Kael stood before the portal for hours.
The hooded figure stared back.
No words.
No hostility.
But with a weight that seemed to span centuries.
The disc trembled in his hand:
"Signature match: Kael.
Evolutionary deviation: 74%.
Identity collapse risk: high."
Kael understood:
this being was him —
but twisted by too much time without purpose, without connection, without memory of what it meant to be the Pedra.
---
He crossed.
The passage was thick, dark, as if time itself tried to hold him back.
On the other side… a hollow world.
Desolate, cold, colorless.
The reflection was waiting.
— So you came — the other Kael said, at last.
— I came to end this — Kael replied.
Silence. Then:
— I am you… the one who grew tired of obeying.
Who saw time become a trap.
Who realized the Pedra isn't a bridge.
It's a cage.
Kael stepped closer.
— You forgot the reason.
You forgot who we are:
keepers of time, not its masters.
---
The confrontation was not physical.
It was one of conscience.
Their memories collided.
Each saw the other's journey.
The pain. The solitude. The decisions.
And then… the other Kael smiled. For the first time in centuries.
— Maybe… it's time to forget.
And begin again.
He handed Kael a fragment of a disc —
all that remained of his original essence.
And vanished.
---
Kael returned to the Base.
Alone.
But whole.
In the communication chamber, he left one final message to LIGA:
"I am no longer the Pedra.
I am soil.
And where there is soil… there will be a path."
---
The mission was over.
But time...
Time had only changed its course.
And the next journey… was about to begin.