SWNOVELXO Chapter 10: Dreams of Memories
"The past is a ghost. It lingers not to haunt, but to remind you that you're no longer who you were."
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The Void Lord stepped closer, his black hair, and black shimmering robes undulating like living shadows. The violet glow of his eyes pierced through the darkness, illuminating the crystalline shards scattered across the ruined ground. He regarded Juno, Selene, and Exos with a mix of amusement and contempt, his presence suffocating.
"I am Agredor, Lord of this fractured realm and the Architect of Forgotten Dreams," he announced, his voice a resonant melody of power and menace.
Selene spun her daggers with exaggerated flair, snorting. "Cool title, guy. Bit of a mouthful though. Do we clap, or…?"
"Silence," Agredor hissed, his tone razor-sharp. His gaze swept over them, lingering on Juno. "You, Timekeeper. Do you comprehend the crime you've committed by meddling in my domain? This crystalline world—this reflection—was to be my throne. A tool to harness the latent energies of the fallen Aspect of Memory Dreaming, where ancient civilizations were able to vividly dream of their exact memories."
Exos's fists clenched, his summoned weapons orbiting him in a deadly halo, "You're talking about dreams… the ability to remember them as they were. The universe erased that ability centuries ago."
Agredor chuckled darkly. "Erased? No, child. It stole from us. Memory dreaming, the natural ability of every sentient beings to dream of the exact memories of their past was the bridge to true omniscience, the capacity to revisit every fragment of our lives, every decision, every failure. The Aspect of Memory Dreaming was severed from this universe, scattering its essence into void fragments like this world. I sought to reclaim what was lost. To wield it. To become the Void Herald of Memories."
Juno stepped forward, "And what would you do with such power? Reclaim your past? Relive every mistake?"
"No," Agredor replied, his voice dripping with malice. "I would erase the burdens of memory entirely. I would empty every mind, every soul, of its cluttered recollections. Imagine it—a universe free of regret, of pain, of identity. A clean slate for the Void to reshape as it sees fit."
Juno felt her stomach churn. "You're not freeing anyone. You're taking away the very essence of who they are. Memories aren't just pain; they're lessons, connections, life."
Agredor's eyes narrowed. "Do not preach to me, Timekeeper. I know you and your arrival. You, who would meddle with time itself to rewrite fate, have already betrayed the sanctity of memory. Tell me—how many lives have you destroyed in your desperate bid to control the clock?"
Juno's heart skipped a beat. The visions of Selene and Exos's lifeless bodies flashed before her eyes. Her own death, the rewind, the unbearable knowledge that she alone remembered what had been lost.
"I…" she faltered, her voice barely a whisper.
"What?" Selene uttered.
But Agredor wasn't done. He raised his hands, the air around them growing heavy with a strange, hypnotic energy. The crystalline fragments began to float, refracting light into dazzling patterns that flickered like dreams on the verge of slipping away.
"Sleep," Agredor intoned, his voice weaving through their minds. "Let the void claim your consciousness. Let me show you the futility of clinging to the past."
Juno's knees buckled as a wave of exhaustion swept over her. Selene stumbled, her daggers slipping from her grasp, while Exos's summoned weapons wavered before clattering to the ground.
[System Alert: External Mind Manipulation Detected. WIL Check in Progress… Failure. Initiating Emergency Protocol.]
"Stay awake," Juno gasped, struggling against the oppressive weight pressing down on her mind. "Don't let him…"
But she was sinking, her thoughts growing fuzzy, her vision dimming. Memories began to surface—flashes of her life before becoming the Timekeeper. Her childhood, her time as a student, the faces of friends and family now lost to her. She reached out to them, desperate to hold on, but they dissolved into shadows.
"No!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the void.
And then, there was a flash of black light.
And for a minute it stayed.
For a minute, it fades away.
The crystalline wasteland hummed with a sinister rhythm, each step reverberating through the shattered planes of the world. Jagged spires of azure crystal jutted into a darkened sky that churned with hues of purple and sky-blue, forming an unnatural storm above them. Juno could feel the vibration under her boots—the world itself seemed alive, its very heartbeat aligning with the arrival of the Void Lord.
