"It's been one year since the kids disappeared. Do you think they will ever come back?" Master Feng asked quietly, his fingers gliding across the glowing holographic screen floating at the center of the room. The circular chamber was filled with soft blue light, and he was surrounded by the other principals and their alternates, all absorbed in their individual tasks.Willy adjusted his glasses and replied almost immediately, "I don't think they’re dead. Entering the demonic plane doesn’t equate to instant death. If anything, it means they’ve slipped into a dimension with an unstable temporal frequency.” He tapped the side of his tablet thoughtfully. “And knowing Talon, especially considering we technically have two Talons...that’s double the cognitive processing. The kid is practically a walking anomaly of problem-solving. They’re alive… just displaced."Master Feng chuckled lightly at Willy’s confidence. “You always make it sound so simple.”Around the room, the other principals wer

The Current bent ahead of him twisting, narrowing, then suddenly widening like a river about to spill into open land. Talon braced himself as the flow thickened under his feet. The air around him changed temperature, warming fast. Sand-colored light overtook the path.A pull stronger than before jerked him forward. The Temporal Current released him.Talon stumbled as his boots sank into loose earth. Heat struck him immediately. He steadied himself, blinking hard against a sun that felt too close, too bright.Before him stretched an endless desert. The sand was pale gold, almost white in some places, and wind swept across it in long, steady currents that carried dust like thin smoke. Far in the distance, jagged rocks rose like broken teeth. No structures. No roads. No sign of civilization, just a harsh, untouched world.His temporal body flickered at the edges as it adjusted to the environment. A faint vibration hummed through him.‹TEMPORAL CONSTRUCT INTEGRATION: 89%›‹WARNING: STABIL

A thin grey light seeped into the shelter, touching the cracked walls and the dusty ground. The air was cold, still, untouched by the sun. Talon’s temporal body brightened gradually, like a lamp warming into shape. Talon adjusted the thin band on his wrist. The watch hummed softly, its screen pulsing with dim blue light. The Echo’s earlier words still rang in his mind as the sand shifted around his feet. The watch was more than a tool. It was a stabilizer. A lifeline. Above him, the sky shimmered with that strange pale glow unique to this early age of the world, too young, too raw. Talon lifted his wrist, the watch flickering again. ‹TEMPORAL CORE LINK: ACTIVE› Kah’rin stood at the entrance, arms folded, staring into the vast pale horizon as if measuring the world’s pulse. “We leave now,” he said, not looking back. Talon pushed himself upright. The watch on his wrist hummed. ‹TEMPORAL CONSTRUCT STABILITY: 71%› ‹EXTERNAL CONDITIONS: STABLE› He walked toward Kah’rin, sand crunc

Talon stared at the figure in front of him. His body still felt unstable, like pieces of him were adjusting to being real again. The Echo stood calmly, its robe shifting between light and shadow, but its presence wasn’t overwhelming, it simply existed, like a constant fact. Talon’s voice was low. “You said there’s a way to bring everyone back. Tell me.” The Echo nodded once. “There is. But you can’t do it the way you are now. Your seal is unlocked, yes, but it’s incomplete. You have one half. Maelion holds the other.” Talon clenched his fists. He already suspected that; the moment Maelion snapped, he felt something tear inside his chest. “So what do I do?” The Echo lifted its hand, and five symbols appeared in the air simple shapes, glowing faintly. “These are requirements. Without all of them, reversing the Fracture is impossible.” Talon stepped closer, focus sharp. “Explain each one.” "Recover the Temporal Keystone" The first symbol was a circle with a vertical line through it