Guardian of Time

Isaac Cole stood at the corner of West 47th and Elm, waiting for the traffic light to change. It had been another monotonous day at work, the same as the one before it, and likely, the same as the one that would follow. He worked as an analyst at Greystone Financial, crunching numbers and generating reports that hardly anyone looked at. His life was like clockwork: rigid, predictable, and unsatisfying.

The light changed, and Isaac started across the street, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his coat. It was a cool autumn evening, and the air carried the scent of wet leaves. The streetlights above flickered as a distant thunderstorm rumbled in the horizon, but Isaac hardly noticed. He was too lost in thought, contemplating the endless loop of his life.

His small apartment on the edge of the city waited for him, as it always did. Inside, there would be no one. No messages, no calls. Just the cold comfort of routine.

The pavement underfoot vibrated ever so slightly, but this time it wasn't thunder. It was something else, something much closer. Isaac stopped mid-stride, his brow furrowing as a soft hum filled the air. The vibrations grew, causing the streetlights to flicker more intensely.

"What the hell?" he muttered, glancing around.

Others on the street hadn't noticed, their attention fixed on their phones or conversations. But Isaac could feel it, a faint pulse that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Without warning, the sky exploded with light.

A brilliant flash, white and blinding, descended from above. It struck the street with a force that rattled the very foundation of the earth. Cars screeched to a halt. Pedestrians screamed. But Isaac, standing at the center of it all, didn't have time to react. The light engulfed him, and in an instant, the world around him vanished.

---

Isaac opened his eyes to an all-encompassing blackness. He floated in an endless void, weightless, formless, with no sense of up or down. Panic began to set in as he tried to understand what had happened. His heart raced, yet there was no sound of it in his ears.

Was he dead? Was this some kind of afterlife?

He reached out, trying to touch something, but his hands grasped nothing. The void was empty, devoid of anything familiar: no time, no space, just infinite stillness.

Just as the fear began to take hold, a voice echoed through the silence.

"Isaac Cole."

It wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable weight. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, deep and ancient. Isaac looked around, though there was nothing to see.

"Who's there?" Isaac called out, his voice trembling.

"You are here for a reason," the voice continued, ignoring his question. "You have been chosen."

Isaac swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Chosen? For what?"

A figure materialized before him, seemingly forming out of the darkness. It was tall, cloaked in shadows, but its outline was unmistakable: a human shape, though its features were obscured. The only thing Isaac could make out clearly was a pair of glowing eyes, pale and ageless.

"I am Kronos," the figure said, its voice low and resonant. "I am the guardian of time, the keeper of all that has been and all that will be. And now, I offer you a choice."

Isaac blinked, his mind reeling. This had to be some kind of dream. None of this could be real.

"What kind of choice?" he asked, hesitantly.

Kronos stepped closer, though his movement made no sound in the void. "The balance of time must be maintained. But I grow weary. My time as guardian is coming to an end. You, Isaac, have been chosen to take my place."

Isaac stared, the absurdity of it all hitting him like a wave. "Me? Why me?"

"Why not you?" Kronos countered, his glowing eyes narrowing. "Your life, Isaac, has been lived by the clock. You understand routine, the passage of moments. But now, you are offered something far greater than the mundane. A chance to wield the power of time itself."

Isaac's heart pounded in his chest. "I don't... I don't understand. What would I have to do?"

"You would become the Master of Time," Kronos said, his voice echoing like distant thunder. "To oversee its flow, to protect it from those who would distort it. To be the one constant in a universe that is always changing."

Isaac took a shaky breath. It was too much to comprehend, too impossible to believe. But something inside him stirred, a deep yearning he had never acknowledged before. His entire life had been spent on the outside, watching others move forward while he remained stagnant, stuck in his own endless loop of routine.

"What if I say no?" Isaac asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Kronos remained silent for a long moment. Then, softly, he said, "You can return to your life as it was. The endless days. The same routine. And I will find another."

Isaac felt a strange tug in his chest. The thought of returning to that life, that monotony, felt like a slow death. But the alternative? To become the guardian of time? It was unimaginable.

Kronos extended a hand, his shadowy form looming larger in the dark void. "Make your choice, Isaac Cole. But choose wisely, for once you accept, there is no turning back."

Isaac stared at the hand, his mind racing. His life had always felt so small, so inconsequential. But now, standing on the precipice of something so vast, so incomprehensible, he felt a surge of something unexpected.

Hope.

With a deep breath, Isaac reached out and took Kronos' hand.

---

The world around him shifted, the darkness folding away like a veil being lifted. Colors exploded into view: golden light, shimmering energy, and swirling stars. Isaac stood at the center of it all, feeling the weight of time itself settle on his shoulders.

Kronos watched him, the glowing eyes now filled with something resembling approval. "You are now the Guardian of Time, Isaac Cole. Use this power wisely. Your choices will shape not only your world, but all worlds."

And with that, Kronos began to fade, his form dissolving into the fabric of time itself, leaving Isaac alone in the swirling vortex of existence.

Isaac looked down at his hands. They felt... different. The power of time surged within him, a limitless force waiting to be unleashed. But with that power came a great responsibility.

The world was his to protect, and Isaac knew: nothing would ever be the same again.