Elias knew that helping a Glitch was against the Laws of Chronos, but the Weaver saw a loneliness in Lyra that mirrored his own. Together, they began a journey through the "In-Between"—the chaotic gaps between the broken fragments of Aethelgard.
They crossed the Sea of Forgotten Sighs, where the water was made of words people intended to say but never did. They climbed the Mountains of Memory, where the rocks changed shape based on what you were thinking about. Throughout the journey, Elias realized that the world hadn't broken by accident. It had been broken on purpose. The "Great Clockwork" at the center of existence had been stopped by someone who wanted to live in a single happy moment forever.