The Boy Who Burned the Heavens

"You rewrote time. Now Time will rewrite you."

---

⏳ [Scene: The Inkdeep Aftermath – Flamechron's Toll]

Riven stood alone.

The air around him still shimmered with residue — the smoke of time rewritten.

Mirael and Lyara watched from a distance, wary, breathless.

> "He's glowing," Mirael whispered.

> "No… he's ticking," Lyara corrected.

Sure enough, every time Riven blinked, a faint clock hand turned behind his pupils.

He'd touched something mortals were never meant to touch.

And now?

It was touching back.

---

🕰 [Sudden Shift – Time Slows]

A gust of wind moved.

Then reversed.

Then froze.

And from that silence… they arrived.

---

🧍‍♂️🧍‍♀️🧍 The Librarians of Last Time

Three beings.

Tall. Pale. Genderless.

Eyes were empty sundials.

Robes were made of expired calendars.

Each step echoed like centuries falling off the shelf.

> "You have committed a Level 4 Rewrite," the first spoke, voice like flipping pages.

> "Flamechron Pen usage is restricted to timelines with divine oversight."

"You. Are. Unauthorized."

Riven didn't blink.

> "And yet… I rewrote it anyway."

---

🔁 Penalty Imposed – The Temporal Trial

> "As per the Pact of Paragraphs," the second librarian continued,

"You must now face your own Temporal Debt."

A glowing thread emerged from Riven's chest.

It wrapped around his wrist.

> "What is this?" Lyara shouted, stepping forward.

The third librarian raised a hand.

> "This thread represents every second stolen by the rewrite.

You must either pay it back… or lose something of equal narrative weight."

> "What do you demand?" Riven growled.

> "A duel. Not of blades.

But of moments."

---

🎴 Duel of Moments – Riven vs. Time Librarian: Archivist Vhel

Riven found himself surrounded.

Not by soldiers.

But by memories.

Each moment flickered like a card:

His first flame

Lyara's tear-streaked smile

The moment he chose vengeance

The night Selene kissed his fingers and walked away

Archivist Vhel stepped forward.

> "Choose three. And defend them.

If you fail… we erase them permanently.

From your memory.

From existence.

From the world."

Riven's fists clenched.

> "If you want to erase my life, then try."

"But you'll burn every second before you touch what made me."

---

🃏 Moment 1: The Choice of Vengeance

The moment he stood atop Caelen's pyre and chose to burn his own fate.

A younger Riven — trembling. But fire in his veins.

Vhel attacked.

Manifesting regret echoes

Hurling "What if?" shadows

Taunting with "You were better before the fire…"

Riven responded:

> "Maybe.

But I'd rather be broken and burning…

Than whole and hollow."

He defended the moment with Ashbrand Quill, striking through illusion with purpose.

The memory stood.

---

🃏 Moment 2: Lyara's First Prophecy

A soft scene.

Rain falling.

Lyara's cursed eyes glowing faintly.

She whispered:

> "You'll destroy everything…

But rebuild something truer."

Vhel appeared behind her, ready to erase her fate.

Riven roared:

> "You don't get to erase love.

Even if it was a whisper."

He drew a circle of fire around the memory, forging a Timefont seal.

> 🔥 Time Lock Engaged: Memory protected for one arc.

Second memory saved.

---

🃏 Moment 3: Selene's Departure

The hardest one.

The moment Selene walked away — cloak trailing, eyes wet, lips sealed.

Vhel attacked fast. Ruthless. Sharp.

> "This scene is filled with weakness."

"Regret. Hesitation. Pain."

"Erase it."

But Riven whispered:

> "No.

It was the first time I knew loss.

And without loss, love means nothing."

He didn't defend with flame.

He just… stood.

Let the moment happen.

Let the pain stay.

And smiled.

> "Erase it.

And I'll just remember it again.

Because scars rewrite themselves."

Third memory held.

---

✅ Trial Passed – Temporal Debt Reduced

The thread unraveled.

And snapped.

Riven exhaled.

His clock eyes faded.

The Librarians stared, unreadable.

Then Vhel nodded.

> "Unorthodox. Reckless. Illogical."

> "Approved."

They turned.

And vanished into static.

Leaving behind only one item:

A bookmark made of dying starlight.

> 📖 Artifact: Bookmark of Borrowed Time

Use once to "pause" death for 5 seconds and act freely, even with a fatal wound.

---

🕯 Final Scene – Scriptorium Council Watches

The god-scribes seethed.

> "They let him live?!"

One slammed his inkwell.

> "He rewrote time… and didn't pay the price."

But the First God paused.

And whispered:

> "No.

He paid something more dangerous than life…"

> "…He remembered."

---