DAY 1 OF 30.
The writing was still visible on the petals of the Moonveil flower.
Aelion stared at it without blinking.
Lyra stood beside him.
“So it’s true?”
Aelion nodded.
“Thirty days.”
“Until what?”
Aelion didn’t answer right away.
“Until the world stops remembering me.”
Lyra closed her hand around the flower.
“Then we have thirty days to stop it.”
Aelion looked at her.
“We?”
Lyra smiled.
“Don’t start again.”
“I’m just making sure.”
“Yes, we.”
Aelion smiled.
“All right.”
But deep inside his mind, a question kept spinning.
Why thirty days?
Not thirty years.
Not thirty months.
Thirty days.
As if someone had deliberately given them a time limit.
As if...
something had to happen on the very last day.
The next morning, Aelion headed to the royal library.
He wasn’t there to look for history books.
He was looking for one thing.
Records about the Moon Gate.
He found an ancient shelf at the very back.
There were no guards.
No catalog.
Only dust.
Aelion pulled out a book.
THE CHRONICLES OF THE FIRST MOON.
He opened it.
The first page spoke of the Moon Elves.
The second page was about lunar magic.
The third page was about the first kingdom.
But the next page...
was blank.
Aelion turned it.
Blank.
Again.
Blank.
He furrowed his brow.
Then a page appeared.
Not because he turned it.
The words appeared on their own.
THE MOON DOES NOT GIVE POWER.
Aelion read it.
Then a second line appeared.
IT REMEMBERS WHAT THE WORLD FORGOT.
Aelion fell silent.
He continued reading.
THE FIRST MOON ELF WAS NOT BORN.
The next words appeared slowly.
HE WAS REMEMBERED.
Aelion closed the book.
“So...”
He was beginning to understand.
The Moon Elves weren’t merely a people who wielded lunar magic.
They might...
have come from something far older.
Something directly connected to memory and reality.
A voice sounded.
“You finally found that book.”
Aelion turned around.
Eryndor stood between the shelves.
“I’m getting tired of you showing up without a sound.”
Eryndor smiled.
“That’s because you think too much.”
Aelion raised the book.
“Is all of this true?”
“Some of it.”
“Which part is wrong?”
“The part you don’t understand yet.”
Aelion stepped closer.
“Then explain it.”
Eryndor looked at the book.
“The first Moon Elf wasn’t born from a mother.”
Aelion said nothing.
“He appeared when the world first needed someone to remember.”
“So?”
“So Moon Elf blood carries something no other race possesses.”
“Memory?”
“More than that.”
Eryndor pointed at Aelion’s chest.
“Reality resonance.”
Aelion furrowed his brow.
“What does that mean?”
“You can touch things that shouldn’t be touchable.”
“Like time?”
“Yes.”
Aelion fell silent.
“And because of that, I can repair the Chronos Rift.”
Eryndor shook his head.
“Not just repair it.”
“What, then?”
“You can rewrite reality.”
Aelion stared at him.
“Then why don’t I just do it?”
Eryndor smiled faintly.
“Because every sentence you rewrite...”
He looked into Aelion’s eyes.
“...will erase one sentence about you.”
Aelion froze.
“So the more I repair the world...”
“The more of your history disappears.”
“And when everything is finished...”
Eryndor didn’t answer.
Aelion already knew.
“...I’ll never have existed.”
Aelion left the library.
He didn’t take the book with him.
Eryndor had taken it back.
Lyra was already waiting in the corridor.
“You took a while.”
“I had business to take care of.”
“With whom?”
Aelion looked at her.
“Eryndor.”
Lyra sighed.
“Him again.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t like him.”
“Why not?”
“He knows too much.”
Aelion smiled.
“So do I.”
Lyra walked beside him.
“So what did you find?”
Aelion was silent for several seconds.
Then he answered:
“I can change reality.”
Lyra stopped.
“And?”
“Every change will erase part of my existence.”
Lyra stared at him.
“How fast?”
“Depends on how big the change is.”
