Latest / The Monster Catcher's Journal / Chronivex

Transcript

Chronivex · The Monster Catcher's Journal

0:38
and Monster Catchers abound. I'm Stella Ferris,
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and you've crash landed on the Monster Catchers
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Journal podcast. Welcome back to another episode.
0:49
Time moves strange in the cracked atrium. The
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locals say their watches melt, their tea goes
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cold before it's poured. Some days stretch endlessly,
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others vanish before you've even begun. In the
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center of it all, a ticking that doesn't echo,
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a heartbeat that never bleeds. A glyph that still
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is what you didn't realize you lost. It started
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when Xena blinked and swore an hour had passed.
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Then Luna yawned and said, wait, wasn't it morning
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just now? Why does it feel like half a day's
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gone already? That's when I felt it, a pull behind
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my left eye, like someone flipping through my
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memories and tearing out the bookmarks. And then
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he appeared. We turned a corner in the shattered
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ruins, and there he was, floating inches above
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the ground. A giant clock face for a body. Its
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hands froze at eleven -eleven. Gears clicked
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inside his chest, grinding slower than they should.
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Wings of bronze feathers and broken pocket watches
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spread wide behind him. Hanging from his side
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was a chain of glass orbs, each marked With a
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glowing number some ticked some cracked some
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were just empty He didn't speak. He just looked
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at us That was the mistake. I I can't remember
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how we even got here Luna said Still don't look
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at his eyes then I said too late his gaze caught
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mine clock hands spinning inside his pupils like
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whirlpools of forgotten minutes I felt something
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tear loose from my chest, three hours gone, just
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gone. That's when I knew what he was, not just
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a glyph, a temporal parasite. He's a glyph that
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feeds off of time itself. He's a spirit born
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from stolen time, those minutes lost when you're
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daydreaming, the hours that vanish when you're
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grieving. The years we whisper when we did or
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where did they go? He was. Crone of X. The hour
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thief, I had to stop him before he drained us
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all into yesterday. Orbeek swooped in, casting
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a blinding light, disrupting the glyph's gaze.
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I launched flipping through my journal, sketching
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a capture glyph in the air with burning chalk.
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Time unspoken, fate undone, return what's owed
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a wandering one. The chain on his side rattled,
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he let out a sound that was part tick, part sigh.
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Time reversed around me, for a split second my
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boots dry from a puddle I'd stepped in moments
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ago, but the seal held. Kronovex shrieked once,
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then shattered into stardust and gears, his glowing
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chain spiraling into my sigil and snapped shut.
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It says 517, but I swear it was barely noon,
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Zena said. I feel like I missed my own birthday,
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Luna cried. Glyph entry log. This is only for
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Professor Leng, because he likes me to log these
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now. So, glyph entry log, name, Kronovex. Temparious,
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sorry. Temporumus. He's a psychic type spectral.
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Height seven feet and floats. Cortrates. Giant
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clock face body. Wings made of fractured timepieces.
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Chain of numbers orbs containing stolen hours.
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Gaze that saps time from those who meet it. Abilities.
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Eye still. Locks eyes with the target to absorb
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one to four hours of memory or stamina. Lost
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loop. Forces foes to repeat their last action
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uncontrollably. Time fray. Causes nearby devices
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to malfunction and ages nonliving materials.
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Personality. Elusive, melancholy, and oddly polite.
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Only takes time from those wasting it. Desires
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to become whole, but doesn't remember what he's
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missing. He doesn't hunger, he collects. And
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maybe one day, when Kronovex returns, every second
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he's stolen, We'll all remember the time we forgot,
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the twin suns, the three moons, the stars that
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never set. But I couldn't leave him sealed here,
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not in the atrium, not where the fractures in
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time already bleed. Chrono Vex was far too dangerous,
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too unpredictable. If he broke free, he wouldn't
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just drain a village, he could unravel whole
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years. So I bound... his chain tighter and took
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him to Professor Orion. Orion's Sanctuary is
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one of the few places strong enough to hold something
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like this. A vault built of starlight walt wards
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and memory lock seals. He studied the capture
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sigil as I placed Coronavex inside. The glyph's
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stardust body shimmered faintly, almost pleading,
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almost relieved. You've done well, Stelliferous,
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but this one. This one was wa - or we watch closely,
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and I agree, because even as the vault sealed
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shut, I swore I could hear it, the faint ticking
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of hours that weren't mine waiting. I watched
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as Orion stepped out of the sanctuary doors of
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the Luan Academy. The starlight wards shimmered
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behind him, sealing Kronovix away. He walked
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up to me, calm as ever, and ruffled my hair like
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I was still his student instead of a hunter carrying
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the weight of stolen hours. You'll understand
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someday why some glyphs are too dangerous. I
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hope so. It took everything in I had not to bring
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him home with me." Orion smiled, not unkindly.
