Iridial hovered in the astral plane, forwarding through the timelines of the universe. He looked up into the face of a fellow time guardian who had just settled next to him.

“Bromio! I hope you are well.”

Bromio’s misty figure bowed in a nod. They sat in silence for a few moments. In the astral plane, moments are years in human time. Millennia feel like minutes to Iridial. Immortality warps your perception of time. Or makes you experience it fully.

Iridial conjured a bubble and gestured for Bromio to look into the iridescent surface. In a slow and calm movement, Bromio leaned forward to look through the round window into a different time.

Girls played with a kitten, its fluffy tail tickling their small hands as they held it. The girls’ laughter was light and warm, like distant wind chimes in a summer breeze.

“What do you think?” Iridial studied Bromio’s dark hood, his insides brimming with anticipation. For a moment, he stopped and relished the feeling. Emotions visited him so seldom these days.

“It is… a respectable moment.” Bromio’s voice was emotionless.

“I see… I heard you are currently more interested in silences than in laughter.” Iridial popped his bubble. “Could you show me one?”

Bromio paused again. Then a sigh, like air flowing through an organ pipe. Bromio spun open a bubble. Iridial leaned closer and looked inside. The aura of the moment was cold. The room was bare concrete. A single person sat on the rough stone floor. Iridial soaked in the silence. It was empty—not dead, but lifeless. There were no echoes of voices, no heartbeats, no breaths, no movements. No rustling of leaves, no splashing of waves, no whispering wind. The emptiness was hungry; it drained any life from the spectator to fill its void.

Iridial pulled his head out of the bubble, his ears still ringing, white artifacts floating on his corneas. He gasped.

“What is this? Where is this? When is this?”

Bromio popped the bubble.

“The end of the world.”