“And the Chronos Rift?”
“If we leave it alone, the entire world will be destroyed.”
Lyra drew a breath.
“So our choice is...”
“Save the world or preserve me.”
Lyra stared at him for a long time.
Then she said:
“Then we’ll find a third choice.”
Aelion smiled.
“Exactly.”
They traveled to the northern region of Lunaris.
There, they found the ruins of an old observatory.
It was where Moon Elf mages had once studied the moon.
The building had gone unused for five hundred years.
But according to Eryndor’s records...
the answer about the Chronos Rift was there.
They arrived toward evening.
The observatory door was closed.
A moon symbol was carved above it.
Aelion touched it.
The door opened.
Cold air spilled out.
Lyra pulled her cloak tighter around herself.
“I don’t like this place.”
“Why not?”
“It feels like someone’s watching us.”
Aelion looked around.
“I feel it too.”
They went inside.
A vast hall opened up before them.
A colossal telescope stood in the center.
But the telescope wasn’t aimed at the sky.
It was aimed downward.
At the floor.
Lyra furrowed her brow.
“Why?”
Aelion stepped closer.
“This telescope wasn’t used to look at the stars.”
“What was it used to look at?”
Aelion activated the crystal beside it.
Light appeared.
The floor turned transparent.
Beneath them...
there was no ground.
There was a sky.
They were looking at the world from below.
Lyra stared in awe.
“How is that possible?”
“Because this observatory was built between layers of reality.”
Aelion turned the crystal.
The image changed.
They saw Elarion.
Then another world.
Then another.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Each had a different history.
But one thing was the same.
In every world...
Aelion existed.
And Lyra existed too.
Aelion looked at one world.
There, he was a king.
In another world, he was a mage.
In another, he was a soldier.
In another, he died before meeting Lyra.
Then they saw one empty world.
There was no Aelion.
No Lyra.
No Kingdom of Lunaris.
Only emptiness.
Aelion stared at it.
“That...”
Lyra nodded.
“A world without us.”
Aelion zoomed in on the image.
There was no war.
No Chronos Rift.
No destruction.
That world was perfect.
Aelion fell silent.
“So maybe...”
Lyra looked at him.
“...the world would be fine without me.”
Lyra immediately took his face in her hands.
“Don’t.”
Aelion looked at her.
“Never say that.”
“But look.”
“That world isn’t ours.”
“Lyra.”
“We don’t know what’s happening there.”
She looked into Aelion’s eyes.
“And I don’t care if that world is safer.”
Aelion said nothing.
“I only know one thing.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to live in a world without you.”
Aelion couldn’t answer.
Lyra released his face.
Then she walked toward the telescope.
“So we find a third way.”
Aelion smiled.
“All right.”
Suddenly, the telescope began to shake.
A coordinate appeared.
13° MOONFALL.
Lyra looked at it.
“What’s that?”
Aelion examined the symbol.
“A location.”
“Where?”
Aelion zoomed in on the map.
A point appeared in the middle of a mountain range.
“Gunung Vael.”
Lyra fell silent.
“That’s forbidden territory.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Aelion answered:
“Because it contains the tomb of the First King of the Moon Elves.”
Lyra looked at him.
“The First King?”
Aelion nodded.
“And according to legend...”
He paused.
“...he never died.”
They set out that night.
They brought no army.
They told no one in the kingdom.
Just the two of them.
They walked through the forest.
The full moon hung in the sky.
Aelion watched Lyra.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“This journey could be dangerous.”
“I know.”
“We might not come back.”
Lyra stopped.
Then she smiled.
“You give too many warnings.”
“I’m just making sure.”
“Me too.”
“Making sure of what?”
Lyra looked at him.
“That if you disappear...”
She took Aelion’s hand.
“...I’ll go looking for you too.”
Aelion smiled.
“All right.”
They continued on.
But not far away...
someone was watching.
Its body was covered by a cloak.
In its hand was a shard of mirror.
It spoke to someone through the mirror.
“They’re heading to Gunung Vael.”
