"Your time has not yet reached, Ren Takahiro..." Were the words I'd woken up to.
They passed in an echoed manner but surprisingly stuck enough to have me springing my eyes open.
The environment I was in heavily contradicted the voice's words--last I remember, Blackheart wasn't located in a white void filled with crisscrossed black threads that oozed magic.
"Where am I?" I mumbled out, examining my surroundings, "...and why is there another voice in my head?"
"I am not a voice in your head, boy." The voice responded, its words coming with a soft gust of cool air that blew at the back of my neck.
Quickly turning around, a two-toned--6 foot tall being was a breath's distance from me.
It was glowing; one side a fluid-looking black whilst the other a dim variant of white. Its features were minimal--two eyes an a golden circlet around its head with what seemed to be a clock stuck to it, matching the circlet's executive design.
Felt like I was staring into a kaleidoscope when I looked into its eyes.
"I am Time." It let out, its voice coming from the void itself rather than from the being before me, "custodian of every timeline within every universe, servant of the Architects."
My initial amazement slowly dimmed down to anger masked by disappointment when the figure finally introduced itself, my arms crossing instinctively as a brow rose.
"Apparently you're the reason I went against the timeline those guys made?"
The words left me in a rather annoyed tone but who could blame me; over the span of weeks I ended up facing an enraged bull, dealing with an annoying holy knight, getting involved in a prison break and having to face an A ranked demon in mortal combat...my annoyance was earned.
"One with nothing to lose was the best choice for this," It responded calmly, gripping my shoulder slightly before turning away--walking towards a singled-out strand before it.
"Put a sock in it Ren," A familiar voice let out, its echoed tone approaching me from behind, "...Time does what it thinks is right and never cares about anything else."
"Mes?"
For an annoying voice I'd prefer turning down back in Calyndria, she did still manage to stun even an elderly figure such as myself with her appearance. I won't dwell on too much detail; most I can say is that I'd ended up widening my eyes and examining her for a while, hidden gems look better than they actually sound--literally.
She was rather elf-like in appearance; pointed ears, golden hair, tall and curvy. The only thing that made her different was her golden glowing eyes and the glowing garment made of golden light--slightly exposed a lot more than I was comfortable with.
Too old for modern taste--or was it medieval? Who cares, clothes are clothes.
Though, perhaps she was a lot less insufferable now that I'd seen her true form better than the first time I did.
"What? knocked out a braincell or two when you doom flared yourself into this space?" She quickly commented, crossing her arms with a bratty look on her face--her breasts responding accurately to the sudden actions.
I take it back, her beauty meant something to those who didn't have to live with this bullshit for the rest of their lifetime.
"I've lost enough of them from just listening to you speak."
"touché" She responded, clearly holding herself back from making another comment.
Ren 1, Mes 0--eat that oh-so-knowledgeable 'messenger' of the Architects.
"What I think is right, is usually right--Messenger." It let out, stroking the thread in front of it before gripping onto it and stretching it apart. It then stared into the elongated thread as though it were viewing something within it.
"Whatever you say, Time." Mes responded, turning back to me, "...you ask too much questions, Ren."
"I didn't even talk."
"Our minds are connected, moron." She quickly interrupted before walking past me, revealing an oddly familiar figure who had been sitting behind me the whole time, "...I guess its time to start talking."
Brown-short hair, snow white skin, dark gold colored eyes, fit physique and and a set of royal garments . A unique appearance I recognized easily enough with how much time I'd spent in Calyndria itself.
"Me?..." I let out before taking another moment to think, "...Aeron?"
"In the flesh." Mes responded, a smug look planted on her face as she assumed a hands-on-hips pose, "...or in the spirit for better explanation."
Calmly, Aeron stood before bowing respectfully before me--his expression was a mix of seriousness and distress, almost like someone apologizing for something they'd done wrong before making a request...or like the look I had to give my landlord when my rent was overdue beyond the limit he could accept.
Not the time, not the time.
His lips moved for a second, but the words that escaped him were illegible--in fact, ear piercing. I had to cover my ears for a second before they finally adjusted to the odd noise.
"Ah, that's right." Mes cut in, as though she'd remembered something she had tucked away in her memory, "...a spirit of the dead can't easily communicate with a spirit that's living."
"I can tell..." I responded, turning back to Aeron who rose to a stand, "...what did he say."
"I'm glad I could finally meet you in person." Time responded, still focused on what it was doing.
"Thought it would be the opposite, considering I kind of stole your body"
Aeron then spoke again, his words coming out in the same manner--Time wasted no 'time' in translating though.
Get it?
Not funny?
Got it.
"It was as the Architects decided, I am satisfied with their decision," Time let out, pausing for a second before continuing his translation.
"I need your help, Architects' avatar."
Help? Made sense, a spirit like his probably had a lot left to handle back in the real world--unless he meant afterlife kind of help.
"Go ahead, can't promise much..." I let out before scratching my head with an awkward smile pasted on my face, "...but if it's something I can do, then I shall."
A slight hopeful smile drew itself on his face, but only for a second before returning his sorrowed expression back.
"Forgive me for my selfishness..." He let out before quickly going down to a respectful bow, "...but could you take out the Visitors?"
