[INT. ABANDONED SHRINE — MOMENTS LATER]
The rain has stopped, but the air hums with a heavy tension.
The faint scent of wet stone and lightning lingers.
The Time God sits fully upright now, breathing steadier.
Golden light pulses from his chest — weak, but unwavering — as Haruto and Airi sit across from him, watching.
[Haruto] (quietly)
"You're still... fading, aren't you?"
The Time God nods slowly, almost solemnly.
[Time God] (calm)
"This is not the first time you've saved me.
It is the third... or perhaps the fourth.
But each time, the curse only retreats — it never breaks."
Airi gasps, clutching her ring.
A sharp glimmer of memory cuts through her mind.
---
FLASHBACK — FRACTURED MEMORY
A battlefield of the gods — shattered skies, broken realms.
Haruto and Airi, cloaked in radiant light, hold the weakened Time God between them.
Black chains of cursed time coil and writhe around his body.
Their faces — older, regal, scarred by battle — are the same.
Fierce. Hopeful. Desperate.
---
BACK TO PRESENT
Airi shudders, her hand pressed to her heart.
[Airi] (whispering)
"We've done this before...
this exact moment..."
Haruto's fists clench, the Watch humming powerfully against his wrist.
[Haruto]
"Why can't we break it?
We've grown stronger."
[Time God] (softly)
"Because you are not complete.
The curse is woven into the fabric of time itself.
Only when your lights truly unite — fully — can it be undone.
Until then... I can only be saved.
Never freed."
Haruto stares down at the Watch, realization flickering in his eyes.
[Haruto]
"This... this carries your power now, doesn't it?
You said it yourself."
The Time God inclines his head.
[Time God]
"It does.
The Watch is your mirror — a reflection of your divine soul.
But even so... you cannot wield its true form."
[Haruto] (frustrated)
"Why not?!"
[Time God] (a sad smile)
"Because you still do not know who you are."
Silence.
The shrine seems to grow colder.
A low rumble shudders through the earth.
Above them, the moon continues to fracture — and in the far distance, inhuman screams echo through the dying sky.
The Time Maiden steps out from the deeper shadows of the shrine, her voice heavy with warning.
[Time Maiden]
"The veil between realms is thinning.
We have little time left."
Airi steps forward, fire in her eyes.
[Airi]
"Then tell us what we need to do.
Now."
The Time God, with effort, rises to his feet, leaning against the Maiden.
Yet even weakened, his presence fills the shrine with unyielding strength.
[Time God]
"To reclaim yourselves, you must walk the paths you once did.
Your echoes — the lost fragments of your past —
sleep in forgotten temples, buried shrines, sacred scars across this world.
Places where your light once bled into the earth."
He points toward Haruto — toward the Watch floating just above his heart, pulsing in rhythm with his soul.
[Time God]
"Your Watch will guide you.
Not to battle... but to memory."
He turns to Airi, the golden light reflecting in her wide, steady eyes.
[Time God]
"And your Ring... it will lead you to the fragments of your soul."
Suddenly —
The shrine doors BURST OPEN.
A vicious, cold wind HOWLS through the sanctuary, carrying a screeching black crow — which shatters into mist mid-flight.
A voice, twisted but familiar, echoes across the walls:
[Voice] (mocking)
"You delay the inevitable.
You chase memories...
while the Dark One sharpens the blade of the end."
Haruto grits his teeth, anger and defiance burning within him.
[Haruto] (low)
"Then we'll be ready."
The Time Maiden steps forward, her eyes hard as steel.
[Time Maiden]
"You have until the Full Eclipse.
After that...
the Dark God will awaken fully."
Time seems to slow.
Airi steps beside Haruto, their hands finding each other naturally — fingers intertwining as if drawn by fate.
[Airi] (soft, but unyielding)
"Then let's find ourselves...
before the world ends."
Haruto squeezes her hand, a small but certain smile breaking through the storm around them.
[Haruto]
"Together."
---
The shrine glows faintly behind them as the camera tilts upward —
revealing the sky where a single crack now runs across the burning heart of the sun itself.
---
TO BE CONTINUED...