Whispers of Metal: The Forge of the One Mage

The supernatural light of the hourglass faded like a star consumed by its own brilliance, spending the last of its energy just to shine upon the world one final time.

The next thing my eyes saw was the same scene in which I had once taken part. That version of me, the one who had vanished in the fleeting streak of red, was holding back what should have been my past self. Despite everything, I did not act; the moment to play my role in this cosmic play had not yet arrived.

Time flowed slowly, impatiently repeating history, waiting for the exact moment when I was meant to intervene. My muscles tensed in anticipation, my hands trembled slightly, and cold sweat trickled down my forehead, but my determination to end this was stronger.

When my past self was about to hear the message from the other Nora, I knew it was my moment to act. I moved swiftly toward her. Time seemed to come to a halt. Colors ceased to exist, replaced by mere outlines. That was the signal that Adrian was interfering, ensuring that none of us would be erased.

In an instant, I was already beside the other Nora. Her stone-like expression, frozen on her face like a statue, lasted only for a moment. As soon as my hands touched her body, she regained her reality—the colors and movement returned, but confusion and fear were the only emotions that filled her face.

"What the…?" were the only words she managed to utter before an invisible and unstoppable force pulled us both away.

We were no longer in reality. What surrounded us was a void where the only visible thing in the distance was silver fire. The flame consumed the nothingness, which began to take shape, layer upon layer. The incomprehensible colors arranged themselves, and the indivisible void split into sky and earth under a superior will.

The sky filled with stars and clouds, like an ancient oil painting. The earth took on substance and reality, covered in red flowers stretching as far as the eye could see. In the distance, colossal mountains rose in all directions, and on the horizon, a tower connected the land to the sky.

The stars formed constellations—two in particular, intricate and prominent, shaped like eyes watching us. Despite the absurdity of it all, I immediately knew those were his eyes.

My mind tried to make sense of what I was seeing. At first, I thought this was just a mere display of power on his part, but as if he himself responded, I recalled his words: "I have been sent to the exact moment every time I travel through time." If his clear increase in power was due to that, then I could bet he had just become even stronger.

The Nora beside me didn't know how to react, but she seemed to have realized who was behind all of this.

"Adrian…" she whispered.

…

I had no idea what was happening. First, I traveled here only to be abruptly stopped by what I believe to be a future version of myself, dressed in blood as if it were clothing. Just as she was about to speak, she vanished as quickly as she had arrived, as if she had never existed. No clues, no sounds, no lights. Nothing. She simply ceased to be.

I had no time to process anything before he appeared.

His form was different from what I remembered, but I knew it was him. Who else could it be?

His body was made of fire—mostly platinum flames, accompanied by an arm that looked more like a fragment of the starry night sky ripped from above than a flame, though it still burned. His figure was vaguely humanoid but maintained its ethereal composition.

Saying I wasn't surprised would be a blatant lie. Just as the words were about to escape my lips, he spoke.

His voice, though unmistakable, carried something else with it—the impression of concepts. As if each of his words were etched into my mind with fire, beyond what mortal speech should be capable of conveying.

"I know it's been a strange and rather confusing day for you," his voice was hypnotic, and the background noise faded into a distant whisper.

"But we don't have much time to fix this mistake," he said, extending his hand toward me—a hand that looked like a fragment of the starry sky itself.

Before his words, there was no room for doubt.

"Will you help me fix it?" he asked, knowing full well I wouldn't refuse such a request from him.

I took his hand, and everything changed.

We were no longer in a place that could be described as real. Impossibility and beauty intertwined until they became indistinguishable—the scent of flowers, the stars twinkling high in the sky, a world of dreams draped in the veil of fantasy.

My surprise was so great that I didn't even notice that he was no longer holding my hand. When I snapped out of my trance, taking in the world around me, I was startled for a moment—until I saw her.

It was her. Nora, meaning me. The one from just a moment ago.