Agredor stood at the center of the wasteland, his form a grotesque masterpiece of void energy. His elongated limbs pulsed with black veins, and fragments of crystalline armor floated around him, orbiting his body as if tethered by invisible chains. His face, obscured by a void-like haze, revealed only flickers of cruel amusement when he spoke.
"You've come so far," he said, his voice resonating as if spoken from every direction. "Yet all you bring are borrowed powers and fleeting resolve. Do you think such frailty can halt the inevitable collapse?" pertaining to them being blessed ones from the powers of their aspects.
Juno's fingers twitched against the strap of her watch, the swirling liquid metal threatening to spill from its face. Her breathing quickened, the weight of his words heavy in her chest. Beside her, Selene twirled her crescent daggers, the steel shimmering like moonlight fractured into a million pieces. Exos stood firm, his arms crossed as spectral weapons materialized and hovered around him in a protective circle, ready to spring to life.
"Big talk for a guy hiding in a rave gone wrong," Selene quipped, her voice light but edged with tension. She twirled one dagger, its handle glowing with the faint outline of a constellation. "Let me guess, you're compensating for something?"
Exos didn't flinch, his gaze fixed on Agredor. "Focus. He's stalling."
"Stalling for what?" Juno asked, her voice sharper than intended.
"For this."
Agredor raised one elongated arm, his fingers splayed as arcs of void energy shot upward. The storm above them exploded into motion, raining crystalline shards down onto the battlefield. Where the shards struck, they transformed into grotesque creatures—voidlings with elongated limbs, eyeless faces, and jagged claws that glistened like obsidian.
And then came the plagueborn.
Emerging from the ground in a wave of decay, their forms were half-rotted, stitched together with void threads that pulsed like diseased veins. Their weapons were makeshift, jagged pieces of bone and rusted metal, yet they moved with terrifying precision.
[System Alert: Large-scale anomaly detected. Multiple threats identified. Chronoenergy fluctuation increasing. Probability of success: 22%.]
"Fantastic," Juno muttered. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
The plagueborn charged first, a sickening wave of rotting flesh and void energy. Selene darted forward, her movements a blur of starlight as she engaged the creatures head-on.
"Starfall Barrage!" she shouted, and the daggers in her hands ignited with celestial fire. She threw one, its arc slicing through three plagueborn before returning to her hand like a boomerang.
Exos moved next, his summoned weapons responding in a synchronized dance. "Blades of Crisis." Dozens of spectral swords shot forward, impaling voidlings in a deadly cascade of steel and magic. But the voidlings were relentless, reforming from the shards of crystal littering the ground.
Juno stayed back, calculating. Her watch flickered as she activated her ability.
[Ability Activated: Temporal Fragmentation. Chronoenergy cost: 15%. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
She hurled a time-imbued dagger into the ground, the resulting pulse freezing a group of plagueborn mid-charge. The creatures shattered like glass as Selene sliced through them.
"Keep it together!" Juno yelled, her voice barely audible over the cacophony of battle.
Agredor moved without warning, his elongated fingers weaving a spell in the air. Tendrils of void energy erupted from the ground, ensnaring Juno and dragging her backward. Her vision blurred as her mind was invaded by memories—fragments of her failures, the people she couldn't save.
"You think time can absolve you?" Agredor whispered, his voice inside her head. "It is a cruel master, and you are merely its servant."
Juno screamed, clutching at her head as the visions overwhelmed her. The world around her dissolved into a nightmare—a barren wasteland littered with the bodies of her friends.
"Juno! Snap out of it!" Selene's voice cut through the fog. She broke free of the tendrils and lunged at Agredor, her daggers flashing.
Agredor caught her mid-air with a single hand, hurling her into a crystalline spire. She crumpled to the ground, blood trailing from her temple.
Exos roared in fury, summoning a massive halberd. "Judgment Cleave!" he shouted, the enormouse axe crashing down with a shockwave that split the ground. Agredor staggered but recovered instantly, his crystalline armor absorbing the blow.
