Scene: The Temple Grounds
(Night cloaks the broken city in silver. The temple lies silent beneath a shivering, misty sky.)
Haruto and Airi stand beneath the Heart of Time, its golden glow pulsing like a heartbeat. Their hands brush—not by accident, but by something deeper pulling them together.
Neither pulls away.
Something has changed.
Their bond is no longer just human.
It feels... timeless.
---
[Haruto] (gazing at the Heart)
"Do you hear it...? Whispers."
[Airi] (softly, her voice distant)
"Like it's trying to remind us of something we've forgotten."
The Heart of Time flares, engulfing them in warm, weightless radiance.
Flashes strike their minds like lightning:
— A battlefield of gods.
— A promise beneath twin stars.
— The Time Maiden's voice, aching with sorrow:
"Don't forget who you are."
Haruto gasps, clutching his chest as the watch thrums with a living pulse.
Airi stumbles, her ring glowing like a newborn star.
They exchange a wide-eyed look—
Memory, recognition, and fear.
---
[Airi] (breathless)
"That battlefield... you were there. And... so was I."
[Haruto] (gritting his teeth)
"Still only fragments... but this power inside us—it's more than the watch or the ring now."
Before they can say more, a cold wind sweeps the grounds.
The moon vanishes behind a shuddering black rift.
From it descends a shadow-wreathed figure, eyes burning like molten stars.
Its voice is a distortion—neither male, nor female, but something ancient and broken.
[???:] (echoing, warping the air)
"I am the Herald of the Void.
Your awakening has disturbed the balance.
The Dark God will not wait any longer."
Haruto instinctively steps in front of Airi, the watch blazing with pale gold light.
[Haruto] (defiant)
"I don't care what you are.
If you're here to stop us—you'll have to go through me."
The Herald raises a hand—
Time itself fractures.
The world freezes, twists, shatters into fragments of reality.
And yet...
At the center of the chaos, Haruto and Airi stand untouched—protected by the resonance of the watch and ring, their souls anchoring reality around them.
---
[Airi] (eyes wide with realization)
"The Heart... it's reacting to us. To our souls. Our memories."
The Herald chuckles—low, broken, merciless.
[Herald]
"You are still incomplete.
Still bound by doubt.
Let us see what remains...
when I shatter your fragile bond."
The beast lunges.
The world holds its breath.
---
TO BE CONTINUED.