Chapter 10: My Destiny

The universe was collapsing. Stars dimmed, worlds disintegrated, and time itself unraveled. Yet Arth sat unmoving in his base, his attention fixed on a single task: finding the Time Cogs.

For countless sleepless nights, he had tried to uncover the truth about the enigmatic figure he’d encountered in another universe—a man who called himself "Ouroboros." The man was shrouded in mystery, yet he radiated an unsettling familiarity, as if he had always been a shadow in Arth’s life.

The cluttered office reflected Arth’s obsession. A massive board dominated the wall, red strings weaving a web of connections between fragmented clues. No matter how many dots he linked, the answers remained just out of reach.

He sighed, sinking into his chair. Even the Master of Time and Space was not immune to exhaustion.

Just as his eyes began to close, an urgent alert flashed across his monitor. One of the Time Cogs had become active. Arth shot upright, nearly toppling over, but his quick reflexes saved him, his feet hovering inches above the floor.

"That was close," he muttered with a wry smile, brushing off the moment.

He pulled the Cosmic Hexahedron from his pocket. The ancient device pulsed with a faint, otherworldly light, projecting a star map before him. The date on the monitor read January 21, 2025—the day of a rare planetary alignment.

When planets converged on one side of the Sun, ancient myths spoke of dimensional rifts opening, allowing passage to places beyond comprehension. For Arth, who could traverse the multiverse with ease, such events were trivial. Yet this alignment carried a deeper meaning—a scheme woven by someone from his fragmented past.

The coordinates displayed on the Hexahedron’s map shifted erratically.

"What’s going on?" Arth murmured, furrowing his brow. "Why do the locations keep changing?"

He began chasing the signals, leaping between dimensions. Each time he arrived, the destination would shift again, always just out of reach. Frustration built with every jump.

"This is starting to piss me off," he growled, jabbing the cube in irritation.

The Hexahedron glowed, its mechanisms functioning perfectly despite his annoyance. As he stared at it, his eyes drifted upward, caught by the spectacle of the alignment. The planets shimmered against the void, their radiant light illuminating the cosmos in perfect symmetry.

"Wow," Arth muttered under his breath, his frustration momentarily forgotten. "It really is beautiful."

But wonder turned to urgency as another press of the Hexahedron pulled him into a new dimension.

The new realm was unlike anything Arth had ever seen. The sky was a blank canvas of pure white, mirroring the empty ground beneath his feet. Before him stretched a sprawling maze of impossibly high hedges, their dark green leaves stark against the pale expanse.

"A maze?" Arth frowned, unimpressed.

He raised a hand, intending to teleport to the maze’s end—only to find his powers nullified.

"What the—?" His voice rose in alarm. "I can’t use my abilities here?"

Realizing he had no choice, Arth stepped into the labyrinth. As he navigated its winding paths, he discovered it was no ordinary maze. Each turn revealed flickering visions of his past.

A desperate scientist fighting to save a doomed universe.

A child born from a timeless rift, an anomaly rejected by existence itself.

A man, broken and alone, discovering an ancient artifact and using it to escape his shattered world.

The visions felt both intimate and alien, fragments of lives he could not fully recall.

"These aren’t all my memories," he murmured, pausing before a scene of himself and a woman named Kim. They stood on a shadowy train platform, joined by a blurred figure. "Or maybe they’re memories of someone I used to be."

The maze shifted again, the walls closing in. A soft, melodic voice echoed through the air, sending a chill down Arth’s spine.

"I knew you’d come back to me, my little anomaly."

Red strings erupted from the maze, binding Arth’s limbs and holding him in place. He struggled, but the bindings refused to break.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice sharp with defiance.

From the shadows, a figure emerged. She was stunning, her long silver hair cascading like moonlight over her shoulders. Crimson eyes glowed with an unsettling intensity, and her pure white dress billowed softly in the still air. A wide-brimmed sun hat completed her ethereal presence.

"You don’t recognize me?" she asked, tilting her head with feigned innocence.

Before he could answer, she leaned in and kissed him. The act was possessive, a claim on him he neither welcomed nor understood. Arth jerked away, glaring.

"I didn’t consent to you doing that!" he spat, his voice dripping with outrage.

Her lips curled into a sly smile. "Oh, Arth. Always so defiant. That’s why I adore you."

"Who are you?" he demanded again, his emerald eyes blazing.

"I," she said, stepping closer, "am Destiny. And I am also your destiny."

---

Destiny exuded control, her presence filling the space with an almost suffocating power.

"I’ve waited lifetimes for you," she said, her tone carrying both bitterness and longing. "No matter how many lives you live, no matter how many times you run, you always end up here, with me."

"Is that what this is to you?" Arth shot back. "A game where you always win? You think chaining me to your will is love? That’s not love, Destiny—it’s desperation."

Her smile faltered. "Desperation?" she echoed. "Do you know what it’s like to exist alone? To watch everyone else fulfill their destinies while the one meant for you fights against theirs? I am Destiny, Arth. And yet I cannot control you. You are the one thing that has defied me at every turn."

"Maybe you should ask yourself why," Arth countered, his voice calm but unrelenting. "It’s not because I hate you. It’s because you’ve never given me a choice. You think love is something you take, something you demand. But real love is earned, Destiny. It’s built on trust and freedom—not fear and control."

Her crimson eyes flickered, her grip faltering as the red strings binding Arth began to loosen.

"But… if I let you go," she whispered, her voice trembling, "what if you never come back?"

"Then it wouldn’t have been real," Arth said gently. "You deserve something real, Destiny. But that will only happen when you stop trying to own me and start being someone worth coming back to."

Destiny’s breath hitched, her hands trembling as tears welled in her eyes. The maze seemed to waver around them, her power fading.

"You really believe I can change?" she asked, her voice fragile and small.

"I do," Arth replied. "Because even now, you’ve already started."

Destiny’s hands fell to her sides as the red strings unraveled completely, dissipating into the void. She reached out, hesitated, then handed him the Time Cog.

"Take it," she said softly, her tone carrying both defeat and fragile hope. "And… if you come back, maybe I’ll be someone worth choosing."

Arth took the Cog, pausing to look at her. "You’re not just Destiny," he said. "You’re more than your name, more than your title. Find out who that is. If you do… I’ll come back."

Her crimson eyes widened, and for the first time in countless lifetimes, she smiled—not with triumph, but with something softer, something genuine.

"I’ll try," she whispered.

As he vanished, she stood alone in the fading maze, a tear slipping down her cheek.

"I’ll wait for you, Arth," she said. "Not to control you—but to see if I can truly be worthy of you."

Back at his base, Arth placed the Time Cog into the Cosmic Hexahedron.

"One out of seven Time Cogs obtained," the A.I. announced.

Arth leaned back, his thoughts lingering on the woman he had left behind. For the first time, he felt something new toward her: not anger, not pity—but hope.

"Maybe," he murmured to himself, "we can both break free from our destinies."

Chapter 10: My Destiny End