*Chapter 25: The Child Beyond Time*
Theo had seen a thousand strange things since becoming Guardian.
But nothing unsettled him like this girl—this traveler from a timeline that shouldn't exist.
She stood in the vault room, calm, quiet, eyes glowing with that same strange *midnight blue*.
"I don't remember my real name," she said softly. "I've had many."
Lyra asked, "So what do we call you?"
The girl thought for a moment, then said:
*"Call me Nyra."*
Theo glanced at the Compass. The blue thread was pulsing faster now.
"Nyra," he said, "what do you want from us?"
She didn't answer at first. She simply walked toward the Compass, slowly, almost respectfully.
"It called me," she whispered. "For the first time… I felt something *remember me.*"
Lyra narrowed her eyes. "Why would time remember you?"
Nyra's gaze darkened. "Because I was there before it began."
Back in the Archive, the Echo of the First Second was silent for a long time after they relayed what Nyra had said.
Finally, the Echo whispered:
*"She speaks the truth."*
Theo blinked. "How can that be?"
"There was a Thread… the First Thread. But it was too unstable. It unraveled. It was erased before time itself found order. And with it, everything it touched."
"You're saying she's a survivor… from before the timeline even formed?"
"Yes," the Echo said. "And that makes her both *impossible*… and *dangerous.*"
***
Theo and Lyra sat with Nyra that evening in the top observatory, the stars spinning quietly overhead.
"I don't want to break anything," she said, watching the sky. "I just want to know who I was supposed to be."
Theo's voice was soft. "You weren't erased because of what you did, were you?"
She shook her head.
"I was erased because of what I could become."
***
Suddenly, the Compass flared.
The blue thread expanded—just for a moment—and something *stepped through.*
A shadow.
Not Cael.
Not even human.
Theo leapt to his feet. Lyra drew her blade. Nyra stood frozen.
The shape stared at them all—faceless, robed in shimmering static.
Then it spoke:
*"The timelines are not yours to rewrite."*
It raised a hand.
Reality bent.
Theo and Lyra were slammed back against the observatory wall. Wind howled through the stone. The stars above twisted into symbols—ones Theo couldn't read, but somehow *understood.*
This was a *Thread Warden.*
A protector of boundaries.
A destroyer of anomalies.
And it had come for Nyra.
She stood still, trembling—but she didn't run.
"I won't hide," she said. "Not anymore."
The Warden stepped forward.
But Theo moved between them.
"You'll have to go through me."
The Warden paused.
*"So be it."*
It lunged.
And time *fractured.*