Juno forced herself to her feet, her body trembling. She activated her weapon, her Chronosword in her hand.
[Ability Activated: Temporal Echo Blades. Cooldown: 45 seconds. Chronoenergy cost: 25%.]
She charged forward, her blade leaving trails of golden light as she slashed at Agredor. Each strike seemed to distort time itself, but Agredor countered effortlessly, his movements fluid and inhuman.
"You fight well for one so fragile," he said, his voice calm. "But you cannot escape the truth. The Void will consume all."
He raised his hands, and the battlefield shifted. The crystalline world twisted into a labyrinth of mirrors, each reflecting their worst fears. Juno saw herself—broken, alone, drowning in the consequences of her choices.
"No," she whispered, her grip tightening on her blades. "I won't let you win."
Agredor stepped forward, his form towering over her. "You are already lost, Timekeeper. This is where your story ends."
End? She wonders, when will all this end? When there could be countless void lords, and void heralds. She looked around.
The battlefield was a cracked mosaic of nightmare and defiance. The crystalline world pulsed with faint azure light, its glow distorted by creeping tendrils of void energy. Each pulse of the Void Lord Agredor's power bent reality itself, warping the air into shimmering mirages of anguish. The sky churned—a clash of void-purple and sky-blue streaks slashing through the heavens like some unholy rift between hope and despair.
Juno's breath hitched as she surveyed the chaos. Selene darted across the battlefield, a mad grin plastered on her face, her crescent daggers shimmering with celestial starfire. Exos stood like an unyielding bulwark, his arsenal of telekinetic weapons forming a deadly halo around him. Yet, despite their efforts, Agredor stood impervious, his towering form exuding an aura that crushed willpower like dried leaves.
"Face me, pawns," Agredor rumbled, his voice a deep, resonant quake that seemed to bypass ears and drill directly into the soul. His void-blue armor glistened, adorned with fractals of memories stolen from countless realms. Each fragment flickered with glimpses of forgotten lives—smiles, tears, laughter—all devoured by the Void. In his right hand, he wielded a weapon that defied logic: a crystalline scythe that shifted between solid and liquid states, its blade perpetually melting and reforming in a cascade of violet energy.
Selene lunged first.
"Stellar Arcana: Constellation Shatter!" she screamed, spinning mid-air with both blades igniting in a torrent of silver starry fire. Each swing carved the constellations themselves into the battlefield—a lion, a phoenix, a dragon—all roaring to life as radiant beasts.
Agredor didn't move.
Instead, his scythe pulsed. The starry beasts froze mid-charge, their light dimming as they disintegrated into motes of violet ash. Selene stumbled but caught herself, her grin flickering into a grimace.
"Nice trick," she spat. "Let's see you do that again."
But her bravado didn't hide the terror flickering in her eyes.
Exos bellowed, his deep voice slicing through the tension.
"Arsenal of Eternity: Bladefall!"
Hundreds of ethereal swords materialized, their edges gleaming with light that refracted like a prism. With a motion of his hand, Exos hurled them at Agredor. They rained down, each blade whistling like a comet piercing the atmosphere.
This time, Agredor moved.
A wave of his scythe sent a ripple through the air, disintegrating the swords before they could touch him. Exos staggered, the strain of the failed assault evident in his labored breathing.
"Pathetic," Agredor sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "Do you not see? Your weapons, your powers—they mean nothing here. I am the Void Lord of Memories, soon to be its Herald. Every moment you cherish is fuel for my ascension."
Juno gritted her teeth, her fingers instinctively brushing against the liquid-metal watch on her wrist. She hadn't yet made her move, biding her time. Her mind raced, analyzing every failed strike. The battlefield wasn't just chaos; it was a puzzle. Each movement, each attack from Agredor had a pattern, a rhythm.
But finding it amidst the destruction was like trying to read constellations through storm clouds.
Selene lunged again, this time from behind, her daggers glowing brighter than ever. "Ecliptic Laceration!" she screamed, slashing in rapid succession. Her strikes left trails of burning starlight in their wake, each cut forming a dazzling tapestry of celestial energy.
