I stared in shock as the figure stepped out of the shadows.
It was Eli.
You know, that Eli — the kid who uses the Time Element, has Wyvern features, and never says a single word unless he's screaming an attack name like he's in a video game boss fight. He's 12, wears a gray jacket and blue jeans, has mixed skin and black hair swept sideways, almost covering his left eye but not quite. His dark green Wyvern wings folded behind him, and his black tail dragged along the snowy ground. Crackles of green temporal energy sparked around him as he turned toward the massive, shiny blue Leviathan looming ahead.
"Eli? What are you doing here?" I asked, completely thrown. "Did you come to find us or something?"
Silence. Obviously.
Probably using his ability to peek into the past and future — but only three times a day, which is both OP and inconvenient.
Then, without a word, he pulled out his weapon: a sleek, metallic dual-bladed sword. Blue with glowing green veins of energy running through it. Sharp as drama at a middle school dance.
I turned back toward the Leviathan's glowing golden eyes. "Alright, let's wrap this up. I got places to be."
I glanced down at Kai. "I don't know where you should go, little dude. Everyone's gone. Just… stay here and promise me you won't do anything dumb."
Kai bounced in excitement like this was a field trip.
I pulled out my daggers, crackling with celestial energy. Eli pointed his sword straight at the beast, face like stone. No fear. Just quiet fury.
We launched ourselves into the air, energy trailing behind us. Together, we slashed at the Leviathan's ear as we zipped by. I landed on its back, sliding along the icy scales before stabbing my dagger deep into its flesh.
I charged forward, dragging the blade across its back, leaving a trail of glowing blood. It jerked, throwing me off — but I whipped out my celestial chains mid-air, latching onto its ear.
I reeled myself in, launched forward, and kicked it in the face so hard a shockwave exploded on impact.
But the Leviathan was pissed now. It turned sharply and SMACKED me with its head like I owed it money. I crashed through the blizzard, cold biting every inch of me. Using the chains again, I hooked onto a tree and slingshotted myself back into the fight.
Tree to tree I went, energy building with each leap, until I soared through the air and shouted, "GALACTICAL UPPERCUT!"
BOOM.
My fist met its jaw and an explosion of light and force cracked the sky. The Leviathan roared in agony.
It lashed out with a tentacle — I barely dodged. Then another. I zipped right past it. The third one came, and I spun like a Beyblade, slicing it clean with my dagger.
I raised one blade to the sky, yelling, "TAKE THIS, YOU OVERGROWN UNDERWATER LIZARD WHO HAS NO BI—"
WHACK.
A tentacle sent me flying into the snow like a ragdoll. I crashed hard, snow blasting in every direction.
I gritted my teeth and climbed the broken slope back toward the monster.
"So, what, are we just gonna keep fighting this thing 'til one of us gives up?" I muttered.
Suddenly, Eli teleported beside the Leviathan's face and hit it with a hurricane kick, then dashed again, aerial kicked its jaw, then vanished again. Dude was everywhere and nowhere at once.
But Leviathan got lucky. One of its tentacles smacked him mid-air and sent him crashing through several trees like a human bowling ball.
Eli reappeared beside me, quiet as always. I glanced over.
"Can't you just, like, hit it with a mega move already?"
He nodded.
Then... it started.
Timeless energy crackled around him as he smirked. He tapped his foot once. Again. Again. Each stomp sent green sparks flying, growing brighter and brighter.
"Chrono's Ultimate: TIMELESS DESTRUCTION!"
On the final stomp, everything went dark — like someone just deleted the sun. Pitch black.
His eyes lit up a blinding green as he began teleporting at hyper speed toward the Leviathan. His form blurred into a spinning green vortex, time itself unraveling around him.
He roared, "CHRONOTROPIC SHATTER!"
He ripped through dimensions like paper, phasing through whole universes, jumping timelines, and then—
BOOM.
He reappeared right in front of the Leviathan's face, unleashing a punch that shattered the air itself. Time cracked. Matter disintegrated. Space didn't even try to hold together.
A green shockwave burst from Leviathan's skull, blasting across all of Eclitsic. Mountains crumbled. The ground split. The world trembled.
Silence.
Eli dropped to the ground, arms crossed, unfazed.
Me? I was standing there like 😧.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I screamed, totally fanboying.
The Leviathan let out a final groan and crashed back into the water, ice and snow exploding in its wake. The earth cracked beneath it as it sank out of sight.
I turned to Eli, who still hadn't said a word.
Bro.
When is this guy ever gonna talk?
I walked over and gave him a high five. "Nice job. Now, let's go grab Kai and find our friends. Oh, and by the way — teach me that move. That was NUTS."
We walked off, mostly me rambling, knowing full well he wouldn't reply.
I picked up Kai, who chirped in excitement.
But then I paused.
I looked at Eli's sword… at his wings… at the green glow radiating from them.
And I couldn't help but wonder… "What tribe does this guy really belong to?" "Eli, is there something you need to tell me?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
Without a word, he pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something quickly, then flipped it over for me to read. The note said, Yes, I do have something to tell you.
Curiosity hit me like a freight train. "What is it?"
He wrote furiously, the words appearing in a blur:
I was supposed to be part of the Chosen Ones in the prophecy. My role was 'Celestial's Flight'—which used to be called 'Time's Fight'.
