The house burned ever stronger. I was a child again, small, weak and helpless. My ragged clothes flapped with the wind as I stared endlessly at the blaze before me.
No amount of rain was able to quell its thirst, and I was able to do nothing.
As my surroundings darkened, a figure started to appear in the burning shed.
A friend? The silhouette tried to leave but was hit on the head by a fallen piece of the roof. It fell, slowly holding out a hand as if asking for my help. But I was able to do nothing. The house crumbled and fell.
Yet it rose again. The same scene played again but this time another silhouette appeared right next to me. It stared right at me for a minute then it ran inside trying to help the other. The house crumbled and fell.
Yet it never rose again, the fire that illuminated my surroundings died and darkness fully submerged everything leaving me and the rain.
I don't want to leave…
? "...E?"
A voice called to me. Don't take me out…
? "Wake up you…"
Another one ordered. I want to stay…
? "Hey… Come on E…"
No, leave me please…
? "WAKE UP DAMN IT!"
I was shaken awake by Ely.
"Urghh…"
Ely "About time, how many times do we have to call before you wake up?"
"..."
Wynter "Come on Ely. His teammate just in front of his eyes."
Hugo…
Ely "I know, but he can't keep sleeping forever."
I tried to subdue the itching in my eyes, but wasn't able to reach it with my left arm.
Oh… I have no left arm. I stared at where my hand would've been but it never appeared no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it never happened.
Ely "..."
Wynter "Don't worry none of the essential nerves were cut, you can get an artificial arm if you want."
"Yeah, none of the essential nerves were cut but my entire arm."
Ely "Hey you ca–"
Wynter "It's fine Ely. Tell me E, what happened?"
"We took care of the chaos point, an enemy made a surprise attack killing Hugo in the process, I was able to get Tania away from the impact but Hugo was too far away. Ely probably told you the rest."
Wynter "He did. But something doesn't add up, how did you protect Tania from a surprise attack?"
"..."
The headache, the vision and then…
"I saw it…"
Ely "What do you mean?"
"Before it happened, I had a terrible headache that didn't last long. I continued on not paying it any mind but suddenly both Tania and Hugo died with a single shot after that the headache came back and I was re-experiencing the entire scene again, so I tried to save them yet failed miserably."
At the mention of this both Ely and Wynter went silent and looked at each other.
Ely "Another one already?"
Wynter "Wait, Ely show me the report on the culprit."
Ely "Sure, there you go."
Wynter "Umm… Oh! Just as I thought. Look."
Ely "That makes sense I guess."
"What are you two talking about?"
Wynter "...You gained the ability of foresight."
"Foresight? Really? Me?"
Ely "You experienced it yourself, can you explain in any other way?"
"This is ridiculous… I got my observer abilities in college, the chances of awakening to any trait after your teenage years is close to zero but I tossed it to luck for all these years. Not more than two weeks ago I got my second trait of time travel explained to me by you two, something like this goes against all odds but it happened before so I again tossed it to dumb luck. And now you're trying to tell me that I have three traits to my name? I don't get it. Why are these powers awakening now of all times? Why do they need death as a catalyst? They're completely useless to me if someone has to die for them to trigger."
Ely & Wynter "..."
"You're hiding something from me, I know you are."
Ely "Just tell him Chief."
Wynter "..."
Wynter looked troubled as she sighed and stared at the floor and after what looked like careful consideration she declared—
Wynter "I'll tell you who you are if you're completely sure."
"I am."
Wynter "...You are the Time Weaver."
Time Weaver? I heard that title before, it was a popular conspiracy theory some decades ago. The theory says that the origins of all time bearers traits are from the Time Weaver. But that can't be true if I'm the Time Weaver.
Wynter "You look confused because of the rumours you might've heard before. That theory about the Time Weaver being the origin of all time related powers we have today is true, it was actually a leaked file that we had to label as a rumour."
"But I physically can't be the Time Weaver, I'm too young for that."