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You did good. Maybe in that moment I realized
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he was right. Some glyphs don't need a home.
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They need a prison. At least until we're ready
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to remember what they've taken. Or at least until
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we can understand them. Orion walked me back
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to the sanctuary gates, steady and quiet, like
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the night itself. He bid me farewell with a nod,
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then vanished down the straight path toward the
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academy. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you guys. I got
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a new gate around my house. Anyways, I stayed
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behind. I sat on the porch in silence, the wood
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cool beneath me, listening to the chorus of Nibiru's
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night creatures. The endless hum of wings, the
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low chime of moonbirds echoing under the twin
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suns and three moons that never set, and I thought,
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had I really done the right thing by sending
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Kronevex to live in that vault of Oriens? That
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prison? Had I saved the world or just walked
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away something I didn't understand? Was I protecting
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time or lying to myself to make it all make sense?
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The porch boards creaked as if to answer. But
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the stars said nothing, only the tick in my chest
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remained. I watched as Chimu birds glided across
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the sky in slow arcs, their feathers catching
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the glow of the twin suns below them. Jekla bugs
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filled the air with their unnerving drone, not
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quite a hum, not quite a rattle, but something
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that sounded almost alien. The world of Nibiru
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was alive, restless and endless, and still, on
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the porch, I sat in silence, wondering if I had
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truly done the right thing. Or if I was only
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telling myself that, to make it make sense. I
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sat there, on the porch, for a spell more, elbows
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on my knees, staring out into the unchanging
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sky. The world of Nibiru carried on as if nothing
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had happened, but inside me, the weight of the
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decision pressed harder with every breath. Had
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I done the right thing, it's all that I kept
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hearing in my mind. Kronovex. wasn't like the
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other glyphs, he didn't lash out for hunger or
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cruelty. He simply collected, quietly, patiently,
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almost politely. Part of me wanted to believe
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he wasn't evil at all, that maybe if I just brought
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him home, he could have been something more than
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a prisoner. Maybe he could have been redeemed.
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But another part of me, the part of me still
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aching from the three hours torn out of my chest,
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knew the truth. A creature that could unravel
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the very flow of time, stealing hours, bending
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loops, erasing memories, was too dangerous to
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keep near anyone, even me. I did make the right
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choice. I had to. The porch creaked softly, and
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then... Xenna's voice came... softly. You did
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the right thing. I looked up. She leaned in the
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doorway, arms folded, her watch dangling from
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her hand, like proof of the hours she nearly
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lost. Her expression was firm, but not unkind.
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If you hadn't sealed him and taken him to Orion,
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he would have drained us. He would have drained
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us dry, not just minutes, not just hours, maybe
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everything you saved us still." Xena said. Before
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I could answer, Luna padded out onto the porch,
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rubbing her arms like she was shaking off a chill.
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Yeah, if you hadn't stopped him. We'd be gone,
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or worse, stuck repeating the same moment forever.
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Their words settled over me like a blanket, heavy
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but warm. I wanted to argue, to tell them about
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the ache in Kronevex's gaze, about how he didn't
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seem like a monster at all, but I couldn't because
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they were right. Sometimes doing what felt cruel
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was the kindest choice I could make. I leaned
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back, listening as the Jekyll of birds carried
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on their strange, gelling chorus, and the Chimu
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birds vanished into the endless sky. For a moment
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I let myself believe it, that I had done the
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right thing, but deep down I knew one day the
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ticking would return, and when it did, I'd have
11:00
to face the hour thief again. The next morning
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arrived quietly at first, the twin suns casting
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pale gold across the sanctuary of the Chimu birds.
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wheeled lazily overhead, and even the jack -glob
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bugs were subdued, their alien hum muted by the
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early light. I sat on the porch with a mug of
11:20
warm tea, trying to convince myself that the
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night's reflection had been enough, that Cronovex
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was safe in Orion's vault and I could finally
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breathe, but peace rarely last in the world of
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glyphs. Around six o 'clock the quiet was shattered,
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the sound of heard footsteps. echoed along the
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cobblestones that led up to my sanctuary home.
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I froze, heart hammering, Orian, he was coming
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here. And the expression on his face when he
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emerged from the shadows made my chest tighten.
