The world fractures around Kalo.
The Astrarium's chamber dissolves into a star-lit void, suspended above timelines like strings pulled taut over an endless abyss. Nox lifts his hand, and Kalo's Hourglass floats upward—leaking sand in reverse, violently, as if time is trying to escape its own rules.
The girl with no Hourglass—Ari—clings to Kalo's arm.
NOX"You were not born. You were constructed. A replacement piece for a broken future."
Nox reveals the truth:
Time originally collapsed over Meridian twenty years ago.
To save the city, the Astrarium reset the timeline—but it left a hole in fate.
That void took the shape of a child.
Kalo is that void… given a name, a home, a life.
He is not meant to exist. He is what time is trying to correct.
Ari steps forward—her voice shaking.
ARI"And what if the timeline was wrong?What if he is what saves us next?"
She summons a power Kalo has never seen—her palms shimmering with constellation dust—and slashes a trail of light that sends Nox stumbling backward. Not out of pain—out of recognition.
NOX (whispering)"You… Ex Astris…"
Ari collapses—using that power drains her faster than time can replenish her. Kalo catches her just as Nox rises again, now furious.
The constellations in the chamber flicker violently.Time shudders.
Kalo feels his Hourglass pulling—trying to return to Nox's grasp.Trying to erase him.
He makes a choice.
He reverses the flow.
Every grain of sand that once leaked out now blasts back inside—his Hourglass sealing itself with a blinding crack of time-light.
Kalo screams—not from pain—from awakening.
His eyes ignite with astral clockwork.
He sees every timeline at once:
Futures where Meridian thrives
Futures where it burns
Futures where Nox ascends as the only keeper of time
And one path where Ari vanishes forever.
KALO"Time doesn't decide who should exist.We do."
He grabs Ari—pulling her close—and leaps through a tear in reality that wasn't there a second ago.
The void snaps shut behind them.
Nox's voice echoes through the collapsing chamber:
NOX"Run as long as you can.Time always collects its debts."