Wynter "Who said there needed to be a single Time Weaver?"
"...?"
Wynter "The Time Weaver is a title just like an observer, a time traveller, and so on. We give this title to people that can use any and all traits possible. And the way the Time Weaver gains new traits is by interacting with a bearer or being subject to a power."
"You mean…"
Wynter "You said that Yuta pushed you from the roof right? That gave you the ability to time travel. Jakov Buster, the one who killed Hugo probably used foresight to predict where the other two could be shot down with a single bullet. Can you remember any observer in your college that you had contact with?"
"...Denzel?"
I got my observer ability some time after becoming friends with Denzel.
Ely "Makes sense now?"
"Is that why they want my head?"
Wynter "Yes, they have their reasons to kill the Time Weaver."
"..."
I don't know how to process this… I'm supposed to be the legendary Time Weaver?
It doesn't make sense to me. But I guess it should, I time travelled twice and saw into the near future.
"How's Tania?"
Wynter "She woke up yesterday, but we couldn't get through to her."
"Yesterday? How long was I out?"
Ely "Four days."
"Four?"
Ely "Just go clean up, you look like a mess. I'll call Julie. let me know when you're ready, we'll take you to see Tania."
"..."
Wynter "Don't push yourself. And remember it's not your fault."
Not my fault huh…They left. And I went to the bathroom to wash my face.
As I extended my hands under the faucet to gather some water and splash my face, only one heeded my command. I need more time to get used to this…
I closed the drain and filled the sink with cold water, and submerged my face in it.
Pulling my face out and looking at the reflection that looked back at me from the mirror, I saw a face that I got tired of seeing. Messy black hair, thick eyebrows, narrow eyes that resembled a corpse's, they don't compliment the rigid nose nor the small mouth I had.
All in all depression personified, no matter how happy I was I just wouldn't look it.
"I need to check on Tanai."
Leaving it at that I called Ely.
Julie "Hey E, how are you feeling?"
"I'll manage. Let's go."
As we entered the room a nurse greeted us.
"Is she okay?"
Nurse "Physically she's paralysed waist down nothing we can't fix, her mental however… I cannot say."
I approached the hospital bed Tania was sitting on.
Her brown hair obscuring her face, her eyes were bloodshot devoid of any light, the dark bags under her eyes showed her lack of sleep, her cheeks stained with her mascara, her dry lips flapped as if mumbling something over and over again.
"Hey Tania… It's me, E."
At the mention of my name she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them.
Tania "His fault. His fault. His fault his faulthisfaulthisfaulthisfault…"
She broke down crying, repeating what she believed was true.
So this is why Wynter said that…
"It is my fault."
Julie "What are you talking about?"
"It's my fault that Hugo ended up like that."
Ely "He signed for this job knowing full well that he might die."
"Even so, if he hadn't met me he wouldn't have suffered the same fate."
Julie "You couldn't have known someone was going after them."
"No I could've predicted it if I sat and thought things through."
Ely "But you didn't and no one can hold you accountable for it."
"Tania and I do."
Julie "Nothing can be done E. You shouldn't blame yourself for it."
"...No. I can fix it."
Instantly understanding what I meant Ely glares at me.
Ely "No you won't."
Julie "How? What do you mean?"
"If I go back in time I can save hugo."
Ely "And you remember what the condition we established was?"
"..."
Julie "What is he planning to do Ely?"
Ely "He plans on killing himself in the hopes of going back."
Julie "WHAT?"
"If that's what I need to do then so be it."
Ely "Your chances of success are not high enough for you to attempt this willingly. You might end up just dead."
"I don't care if the chances aren't zero then I'll do it."
Ely "Urgh, you stubborn little… You know what? …Do it."
Julie "Huh? Wait, Ely!"
Ely "If you want to run away that badly from the responsibility. Then go for it kill yourself, you will have two possibilities either going back and ruining another timeline leaving this one behind or dead both are just you abandoning your responsibility, wanting to "save" him for your own self confidence."
