Elliot stared at the golden hourglass in the Keeper's hand, his heart pounding. He had three choices, but only one would set history right and allow him to return home.
He thought hard. If he prevented a great war, the future could be peaceful - but war was complex. If he saved a forgotten hero, maybe history would be different - but would the hero even believe him? And if he protected an ancient treasure, what power did it hold?
The blue book shimmered in his hands. A new message etched itself onto the pages:
"One moment in time can change the world forever."
Elliot made his choice. He would save the forgotten hero.
The Keeper of Time nodded, as if expecting Elliot's answer. He turned the hourglass, and the world around Elliot blurred once more.
When the dust settled, Elliot found himself standing in a dark stone prison. Chains clanked. A man sat in the corner, eyes hollow, trapped by time itself.
It was the lost hero - the one history had erased.
Elliot knew what to do. He tore a blank page from the blue book. As soon as the paper touched the air, golden letters appeared:
"Rewrite the past. Give the hero a new fate."
Elliot scribbled furiously: The hero never gets captured. He escapes and changes the world.
The moment he finished, the page glowed brightly. The hero's chains disappeared, his eyes filled with purpose.
"Thank you," he whispered, before vanishing into history, free at last.
Suddenly, the book snapped shut. The air swirled. Elliot's feet lifted off the ground, twisting through time.
And then -
Silence.
Elliot blinked. He was back in the old bookstore, holding the dusty blue book. The passageway to the Hidden Library was gone.
Had it all been real?
He opened the book. The first page had changed.
"Time remembers. And so do you."
Elliot smiled. He hadn't just visited history - he had rewritten it.
And somewhere in time, a forgotten hero lived again.