A voice answered from inside the mirror:
“Let them.”
“If they find the tomb...”
“They’re meant to find it.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where Aelion will learn the truth.”
The figure laughed.
“Which truth?”
“That he isn’t the first person to carry the name Aelion.”
Gunung Vael appeared before them around midnight.
Its peak was covered in snow.
But halfway up the slope stood a stone gate.
Aelion approached it.
The carving above it made him stop.
VAELARIS.
Beneath it was the same symbol as the one on Aelion’s chest.
Moon Gate.
Lyra touched it.
“Is this your family’s?”
Aelion shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“How is that possible?”
“I’ve never seen this symbol in my family records.”
“Then it’s older?”
“Much older.”
Aelion touched the gate.
The door opened.
Beyond it stretched a long passage.
They went inside.
The deeper they went...
the colder it became.
The walls were covered in paintings.
The first depicted the first Moon Elf.
The second depicted the first war.
The third depicted the collapse of the first world.
Then, in the next painting...
Aelion stopped.
He saw himself.
Not one version.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
They all stood around a woman.
Lyra.
Aelion stared at the painting.
“Why?”
Lyra stepped closer.
Written beneath the painting were the words:
THE KEEPER AND THE WITNESS.
Lyra read it.
“What does it mean?”
Aelion shook his head.
But something about it made him even more uneasy.
In every painting...
Lyra was always holding a flower.
Moonveil.
And Aelion always stood in front of her.
Like a guardian.
Like someone destined to meet her again and again.
But in the final painting...
Aelion was gone.
Lyra stood alone.
Holding a flower that had turned black.
Beneath it were written the words:
WHEN THE KEEPER DISAPPEARS, THE WITNESS REMEMBERS.
Aelion touched the writing.
Suddenly...
the entire passage began to shake.
A woman’s voice rang out.
“At last, you’ve come.”
Aelion immediately drew his sword.
“Who are you?”
Lyra stood behind him.
Mist appeared.
From within the mist...
a woman emerged.
Her hair was silvery white.
Her eyes were blue.
Her face looked remarkably like Lyra’s.
But she wasn’t Lyra.
The woman wore a crown.
She looked at Aelion.
Then she said:
“It’s been thousands of years.”
Aelion stared at her.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“The first person to love you.”
Lyra froze.
Aelion didn’t move.
The woman continued:
“And the first person you forgot.”
Aelion raised his sword.
“I don’t know you.”
“I know.”
The woman smiled sadly.
“Because every time you return...”
She looked at Aelion.
“...you always lose your memories of me.”
Aelion felt a pain in his head.
An image appeared.
He was standing before the woman.
They were beneath the moon.
The woman was crying.
Aelion embraced her.
Then...
the world collapsed.
The image vanished.
Aelion dropped to his knees.
Lyra grabbed his shoulder.
“Aelion!”
The woman said:
“Don’t be afraid.”
“Who are you?”
“My name...”
She smiled.
“...is Seraphine Vaelaris.”
Aelion stared at her.
“The first queen of the Moon Elves.”
Seraphine nodded.
“And the first bearer of the power now flowing through your body.”
Aelion slowly got to his feet.
“If you’re the First Queen...”
“Yes.”
“Why are you still alive?”
Seraphine looked at the tomb behind her.
“I’m not alive.”
She touched her chest.
“I just haven’t finished dying.”
Lyra shuddered.
Seraphine walked toward them.
“The Chronos Rift isn’t a disaster.”
Aelion furrowed his brow.
“If it’s not...”
“A message.”
“A message from whom?”
Seraphine looked at Aelion.
“From the first world.”
Aelion fell silent.
“The first world is trying to return.”
“Why?”
“Because someone from that world...”
She paused.
“...is still alive.”
Aelion felt a chill.
“Who?”
Seraphine answered:
“You.”
Aelion froze.
Lyra looked at him.
Seraphine continued:
“The first Aelion.”
“So all the versions of me...”
“Are fragments of a single soul.”
Aelion fell silent.
“And me?”