"..."
Ely "I'll even help you out."
He aimed his gun at my forehead.
Ely "Just say the word and you'll meet Hugo. In the past or the afterlife."
Julie "Ely! STOP! Calm down!"
Still glaring at me Ely puts the gun down.
Ely "You never cease to disappoint me."
"..."
He left the room.
Julie "What has gotten into you E?"
"It's the only way I could be of help…"
Julie "You know that's not true. You saved her from the first shot and even sacrificed your left arm for her. That's not nothing."
"..."
Julie "...I'll leave you be for now. Don't do anything stupid E."
She followed Ely out.
I looked back at Tania—
Tania "hisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfaulthisfault…"
—and she was in the same state.
Nurse "I 'd think it's best for you to leave and visit the psychologist."
I forgot she even existed.
"I don't need therapy."
Then I left as well.
Hugo didn't have any family that would take his body so I went to the Preservations' graveyard and asked the guard where he was.
The grave had four white flowers placed on it and I added a fifth.
"I'm sorry…"
That's all I can say to him. I failed him, and it's my fault… If he never met me he wouldn't have died like this. If I weren't so careless… I could've avoided it all by just not associating with them, not becoming friends or even acquaintances.
If I stayed alone no one would've gotten hurt again.
…Again? Why did that feel right for me to say? Did something similar happen to me before I lost my memory? …The burning house?
I zoned out staring at his grave for hours without realising it.
Nurse "There you are Mr E!"
"Huh?"
Nurse "I've been looking for you. Ms Tania has calmed down, I think you can go see her."
As soon as she said that I followed behind her to the treatment section.
Nurse "I'll leave you two alone."
"..."
Tania was looking out of the projected window.
"How are you feeling Tania?"
Tania "..."
"Tania?"
She looked at me with an angry face.
Tania "What do you want?"
"I wanted to check on you."
Tania "Check on me? Don't give me that, you don't care about either of us."
"What? Of course I do."
Tania"You didn't shed a single tear for Hugo. You didn't even consider us as friends did you? We were just the people you met on your first day here. We were only allowed around you because we alleviated your boredom, kept you company, and answered any questions you might have, nothing more. It didn't matter if it was the two of us or anyone else, you'd just exploit their kindness and if they didn't like you you would simply manipulate them until they did."
"..."
Tania "You would've left us at the first chance you got, say if Julie invited you to their team you would've joined them in a heartbeat. Hugo would have supported you too, he was kind like that, he'd just put it behind the pretence of rational thought. I probably wouldn't have said anything either, I would've been sad about it but happy that you might get to new heights too…"
"..."
Tania "I know that I'm right. You see, in those two weeks we've known each other I noticed something. If you think the lie you have ready isn't convincing enough or when you can't filter what will come out of that mouth of yours you just stay silent till you come up with a better lie or till the conversation is over."
"..."
Tania "Hahaha… Get the fuck out of my face. I never want to see you again."
"...I wish you a safe recovery."
Tania "..."
I left the room…
I don't like it when people think they got me figured out.
"Damn it…"
And to think I've lost an arm for her. Is that the thanks I get?
…I shouldn't think like that. It's my mistake. Why am I so angry? Is it because what she said was right? Or is it this guilt gnawing at my brain?
I need sleep. That will give me peace for a while.
I got in my room.
VIA "Welcom—"
"Activate sleeping mode."
VIA "Done."
"AARRGGHH"
That scream helped alleviate some of it but I still feel like sh—
VIA "Do you wan—"
"Don't speak unless spoken to."
A sound rang through the dark room signalling that the command was carried out.
I can't carry on like this…
I need to become better. On my own.
My mistake from the beginning was getting too close with those two, it helped neither of us in the end. Hugo's dead, Tania hates me and I've lost an entire arm.
If I want to keep myself safe I have to do it on my own otherwise I'll end up with more enemies than allies. If the masked people want to continue playing like this I will have to give them one less opportunity, one less weakness that I have to deal with.
