The Trial of Echoes shattered behind Ayden like broken glass, and the sky wept silver as he descended back to the world.
But it was no longer the world he knew.
Edenvale was cracked open—split between timelines.
In one half, the old city stood in dusk. Familiar. Fading.
In the other half, a new city bloomed—towers of crystal, streets lit with memories, trees made of glass and gold. A timeline never written… but birthed by Ayden's defiance.
Kael and Elira stood at the boundary, both trembling.
> "You rewrote the laws," Kael whispered.
> "You gave us both a future," Elira said in awe.
But the moment was shattered by darkness.
A sound like thunder and blood, laughter and weeping—
Lucien.
---
Return of the Usurper
Lucien appeared atop the clocktower, his cloak now stitched with torn pieces of timelines Ayden had rejected.
He had devoured them—each a version of Ayden who had failed. Who had surrendered. Who had died.
His eyes were Ayden's. But soulless.
"You fool," Lucien hissed. "You broke the cycle. That means I no longer have to follow it."
He dropped from the tower.
But he did not fall—he floated, carried by void-light.
Lucien had made his choice.
He would no longer be the villain in someone else's story.
He would become the main character.
> The one true Ayden.
---
Ayden vs. Lucien
The two boys stood face to face.
Mirrors of what was and what could have been.
"You were me once," Ayden said.
"No," Lucien growled. "You were me before you became soft. Before you let love turn you weak."
"You're wrong," Ayden said calmly. "Love didn't make me weak. It made me fight."
Lucien's smile cracked like lightning. "Then fight me."
They collided.
Light and void.
Star and shadow.
Their battle tore across timelines—flashing glimpses of every life Ayden had ever lived. In one, he was a soldier again. In another, a farmer. A painter. A lost child. A king.
And in each—Kael had reached for him.
Even when he didn't remember her.
Even when she had no wings.
> Always… her.
---
The Final Blow
Ayden stumbled.
Lucien roared, raising a spear made from shattered time.
"You'll lose," he snarled. "You're not the real one. I am."
But Kael stepped forward, eyes burning bright with divine flame.
"No. You're just the shadow of a choice he never made."
She reached for Ayden.
So did Elira.
And in that moment—Ayden reached back.
He didn't choose one. He chose both.
Their hands touched—
And Ayden transformed.
---
The Birth of the New Star
Ayden's body shimmered, burning with Kael's light and Elira's soul, a vessel of balance. Not just celestial… not just mortal…
But new.
Lucien screamed as his form
unraveled, unable to exist in a world no longer bound by the old rules.
Ayden raised one hand, and with it, rewrote the ending.