“You’re the final version.”
“Why?”
“Because the first world has chosen you as its final vessel.”
Aelion clenched his fists.
“For what?”
Seraphine looked at Lyra.
“To bring the dead world back to life.”
Lyra stepped forward.
“What if Aelion refuses?”
Seraphine smiled sadly.
“Then the first world will drag him back by force.”
“And what will happen to Elarion?”
“It will collapse.”
Lyra looked at Aelion.
“So all of this...”
Seraphine nodded.
“The Chronos Rift isn’t destroying the world.”
She pointed at Aelion.
“The Chronos Rift is opening a path.”
Aelion looked at the great gate behind Seraphine.
“To the first world.”
“Yes.”
“And if that gate opens?”
Seraphine answered:
“Elarion will be overrun by the old world.”
“How long?”
Seraphine looked at the moon.
“Twenty-nine days.”
Aelion fell silent.
Lyra took his hand.
The first day had already passed.
Their time continued to run out.
Seraphine approached Aelion.
“There’s still one way.”
“What way?”
“Use the Moon Gate.”
“To close the gate?”
“No.”
Seraphine shook her head.
“To enter the first world.”
Aelion stared at her.
“Alone?”
Seraphine didn’t answer.
Aelion understood.
Lyra immediately said:
“I’m coming with you.”
Seraphine looked at her.
“If you go...”
She paused.
“...you might not come back.”
Lyra answered without hesitation:
“If he goes...”
She took Aelion’s hand.
“...I’m going with him.”
Aelion smiled faintly.
“What language was that?”
Lyra laughed.
“I’m nervous.”
Seraphine smiled.
“Then you two really are a good match.”
Seraphine raised her hand.
The stone gate began to open.
Beyond it...
there was no room.
No passage.
Only a black sky.
A dead world appeared in the distance.
Mountains hung upside down.
The sea floated in the air.
The moon was split in two.
And in the center of that world...
stood a palace.
A palace strikingly similar to the palace in Lunaris.
But far larger.
Older.
More beautiful.
And above it flew a Vaelaris flag.
Aelion stared at it.
“That place...”
Seraphine said:
“Your kingdom.”
“My kingdom?”
“In the first world.”
Aelion gripped his sword.
He didn’t know why.
But some part of him recognized that place.
Like returning home to a place he had never visited.
Then a voice rang out.
Distant.
Very distant.
Yet Aelion could hear it clearly.
“At last, you’ve come home.”
Aelion stared into the darkness.
A figure stood on the palace balcony.
White hair.
A black crown.
Silver eyes.
His face...
was exactly like Aelion’s.
But this time, he wasn’t a future version.
Not a shadow.
Not a possibility.
He was real.
The figure smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Aelion raised his sword.
“Who are you?”
The figure answered:
“I am the first Aelion.”
He opened his hands.
“And you...”
His gaze shifted to Lyra.
His smile changed.
“...are carrying something that should have been mine.”
Lyra took one step back.
Aelion stood in front of her.
“She doesn’t belong to anyone.”
The first Aelion laughed.
“You still say the same thing.”
Then the gate began to close.
Seraphine shouted:
“Go, now!”
Aelion and Lyra ran.
They crossed through the gate.
A moment before it closed...
Aelion looked back at Seraphine.
The woman gazed at him with eyes full of sorrow.
“Don’t repeat our mistake.”
The gate closed.
BOOM.
Aelion and Lyra stood in the first world.
The black sky stretched above them.
There was no wind.
No sound.
Only the distant palace ahead.
Lyra looked at Aelion.
“What do you think we’ll find?”
Aelion stared at the palace.
“The truth.”
“And if the truth is ugly?”
Aelion took her hand.
“We’ll face it.”
They walked toward the palace.
Unbeknownst to them...
behind them, words appeared in the air.
DAY 2 OF 30.
Then a second line appeared.
THE WORLD HAS REMEMBERED HIM.
And finally:
NOW IT WILL TRY TO TAKE HIM BACK.
To be continued.