Tyler stood frozen in the bustling Sapphire City square, the evening crowds flowing around him like he was a rock in a stream. People chatting, laughing, and heading home under streetlights that flickered on one by one.Inside his mind, everything crashed together in a rush that made his head spin and his breath come short.The plan. The Garden. Natalie. Victor. Ashley. Some of his memories had been altered.It all flooded back clearly, sharply, and undeniably. Ashley had explained how the Garden of Prophecies, a timeless sanctuary where God's vision couldn't reach, was the only place safe to scheme against him. His all-seeing gaze couldn't pierce through it.Tyler remembered everything now, the lengthy discussions around the tea table, their voices overlapping in urgent whispers as they pieced it together.It came to him like an episodic vision. Victor slowly paced the grass, explaining his suspicions step by step. "Ashley's visions don't show a benevolent God. They show something da

Along with Gaia's maternal voice, the Garden of Prophecies dissolved around Tyler like the final notes of a fading symphony. The hedges melted into shimmering light, and the familiar tea table and its delicate porcelain cups vanished with a soft sigh. The timeless garden gave way to the harsh, ash-choked reality of the wasteland that had once been Sapphire City. Tyler blinked against the sudden glare of the afternoon sun. He suddenly felt very weary. Victor, Ashley, and Natalie stood beside him, looking equally weakened. Moments ago, Tyler had been in an apocalyptic cosmic fight. Now, only silence remained, broken by distant winds howling through craters. Victor exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair as he surveyed the emptiness. "You actually did it. The plan worked. Ashley's visions showed universal devastation. They were proven wrong." Ashley stepped forward, her eyes still wide from the intensity. "The visions showed only possibilities, but never certainties. The God-D