I have to get stronger, and fast. Or I'll die.
Monster "WAAAAAAGGHHHH!"
"These guys don't let up…"
A swarm of gross monsters surrounded me. I used my grappling hook to pull any small monsters around to my left arm so I can slice them with the blade I attached to it, killing as many as I can using my gun.
Monster "WAAGGHHHH!"
Monster "KWAARGHHH!"
"SHUT UP! Damn you're loud."
My aim got a lot better thanks to the training sessions with Julie, and this gun is fantastic. It's the same model as Ely's custom made to my grip.
This chaos point is ranked B due to the abundance of monsters around, their numbers are truly massive. But the monsters themselves aren't anything special; they look and act like ogres smashing and running around aimlessly.
And luckily for me the origin point is floating a bit higher than ground level so I can stay on top of the car leaving the stabiliser inside to do its job.
It's more of an endurance mission, the stabiliser is taking longer than I expected but It shouldn't be long before I can—
"Argh! What is it now?"
I searched frantically around me while the ringing in my ear got louder. Until I looked back and saw the huge rock centimetres away from my face hurled at me at great speeds, my head was crushed by its force.
My eyes regained clarity and the headache was gone. I swung my left arm as fast and as hard as I could behind me crushing the rock that almost killed me.
"Thank god for this arm."
I've got an artificial arm, specifically made to withstand anything for combat, I got to modify it on my own with the blade and the grappling hook but the arm itself and all the parts were recommended to me by Armstrong. I can't tell the difference between my arms thanks to me constantly using it for the last 5 months.
I've gotten a lot better at using my foresight too because of the sparring sessions with Ely, I basically fend for my life in those sessions… He triggers my foresight multiple times each session, getting me used to the headache I get everytime I use it. If I was too focused on the pain I wouldn't be able to react accordingly.
Foresight has been the only ability I can use comfortably and reliably. It's like my own sixth sense, a pretty gruesome one even if I got desensitised to my many deaths but still a useful one.
I continued mowing down the endless hordes of monsters.
Markus didn't give me a hard time this time and actually gave me the mission without any resistance, I mean that should've been the case for a while but he doesn't want to recognise my abilities yet.
In the past five months I've finished countless missions on my own and even more by just hanging out with Ely's team. Wynter made me a member of his party because of what happened that day, I was in more danger than she thought. Weirdly enough I haven't been attacked once during these five months by anyone or anything other than the chaos points that I went to.
I don't stick around the team too much. I'm like a rogue member especially now that I can handle B ranks easily on my own. Even though Julie doesn't like when I do that.
I can be considered at the same level Ely is in. I've been keeping up with him in the sparring sessions more and more, I might even beat him soon.
Wynter seems the only one that recognises my hard work, she becomes more and more reliable by the day.
The stabiliser stopped making noises, and that could only mean one thing.
"Mission accomplished."
As soon as the origin point started disappearing all the monsters started to fade out of existence going back to their own timeline.
After waiting for a bit until they were completely gone, I jumped down from the car to search for some items left behind by the stabiliser that I can use or sell later but was instead met with—
"A woman?"
Everyone should have been evacuated long ago. What is she doing here?
"Hey! Are you okay?"
She wasn't wearing a mask which explains why she's unconscious, luckily she wasn't hurt by the ogres as they were too focused on me to find her hidden in a random building. Her clothes were like nothing I've seen before. That isn't important right now, I need to take her back to HQ so they can check on her, I'll give her my mask for a bit. As I was taking her back to the car I remembered something.
"VIA, pull up the report on this chaos point."
I took a closer look at the projection from my arm.
The universal code is 24230567. I assumed it was XW0567 as in two timelines converging but it can also be BDW0567 with three… I can be wrong but I have a feeling that this woman is not from the same universe as the ogres.
I got her inside the car and took my mask back, and sped back to HQ.
"So? What do you think?"
