Olivia's fingers traced the delicate carvings on the artifact, her breath steady as she marveled at its mystery. The object in front of her was not supposed to exist—not in any historical textbook, not in any museum collection. It was an enigma, buried beneath centuries of dust and forgotten knowledge. She had discovered it in the depths of the university's archives, a place so obscure that few even knew it existed.
The small brass pendant was etched with symbols she couldn't decipher, its surface smooth yet strangely warm to the touch. The glow of her desk lamp flickered over it as Olivia turned it over in her hand, the excitement bubbling inside her. As a historian, she lived for these moments—the thrill of unearthing the past, the discovery of something that could change everything she knew. But what she hadn't expected was the sensation that rushed through her the moment her fingers made contact with the pendant.
A warmth surged from the pendant and spread through her chest, like a pulse syncing with her heartbeat. For a split second, everything around her blurred—the room, the air, even time itself felt like it stilled. She blinked rapidly, trying to shake the dizziness, but when her vision cleared, the world around her had changed.
The modern-day office had dissolved into an entirely different landscape.
She stood on cobbled streets, the sound of horse-drawn carriages clattering through the lanes. The buildings were old, with tall windows and weathered stone facades. The scent of wood smoke filled the air, mingling with the salty tang of the sea. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked around, realizing with a jolt that she was no longer in her university office—she was in another time.
The pendant, still clutched in her hand, seemed to pulse, urging her to move. She was standing on a street in the 1800s, she realized, the era unmistakable. The people passing by were dressed in the fine garments of the Victorian age.
A wave of panic surged in her chest. How was this possible? She had just been in the present, in her office, alone. This was no dream. It was real. She wasn't sure whether to run or try to make sense of this strange, unexplainable event.
As she tried to gather her bearings, she heard a voice—a deep, urgent voice that seemed to cut through the confusion.
"Are you lost, miss?"
Olivia turned quickly, finding herself face-to-face with a man. He was tall, with dark eyes and an intense look, as though he had been watching her for a while. His clothes were not quite modern but also not entirely in line with the period around them. A slight anachronism that Olivia couldn't place. His gaze seemed to pierce through her, his posture relaxed yet alert.
"I… I don't know where I am," Olivia managed, her voice shaking slightly as she looked around. "This isn't right. This isn't possible."
The man tilted his head, observing her with curiosity. "Are you from the future, then?"
Her heart skipped a beat. She blinked, trying to understand what he meant. She could hardly believe it, but she nodded slowly. "Yes. I—this is—this isn't where I'm supposed to be."
The man's expression softened, and there was a strange knowing in his eyes, something that suggested he understood more than he was letting on. "You're not the first. And you won't be the last."
Confused and a bit unsettled, Olivia held up the pendant. "This… This brought me here. I don't understand. How do you know about it?"
The man looked at the pendant with an unreadable expression. "I know a lot about things like that. I've seen them before." He glanced at her, then back at the pendant, as if deliberating whether or not to say more. "The name's Eliot," he said, his voice cool and measured, but with an undertone of something more personal. "And I think we need to talk."
Olivia felt a strange pull toward him, a mix of curiosity and something else—something deeper, like an invisible thread that connected them across time. But before she could say anything else, the ground beneath her feet seemed to shift, and suddenly the world around her blurred again.
---
Olivia gasped as the world returned to focus. She was no longer on the cobbled streets of the Victorian era. Now, she stood in a bustling, modern-day city, the air filled with the hum of traffic and the noise of people going about their business. She could smell fresh coffee wafting from a nearby café, and for a moment, she thought she might have just imagined everything.
But then, she saw him—Eliot, standing at her side. He looked as calm as ever, despite the dramatic shift in scenery.
"Where… where are we now?" Olivia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Eliot gave her a small smile, one that seemed more knowing than comforting. "We're in your time now. 2024, to be exact. It's where I'm most comfortable. I've learned to adapt."
"Adapt?" Olivia repeated, looking around, her confusion growing. "But how? What are you talking about?"
Eliot glanced at her, the faintest flicker of sadness in his eyes. "I've been moving through time for centuries. I don't stay in one place for too long, or else things can get… complicated."
Olivia swallowed, her mind racing to catch up with the words he was saying. "Centuries? You're a time traveler?"
Eliot nodded. "In a way. I've been moving through different periods, never able to stay put. It's a curse, of sorts."
"Curse?" Olivia repeated, her pulse quickening. "But why? How do you do it?"
