Chapter Nine: The Maze of Time
This dimension was unlike any before.
The ground beneath Rayan's feet didn't feel solid—it pulsed like waves of light. The sky above him wasn't blue or gray; it constantly shifted from daylight to twilight, to night, and back again, never settling. The sounds around him weren't wind, birds, or silence—they were beats, like the ticking of colossal clocks carved into the bones of the world.
"Is this… the Dimension of Time?" he whispered.
The voice of the Gate Spirit answered—not from the outside this time, but from within, like an echo of thought:
"Time is not a line here… but a maze. Those who enter it without clarity may never find their way out."
He took a deep breath. He had learned nothing here was random. Just as he had faced his fears and pain, he would now have to face time itself. But how does one confront something that cannot be held… or seen?
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He stepped forward, finding a path made of transparent stones. On each stone, symbols were etched in a language he had never seen before—yet somehow, he understood.
They were dates.
March 11, 2010 — the day he lost his father.
June 19, 2014 — the day his best friend betrayed him.
December 7, 2022 — the day he first crossed into another dimension.
The path was telling the story of his life.
But when he turned around, he saw no footsteps behind him.
"In this realm, there is no fixed past… and no guaranteed future," said the voice.
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Suddenly, the ground shattered into shards of light, and Rayan found himself in a dark room with a massive wall clock. Its hands spun erratically. Then—everything stopped.
A deep voice echoed—not the Gate Spirit, but something else. Something older.
"Who are you… to think you can unravel the order of time?"
A figure emerged—a being of shifting shadows, wrapped in spirals of numbers and symbols, moving faster than the eye could follow.
"I am Rayan." His voice was firm.
The entity laughed:
"Rayan? Names are meaningless here. Only your choices remain."
It reached out and touched the air—and Rayan was thrown into a vortex of visions.
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He saw himself as a child. Then as a young man. Then an old man. Then an infant again.
He saw lives he had never lived. Faces he had never seen.
He fell in love—then lost it.
He won wars—then was assassinated.
He became a king—then a beggar.
Every possible version of his life unraveled before him.
And then… silence.
He was back in the room.
The figure asked:
"Now that you've seen your deaths, your failures, your regrets… do you still wish to continue?"
Rayan paused. The pain had been real. But he answered:
"Yes. I did not begin this journey to see it repeat itself—I came to change who I am."
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The figure laughed, then vanished.
Before him stood an old wooden door. Hanging above it, a clock ticked once every ten seconds.
He stepped through.
And found himself… on a street.
His childhood street.
At the end of it—a six-year-old version of himself, crying, holding a broken toy.
He approached the child.
"Do you remember me?" he asked.
The boy looked up.
"Why did you leave me alone?"
Rayan sat down, eyes stinging.
"Because I didn't know how to come back."
The boy extended his hand.
"Will you take me with you?"
Rayan took his hand.
And suddenly—everything changed again. He stood in the middle of a vast desert under a pitch-black sky.
In the center: a gigantic hourglass, taller than the mountains. The sand inside it flowed upward.
The Gate Spirit whispered:
"This is the heart of the Time Dimension. Those who reach it are offered one chance—to relive a moment from their past. But… at a price."
Rayan asked: "What's the price?"
"You must forget another moment… forever."
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He thought deeply.
Which moment would he reclaim?
He remembered the night he abandoned his friend Salim, too afraid to fight back.
"I want to go back to that night."
The hourglass turned. In a flash, Rayan stood in the alley once more, and Salim screamed:
"Rayan! Help me!"
This time—he ran toward him.
He fought, bled, got struck—but he grabbed Salim's hand and pulled him from the jaws of death.
He returned… to the Time Dimension.
The Gate Spirit said:
"You have changed a past. But in return… a memory has been lost."
Rayan gasped. He tried to remember his father's name… but it was gone.
He fell to his knees, tears falling.
"No… Father!"
"Time does not give… without taking," said the voice.
He clenched his fists… then rose again.
"Even if I forget names… I will not forget who I've become."
A tunnel of light opened.
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The Gate Spirit spoke:
"You have passed the Maze of Time, Rayan. The deeper realms await—where logic fails… and truth becomes your only anchor."
Despite the pain, Rayan smiled.
"I'm ready."
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End of Chapter Nine