Julie "She really wasn't on any birth records and the first sighting of her by surveillance cameras was today just after the chaos point appeared."
Ely "If she is from a different timeline then why didn't she go back when the chaos point disappeared?"
"I went back to double check and yeah there is no chaos point there anymore."
Wynter "So if she is from a different universe she can't come back now."
Angelo "How are you so sure about her being from another universe? The fact that she isn't registered in any government database and that she wasn't seen in any cameras before mirror your situation E. Are you from another timeline?"
"Technically speaking I am but not from that point. Her case is similar to mine if you discard the fact that I found her in a chaos point. I wasn't."
Angelo "Hey, I was just throwing a counter argument."
*knock**knock*
Wynter "I don't think we will have to guess for long. Come in."
With Wynter's approval the door opened revealing the same woman with a nurse guiding her.
Woman "Why does this place look like a mental asylum? Wait, wow this office looks great though."
Nurse "Here she is Chief Wynter I will be taking my leave."
The nurse left the woman here and closed the door behind her.
Woman "Are you the people that called for me? Hello!"
She's cheerful for no reason…
Wynter "Yes we are. Can you tell us your name?"
Alex "Sure, it's Alex. Nice to meet you."
Wynter "And you can call me Wynter. We want to ask you some questions."
Alex "Alright, but I have questions of my own. Is that okay?"
Wynter "We will answer what we can."
Julie "What's your universal code Alex?"
Alex "My what? What's a universal code?"
"You don't know what a universal code is?"
Alex "No idea. Is it like an account code or something?"
Ely "What year is it?"
Alex "That's such a dumb question mister it's 2033."
"The 21st century… She's ancient, that's why her clothes look weird"
Alex "That's rude! This is my favourite dress!"
"Sorry, sorry. Anyway she's not only from another universe but from the past too."
Wynter "Do you know what ogres are?"
Alex "I've read some fantasy novels, yeah."
Julie "Then E was right."
Wynter "This is getting complicated, Something like this has never happened before."
Alex "Well, can you answer one of my questions now? Where are we?"
Wynter "Alex dear I'm afraid you won't recognize any name I give you. I try explaining it to you, we are currently a thousand years into your future. You were unlucky to be caught inside something called a chaos point that can take you to the future and you are currently stuck here."
Alex "...This has to be some kind of joke right? What you just sounds like a horrible sci-fi novel."
"Have you ever seen something like this before?"
I removed the glove from my left hand and pulled my sleeve to show my metallic arm and its random gadgets.
Alex "What is that! That can't be real."
"Didn't get a glimpse of the outside before going unconscious?"
Alex "I did…"
"And did you recognize any of it?"
Alex "..."
Ely "If you still don't believe it we can take you outside."
Alex "No, I believe you. It's just, am I really stuck here?"
Julie "Sadly, I think it is impossible for us to get you back to your time and universe."
Ely "Don't be too hasty Julie. We have the Time Weaver in our ranks don't we?"
"Huh?"
Everyone looked at me simultaneously.
"Wait! You know that I haven't been able to use any new traits, right?"
Ely "And that can be due to you not interacting with other bearers or that you don't know how to use those traits. I mean you can't use my ability yet."
"That's true but how long do you think that would take?"
Wynter "Hey Alex, do you mind sticking to E there until he figures out a way to take you back? He is the only one that might have a chance. It might take a long time too."
Alex "What's my other options?"
Wynter "You stay here."
Alex "..."
"Hey chief, I think you're forgetting to ask for my opinion on the matter…"
Alex "Fine. If he has a chance of getting me back then I'll stick with him."
Wynter "It's settled then. E you will serve as Alex's bodyguard and her ticket home when you're able to do it."
"Wait! You know that I would never accept this right?"
Wynter "That's why this isn't a choice, it's an order as your chief."
"*sigh*..."
Alex "Hey, so can you show me around town? I 'd like to see the future!"
This is going to be a pain on so many different levels…