After a long night, when neither of them could remember falling asleep, Marcel woke first.
Finding the darkness of the night before disconcerting, knowing daytime should have arrived,
Marcel took matters into his own hands, and willed Mersia's star, Verdai, into being.
The first sliver of light broke over the horizon, immediately jolting Rimas awake.
Rimas hissed, covering her head with her blanket.
Gah!! Did you have to make it so bright??
What do you want for breakfast?
Rimas did not immediately answer, prompting Marcel to prod her.
Are you thinking about it?
Don't have the spoons to think yet. Give me a second to wake up.
Marcel nodded, and Rimas dragged the covers back over her head.
Marcel snapped, and a table with a full dinnerware set on it popped into existence.
Marcel snapped again, and a large porterhouse steak appeared on a plate.
This... Is far, far too convenient.
Marcel ate in relative silence.
When he was nearly finished, Rimas sat up in bed.
Hey, Marcel.
Table manners never having been his strong suit, Marcel attempted to respond with his mouth full of meat.
Mwhuh?
Isn't it sort of... Really messed up that Jutse killed Bryph and Cae?
Like... We went through so much with that little shit, and he just ices us the first chance he gets?
What gives, honestly? Addie's probably fine though so... Honestly she probably could have won the fight on her own, but...
Meanwhile, in the year 543...
You know, Cae... I'm mad as hell that this dude really went and killed Rimas and Marcel.
He really did it.
That... *sniff*... That bastard... Marcel and Rimas's trackers... They've gone dark! I'm not detecting anything!
I trusted him! I trusted him and I shouldn't have!
Did he... Bryph. Did he play me for a fool? Did Jutse make me out to be some common dunce?
Killing Marcel and Rimas is unforgivable on its own... But to betray me...
Alright, slow your roll a second.
Killing Marcel and Rimas being unforgivable is where that sentence should have ended.
When this is all over, we got some unsaid shit to say. About whatever the hell was goin on between you and Jutse.
You're gonna explain it to me and I better like what I hear. Understand?
Yes, dear.
But what about Addie? She doesn't even know all this stuff happened.
She's probably on the other side of the world.
Even as strong as Jutse is right now, no matter what he turns into next, she's gonna fillet the bastard like a fish.
Meanwhile, back in the present/past outside of linear time...
I'm gonna kill him.
Marcel, no.
The entire reason I tried to go to the past was... Actually...
Marcel, I might have just figured out what happened.
Jutse interfered with my spell and sent us here instead of five years into the past.
This... This does not look like the year 541 to me.
I created the stars last night. You created the sun this morning. We're not five years in the past.
We're over two million years in the past.
Anyway. After we beat the hell out of the Author, we'll have him put us back where we meant to go.
Which means... There'll be two of both of us when we arrive.
So what. Like... Time paradox type shit?
You trying to be your own grandma?
Marcel...
Are you unwell? This is simple mathematics, I will help you break it down. We are going two years into the past.
And two is less than thirty-six.
So that means-
Hush the frick up for a second.
I know how time travel works. I read a whole bunch of sci fi the year after I retired from wrestling.
I was joking about the grandma thing. Anyway, I'm guessing we're gonna have to avoid crossing paths with ourselves when we go back?
Yeah. Or... We did actually encounter ourselves already. And we just didn't know.
Rimas, come on. I'm almost eight feet tall. If we ran into ourselves-
Marcel gasped, and snapped his fingers.
Nothing manifested into existence that time, though.
Oh shit, the Masked Marauder from Takvedal's tournament! That was totally me!
Right... Which leaves three possibilities.
One. We already did this. We already tried to go into the past to save Bryph and Cae, but we failed, and we are going to fail.
Because this option is obviously very depressing, I am hoping that this is not the case.
Two. We already succeeded in saving Bryph and Cae, and in order to preserve the integrity of the timeline...
We had to fool ourselves into believing Bryph and Cae died.
Three. We were not able to succeed the first time around, and equipped ourselves with some weapon or knowledge we did not have the first time.
So, that would make this the second go-around... If not a higher number. Perhaps this is the third or fourth.
So either it's a perfect loop, or it isn't a perfect loop... more like a time spiral?
What if it's actually way more than three or four... What if it takes billions of tries?
It'd explain why I can crosslink so easily. The ability works by reaching into parallel universes...
So, like, if there was a time spiral going on, that'd put a lot of very similar universes in very close proximity to me.
Like, either we have to preserve the timeline, or we don't. I hope we don't.
The biggest thing I regret... It'd be so great if I never dated Maurine.
I didn't break linear time to-
Jutse did that, not you.
Well I was still trying to do that! That has to count for something.
Right. Carry on.
I didn't break linear time so you could fix your relationship mistakes.
Rimas, she gaslit and abused me for months. She turned my own mind against me.
She brainwashed me using illegal technology and my own memories.
I suffered so much because of her. Can't I just... undo that?
No. Whatever happens, the past versions of ourselves have to eventually come to the conclusion that they must time travel.
If that does not happen, then we might cease to exist.
Causality must be maintained. If something happened, it must happen.
Ah. Shit. Good point.
Hm. ... So... If we're going with option two...
Would that mean we wait to reveal ourselves to Bryph and Cae until right after we left?
Meanwhile, in the year 543 again...
A gigantic figure clad in white falls from the sky, landing in the sand with a massive thud.
A smaller figure in black descends in a more-controlled manner on a flying broom.
Oh. You two survived... and.. changed clothes apparently?
