Charles stood atop Tiamat's defeated form, adopting the necessary look of pity for having to take the wretched creature's life that came to him so naturally now. In front of him stood an army made up of soldiers from Elfland, Pravoka, all over the world. Even citizens took up arms to defeat the great evil, from the lowliest farmer to the chairman of the armory chain. They listened in rapt attention as George gave his victory speech, inciting them all to a grand cheer. Soon, Charles suspected, they would find the dragon's storehouse, and the greatest feast the world had ever known would be held in honor of the four Light Warriors.
Charles wondered how long it would be before anyone realized that their supposed heroes hadn't actually done anything.
George finished his speech, and everyone was off running, presumably to loot the tower. As they surged off, Lukahn pushed his way through to see the Warriors. How that hunchbacked old man could hold his own against a crowd of that size, Charles had no idea, but nevertheless he was soon standing before them, not tired at all.
"Congratulations, Warriors of Light," Lukahn said in a strong voice that always surprised the white mage. "You have done well today. At last, all the Fiends have been destroyed."
"It wasn't easy," George said with a nod. "Your advice was indispensable, master."
"And I have one last piece of it to give," the prophet replied. "My circle has noticed a disturbance. It originates from the Temple of Fiends. I fear that this is some final doom that escaped my prophecy."
Immediately the Warrior's faces were grave. "I'll regather the army," George said.
"No!" Before George could leave, Lukahn's hand shot out and grabbed his forearm, drawing him close. "If any enter other than the Light Warriors, the world is over. This I have seen, clearer than any vision I have had in the past five millennia." He glared at the fighter, and the fighter stared back, his eyes showing fear for the first time.
"I understand," George said, clearly trembling. "We'll handle it ourselves."
That evening, Charles was back in Corneria, thanks to their high-speed airship. He held Princess Sarah lightly as she looked up into his eyes.
"You've defeated the fiends, otherwise you wouldn't be here," she said. "But yet you are afraid. What else is there?"
"There is another threat," Charles replied. "In the Temple of Fiends. Lukahn implied it was more dangerous than the fiends themselves. And we have to take care of it alone."
Sarah just smiled and pulled him close. "Don't worry," she whispered in his ear. "You're the Light Warriors. You can't fail."
Charles wanted to scream, to admit that it was all a hoax. The only thing they provided to the world was their charisma. They had never done any actual fighting. They just organized armies, gave speeches, and took credit. But he couldn't. He couldn't destroy the Princess's faith in them. He gazed at her perfect red hair, wondering if he would get a chance to see it again. Charles hugged her tight and tried not to cry.
All too soon, Charles found himself in the center of the Temple of Fiends once again. His three friends stood beside him, every bit as afraid as he was.
"So what do we do now?" Martin asked, barely audible.
"We wait," Christopher replied. "This is a nexus of great power. I can feel it. If something happens, it will happen here."
Hours passed. The warriors grew more and more on edge, jumping at every sound. And then their nerves became too frayed to do even that. They sat in a lifeless stupor. Martin even fell asleep. After a time, Charles took out his lute.
"Where did you get that old thing, man?" Christopher asked.
"Princess Sarah gave it to me the day we killed Garland," he replied. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Can you play anything?"
"I can try." Charles closed his eyes and started strumming a song he had learned as a child. Tentatively at first, but soon his fingers began to recall more and more. He felt the magic of the Temple flow into him, aiding his memory. And then he began to sing in a high countertenor voice.
He closed his eyes, and once more he was back in his home, playing for his family. When was the last time he had taken time to enjoy music like this?
All too soon, the song came to its end. "Happy, happy they that in hell feel not the world's despite." As the last chord faded, he was suddenly in a world of perfect stillness. In the wake of the song was void.
It was Martin who first broke the stillness. "Uh... Charles buddy? I think you might have done something."
Charles opened his eyes to find himself in a completely different room. The dimensions were the same, but moss no longer grew on the floor. The walls were adorned with brightly lit torches, and the jewels piled in the center of the room glimmered in the light.
The white mage looked around in wonder. What had happened during the song? Before he could figure it out, a deep laughed echoed through the room. Charles knew that laugh...
"Do you remember me? I was once known as a knight of Cornelia. Two thousand years from now...you killed me. " Shadows from the flames flitted about and began to move as the voice spoke. The shadows coalesced into one all consuming blob of darkness before the warriors that seemed to suck the life from their very souls.
"I am Garland." And the darkness took form and became the man they had killed so long ago, when their hearts were young, and they were not yet disillusioned with the world. Charles gasped in surprise. George already had Excalibur out.
"We killed you," he snarled.
"Oh, you did defeat me. But the four great forces saved me by sending me back through time! Once here, I sent the four Fiends into the future...where they shall once again use the force great forces to send me into the past! In two thousand years, I will remember none of this. But I will be reborn again here. So even as you die again and again, I shall return! Born again into this endless circle I have created!" Garland then threw back his head and laughed.
