BOOK TWO: THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE GATE
Chapter 16: Midnight Has Begun
The alarm of the Silent Observatory echoed through every hall.
DONG... DONG... DONG...
The sound never stopped.
It rolled through the tower like thunder trapped inside stone.
Every clock inside the Observatory suddenly struck midnight.
Thousands of different chimes blended into one deafening roar.
The floor trembled.
The walls cracked.
The giant gears surrounding the floating island began turning faster than ever before.
Outside...
The crimson moon and the blue moon finally overlapped.
For a single terrifying moment—
The sky became violet.
Alaric's face turned pale.
"It has begun."
---
Riva looked around.
"What has?"
Alaric slowly lifted his lantern.
The silver flame had become unstable.
"It is called..."
"The Midnight Convergence."
"The moment when every Gate becomes connected."
Eva looked toward the enormous map floating above the chamber.
The glowing worlds had begun moving.
Not physically.
They were drifting closer together.
"The worlds..."
"They're colliding."
Alaric nodded.
"If nothing changes..."
"They'll become one."
"And after that..."
"They'll all disappear."
---
Suddenly—
A loud crack echoed through the Observatory.
One of the giant clocks exploded.
Glass rained across the marble floor.
Inside the broken clock...
A black hand reached out.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Shadow-like creatures crawled from within every broken clock.
Unlike the Memory Phantoms...
Unlike the Gate Hunters...
These creatures had no faces.
Only smooth white masks.
Each mask had a different clock painted upon it.
Some showed dawn.
Some showed sunset.
Some...
Showed midnight.
Aarvi slowly stepped backward.
"I officially hate clocks."
Cassian immediately drew his sword.
"Protect Alaric!"
The Royal Guards formed another defensive line.
---
One masked creature pointed toward Eva.
Its voice sounded like an old clock ticking.
"Return..."
"...the Compass Heart."
Another pointed toward Riva.
"Return..."
"...the Star Memory."
A third looked toward Lucien.
"Return..."
"...the Prince."
Alaric whispered,
"They're the Time Wardens."
"They're not evil."
"They're obeying ancient laws."
---
Before anyone could react—
Every Time Warden attacked simultaneously.
The chamber exploded into chaos.
Cassian fought two Wardens at once.
Argos blocked another with his enormous sword.
Orion moved like lightning between them.
Yet every creature they defeated simply stepped backward through time...
Repairing itself.
Cassian frowned.
"They're reversing their own injuries!"
Alaric shouted,
"They can't be defeated by force!"
---
Meanwhile...
Eva's crystal sphere floated out of her hands.
It drifted toward the center of the Observatory.
The giant clock answered.
Its gears turned faster.
The crystal sphere expanded into a glowing globe.
Inside appeared hundreds of tiny lights.
Each light represented one world connected by the Gates.
Then...
Several lights suddenly disappeared.
Riva stared.
"They're dying."
Alaric nodded sadly.
"The Devourer has already begun feeding."
---
Without warning—
Lucien froze.
A voice echoed inside his mind.
"My son..."
He turned slowly.
Standing at the far end of the chamber...
Was his father.
The Black King.
Not a memory.
Not an illusion.
He looked completely real.
The King smiled warmly.
"You've grown."
Lucien whispered,
"No..."
"You died."
The King slowly shook his head.
"History told you that."
"But history lies."
---
Riva noticed something strange.
The King's feet cast no shadow.
She immediately remembered the first lesson of the Hall of Echoes.
Not everything that looks real... exists.
"Lucien!"
"Don't move!"
The King looked toward Riva.
His warm smile disappeared.
Instead...
His face cracked.
Darkness spread beneath his skin.
The illusion dissolved.
A Time Warden stood where the King had been.
Its white mask now showed 12:00.
It raised one hand.
Time around Lucien stopped.
Everything froze.
Snowflakes.
Dust.
Even falling pieces of glass remained suspended in the air.
Only Lucien and the Warden could move.
---
Lucien swung his sword.
The Warden blocked effortlessly.
"You cannot defeat Time."
It spoke calmly.
Lucien answered,
"I'm not trying to."
He lowered his sword.
The Warden hesitated.
"Then why fight?"
Lucien smiled.
"Because Time isn't my enemy."
"It carried me here."
For the first time...
The Warden stopped attacking.
Its white mask slowly cracked.
A beam of silver light escaped.
The creature bowed.
Then vanished.
Alaric smiled.
"You understood."
"The Wardens judge intentions."
"Not strength."
---
One after another...
The remaining Heirs realized the truth.
Parna refused to attack.
Instead, she healed the flowers growing through the cracked floor.
Her Warden disappeared.
Eva placed the broken compass against her heart instead of trying to repair it.
Her Warden smiled before fading away.
Aarvi closed the mysterious box instead of opening it.
Her Warden dissolved into light.
Riva placed her pendant on the floor and stepped away from it.
The final Warden looked at her silently.
Then spoke.
"You have chosen."
The creature disappeared.
The entire Observatory became silent once more.
---
Suddenly—
The enormous clock above them opened.
Not the face.
The clock itself.
Like a giant door.
Inside...
An endless staircase spiraled upward.
Each step glowed with silver light.
Alaric slowly knelt.
"The Tower has accepted you."
"The next trial awaits."
Eva looked upward.
"What's at the top?"
Alaric answered quietly.
"The Chamber of Tomorrow."
"The only place where the future can be seen."
Riva frowned.
"Can we change it?"
Alaric remained silent.
Then finally replied,
"That..."
"...depends on whether you're willing to sacrifice the present."
No one liked that answer.
Before anyone could ask another question—
The broken pocket watch in Eva's hand suddenly began ticking again.
But instead of moving forward...
Its hands began spinning backward.
At the same moment...
Far beyond the Seventh Gate...
The Devourer opened its eyes completely.
And for the first time...
It whispered Riva's name.
"The Princess has arrived."
End of Chapter 16