*Chapter 24: The Thread That Shouldn't Exist*
It began with a whisper.
Theo had just finished training the new recruits—Lio, Kira, and the quiet one named Emryn—when he heard it. A soft voice, barely louder than wind through the pages of an old book.
It came from the Compass.
Again.
*"He's not gone."*
Theo froze.
He stared at the Heart Compass, which now rested inside the Vault of Threads, beneath protective glass. Its golden thread pulsed faintly—but something was different.
It was humming.
He called for Lyra.
When she arrived, she didn't speak. Just stared.
The Compass's glow… was shifting.
No longer golden.
But *blue.*
And not just any blue. The deep blue of midnight.
"Is that a new thread?" Lyra asked, her voice tight.
Theo stepped closer. "It shouldn't be possible."
She shook her head. "The Archive said only the Guardian can unlock a new path."
Theo reached out.
The Compass snapped open.
Inside, coiled next to the golden strand that sealed Cael's story, was a new thread.
Thin. Glowing blue.
And completely unfamiliar.
Not Cael's.
Not Mara's.
Not his.
"What is this?" Lyra whispered.
Theo closed his eyes.
And for just a second… he saw something.
Not a face.
Not a place.
A shadow.
Watching him.
And it smiled.
***
Back in the Archive, panic rose quickly.
The Echo of the First Second confirmed the fear:
*"A thread outside the timeline has been activated."*
That had never happened before.
Ever.
The blue thread was from a moment that didn't exist in any past, present, or potential future.
A thread… *that should've been impossible.*
Theo stared at the map of time hanging inside the Vault.
"Could it be from another world?" he asked.
The Echo answered:
*"Not another world. Another origin."*
***
That night, Theo sat in the Tower's observatory, the Compass in his hand.
The blue thread pulsed quietly, as if waiting.
He thought of Cael. Of Mara. Of the battles they'd survived.
But this felt different.
This didn't feel like war.
It felt like a *warning.*
He finally whispered, "What are you?"
The thread answered.
Not in words.
But in a *vision*.
A place where *time had never begun.*
A void.
And within it… a child.
Alone.
Eyes glowing blue.
Looking straight at him.
Lyra burst into the room the next morning, holding a scroll from the outer village. "Theo," she said breathlessly. "Someone's arrived at the border. They knew your name."
He stood, heart already pounding. "What do they want?"
"They say they're from… *before.*"
Before what?
"Bring them in," Theo said.
***
The traveler was wrapped in cloth that shimmered like static. Her eyes were wide, as if she was seeing color for the first time.
"I followed the thread," she said. "I thought I was the only one."
Theo frowned. "Only one what?"
She met his eyes.
*"I'm not from your timeline. I'm from the *First Thread.* The one that broke… before the universe even began."*
Lyra staggered. "That's not possible."
"It shouldn't be," the girl said. "But something's changed. One of your own… has called to it."
Theo's blood ran cold.
The blue thread.
He asked, "What does it mean?"
She stepped closer. "It means something is waking up. Something older than time. And it remembers you.