Nox and the Archivist sat in a dim antechamber, letting their breathing settle. The vault behind them hummed with reinforcement runes, sealing the Chronovore inside.
"For now," the Archivist muttered.
Nox rubbed his chest where the ticking still vibrated beneath his ribs. "That thing recognized me."
"It recognizes what you were," the Archivist corrected. "Chronovores feed on broken timelines. Erased truths. The fact that one confronted you means your connection runs deeper than we feared."
Nox remembered that whisper: Return.Return to what?To who?
A soft sound tugged his attention.Footsteps.Not hostile.
A young woman peeked around the corner, hair pinned with metallic feathers that shimmered like starlight. Her eyes were the color of dusk.
"There you are!" she exclaimed, hurrying over. "Archivist, the Convergence Board is furious. The alarms nearly collapsed the east hall!"
"Nox," the Archivist said, ignoring her complaints, "this is Lucienne Averin. Head of Astral Operations. She knows more about erased cosmologies than anyone alive."
Lucienne crossed her arms. "And you brought a cracked Hourglass anomaly into the vault? Were you hoping to break the universe before breakfast?"
Nox tried not to shrink under her glare. "The Chronovore found me, not the other way around."
Lucienne paused, assessing him.Then her expression softened, curiosity taking over.
"So… you're the one with a fractured hour." She stepped closer, gaze locked on the floating glass behind his ribs. "I thought the reports were exaggerated."
"I wish they were," Nox muttered.
Lucienne tapped her bracelet and projected a diagram of his Hourglass. It rotated slowly, displaying the fracture — gleaming like a lightning scar.
"The crack is widening," she said. "Soon the sand will not flow upward or downward. It will tear sideways." She looked up. "And time will tear with it."
Nox swallowed. "How do I stop it?"
"You locate the missing hour that was erased from history," Lucienne answered. "Find the moment that shouldn't exist… and choose whether to restore it or destroy it forever."
The Archivist nodded grimly. "Every erased hour leaves behind an Echo — a disjointed impression in the world. Follow enough Echoes, and it will lead you to the truth."
Lucienne's bracelet flashed again, projecting a map of Meridian.Three locations pulsed in red:
• The Old Clock Spire — abandoned after its keeper vanished without a trace• The Eternal Market — where time can be bought, stolen, or gambled away• And deepest of all… the Sunken District, consumed by folded time
"These are the strongest Echoes," she said. "Investigate them, but be cautious. What's missing from this world wants you to find it. And the things that replaced it… want the opposite."
Before Nox could reply, a tremor rippled through the chamber. Dust drifted from the ceiling.
The Archivist paled. "No… the Chronovore is already tearing at the seal."
Lucienne grabbed Nox by the wrist. "Then choose fast. Where do we go first?"
Nox stared at the three pulsing locations — each a path toward truth…or collapse.
He clenched his fists, pulse syncing with the ticking inside him.
"We go to the place where time first broke," he said.
Lucienne's eyes widened. "The Clock Spire."
The Archivist handed Nox a silver time-key. "For protection," he said. "And for unlocking what you've forgotten."
Nox nodded.The ticking grew louder.Like a countdown.
As they rushed toward the exit tunnel, the vault behind them cracked open with a deafening roar.
The Chronovore was coming.