Agredor didn't even turn. With a flick of his wrist, tendrils of void energy erupted from the ground, wrapping around Selene and slamming her into the crystalline terrain. She cried out, the sound more rage than pain, but her movements slowed. The tendrils tightened, sapping her strength.
"Selene!" Juno called out, panic edging her voice.
"Focus!" Exos growled, though his own knees buckled under the weight of Agredor's oppressive aura.
Juno's mind raced, her thoughts a chaotic whirlpool.
This isn't working. We're playing by his rules, fighting on his terms. I need… something. Anything.
Her hand tightened on her watch. The system flickered to life.
[System initializing…]
[Abilities: Chrono Pulse > Temporal Collapse – Active. Temporal Collapse – Ready. Chrono Burn Warning: Risk Level 3.]
Chronopulse? Temporal Collapse? Risk Level? What are all these and why just now? She wondered.
She sucked in a breath. Risk Level 3. That meant her next move could drain her life force beyond recovery. But what choice did she have?
Exos made one last charge, summoning a colossal warhammer that shimmered with a molten glow.
"Anvil of the Titans!" he roared, leaping high into the air. The hammer fell with a thunderous crash, sending shockwaves rippling through the battlefield.
But Agredor was faster.
With a single step, he avoided the blow, raising his scythe. The weapon's edge sliced cleanly through the hammer and continued its arc, striking Exos across the chest. The towering warrior fell, his weapons dissipating into ethereal sparks.
Juno's stomach twisted. Exos was down. Selene was pinned. And now Agredor turned his gaze on her.
"Timekeeper," he said, his voice almost amused. "You've been holding back. How quaint."
Her pulse quickened.
"No choice now," she muttered, activating her ability.
[Chrono Pulse – Activated.]
Time rippled around her. The air shimmered, and everything slowed. Agredor's looming form became a blurred shadow, his every movement a smear across reality. Juno darted forward, her watch glowing with an otherworldly light.
"Temporal Collapse!" she shouted, thrusting her hand forward. A sphere of condensed time-energy erupted, surging toward Agredor. The energy distorted everything it touched, reversing, pausing, and accelerating in chaotic waves.
But Agredor raised his scythe, slicing through the sphere like it was paper. The backlash sent Juno sprawling, the liquid-metal watch on her wrist cracking.
Pain lanced through her arm, but she forced herself to her feet. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
I'm not strong enough. Not fast enough. Not enough…
Her thoughts spiraled, but she shoved them aside.
Agredor advanced, his scythe dragging against the ground, leaving a trail of void energy that hissed and bubbled.
"Your struggle is amusing," he said, raising his weapon. "But it ends now."
Juno stood her ground, every fiber of her being screaming to run. But she didn't.
"I'm not done," she whispered, her hand trembling as she reached for her wrist again, to summon the Chronosword.
But then Agredor struck. A light of violet and blue flashed in her eyes.
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Juno's eyes snapped open, and the world she expected was gone.
No crystalline ruins. No shattered Void Lord. No Selene or Exos.
Instead, fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead. She blinked, her vision adjusting to the sterile white walls lined with motivational posters. Desks and chairs were neatly arranged in rows, and the faint scent of chalk dust hung in the air.
It was her old classroom.
She sat in the same seat she'd occupied for years in high school, near the window where the sunlight streamed in, warm and golden. The distant sounds of laughter and chatter floated in through the open window, along with the occasional birdcall. Her uniform—pressed and pristine—felt alien against her skin.
For a moment, she couldn't move.
Her breath came in shallow gasps as she looked around. There were faces she recognized—classmates she hadn't seen in seemingly years, some of whom she'd thought she'd forgotten. The girl with pigtails at the front row doodling in her notebook. The boy with glasses adjusting his frame every few seconds as he scribbled equations. The teacher at the blackboard, droning on about history.
Her hands trembled. This wasn't real. It couldn't be.
But it felt real. The hum of the air conditioning, the slight creak of the chair as she shifted, the texture of the desk under her fingertips—it was all so tangible.
She shot up from her seat. "What is this?!"