I brushed the dust off my clothes, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. I couldn't hide the excitement upon seeing the old wizard in front of me; his imposing figure and steady gaze sparked a glimmer of hope in the middle of this desolate area.

“It’s a real relief to see a familiar face,” I said with enthusiasm. “Especially yours.”

The wizard gave me a slight smile, nodding his head. “It seems the magic of chaos has brought you to me once again, Darius,” he replied, his voice as calm as ever. His tone conveyed a serenity that helped me focus, despite everything that had happened.

“Really, you have no idea how much I appreciate it,” I continued. “This is… everything is a disaster. I don’t know how to explain it, but something went terribly wrong.”

The wizard waited in silence, giving me the space to explain myself. So, I started from the beginning.

“I was just training in the cave with Eldrek, trying to see if I could control this ability, without even imagining I might actually jump through time,” I said, remembering the wave of dizziness that overtook me at that moment.

“Everything seemed normal at first, but then I felt the chaos taking hold of me, and by the time I realized it, everything had changed. The cave was destroyed, abandoned for years… or so it seemed. And the forest, or what was left of it, was a lifeless desert.”

I felt my breath quicken, but I forced myself to calm down. “Then I reached the village, and it was in ruins. Nethria, destroyed. Traces of a battle, but no sign of life. I understand I’ve jumped through time… but I don’t know how far or what happened.”

The wizard observed me silently for a few seconds, his dark eyes seeming to analyze every word I said. Then, he tilted his head slightly and, in a calm voice, asked:

“Where do you think you’ve jumped to, Darius?”

His question caught me off guard. I hadn’t had time to think about it deeply, but the answer seemed obvious.

“To the future,” I replied, with a bit of doubt in my voice. “Everything here is destroyed. It doesn’t make sense for this to be the past...”

I paused for a second, trying to organize my thoughts.

“But I don’t know how far into the future. All I know is that things aren’t like I remember. Everything is... dead.”

The wizard nodded slowly, his gaze serious. This time he didn’t seem mysterious, but practical, almost as if he spoke from personal experience.

“Darius, time is a current we all sail through. But what matters isn’t so much where you’ve jumped, but what you choose to do now that you’re here.”

His words made me frown. It wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but there was something in what he said that made sense.

“So... this is my present?” I asked, with some frustration. “If that’s the case, what’s the point of jumping through time? I thought I came here to change something, to fix what went wrong.”

The wizard held my gaze, his expression firmer now.

“Don’t underestimate your ability. It’s powerful, more than you might realize. That power allows you to see time in a way few others can, but you must be careful. It’s easy to get carried away, thinking you can change everything at will… when, in reality, that’s not always the case.”

A chill ran through me at his words, the weight of his warning sinking in.

“Remember, each jump places you in a moment where your choices matter,” he continued, pausing to let me process.

“What you can do, Darius, is live in the now and give meaning to your actions here and now. The past and the future are relative concepts, but what you do in this moment can make all the difference.”

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I stayed silent, considering his words. This place, though devastated, was no longer simply the “future” I feared. It was where I was right now.

Finally, the wizard asked me one last question, his tone calm but with a hint of insistence:

“Darius, when you made that jump… what were you really focused on? Perhaps the answer you’re looking for lies there.”

I looked at him, surprised by the question. I hadn’t thought of that. I swallowed and replied slowly.

“My thoughts were on… someone. A love I had in my world. I lost her… and when I attempted the jump, she was the only thing I could think of.”

The wizard nodded, as if he’d expected that answer.

“Then,” he said calmly, though with a slightly more ambiguous tone, “if your mind was centered on her, it’s likely that the place or time you’ve jumped to has some connection to her. Don’t you think?”

His words hit me hard, and suddenly, everything began to make sense. Before making the jump, I hadn’t controlled where I was going, whether to the past or the future. I only thought of her, my lost love.

The truth left me breathless for a moment, and a feeling of helplessness took over me. If chaos was guided by my heart, what else hadn’t I considered?

I stayed silent, reflecting.

And what if all this only led me to more pain? What if I couldn’t handle what awaited me here?

After a moment, I looked up and asked:

“What time is this? Where have I arrived?”

The wizard looked at me seriously and replied, “You’re in the Twilight Era of the Star, Darius. Hundreds of centuries have passed since the time you were in before the jump.”

“Hundreds of centuries!” I repeated, shocked. It took me a moment to absorb the weight of his words. The future I had jumped to wasn’t just distant… it was an inconceivable time, a completely different era.

And somehow, my emotions had dragged me here. Chaos, my love, and the passage of time, all were connected in a way I couldn’t control.

Suddenly, a thought struck me, a spark of hope that made me speak without thinking. “If chaos brought me here… if, somehow, she guided my jump… could I find her in this era? Could I see her again?”

I looked at the wizard, hoping for an answer. The uncertainty was burning inside me. “Where do I start? What should I do now?”

The old man observed me calmly, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, “There are things even I couldn’t know, Darius. But I can tell you this: there will be moments when you’ll have to make difficult choices. Don’t underestimate the power of your intuition; sometimes, it’s the only guide you’ll have.”

I frowned, feeling a hint of frustration. “Oh, come on!” I said, waving my hands sarcastically. “Drop the wise old man act for a moment and be a little clearer. If you took the trouble to come all the way here, make it worthwhile, right?”

The wizard gave a small smile but didn’t change his tone. “And lastly, don’t forget that chaos can corrupt you if you overuse it. Act with caution, Darius. Not everything should be forced; some answers will reveal themselves in time.”

I knew he wouldn’t change his stance, but at least I had tried. Despite the joke, I felt that something inside me had been set in motion, something I couldn’t ignore.

“Thanks, anyway,” I added, bowing my head respectfully.

The wizard returned the gesture, and before my eyes, he began to fade slowly, as if his presence had never been real.

“Well, I wish my time travel had been as calm as his,” I muttered sarcastically, staring at the empty space where he’d been.

Casting one last glance at the place, I spoke out loud:

“Is anyone else here!?” I yelled, just to make sure no one else was around. The moment the words left my mouth, I realized that might not have been the best idea. I could have attracted some creature, and the last thing I needed was another confrontation.

“Great, real smart, Darius,” I whispered to myself, looking around nervously.

That’s when I saw them. In the distance, two harpies were flying over the ruins, their wings stretched against the gray sky. It didn’t seem like they’d seen me or that my shout had alerted them, but I had no interest in staying to find out.

Calmly, I crouched and slid between the rubble, trying to stay out of sight. As I moved toward the exit of what was once Nethria, I took one last look at the ruins, wondering if I’d ever see the village as I remembered it, full of life.

When I finally reached the outskirts, I exhaled and, with a hint of nostalgia, murmured, “…I hope the villagers didn’t suffer before all of this fell apart.”

As I walked away, the desert landscape stretched as far as I could see. The silence and vastness of the place weighed heavily, and a persistent thought kept urging me to keep going.

“If the old man’s words held any truth, maybe in this era, I’ll find a trace of Selene,” I said aloud, as if hearing it would make it more real.

I let out a sigh, a wry smile forming on my lips. “Follow my instinct, he said… most likely, my instinct will just get me dead in some dangerous place.”