Chapter 18: The Unwritten Path

When Elliot opened his eyes, he was standing in the center of a vast library of time. Infinite shelves rose into the clouds, each one lined with glowing hourglasses. They floated slightly off the shelves, spinning slowly, as if each represented a life in motion. Some had grains of sand frozen at the top. Others had sand flowing backward.

“Welcome,” said a familiar voice.

Elliot spun to see the Custodian, the being made of smoke, glass, and shifting reflections. Its jagged smile curved wider.

“I thought you didn’t intervene,” Elliot said, his voice sharp with distrust.

“We don’t,” the Custodian replied, floating closer. “But you are no longer a 'thread' in the weave. You have become something more... and something less.” It gestured toward the shelves. “These are the fates of every being bound by time. Every mortal thread. But look around, little anomaly—do you see your hourglass here?”

Elliot scanned the shelves, heart pounding. He moved from shelf to shelf, eyes darting from one hourglass to the next. Thousands. Millions. But his name, his face—none of them belonged to him.

“I don't exist anymore,” Elliot muttered.

“Not as you were,” the Custodian corrected, tilting its head. “The moment you activated your stabilizer on yourself, you severed your tether to time. No past. No future. You are a paradox now. Untouchable. Unwritten.”

Elliot clenched his fists, his mind racing. If I’m outside the weave, then that means…

“I can change things,” he said.

“Perhaps,” the Custodian said, circling him. “But changing the weave is not without cost. Remove one thread, and the whole tapestry unravels.”

Elliot stared at his hands, watching them flicker like static on a broken TV screen. No past, no future. Only now.

“Take me back,” he said, eyes sharp with resolve.

“Back where?” the Custodian asked. “To which version of you? The student? The soldier? The one still bound by doubt?”

“No,” Elliot said, turning to face it. His eyes, once tired and frantic, now gleamed with certainty. “Take me to the moment it all started. The moment I became you.”

The Custodian’s grin widened. “Careful, little anomaly. You might not like what you see.”

“Yeah, well,” Elliot said, gripping his stabilizer, sparks dancing along its edge. “I’ve been tired of watching anyway.”

pls ignore

কিন্তু এই সময়ে আমরা আমাদের দেশে ফিরে যাচ্ছে যে বলছো কখন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে করেন কি না জানি কত কি করে সম্ভব হবে বলে মনে

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