"I was born in the 1800s," Eliot began. "But something happened—something with time itself—and I got caught in it. Now, I jump through centuries, never able to settle. Never able to belong." His eyes met hers. "Until now."
She didn't know what to make of it. The more he spoke, the more impossible his story seemed, but there was something in his voice—something raw and real—that made her want to believe him.
"You've been traveling for hundreds of years?" she asked, trying to process it all.
"Yes," he said quietly. "And I've seen the world change. I've seen it all." He paused. "And now, I think I've found the one person who can help me break free from it."
Olivia's breath caught in her throat. "What do you mean?"
"I think you've been brought here for a reason," Eliot said, his voice low. "You have something that connects you to time itself. That artifact you found—it's not just an artifact. It's part of something bigger, something tied to an ancient prophecy."
A chill ran through Olivia. The pendant had always felt important, but she hadn't known how or why. Now, standing in front of Eliot, she was beginning to realize the weight of her discovery.
"The prophecy…" she whispered, the words almost too heavy to say. "What does it mean?"
Eliot met her gaze, his expression turning grave. "It means you have a choice to make, Olivia. A choice between love and fate. Between the life you know and the future of the world."
The realization hit her like a punch. She was standing at the precipice of something bigger than herself. She had always believed in the power of history—the power to shape the future—but this? This was beyond anything she had ever imagined.
---
Olivia's mind swirled, trying to process everything that had happened in such a short span of time. Just moments ago, she had been holding an artifact, an object so ancient and mysterious that she'd believed it could only exist in the most obscure corners of history books. And now, she was standing in the middle of her own time—2024—yet everything felt different, like she had crossed a threshold she couldn't quite return from.
And then there was Eliot.
Her thoughts kept coming back to him. A man who, by his own admission, had been alive for centuries. A man who had been trapped in time, jumping from one era to another, never staying in one place for too long. He was no longer a mere curiosity; he was a living paradox. But more than that, there was an undeniable pull between them, an invisible thread that seemed to tie their fates together.
Eliot glanced around at the bustling city streets, as if he were taking in the sights for the first time, though Olivia had no doubt he had seen countless cities throughout the years.
"This place is always so… overwhelming," he said quietly, his eyes scanning the crowd, taking in the fast-paced modern life with a mixture of wonder and wariness. "So much noise. So much change."
"Does it ever get easier?" Olivia asked, unable to stop herself from voicing the question. She was still trying to wrap her head around the enormity of his situation.
Eliot met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "No. Time moves on. People don't. Not for me. It's always the same: different faces, different eras, but the feeling remains constant. A kind of loneliness."
Olivia's heart ached at his words. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to never belong, to always be an outsider no matter the century. To live in a world that changed with each passing decade while you stayed frozen in time. But despite the gravity of his words, there was an undeniable depth to him—a vulnerability that he didn't often show. And Olivia found herself drawn to it.
"You said you think I can help you," Olivia said, breaking the silence. "Help you break free from this… curse."
Eliot didn't respond immediately. Instead, he ran a hand through his dark hair, his eyes distant. "I don't know if you can help me. But I do know that you're part of something much bigger than yourself. You and that pendant… they're connected. The artifact you found—it's not just a relic. It's a key."
"A key to what?" Olivia asked, her voice steady but her curiosity piqued.
"A key to the prophecy. The one that's been looming over time for centuries." Eliot's voice was low, as though speaking about it too loudly would invoke something dangerous. "I don't know all the details, but what I do know is this: the prophecy has a purpose. It's tied to you."
"Me?" Olivia echoed. Her mind raced. She had never been one for fantasies or myths. As a historian, she prided herself on facts, dates, and the cold, hard truth. But standing here in the presence of Eliot, a man who claimed to have traveled through time, the lines between reality and fantasy were blurring.
Eliot nodded, his expression serious. "It's complicated. You'll understand soon enough. But what I do know is that you're the key to either preserving the future or destroying it."
Her stomach twisted at his words. "I don't—how could I—"
"I don't have all the answers, Olivia," Eliot interrupted, his voice soft but firm. "But we can figure this out. Together."
The air between them seemed to thrum with something unspoken. The way he looked at her, the intensity of his gaze—it wasn't just the weight of the prophecy that made him stand so close. There was something else there, something Olivia couldn't ignore.
She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. The city around them, so full of life, felt surreal now. As if she were standing at the edge of a precipice, and everything she knew was about to change.
Before she could say anything, Eliot turned toward the street. "We should go. There are people looking for us. If the prophecy is true, they'll be after us. You're not the only one who has taken an interest in the pendant."
