"Poor kid." I thought to myself. I knew that Devian had been trying to thank Teo and I for saving his life. But if you want the whole truth? Well, it had been quite the opposite. You see, we, well, I had actually been trying to kill him.
Now hold up! Before you get all defensive, let me explain! The whole thing had actually been Devian's idea. 🤯 I know, mind blowing, right!? Well anyway, now I expect you all want me to tell you how the heck this all happened. And even if you don't, I am still going to tell, so sit back and relax!
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FLASH BACK : One month ago
"Hey Park?" It was early in the morning when I heard the nickname that Devian had given to me. I sat up quickly in my bed.
"What the heck, Dev!? Don't you know what time it is?" I looked at my alarm clock, intending to educate Devian on when not to wake people up. However, I suddenly made a chilling realization... the clock read "00:00." Well that wasn't normal.
I heard Devian sigh. "That's just it, Parker." Dev began, "I don't know the time." His voice had a hint of fright and confusion in it. "I-I think time is gone!"
I jumped out of bed, my heart beat in my throat. "Don't be ridiculous! Time can't just get up and walk away from the clocks, Devian!" Although what I had said was actually meant to be a chastising statement, I could hear the fear and uncertainty in my voice.
"I thought so too." Devian continued, as I walked out of the bedroom, " but somehow... somehow, the time-strands got knocked out of place! I saw where the strands are off, and I tried to fix them, but there seems to be someone... some... one..." I glanced over at Devian as his voice trailed off. That's when I
knew that we were in danger.
Devian, who had just been rambling, was now staring straight ahead. Keeper had told us to NEVER touch Devian when he was in this state. I had always wondered why. Instead, I held my breath as I waited for Devian to start talking.
About thirty seconds later, Devian gasped, and started to reach for nothing in general. His eyes were blinking too fast, as tears started to fall. At this point,
I figured I could talk to him: "Dev?" I called out softly. Devian sank to his knees and turned to me, recognizing my voice. "P-Parker?"
"Yeah?" For some reason, I felt that our world was about to change.
"Parker... if... I ask you to do me a favor..." Devian paused, looking directly at me. I had a bad feeling about this. "Parker. Promise me that you will do this favor, because the world will depend on it."
"Devian, what are you talking about? If this "favor" is anything that endangers your life... "Parker, I need you to kill me."
"WHAT!!?" I felt ice creeping into my blood. Part of me couldn't process what my best friend had just suggested. "In case you didn't know, killing you WILL endanger your life!"
"Listen to me, Parker! As we speak, people are dying!"
Although I could tell that Devian was serious, I didn't want to believe it. "I-I don't understand..."
Devian offered a weak smile. "You and I both know that you understand, Park. Salis is back."
My jaw dropped. "No way! We took care of him!"
"I thought so, but he IS back. And... he's going to be coming for us."
"Okay, but there has to be a way that you don't have to... you know... die." My heart sank as I watched Devian shake his head.
"I'm afraid not, Parker."
I took a deep breath. I needed to think this over.
Salis had been an enemy to the Time Keepers for centuries, before Devian had removed his time-strand from the history of time. The battle had been bloody, and not a single time keeper was without a scar.
"Parker?" Devian's voice snapped me back to reality, "I need you to tell Mackie to take us to one month from now. From there, you need to kill me."
"Dev..."
"Park, please." Devian looked at me, pleadingly, then continued," if you don't kill the future me, Salis will not hesitate to take advantage of not only my power, but the other time keepers as well. However, if we can lead Salis to the future with us, we can trap him there once I'm dead."
"I guess..." I was in no way in agreement with Dev's plan. "It's risky, Devian. The Last Time Keeper to try this, didn't make it. Are you sure this is the only way we can catch him again?"
"It is." Devian confirmed.
I looked at my friend. I could tell he was sad and scared, and that made me scared. However, I realized that Devian would need my support. "Fine, Dev. I'll do it. But please, please be careful. Okay?"
Devian nodded. He reached up, and undid his gothic watch that was dangling from around his neck. After that, he reached out and pulled a golden time-strand out of thin air. He then placed the strand inside of the watch, and handed it to me.
"Here." Devian said, "when the time is right, you'll know what to do. Anyways, we need to do this soon." I nodded.
I got up to leave, but as I did, I reached over, and hugged Devian, who looked surprised, but hugged back.
As I left Devian, my mind kept praying that we would all make it out alive.
It only took an hour after that, to get the other Time Keepers on board. Mackie however, was not too happy. She looked like she wanted to feed me to tigers or something. Teo and Leo, the twins, looked more sad than I felt.
It was at that moment, when I was looking at my three friends, and thinking about how scared Dev had seemed, that I realized that I couldn't go through with Devian's plan... not like this. Maybe if I could take their memory of Devian, and Devian's memories of us... maybe then, it wouldn't be too hard? If only I had known how wrong my idea was. If only I had known that I would save Devian, just to have him die anyway... maybe if I had known what the future held, just like Devian, I would have listened to Devian's wish...
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PRESENT DAY
Well, we're back in the present. I hope that by explaining how this all got started, you won't see me as a total jerk, or villain who is hiding the truth from everyone, and is bent on destroying a helpless kid whose memory is lost.