The Path of Time ★ [3] ✔ (EDITING)

Omega Chronos

⏳ --

Omega Chronos was definitely different from the last time was there. It was worse. So much worse.

"Oh, my God..." I whispered, my voice shaking.

We stepped out of the portal to a barren wasteland under a darkish blue nebula infused dark sky. Everything around me was dead. It was as if a plague had ripped through the land, killing everything it touched.

It shattered my heart. My home. The place I thought was always going to be a safe place...was safe no longer. It was no longer a safe haven. It was a place of savagery and danger, and the aura of enslavement was strong like the tang of blood hanging on the air. It was something I never thought the Chronos would turn into.

"This place doesn't live up to its name," Tony remarked quietly.

"It has not always been like this," Astra replied, kicking a burnt rock nearby. "Eon has corrupted it."

But why? That was a question that lingered. If he wanted to enslave time, to rule every galaxy and period in existence, he needed the Chronos. It was the centre of all power. It was like the generator that ran the power in a building. If the Chronos was lost, so was our powers. So was our lives. And time would collapse. Why would Eon want to destroy his most important asset? It didn't make any sense!

I watched Astra stray from the group. I noticed a camp tucked below a hill, pushed back to a cliff, far ahead in her direction. I followed her with Steve and the others following behind.

It had been destroyed. Tents were in tatters. Small and ominous flames flickered. Belongings and clothes were scattered throughout the ruined camp. Smoke drifted off the smouldering ground. It all looked fresh. Whatever happened here had happened recently.

"What happened here?" Steve asked, investigating a nearby tent.

"We were ambushed," Astra replied. "Eon sent soldiers to neutralize us."

"Where is everyone?" Sam wondered as he examined a cluster of footprints in the middle of the camp.

"The camp was evacuated to another. The able-bodied remained to fight." She sighed. "We lost many for a useless skirmish."