The fog curled around Kairen's path like it knew his name.
Boots tapping across cobbled stone, coat fluttering behind him, he ran with a rhythm that matched the ticking in his chest. Not fear-driven. Not panic.
Just purpose.
Yet, the mist moved faster.
Each alley seemed the same—each turn warped. The city shifted behind his back, bending space like a book folding shut.
Then he stopped.
Before him was a narrow stairway descending into the earth. Moss-covered. Unmarked. But at its top, carved faintly on the archway:
"He who sees with closed eyes,
shall find the forgotten light."
Kairen hesitated for a breath—then descended.
---
⬙ Beneath the Eyeless One ⬙
The stairwell opened into a crypt-like chamber. The ceiling arched low, lined with gears embedded into the stone, some still rotating without power. The walls were adorned with old parchment and rusted chains. The air... felt like memory.
And there—at the center—stood the Eyeless Statue.
Larger than the one above. This one knelt, arms open as if offering something, and in its palms... a small book.
Kairen approached.
The statue, eyeless yet staring, pulsed faintly with a golden shimmer from within its cracks. Something ancient tried to breathe beneath the stone.
The book bore no title. Its pages were blank.
Until he touched it.
Words bloomed across the first page in dark ink:
"Kitab Al-Zaman"
(The Book of Time)
And below it:
"You are not the first to seek the clock gods.
You will not be the last to forget why."
His fingers trembled slightly—not with fear, but with an echo of recognition.
Then—ink bled down the page into diagrams.
A symbol formed: a circle with thirteen ticks around it, a gear fused to a crescent moon, and an eye above.
The book flipped itself to the next page.
"To walk the Path of the Clockborne, you must collect the Six Fragments of Time.
Each hidden beneath truths buried, and lies remembered."
"The first is called: Al-Nur — The Light That Once Was."
Suddenly—BANG!
The crypt's ceiling above cracked.
Dust fell.
And then—a voice behind him:
"The Eyeless One grants sight to those who no longer need their eyes…"
Kairen spun.
A man stood in the shadows. Tall. Thin. Cloaked in bronze, with a mask shaped like an hourglass. His voice was smooth, almost kind.
"You shouldn't be here yet. Not without the mark."
Kairen didn't reply. He studied him. Calculated. Observed.
The man stepped forward. "But now that you are… we must begin your forgetting."
He raised his hand.
A flash of blinding gold—
And then—
---
🕯️ Memory Interlude: Fragment Zero
A desert. Endless. Sun burning above.
Kairen stands barefoot on hot sand. No buildings. No clocks.
Only a boy, reading under a palm tree.
The boy turns. His eyes glow with light, and he smiles faintly.
> "You said you wanted to remember God before Time forgot you."
Kairen's voice whispers back:
"Then I must forget myself first."
---
⏳ Back to the Crypt
Kairen gasped.
The man with the hourglass mask lay collapsed—his mask cracked. His hand trembled as he crawled away from Kairen.
"W-What are you?" he stammered. "You—You remembered while forgetting... That's not possible..."
Kairen stood tall. Calm again. The Kitab Al-Zaman had vanished from his hand—but something burned on his palm.
A mark.
A small glowing crescent fused with a gear.
He had been branded by time.
Kairen whispered under his breath:
"Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem..."
(In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate)
Then he turned and walked away.
He didn't look back.
The statue, still eyeless, now smiled faintly.
---
🕰️ To Be Continued…
Next: Chapter 3 – The Clockmaker's Invitation
The true history behind the "Thirteenth Hour" begins. A wax-sealed letter. A mysterious tea house called "The Last Minute." And someone who knows Kairen's real name.