The visitors? The name took a moment to register in my mind but once it did, I quickly jumped back in surprise with my eyes widened.
"The visitors?!" I voiced out, louder than usual, "...you mean those damned bastards that know my actual identity and have a fucking demon in their ranks?!"
"Which other one, dumbass?" Mes retorted, crossing her arms with a brow raised.
"Hell no!" I quickly responded, shaking my head violently as I waved my hands ahead of my body, "I'd rather actually die than have to lock blades with that bastardly smelling piece of shit again."
Hearing my words, Aeron quickly stiffened before going down to a full bow--should have seen his expression, nearly scarred me for having said those words out loud.
He then uttered some words out again which Time took a second to listen to. Then, after a short moment of silence, his figure itself stopped playing around with the thread it was playing with before turning to me from where it was at.
Could hardly tell its expression but I understood that it was as serious as Aeron himself was.
"My mother lost her life at the end of Baldwin's blade..." Time let out, turning its gaze to Aeron before shifting it back to me, "...if not the group he works under, then at least avenge her death in my stead."
"It is all I ask for, as a helpless soul seeking vengeance."
"Wait, wait..." I worded out, taking some steps back, "...your mother deserves vengeance, sure. But I literally cannot even fight for myself. How the hell am I supposed to fight that monster for someone else?"
Aeron remained silent for a moment before rising to a kneeling stance--rear planted on his shins and heel.
"Forgive me for giving you a body only capable of handling a blade," Time translated, keeping his gaze locked on Aeron this time, "...but that is all I was capable of handling in my years of living."
That and your knowledge, boy. To a remarkable degree as well, his sword practice had basically earned him skills worthy of rivaling sword-masters...I simply never used them enough to give them justice.
Being begged this much was strange to me, bizarre enough to leave me speechless.
I could tell he was honest in his words, every part of me wanted to help him out because of that. But what could a guy like me do against an A ranked demon? Alexander himself had to flee from the scene when Baldwin begun evolving into his default state.
Frustrated, a sigh escaped me--the pressure forcing me to sit on the surprisingly solid void beneath me.
"Mes, what are the chances of me actually taking down Baldwin."
"At your current state?" She responded, placing a finger on her chin for a second before finally coming to a final answer, "...slim but not impossible."
Not impossible...why'd you have to go and say things that would make it harder for me to turn down this dude's request. The hopeful look he gave me after her words sure did pack a punch.
When on earth did I give a damn about people's feelings?
You're growing soft old man.
"Listen, boy." I begun, avoiding eye contact with him as I furrowed my brows, "I don't know what exactly you expect from me..."
Slowly, I rose to a stand, pausing my words before sucking in a short breath.
"I'm a regular dude living in your body--using suicidal spells to get me out of sticky situations," I continued before letting out a sigh, "...there is probably no reality that exists where I'd end up actually satisfying this request of yours easily."
Hearing my words, a sharp feeling clearly stung his chest. I know it 'cuz I felt it too. Same person different souls--we shared a body and a mind, that nearly left me gripping my chest to suffocate the feeling.
Quickly, he showed a defeated look before lowering his head, letting out more illegible words.
"I understand..." Time translated, his tone not changing, "...forgive me for trying to force my vengeance onto you."
"For a smart guy, you sure can fail to pay attention sometimes." I let out, kneeling to close the distance between us, "...I said there's 'probably' no reality that exists where I'd end up satisfying your request."
My head then turned to Time who'd been hovering beside me with his gaze falling on me without his head lowering by an inch.
"That doesn't mean that in every single possible timeline, I fail to satisfy your request." I added before finally addressing Time himself, "...isn't that right, Time?"
Time remained silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing before what seemed to be a smile appeared on its face.
Not much in terms of hope for me, but it sure did mean a lot to Aeron. He was practically beaming with joy; a smile stretching from right to left as tears practically flushed themselves out of his body.
"That doesn't mean you just blindly place your hope in me, kid." I interrupted, placing a firm grip on his shoulder, "I'll do what I can, what I can't shall be left to those who can."
"So long as Baldwin dies by your blade, I don't care about anything else." Time translated, turning back to play around with his infinite strands of stretched out void.
"You're time in my space is ending, Ren Takahiro." Time added.
"Nope, I won't be killing Baldwin." I quickly responded, rising to a stand with a serious expression on my face.
"What do you mean..." Aeron let out, his joyous expression quickly turning sorrowful as he rose with me.
"I mean what I said..." I responded, crossing my arms, "I'll simply carve a path to his destruction, put your body through some serious shit..."
Softening my expression, I placed my grip back onto his shoulders with what I thought was a warm smile on my face. These kinds of situations were new to me...but I meant every word.
"...the rest is up to you."
"Me? But I'm dead." Aeron quickly protested, rushing his words as a black fluid-like void begun consuming my body.
"You've done it before...you can do it again." I let out, taking some steps back to widen the gap between us, "I'll give your body hell...you give them hell. Baldwin and his group of retards."
For a moment, he remained silent before resuming his cry; the smile that had faded away slowly returning back as his head slowly nodded--watching my body get reduced to nothing.
"Thank you...truly." Time's voice echoed in my mind as the world around me turned black, a cool sensation taking over my body.
I guess a trip to the afterlife wasn't as bad as I'd expected...