Jade's heart skipped a beat at the mention of danger, but she knew that running wasn't an option anymore. Not with everything at stake.
"I'm coming with you," she said, more firmly than she felt. She had no choice. Not if she wanted answers, not if she wanted to understand why the fate of time itself rested in her hands.
Eliot's lips twitched as though he was about to smile. But then his face hardened, his eyes scanning the streets. "We need to move quickly. They'll be looking for us."
As they moved, Olivia couldn't help but feel the weight of the journey they were about to embark on. A journey that would lead them through time itself, to places she could never have imagined. But more than that, it was a journey that would lead her to the truth about herself, about Eliot, and about the strange connection that seemed to bind them together across centuries.
---
The days that followed felt like a blur. Olivia had never imagined that her life, so grounded in the past, would be catapulted into the chaos of something as unthinkable as time travel. Yet, here she was—running through city streets with a man who claimed to be a time traveler, trying to make sense of a prophecy that had apparently placed her at the center of a battle she never knew existed.
Eliot was ever watchful, always scanning the environment, his eyes sharp and alert, like a man who had learned long ago not to trust anyone, anywhere, or any time. She understood that caution; after all, he had been a wanderer for centuries. But the look in his eyes when he glanced at her—one of both desperation and determination—was something else entirely.
It felt personal.
"What exactly is this prophecy?" Olivia asked one night, as they sat in a small, dimly lit cafe that seemed as out of place in the modern world as their conversation. She had learned over the past few days that Eliot was good at evading questions, good at keeping things close to the chest, but she had reached her limit.
Eliot shifted in his seat, his fingers tapping nervously against his coffee cup. He hadn't wanted to bring her into this, but now there was no choice. They were already in too deep.
"The prophecy isn't something I've wanted to talk about," he said quietly, glancing around the cafe. "It's dangerous. It's been whispered about for centuries, and every time someone tries to understand it, they end up lost in time. Either dead or… worse." He hesitated. "The artifact you found, Olivia, it's not just a time-travel key. It's tied to your bloodline."
Her breath caught in her throat. "My bloodline?"
Eliot nodded, his gaze unwavering. "The prophecy speaks of a time traveler, someone who will hold the key to the fate of all timelines. That person's bloodline is the only thing that can unlock the power needed to stop the unraveling of time itself."
"Stop the unraveling of time?" Olivia echoed, her voice shaking. "But… I don't understand. I'm just a historian. I'm not special. Why me?"
"I don't know," Eliot replied. His voice was heavy with something she couldn't quite place. "I've spent centuries trying to figure it out. What I do know is that if you don't understand the significance of your ability, time as we know it could cease to exist."
Olivia absorbed his words in stunned silence, her mind struggling to make sense of the enormity of what he was saying. But beneath her fear, there was something else—something she couldn't ignore. The more she spent time with Eliot, the more she felt it. A deep connection. A bond that seemed to transcend the vastness of time itself. She wasn't sure what it meant yet, but she knew it was real.
"Do you know who else is after the artifact?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Eliot's eyes darkened. "Yes. There are others. People who believe that by controlling the artifact, they can bend time to their will. And they'll stop at nothing to get it."
She had heard enough. The stakes were higher than she'd ever imagined. And with every passing day, it became clearer that her life, her future—perhaps even the future of the world—was tied to a single choice she had to make.
"Do you ever wonder if you're meant to be alone?" Olivia asked, her words catching him off guard.
He looked up at her, his expression shifting. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" She hesitated, unsure of how to articulate the emotions that had been swelling inside her. "You've been through so much—centuries of running, hiding. Do you ever wonder if you're meant to keep running forever? Alone?"
Eliot let out a soft laugh, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not alone," he said, though his voice seemed more like a reassurance to himself than to her.
But Olivia wasn't convinced. There was something in the way he carried himself, a deep loneliness she saw in his eyes whenever he thought no one was watching. A loneliness that mirrored her own, though she had only just begun to understand it.
They sat in silence for a long moment before Eliot spoke again, his voice quiet but resolute.
"We don't have much time. The others are getting closer, and we need to act before it's too late."
His words brought her back to the gravity of the situation, but there was something else in them—something that made her heart beat faster. The urgency, the danger—it wasn't just because of the artifact anymore. It was because of the way they were beginning to care for each other. And that made the stakes even higher.
---
Later that night, they retreated to a small apartment that Eliot had secured for them—one of many hidden refuges he had collected over the years. It wasn't much, but it felt safer than the streets. The weight of their conversations seemed to linger in the air as they sat across from each other, both exhausted from the long day of running and planning.
