AURA OF THE SEVEN 🌪️
Chapter 12: Frozen Time — Echoes of the Ancestors ⏳🏛️
Akira's new power and the fragments of memory had stirred a storm in the hearts of the Seven. They were now moving toward 'Ming-Zhu'—the City of Stillness. Here, no wind blew, and no leaves fell. In this place, time had been frozen for centuries.
⏳ The Threshold of Time
As they stepped across the city's border, everything turned gray. Colors bled away. Before them stood a colossal palace, surrounded by thousands of people frozen like statues—as if someone had paused their lives in a single heartbeat.
"The energy here is heavy," Seiya (🌊) whispered. "Time feels like a swamp."
🏺 The Ancestral Spirits
In the main hall of the palace stood seven magnificent thrones. As the Seven Guardians approached, the three stones in their possession (Fire, Shadow, and Wind) began to pulse violently.
Suddenly, blue light flickered upon the thrones, and seven silhouettes manifested. These were the Original Founders of the Seven Cities.
The strongest silhouette in the center, who bore a striking resemblance to Ryun, stood up. "So... at last, the Seven are one again."
⚔️ The Bitter Draught of Truth
Ryun stepped forward, his voice trembling with anger. "We were told you were all enemies! We were raised to hate each other!"
The ancestors laughed, but it was a sound heavy with sorrow. "The hatred was not sown by us, but by the 'Void Emperor.' He planted misunderstandings among us so that the seven stones would be scattered. For when these stones are apart, the world is weak. But when they unite... they possess the power to imprison the Emperor forever."
🛡️ The Fourth Stone: 'The Time Stone'
The fourth stone—the Time Stone—lay upon a central pedestal. It glowed with a shimmering golden hue.
"To take this, you must sacrifice your own future," the ancestors warned. "Whoever touches this stone may lose many years of their life."
Without a moment's hesitation, Yuna (❄️) stepped forward. "I have always lived in the cold and silence of time. If my time can give others a future, I accept."
As Yuna touched the stone, the 'time' within the palace began to accelerate wildly. The statues turned to dust and the palace walls began to crumble. Yuna's hair turned silver-white, but her aura expanded until she looked like a celestial goddess.
🌑 The Emperor's Reach
Suddenly, the roof of the palace was torn asunder. This time, it wasn't a messenger. The actual hand of the Void Emperor descended from the clouds—a limb large enough to crush the entire city.
"NOT YET!" Yuna screamed. She channeled the full power of the Time Stone.
"Chronos Shield: Time Freeze!" ⏳❄️🛡️
The Emperor's hand froze mid-air. The crumbling of the city halted. Yuna had paused the very moment of their destruction.
"Run, now!" Yuna commanded her companions. "I cannot hold this for long!"
🌪️ Chapter Epilogue
"Yuna gambled her own youth to save them all.
They now possessed four stones, but the Emperor was fully awake.
The history of the Seven Cities had been rewritten; they were no longer fugitives, but the 'Heirs of History.'
Next Stop: 'The Abyss of Tears'—where the fifth stone lies hidden." ⏳💎🌪️