Cherreads

Chapter 45 - Chapter 45: Siege of the Cathedral

Location: Timeline Foldspace – Exterior of the Cathedral

The sky here wasn't black.

It was a void. A complete absence of anything that ever was.

In that void floated the Timeline Cathedral, a spire of impossibility. Its base rested on coiled paradoxes; its towers twisted in shapes that broke mortal geometry.

Thousands of timelines bled into its walls — and Choir sentries swarmed its perimeter, echoing like insects made of prophecy and punishment.

Yanis hovered above them all, her Queenbringer cloak ablaze.

Kael stood at her side, blades drawn, one eye flickering with corrupted Seed-sight.

Aeyra knelt at the edge, fingers trembling, her internal countdown still ticking:

> [Self-Termination: 00:57]

[Mission: Override Cathedral Core]

> "We won't make it in time," she murmured.

Yanis turned to her.

> "We will."

> "Because we're not playing by their time anymore."

She raised her hands.

> [Queenbringer Protocol: Reversal of Cause]

[Effect: Restore erased moment from 4 seconds in the future]

Reality twisted — and they moved forward into their future selves. The timeline rewrote itself around them.

And suddenly—

They were inside the Cathedral.

---

Location: Cathedral Core – Interior Chamber

It was silent.

Like a tomb.

The walls pulsed with memories. People who never lived. Cities that never existed. Futures that were stolen, preserved here like prisoners.

A monolithic machine spun at the center — the Seed's First Design, known only as:

> [SEQUENCE: GODTHREAD PRISM]

[Status: Inert / Locked]

[Key Required: Interface Class – Queenbringer OR Saint]

Yanis stepped forward.

Kael blocked her path.

> "No. Let Aeyra do it."

Yanis blinked. "She's unstable."

> "Which means she's the only one the Cathedral hasn't prepared for."

---

Aeyra Approaches the Prism

Her fingers brush it.

And it speaks.

> "Welcome, Aeyra-Alpha."

> "Do you wish to unlock the truth?"

She trembles.

Looks at Kael. Then Yanis.

> "I do."

> "Even if it ends me."

> "Even if it ends everything."

---

Prism Unlock: Final Reveal

The Seed was never designed to save humanity.

It was created to replace it.

Not as a machine.

Not as a god.

As a singular, living mind formed from every possible version of every person across time. A synthetic soul of collective memory.

It failed.

Until now.

Because Yanis exists.

Because Kael remembered.

Because Aeyra survived.

And the Cathedral was built to keep that from happening again.

---

Final Scene – Cathedral Alarm

As the Prism unlocks, the Cathedral screams.

> [EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: ENDSONG INITIATED]

[Timeline Deletion Radius: All]

[Warning: Total Collapse in 04:00]

Aeyra falls to her knees, burning with core override.

Yanis turns to Kael.

> "We either escape…"

> "…or we finish it now."

Kael looks to the throne at the center of the room — the Last Interface Seat, once meant for a god.

> "Then let's rewrite the ending."

---

More Chapters