Eliot poured them both a glass of wine, but Olivia didn't touch hers, too lost in thought to drink. She stared at the pendant she still wore around her neck. The artifact that had somehow changed everything.
"Do you think we'll make it through this?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
Eliot set his glass down and looked at her with a mixture of tenderness and resolve. "I don't know, Olivia. But I do know this: whatever happens, we can't do it alone. And I'm not leaving you. Not this time."
His words were simple, but they carried a weight that made her heart ache. For the first time since she had discovered her ability to travel through time, Olivia felt a sense of hope. A glimmer that maybe, just maybe, she could be more than just a historian caught in the crossfire of a prophecy. Maybe she could be someone who fought for love—and for a future where they didn't have to keep running.
---
The following morning arrived with a storm.
Thunder rumbled like an omen as Olivia stood by the window, watching the rain blur the skyline of the city they were hiding in. Her thoughts were a tangle of uncertainty, fear, and something far more dangerous—hope. Eliot was in the kitchen, moving quietly, the kind of silence honed by a man used to surviving in shadows.
"Do you believe in fate?" she asked suddenly.
Eliot looked up from the coffee mug in his hands, surprise flickering in his eyes. "Fate?" He walked over, offering her the drink. "I've seen too much to believe things just happen. Everything has a cause. A ripple."
She took the cup, their fingers brushing briefly. "But don't ripples come from a single drop?"
Eliot paused. "Sometimes. And sometimes… they come from the choices we don't realize we're making."
He was talking about her now. About them.
---
They traveled that day—not through time, but across cities. Shifting locations, following fragments of information Eliot had gathered over decades. Olivia's pendant glowed faintly now, reacting more frequently. They were getting close to something.
An old contact of Eliot's had told them about a man known only as "Veritas"—a temporal defector who'd once guarded ancient artifacts like the one Olivia possessed. He was rumored to be hiding in the ruins of a pre-digital archive center in Eastern Europe. It was dangerous. Remote. Forgotten. And exactly the kind of place Eliot said they'd find the answers they needed.
They took a secure train, avoiding digital routes, hiding among workers and wanderers. Olivia changed her hair, Eliot grew quiet. She could sense the way the past was catching up to him—through the tired lines around his eyes, the way he gripped the railing when they crossed into the old borders.
When they arrived, the world seemed frozen in time. Cracked roads. Ivy crawling over once-grand stone buildings. The archive center was nothing more than a ghost—yet beneath its decay lay secrets buried deeper than time.
Veritas was waiting.
---
He wasn't what Olivia expected. Not a man of wisdom or mystery—but a scarred, haunted figure with eyes that had seen too much.
"You've come too far," he told her without pleasantries. "And you've brought him." His gaze landed on Eliot, his tone bitter. "The drifter. The exile."
Eliot stood firm. "We don't have time for your guilt, Veritas. Tell her the truth."
The truth unraveled like a tragic poem. The prophecy—The Child of the Hourglass—spoke of someone born in an unbroken lineage of time-keepers. A bloodline untouched by time's interference. Olivia was that descendant. The artifact she wore didn't just allow travel. It anchored time. Without it, time would collapse inward—entire eras erased.
But to stop the unraveling, someone had to stay outside of time forever—become a guardian between worlds.
"You mean I'd have to…" Olivia swallowed hard. "Leave this timeline? Leave him?"
Veritas nodded slowly. "You can choose love, or you can choose the world."
---
That night, Olivia stood by the cracked glass window of their hideout, heart pounding with the impossible weight of decision. Eliot came behind her, his hand resting gently on her waist.
"You heard him," she whispered. "If I do this… we can't be together."
His voice was rough. "I've lived across centuries. I've seen kingdoms rise and fall, watched the stars change. None of it ever meant anything… until you."
Tears welled in her eyes. "Then how can I let go?"
Eliot turned her to face him. "Because sometimes… the only way to save something is to set it free."
They kissed, fiercely, desperately—like time itself was slipping through their fingers. Maybe it was.
---
One Week Later
The final moment came inside a temporal chamber beneath the ruins. Veritas, Eliot, and Olivia stood before the glowing core of the artifact. It hummed with energy. Time trembled.
Olivia stepped forward, her voice steady. "I choose the world."
She turned to Eliot, heart shattering. "But know this—I'd choose you in every lifetime."
Eliot's voice broke. "And I'll find you. In every time. In every version of us."
With that, she stepped into the light.
---
"When time and love collide, the heart must choose eternity… all In the name of love."