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His brow was furrowed, eyes sharp and cold. His
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hands gripped the edge of his cloak as if holding
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back a storm. We need Cronavex now. I blinks.
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Startled by the sudden intensity in his voice,
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my tea sloshed slightly in my mug as I set it
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down. Professor, we don't have Kronevex. You're
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welcome to check the vaults yourself, but he's
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not here. Oren's gaze hardened, piercing me like
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a blade. The air seemed to vibrate with the tension
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between us. I could feel the pulse of time itself
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thrum faintly in the background as if sensing
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the danger that hovered now far closer than it
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had ever been before. Not here? That is impossible.
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The containment spells are intact, and the vault
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is sealed. You brought him here yourself, Stelliferous.
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There should be no way he could have left. I
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swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the truth
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settle in my chest like a stone. My mind raced
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through playing every second of last night, every
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chant, every seal, every careful precaution I
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had taken. I— I did everything right. He was
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secure, I swear. Orion's sharp eyes softened
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slightly, but only just. He stepped closer, lowering
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his voice, but the tensioned at knees. You know
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what Coronavex is capable of, Stellifaris? Hours,
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memories, entire moments, stolen in the blink
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of an eye. If he is not contained, even for a
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single second, the consequences could be catastrophic.
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You must tell me everything now. I took a deep
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breath, trying to steady the quiver in my chest.
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My hands were clammy, my thoughts scattered.
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Every fiber of me wanted to confess, to admit
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the unbearable truth that Grunovex had somehow
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slipped away beyond even my careful vigilance.
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I, I don't know how it happened. I brought him
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to the vault, sealed the sigils myself, and then
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he was gone. When I woke this morning, the vault
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was empty, the wards untouched but him. Gone.
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Oren's jaw tightened and for the first time I
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saw him truly worried. The unusually shakeable
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Professor Oren looked human, vulnerable and that
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terrified me more than anything. Gone. Impossible.
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No creature like Corona Vex simply vanishes.
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Someone or something has interfered. I need to
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know exactly who had access and I need that information
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now. My stomach nodded. I knew the truth. No
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one had been near the vault, not Luna, not Xena,
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not me. Chronovax had left on his own, somehow.
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Professor, I swear, no one touched him. He must
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have escaped himself. Oren's gaze didn't waver,
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his presence pressed down on me, heavy and unrelenting.
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Stella Ferris, you understand what that means,
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don't you? If Chronovax is free— Even for a single
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day, he could erase hours, memories, moments
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from everyone around him, entire towns, entire
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villages, perhaps even years, stolen without
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warning. This is not a matter of containment.
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It is a matter of survival. I felt my throat
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tighten as fear clawed at me. My hands gripped
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the port's rail until my knuckles went white.
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I had thought I had done the right thing. I had
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thought Colonel X was safe, that I had protected
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everyone, and yet here he was, gone, free. I...I
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failed. I didn't protect him. I didn't protect
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anyone. Oren's voice softened slightly, but it
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carried the weight of authority and expectation...
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...all at once. Stella Farris, you've faced danger
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before. You've captured glyphs others couldn't
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even approach. But Cronovex, he is different.
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This isn't just about strength or skill. This
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is about timing, perception, and understanding
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what a creature like him truly wants. And right
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now... He wants what he wants, and we must stop
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him before it's too late." I nodded, slowly swallowing
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hard as the reality settled over me like a storm
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cloud. The vaults were empty. Kroneveks was out
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there. In the end of the world, the fragile flow
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of time itself was suddenly at risk. I could
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feel Xena and Luna approach behind me, their
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worried murmurs barely reaching my ears, but
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in that moment, standing on the porch as Orion's
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gaze bore into mine, I realized something I couldn't
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ignore. This was no longer just a containment
16:20
problem. Kronevex was free, and I would have
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to chase the hours he had stolen and the ones
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he might yet take before the world itself unraveled,
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and somewhere in the back of my mind, beneath
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the fear and the guilt, a quiet, steady heartbeat
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reminded me. I was Stella Ferris. I caught what
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others couldn't, and I would not fail again.
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The courtyard was quiet, almost deceptively so.
