As always, what one would call a disaster started as a normal day.
All the people traipsing by could see was a bright and cloudless sky in which the sun shined with birds singing, their chants weirdly foreboding, and the wind whistling by like it too wanted to run. Only one of the ones walking could see beyond that.
"LODERNY!!"
Recognizing her nickname and the voice it was yelled by, the woman turned her head to see her long-time… best friend run up to her. She forced a smile, using knowledge accumulated from her multiple jobs and gave the livelier woman a wave, absentmindedly moving her wine-red hair away from her face to see clearer.
"Hey... It's been a while, Ellis."
Ellis smiled brightly, bright blue eyes sparkling in the sun.
"It has! Guess who I dragged all the way here!"
There was only one person who would let himself be dragged to see her. And she knew that person really well and that brought a real smile to her face.
"Réyma?"
From inside a bush, a grey-eyed blond leaped out with little difficulty and gave a small smile as he removed burrs from his clothes, giving Ellis a miffed side-eye.
"Nice to see you again, Raye. Also, why did you have to throw me into a bush?!"
The energetic brunette cackled, pushing him back in and running at his sound of indignation.
Some things never change.
It was raining and people scrambled to get home. The water hit Ellis' skin and burned like acid as the sky slowly turned into a gorgeous shade of red; the storm after the calm was coming, literally and metaphorically.
Upon setting eyes on the sky, Raye narrowed them imperceptibly, subconsciously reaching for Réyma's upper arm. The young man simply frowned wordlessly and continued on their way.
The silence weighed heavily on both of them. Ellis was talking about something animatedly but her words fell on deaf ears, the sound of a clock ticking in the background as the rain poured on them and burned like acid.
Raye looked up at the sky, its colour a swirly mix of cold and warm hues. When she squinted her eyes, she swore she could see a countdown clock formed by the swirls.
"What's wrong?"
She shook her head, letting her childhood friend's arm go.
"Nothing."
Ellis stared for half a second then turned away, walking ahead.
This time, it was actually silent.
"No, last time you did that you almost caused a snowman apocalypse!"
"That was back in middle school! It's been years!"
Raye rolled her eyes and sipped her drink in silence. Years ago, she probably would've set the shop on fire in irritation, thankfully, over the years her temper mellowed down considerably
"LODERNY!"
In reaction to her surprise, Raye set her cup on fire. Hurryingly extinguishing the flames before anyone noticed, she flashed the hyperactive woman a dark glare. Considerably, not completely.
"What?"
Réyma backed away but Ellis approached her with a large grin on her face.
"I want to make a colony of snowmen!"
Raye stared at her with a deadpan expression.
"It's summer."
Ellis' grin melted only to be replaced by disappointment. It didn't last long.
"We could go camping and you could light up the bonfire!"
"No."
The brunette pouted.
"Why not?"
Raye clicked her tongue and frowned again when she saw Réyma clutch his phone, not noticing as her own grip reflexively tightened on her cup.
Raye had no idea what happened then; all she remembered was a void of darkness, life slipping from her fingers and the sound of the distant clock becoming deafeningly loud until the final tick.
And thus, time was flipped upside down, the grains of sand in the universal hourglass slipping dreadfully slow.
Réyma opened his eyes, blinking to get used to the light.
"You sleep like the dead."
He got up, coming face to face with a ten years younger, angry redhead. He wasn't tired anymore.
"I—I do?"
Raye crossed her arms and glared at him.
"What did you do?"
Réyma frowned, making the girl in front of him rub her temples, trying to rein in her temper.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're ten years in the past."
Réyma's eyes widened.
"Hold on… WHAT!?"