come for us,” Ava finished. “I’m counting on it.”
Serah hesitated. “And Kai?”
Ava’s smile darkened. “He’s already too late.”
Kai
dodged
, barely avoiding the first strike as the shadows lunged at him. His fragment pulsed in his arm, instinctively reacting as he twisted through time—phasing in and out of the present.
But his enemies were
faster
.
One of them struck, and pain exploded through his chest. He staggered, coughing, but forced himself to move.
He couldn’t die here.
Not yet.
The figures circled him, whispering in their layered voices.
"You do not belong here."
Kai clenched his fists. “I’m getting
real
tired of hearing that.”
His fragment flared.
Time
fractured
.
For a split second, Kai
was everywhere
. He saw himself dodge, counter, strike—seconds folding over themselves in an endless loop.
He saw the future.
And he saw his opening.
With a growl, he lunged forward, time bending around him. He grabbed the dark fragment from the pedestal—
The chamber
exploded
in a shockwave of energy.
And then—
Everything went
black
.