My eyes went wide, and my jaw dropped like it hit the floor. "Wait, what?! How were you—this doesn't make any sense! Since when?!"
Eli's pen scratched again:
Back when Vigilzante was writing the prophecy before he died, the rarest and most powerful Element was Lunar. He assumed only Lunaranites would wield it, so he skipped that Element entirely. Then came the forgotten, lost tribe of Avangard—the Zeriath.
Zeriath was once connected to Avangard but drifted away as the earth aged, becoming a distant continent. Its people, the Nomanites, were born without any Element, mostly bearing Wyvern traits—some had none at all.
I was the only exception. Born with the Time Element. I can rewind time, travel to past and future, move at insane speeds, and manipulate time energy—either for destruction or altering the flow of things.
Vigilzante wanted me in the prophecy to lead the other Elements. But Avangard's Founding Fathers disagreed. Mark the Celestianite said the Time Element was cheating and didn't fit as the fifth Element.
Plus, I belonged to a forbidden tribe—no one from Zeriath was allowed in other parts of Avangard. Violation meant death. So, over time, Vigilzante removed me from the prophecy.
Then, when a Crystallized Celestianite with the Celestial Element appeared, Vigilzante replaced me. That was in 2013—the year you were born—the first Celestial user known to man.
After the war in 2013, Vigilzante died fighting Dreadixz. Wars kept erupting. The Lost Key? That was way before all this.
I dropped my gaze, the weight of guilt and sorrow pressing down. Just as I was about to speak, Eli cut in, flashing me another note:
I know you're sorry. It's not your fault. I'm not mad. I'm just glad to be a normal person, like everyone else.
I smiled softly. "Well, you could've been the hero of it all, but... I guess this works."
We laughed as we trudged deeper into the snow, waiting for whatever was next.
Suddenly, wingbeats thundered above—hundreds of them. I looked up at the gray sky. "Eli, do you hear that?"
He squinted skyward.
My eyes grew wide. "WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!"
We sprinted across the ice, hearts pounding. War cries pierced the air, a Lunaranite shouting, "THERE THEY ARE! GET 'EM!" The wingbeats closed in fast.
Ahead, a massive ice block stood. "COME ON!" I grabbed Eli's arm and slid to the side, pushing forward.
We dashed past jagged ice towers shaped like spiked pillars. I slipped dramatically, and we skidded across the ice on our backs, landing behind the ice block.
Silence. Thank god Eli was a pro at staying quiet.
Talons cracked sharply nearby as Lunaranites landed, snarling and snarling at each other.
Then King Dreadixz's deep voice cut through the wind:
"SOLDIERS! Find those little runts... Incarceration and I will handle this talk."
"YES, SIR!" the soldiers shouted, taking flight in every direction. They didn't see us.
Dreadixz's rage boiled as he yelled at Incarceration:
"So you unleashed the ILLEGALS?!"
Unfazed, Incarceration replied, "Yes. Remember what I said when we met?"
Dreadixz snarled, "They're forbidden in Foreshade!"
"They aren't forbidden everywhere," Incarceration countered coolly.
Dreadixz stammered, then relented: "Whatever. Keep them under control. They're notoriously disloyal."
He soared into the sky. Incarceration lingered, then coldly said:
"I know you're here. I can sense your presence, Underview..."
SHOOT.
Underview. One look, and your body turns to solid coal. No wonder the Nightmare Element is insane.
Incarceration paced around the ice block but didn't check our hiding spot.
"I'll wait for you chickens to come out. Or shall I make you?"
I swallowed hard, praying he wouldn't find us.
A dark chuckle. "I like you guys—the ones who try to survive instead of doing dumb shit. Look, I know you can't resist... just one peek, Don. One peek."
I said nothing but sweat poured down my face.
"Oh well, I could just keep your friends trapped in a tiny dark globe forever," Incarceration threatened.
At first, I thought it was a bluff—until cries rang out:
"DON! GET US OUT!"
"SAVE US!"
"WE HAVE ALL NINE POWER GEMS! HELP US TAKE HIM DOWN!"
Jocabed's voice pierced through.
Incarceration whispered close, despite not seeing me:
"Come on, I know you want to..."
I kept silent, hoping he'd quit. But what if my friends were really trapped? It made sense—we'd been separated since the mountain split.
A Power Gem bounced off my head and landed nearby. It was green, glowing—the Regeneration Gem, crafted by Regeneration the Zenith.
Eli and I stayed silent until Incarceration hissed:
"Three seconds to come out... or your friends go bye-bye."
I locked eyes with Eli. Could this be a trap? What if he killed us the moment we stepped out? We had no choice but to run—but I couldn't abandon my friends.
"3..." Their voices begged through the barrier.
"2..." Screams filled the air.
"1... PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM!" I pleaded, teleporting out of the block.
"DON!" they all shouted, as coal began to crawl over my body. Movement slipped away—my mind the only thing I controlled.
Incarceration smashed the globe; my friends burst free. Prince, Ella, Kai sprinted to me.
Incarceration floated up, triumphant:
"Playtime's over, kids. Don't worry, daddy will be back soon."
With a snap, he vanished, leaving me frozen, surrounded by my friends.
Oh, the stars...