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The twin suns glinted off the crystalline surfaces
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of the Academy spires, throwing sharp lines of
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light across the cobblestones. But I didn't see
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the beauty, I only felt it, the absence, the
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stillness, as the fair itself was holding its
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breath. Xena and Luna stepped up behind me, their
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faces pale, eyes wide, I could see the question
17:10
forming on their lips. The fear they tried to
17:13
hide behind, shaky smiles, I didn't have time
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to reassure them. Not yet. Cronavex was out there,
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somewhere, and every second counted. Stell, Xena
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said, her voice tight. What do we do now? I took
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a deep breath, trying to steady the storm in
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my chest. I could feel the residual pull of stolen
17:32
hours, a phantom tug in my mind. where Cronovex
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had once brushed against my thoughts. It was
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subtle, almost elegant, but it carried danger
17:41
in the blade, or in like a blade, sorry. We track
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him. I said, voice low, but firm. We have to,
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before he takes more, before I stopped, stopped
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swallowing hard. I couldn't finish the thought.
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The possibilities were endlessly terrifying.
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Luna exhaled sharply, and if we can't catch him,
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I glanced at her, then at Xenna, and shook my
18:05
head. We will. We have to. I won't let him steal
18:08
time from anyone else. We moved through the academy
18:15
grounds, our footsteps muted on the pelstone.
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Normally I would have felt Orienne's protective
18:19
ward surrounding us, a comforting hum beneath
18:22
the air, but now they felt hollow, distant, like
18:25
the walls themselves were holding secrets. Cronovex
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didn't just leave the vault, he bent time itself
18:30
to move on to detect it, and that realization
18:34
made my chest tighten. Look for anomalies, I
18:37
murmured to Xena and Luna as we reached the edge
18:39
of the central plaza. Anything out of place,
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a flicker in a shadow, a sudden chill, a pulse
18:44
in the air, Kronovex leaves traces. He always
18:46
does. But they're subtle, almost imperceptible.
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We spread out, slightly scanning, listening.
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The Jekla bugs drone to their eerie alien hum,
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filling the space with a strange tension. Chimu
19:06
birds above circled lazily, but even their graceful
19:09
arcs couldn't distract from the weight in the
19:12
air. The missing hours, the stolen moments, the
19:14
knowledge that Cronavex could be anywhere. A
19:21
soft crackle of light caught my eye near the
19:24
eastern wing. A faint shimmer like sunlight bouncing
19:27
off broken glass, but in slow uneven pulses.
19:32
My heart skipped a beat. There. I whispered,
19:35
pointing, that's him. That's how he moves. Watch
19:38
the distortions. That's how he bends time. Senna's
19:42
eyes widened. How do we stop him once we see
19:45
him? I shook my head. We can't just see him.
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We have to predict him. His movements follow
19:50
patterns. Stolen time has weight. It lingers.
19:54
We trace it back, step by step, hour by hour.
19:57
Luna shivered, but not it. Then we do it together.
20:01
I excelled slowly. I didn't feel ready. No one
20:04
ever felt ready for a creature like Kronevex.
20:07
But there was no choice. If he continued unchecked,
20:11
entire town's entire days could vanish. And worse,
20:15
the longer he remained free, the harder it would
20:18
be to stop him. A faint tick echoed behind us,
20:21
subtle, but unmistakable. My chest tightened.
20:25
Kronevex was near. I could feel it. Time itself
20:28
shivered in response. I glance at Xena and Luna,
20:34
stay close, watch the air, the shadows, the empty
20:36
spaces between seconds, that's where he hides.
20:39
And whatever you do, I pause, swallowing, don't
20:41
let him meet your eyes. The wind shifted, the
20:44
air felt heavy, the courtyard seemed to stretch
20:46
and contract in impossible ways. And for a moment
20:50
I could have sworn the twin suns flickered like
20:53
candles. Then he appeared just at the edge of
20:56
the plaza, not fully, but enough. The faint glimmer
20:59
of his clock face, body. A ripple in the air
21:04
where stolen hours clung to him, and I knew in
21:08
that moment that catching him was no longer a
21:10
simple capture. This was going to be a chase
21:12
through seconds, minutes, and memories themselves.
21:17
I clenched my fist trying to steady my nerves.
21:19
Every lesson, every capture, every glyph I'd
21:22
ever drawn was going to be needed. wasn't just
21:30
a test of strength, he was a test of perception,
21:32
of patience, of everything I've learned about
21:35
delicate flow of time itself. And I couldn't
21:39
fail, because if I did, everything we fought
21:41
to protect would vanish. I didn't hesitate. I
21:47
knew what had to be done, even if my hand shook
21:49
the entire time. From the depths of my bag I
21:52
pulled out the tether Orion had warned me never
21:54
to use. It's not just a tool, he had said gravely.