She wasn't far from me. Though the expression of terror hadn't completely disappeared from her face, it was now accompanied by a small smile of hope as she gazed at the distant sky, as if it held the solution to all her problems.

With some caution, I approached to speak with her.

Our conversation was brief. She answered before I even had the chance to ask, which didn't surprise me much. After all, she was me, and I would become her.

Silence was about to reign once more, but I couldn't stop myself from asking the question that had been eating away at me inside.

"Mmm… do you know if he is here, or…?"

I didn't finish the sentence. She simply pointed at the stars adorning the sky of this lucid dream. I followed her finger with my gaze and saw the two eye-shaped constellations. His eyes.

Nothing more needed to be said.

A small smile formed on my lips as those gigantic stars shifted, looking directly at me.

...

Nora didn't know what was happening. Everything had happened so fast that she couldn't even describe it clearly. The only thing she was sure of was that something had gone terribly wrong.

Her gaze fixed on the two future versions of herself, who stared at the eyes in the sky, absorbed, as if they were conversing with the stars. Deep down, she knew to whom that gaze belonged, but even so, she had no idea how to react.

The Nora from the "future," the same one who had abruptly brought her here, had disappeared toward Go—no, Adrian knows where… or when.

Now, the three of them were sharing tea. Her mind wandered far from all of this, but she caught enough: if they didn't carry out this plan, the universe would erase them from the timeline. What the future Nora was doing was searching for the last piece of the strategy that Adrian had designed.

Nora didn't know how to feel about any of this. At least she found some comfort in the fact that Adrian was with them, keeping them company while they waited for the other Nora's return.

The atmosphere felt like something out of a lucid dream. At the very least, she had to admit that Adrian had good taste.

…

She didn't know what to say. Honestly, she had no idea. And no matter how much she thought about the situation, one of her future versions had probably already done it for her, making her opinion irrelevant. But, wow… everything had gone to hell, and she didn't even understand why. The only thing she knew was that they were about to fix it.

Even so, everything felt unreal in some way.

…

Finally, thought Nora. Five versions of herself gathered. Counting her, of course.

That was the plan Adrian had laid out, and that was as far as her knowledge went. From now on, he would take care of whatever came next. That gave her some relief because the last thing she wanted was to keep traveling through time. What she wanted most at this moment was to destroy that damn clock. And if it weren't for the consequences, she would have already done it.

The only thing left was to wait and see what Adrian would do.

Light of impossible colors filled the space. The gaze of the stars fell upon us, conveying something akin to approval and comfort. The nearby flowers bled as if they were wounded flesh. An ocean emerged around us, but its purpose changed—it was contained within the imagination until it became a gigantic mirror.

The blood reflected countless versions of us, all different yet the same. Like a guide, Adrian pointed at the mirror. He said nothing, but we understood what we had to do.

Without understanding what awaited us on the other side, we stepped in.

Red flooded my vision… ours? Emotions, memories, thoughts… everything merged into a single being. Everything felt like a dream, yet at the same time, an undeniable truth.

And then I understood.

We caused this.

…

Air filled my lungs all at once. My heart pounded frantically.

I woke up.

The girls looked worried, but I didn't care at all.

I jumped out of bed as fast as I could and ran toward the portal. I felt their frozen stares on me, but none of that mattered. For an instant, my vision turned pink, but that didn't matter either. The portal's light activated as it should, and the journey seemed to stretch for an eternity.

My destination: the underwater temple.

As soon as the portal's light faded, I threw myself forward without any caution. Clocks shattered under my movements. Only one mattered. That damn clock.

When I finally had it in my hands, a smile of pure madness spread across my face.

The girls stepped out of the portal, worried. I didn't register their expressions.

With both hands, I destroyed it.

I felt blood seep from my fingers, but not for a moment did my happiness waver.

I heard the alarmed cries of Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet, but they couldn't stop a sigh of relief from escaping my lips before the darkness swallowed me.

I fainted with an expression of pure peace and happiness.