The portal dropped them with a soft thud—onto metal.
Not just any metal. Endless spirals of interlocking bronze and gold stretched across the horizon, ticking and tocking in unison like the heartbeat of a giant clock. Gears the size of windmills turned slowly in the distance, suspended in mid-air. Massive towers rose into the sky, stacked with enormous clock faces, all pointing to different times. Above them, instead of clouds, translucent panels of glass rotated smoothly, casting shifting patterns of light onto the labyrinthine city below.
Kael adjusted his footing on a moving platform. "Okay, now *this* is something."
Ayame's eyes sparkled. "It's like standing inside a watch built by a god."
Quillo flapped his wings nervously. "Welcome to the Clockwork Spires. Where time keeps itself—and doesn't like being interrupted."
They stepped cautiously onto a descending staircase that folded out from a gear beneath them, leading to a plaza buzzing with mechanical life. Clockwork birds chirped from golden perches. Sentinels made of bronze and steam hissed as they patrolled, their eyes glowing blue.
And in the center of the plaza stood a spire larger than the rest—sleek, sharp, and humming with energy.
"That's where the next key is," Kael guessed.
"Correct," Quillo said. "Inside the Chrono-Core. But getting it won't be easy. The Spires are governed by the Timekeeper's Trials."
Ayame crossed her arms. "Trials, of course. There are always trials."
They approached a kiosk-like structure manned by a silver automaton with a monocle and a spring-driven jaw. It whirred and clicked before speaking.
"State your intent."
"We seek the third stardust key," Ayame said clearly.
"Then you will undergo the three Trials of Time: The Past You Flee, The Present You Wield, and The Future You Fear. You may begin… now."
With a chime, the world shifted.
The sky darkened. The gears reversed. And Kael suddenly found himself standing outside his childhood home.
Rain poured down. The air smelled of old wood and regrets.
"No…" he whispered. "Not here."
Ayame was gone. Quillo too. It was just Kael—sixteen again. Alone.
The door to the house creaked open.
Inside, the kitchen light flickered. His father's voice boomed from within, arguing with a younger version of himself.
Kael's hand trembled.
"You always run!" the voice inside shouted. "You always hide behind that smug face!"
"I don't—" the younger Kael's voice cracked. "You don't understand me!"
Kael stepped forward, hand outstretched, heart pounding.
Suddenly, his older self—the real Kael—called out.
"Stop. You don't have to relive it. You've changed."
The memory froze.
A figure appeared next to him. Ayame, glowing faintly. "We're still in the trial. It's testing you, Kael. You're confronting your past. Own it."
Kael took a deep breath and stepped fully into the house.
He faced his father's memory. "You hurt me. But I won't let that chain me anymore."
The figure flickered, then vanished.
The house dissolved into golden light.
Trial one: passed.
Ayame appeared beside him, dazed, clutching a sketchbook.
"My trial was… different," she said quietly. "But I faced it too."
Before Kael could ask, they were swept into the second trial.
This time, they stood on opposite ends of a massive floating gear suspended over a drop into endless clockwork.
Each held a glowing orb pulsing with power.
A voice echoed: "Wield the present. Or lose it."
Immediately, clockwork sentinels descended from the sky.
Ayame summoned paint into a whip. Kael slammed his orb into the ground, creating a barrier of crystals. Together, they battled—dodging, weaving, striking in harmony.
But the trial wasn't just about fighting. It was about *trust*.
Mid-battle, Kael slipped. His orb tumbled into the void.
Ayame dove after it without hesitation, caught it, and swung back up using her whip, landing with a gasp.
"You dropped your present," she smirked.
Kael laughed breathlessly. "I guess you're mine."
The second trial ended in light.
Now, only the future remained.
The gears stilled.
The air thinned.
They stood before a giant hourglass, suspended in a room of glass and stars. Inside the hourglass: a frozen scene.
Ayame, lying still on the ground.
Kael, screaming.
A voice said: "This is the future that *might* be. Unless you change it."
Ayame shivered. "Is that… real?"
Kael reached for her hand. "No. It won't be."
The hourglass cracked.
Light exploded—and when it cleared, they were back in the plaza.
The automaton bowed. "You have passed the Trials. The Chrono-Core awaits."
A slot opened in the spire. Inside, suspended in a swirling vortex of time energy, hovered the third key—silver, shaped like a crescent gear with stardust embedded in its edges.
Kael reached for it—and took it.
The moment he did, the sky shifted.
The gears began to slow.
The panels above flickered.
And from the tallest tower, a figure emerged. Cloaked in deep purple, with a helm shaped like a clock face cracked down the middle.
The Timekeeper.
He did not look pleased.