21:58
If used incorrectly, the sonic boom alone could
22:01
level a town, misfire it, and you don't just
22:05
lose the creature, you destroy everything around
22:07
you. I held it in my hands, feeling it tom against
22:11
my palm. The tether vibrated faintly, like a
22:15
heartbeat out of sync with my own. Every instinct
22:18
screamed at me to put it back. Every caution
22:21
Orion had drilled into me surged. through my
22:24
mind, but Kronevex was loose. Every stolen second,
22:27
every vanished memory, every fragment of lost
22:31
time, it was all on me to stop. I focused tuning
22:37
my mind to the rhythm of the prison glyphid that
22:42
I had brought with me. The final glyphid sat
22:44
at the edge of the plaza, unassuming, but brimming
22:48
with layers of wards and sigils. Its crystalline
22:52
body reflected the twin suns, a prism of potential
22:56
energy just waiting to be awakened. I place the
23:00
tether inside its core, careful not to touch
23:03
the exposed circuits with my fingers. Sparks
23:08
of faint blue energy flickered along the chain,
23:11
climbing the glyphid like lightning in slow motion.
23:15
The light spread, climbing the glyphid. Glyphid's
23:17
faucets, until it reached the outer edges, brushing
23:21
against the carved runes like a whisper of power.
23:25
Then I said it, the glyphid pulsed, and Kronevex
23:29
reacted immediately, the air warped around him,
23:32
his wings of fractured clocks flared outward,
23:36
scattered shards of stolen time like shards of
23:38
glass, the orbs along his chain spun wildly,
23:42
some cracking, some glowing brighter than ever.
23:45
The very seconds of the plaza seemed to stretch
23:49
and compress under his pressure. He shrieked.
23:54
It was a sound that tore at the space between
23:56
moments, a voice that vibrated inside your skull
23:59
as well as outside it. I clenched my teeth, the
24:02
tether vibrating violently. One misstep now,
24:06
one wrong thought, and the shockwave could annihilate
24:09
everything. But I had no choice. I whispered
24:14
the captured chant steadily, steadying the glyphid.
24:20
Time unspun, fate undone, return what's owed,
24:23
a wondering one. Light shot from the prison,
24:26
glyphid, lancing out into streaks of silver and
24:29
gold. Kronovik's twisted midair, clock faced,
24:35
spinning gears, grinding orbs, rattling against
24:37
each other. He tried to escape, but the glyphid's
24:40
energy flowed like a net built - bending around
24:43
him, constricting. Every step he took backward
24:48
sent ripples across the plaza. Every second stuttering,
24:52
shadows freezing mid -motion, echoes of laughter
24:54
and wind bending in strange loops. My stomach
24:57
churned. This was no ordinary battle. Every heartbeat
25:01
counted. Every breath was borrowed. Kronovec
25:06
screamed again, louder, almost pleading, his
25:08
eyes The whirlpools of stolen hours met mine
25:12
for a fleeting moment, I felt it. The pull, the
25:15
temptation to let him go, to save the part of
25:18
him that wasn't malicious, that part that only
25:21
wanted to be whole, but the tethered hand hummed,
25:25
resonating against my chest, reminding me of
25:27
the stakes. The light from the glyphid climbed
25:31
higher, wrapping around Kronovex until it enveloped
25:37
him entirely. The screech became a howl, then
25:40
a broken well, then silence. And then the final
25:43
lock clicked, the chains of light spiraling inward,
25:46
drawing him into the glyphid, his body dissolving
25:49
into stardust and fragments of time itself. One
25:54
last door spun slowly, cracked and glowing before
25:57
snapping shut. I fell to my knees, my chest heaving.
26:01
The tether hummed faintly, spent of energy, but
26:05
intact, the plaza felt normal again, almost shockingly
26:09
so. The Chimu birds wailed overhead, the Jackalabugs
26:14
resumed their alien drone, and the twin suns
26:17
cast calm, steady light across the ground. Kronovex
26:22
was sealed at last. But as I sat there trembling,
26:28
I knew This wasn't the end, not really. Every
26:32
second he had stolen, every hour lost, every
26:34
memory faded. They were still out there, waiting
26:37
to be returned, and somewhere deep inside me,
26:41
I knew one day I would have to face him again.
26:43
For now I had done what I had to do, and the
26:46
world was still intact. And that, my friends,
26:50
is another episode of the Monster Catsers Journal.
26:54
I hope you like my story. of how I had to save
26:58
the world from Kronevex. And may the suns and
27:04
moons and stars and all the beautiful mysteries
27:08
of Nibiru shine their beautiful light down on
27:11
you. And I will see you in the next episode.
27:15
Goodbye now.