The lattice of walkways shifted beneath their feet, never quite the same path twice. Viridion's senses stretched thin, trying to anchor himself in a world that insisted on folding away from certainty.
Oriven moved ahead with quiet purpose, but Viridion's thoughts circled back to Lyrik's words. The Engine was humming differently. He's the reason.
"Do you feel it?" Viridion finally asked.
Oriven glanced back, expression unreadable. "The hum? It's a vibration beneath reality. The Engine stirring. It means change — or unraveling."
Viridion swallowed, feeling an odd sensation in his chest — a flicker, like a heartbeat out of sync, as if time had skipped but the world hadn't caught up.
As they walked, shadows lengthened and fractured in impossible ways. Viridion's eyes caught something odd: a feather, black as night, falling — but never landing. It hovered just above the boards, trembling like a breath held too long.
His hand twitched toward it, but something inside hesitated. The feather seemed alive, a small paradox resisting its own nature.
Suddenly, time stuttered. A breath. A pause. The world snapped backward a fraction, rewinding a second only to play it forward again.
Viridion blinked.
"Did you feel that?" he whispered.
Oriven nodded slowly. "The Engine's pulse. Your mind brushed the Eternity Loop"
"Eternity Loop?"
"A paradox of endless return. A moment caught between before and after, spinning forever. You touched its edge without knowing."
Viridion's breath hitched. The sensation came again, softer this time, like the echo of a word half-remembered.
They moved on, but Viridion's thoughts churned. Somewhere deep inside, something was awakening — an unspoken rhythm threading his moments together, a loop where cause and effect tangled and untangled without end.
Oriven's voice broke through his spiraling mind. "Patience. The paradox within you will unravel when the time is right. Force it, and it will unravel you."
Viridion nodded, though unease coiled in his gut.
The path ahead folded abruptly, revealing a vast chasm where no bridge had been moments before. Across it, the fog shifted again, parting like curtains to reveal a figure watching silently.
Their copper eyes met Viridion's — calm, ancient, and filled with a knowing smile.
The journey was only beginning.