Aether, The First Night of the Creator's Awakening
The sky over Aether, usually filled with the glitter of technomagical crystals, was now pitch black. A colossal crown-shaped aurora blazed in the heavens, spewing tongues of fire onto the earth, consuming the outskirts of the city. In the abandoned underground headquarters of the Lumen Faction, Rael and his companions watched the destruction through a cracked holographic screen.
"He's testing us," whispered Chronos, his hand turning the dimensional hourglass. "The Creator isn't attacking directly. He wants to see how strong our resilience is."
Aira shivered in the corner, a blanket of energy wrapped around her body, occasionally flickering with purple light. "He... spoke in my head. Said I should 'come home.'"
Lyra tightened her grip on Aira's shoulder. "You're not going anywhere. We've got you."
Niro, assembling a weapon from the remnants of Lumen Faction machinery, glanced at Rael. "Got a plan? Or are we just waiting to be easy targets?"
Rael clenched the shard of the medallion in his pocket. "We need to find the Correction Nexus—the place where the Creator first shaped dimensions. Only there can we sever his power source."
"And how do we get there?" Dax raised an eyebrow. "The dimensional submersible's destroyed, and the portals are unstable."
Chronos tapped his staff on the floor. "I can open the path. But there's a price: a piece of time from each of your lives."
The room fell silent. Finally, Lyra extended her hand. "Take mine. I've lived too long with bad memories."
One by one, they touched Chronos' staff. A cold sensation swept through their bodies, and a fragment of their important memories vanished:
- Niro lost the memory of his first meeting with Lyra.
- Dax forgot the faces of the parents he had betrayed.
- Rael... forgot the final moments he shared with Kael.
Only Aira abstained. "I have no time to give," she whispered.
The portal opened—a vortex of time swirling with whispers and shadows of the past.
The Correction Nexus was an ancient garden encased within a dimensional bubble. Golden trees with crystal leaves surrounded a stone altar where a chalice of energy pulsed. But its beauty was a deception—each step stirred the dust of time that gnawed at their skin.
"That chalice is the core," said Chronos. "Destroy it, and all of the Creator's constructs will collapse."
Before they could move, the ground trembled. The Radiant Sun emerged with an army of human-metal hybrids.
"We will not let you ruin God's plan!" shouted their leader, a woman in a silver mask.
Battle erupted. Niro and Dax held off the hybrids while Rael and Lyra sprinted toward the altar. Aira, overwhelmed by fear, was drawn toward the chalice—the purple energy within her pulling her forward.
"Aira, no!" Rael yelled.
But it was too late. Aira touched the chalice, and the entire dimension quaked.
Flashback: Buried Secrets
The chalice's energy forced every living being to witness the truth:
- The Creator had stolen Lycanthea's idea to forge dimensions.
- The chalice was, in fact, Lycanthea's heart, torn from her body.
- Aira was not a random vessel—she was a genetic clone of Lycanthea, created by the Radiant Sun.
"You... are part of my ancestor," Aira whispered to the chalice, blue tears streaming down her face.
Suddenly, Chronos attacked, his staff piercing Lyra's shoulder. "Sorry, but I can't let you destroy this. I am the Keeper of Time for the Creator!"
Rael tried to retaliate, but without his powers, he was easily thrown aside. "You said he was the enemy!"
"He is my creator. And you... are mere tools!"
Aira screamed. The chalice's energy fused with her, triggering a dimensional explosion that obliterated the Radiant Sun. But the crown of fire above Aether grew larger—the Creator was approaching the surface.
Aira, now a half-goddess, half-monster entity, reached for Rael's hand. "There's one way. We have to merge the remaining medallion's energy with this chalice—and detonate it inside the crown."
"That's suicide!" Lyra protested.
"Or redemption," Aira replied with a faint smile. "I've lived as a weapon. Let me die as a human."
Rael stared at his final medallion—the cracks on its surface glittering like stars. "We'll do it together."
They soared toward the crown of fire in a battered ship. As the medallion's energy fused with the chalice, the entire dimension paused for a heartbeat.
"Thank you," Aira whispered before leaping into the heart of the crown.
A blinding white explosion obliterated the crown, severing the Creator's connection to the world. In Aether, crystal rain fell, healing the wounded earth.
Rael awoke amidst the ship's wreckage. In his hand, a scrap of blue cloth—Aira's keepsake.
"She... did it," Lyra whispered, her body weak but smiling.
In the distance, beyond the clearing clouds, the silhouette of a woman with glass wings waved—Lycanthea and Aira, now at peace.