"But where did he get that much power?" Christopher was saying. George didn't hear, for he was already charging the dark knight. Before he had taken three steps, he was forced backward as lightning shot from the torches, striking Garland in the chest. He continued laughing the entire time, and he started growing. A tear opened in his armor and his arms shot through the steel gloves and became fierce claws. Charles cowered in fear, forcing his eyes shut. He did not want to die like this, two thousand years before he was born.
"Please don't kill me!" Martin was shrieking. "I didn't mean it, I-"
A flash of light forced its way through Charles' eyelids, sending him flying backwards into... a chair?
"I'm kind of a rogue, I guess," Martin was saying.
Wait, what?
"Wait, you're a thief?" George this time.
Charles opened his eyes. He was sitting in the inn where they first met.
"I prefer the term rogue."
Wait, they were first meeting right now. Somehow he had been sent back to the beginning. He could fix everything. The healer stood up. "Enough chat. We need to kill Garland, now."
Martin froze with his drink halfway to his mouth. "We're killing who now?"
"I'll explain on the way. Let's go." He strode out of the inn, the other warriors awkwardly following.
Before long they were back at the Temple. "So how do you know he has Princess Sarah again?"
"Never mind," Charles growled. Who knew working with these idiots could be so difficult. "I just know. Let's just go in and rescue her."
"Are you sure this is a good-"
"Yes! Go!" Charles ran through the doorway, followed by the others.
"Light Warriors!" Garland began when they entered, but Charles just threw his hammer, cutting him off and knocking him down.
"Christopher, fireball!"
The knight was enveloped in flame and was quickly reduced to a smoking corpse. Just like last time.
"Well, you were right about the princess being here," George said.
"We aren't finished yet. Cut off his head." Charles was taking no chances with this.
"Pardon me for being dense, but isn't already dead?" Christopher asked. The mage's bafflement was almost amusing.
"Yes, and now we're making sure he stays that way."
So the Light Warriors cut off Garland's head. They threw the rest of his body in a nearby lake and dumped his head in Gurgu Volcano. There was no recovering from that. They were safe, or so Charles thought. But once again, after defeating Tiamat, Lukahn felt a disturbance from the Temple, and they were sent back and time and killed, throwing Charles back to the present.
This time, he tried simply leaving Garland alive so he wouldn't have any reason to create the time loop. But the loop was already in place, and it captured them as it had before.
Charles tried to break the loop again and again, until that was all he knew. The white mage could no longer remember a time before the quest. He could barely even remember that he once loved Princess Sarah or why he got along with the other three morons. Sometimes he forgot why he was trying to get out. But then he saw Garland ascending into Lord Chaos, and that was still every bit as horrifying as it was the first time.
So again Charles stood before the Temple of Fiends to investigate a disturbance. This time, they had managed to personally defeat each Fiend. There were no huge armies, no free lodging, not even any encouragement. Few even knew they existed.
But because of all that, they were stronger than they had ever been. Charles was no longer running from Chaos; he was going to kill him.
He stood in front of the pedestal and played the same song he always had. It no longer had meaning. As before, the room became two thousand years younger. Martin blinked stupidly and asked how Charles knew what to do. Charles ignored him. As always.
"Garland, I know you're here. Surrender. You cannot harm us," he called to the shadows. The shadows responded, coalescing once again into a human form. And then the speech and the horrifying transformation into Chaos. Charles didn't even blink. He had to remain strong for this to work.
"What do we do?" Christopher called, his voice cracking in fear.
"Didn't you learn some super powerful magic from that Lufenian fortress?" Martin suggested.
"It'll take time to charge," the wizard responded hesitantly.
"We'll buy you all the time you need," Charles said, and he raised his arms, shielding the Warriors in a protective web of spells, perfected over the centuries. He was vaguely aware of Martin and George darting in and out, annoying the god with their blows. But his focus was on the magic; that was the one thing that had sustained him through his time travels. Its purity never diminished. In fact, it was even more beautiful now than it was when he had started. It was completely engrossing, and Charles was lost in it. He let his mind ease into a world of possibilities, where the warriors were shielded from the god simply because he willed it. Touching it was always refreshing.
All too soon, it was always too soon, he was interrupted. "Stand back, I'm ready to fire!" Christopher called. The second the two fighters had cleared the area, the wizard let loose, and a tiny ball of energy floated from his hand to inside Chaos. The god grunted as it entered and spewed fire throughout the chamber. But Charles' shields held, and the warriors were protected.
Then Chaos started staggering around, knocking down columns and breaking everything in his path. His hand exploded, splattering the walls with dark blood and bone, and Chaos fell to his knees writhing in pain. With one last roar, the god himself exploded, and the Light Warriors were drenched with his gore.
They stared at the scene, scared to speak, until Christopher finally broke the silence. "So I pretty much just killed a god. How has your day been?"
The pressure relieved, George and Martin started laughing. "I can't believe he actually set up a time loop just so he could get revenge," George said.
"Yeah. I wonder how many times he ended up killing us before we broke it," Martin replied.
"You know what would suck?" Christopher asked. "What if you were trapped in the loop, but you remembered each repetition?"
"I'm so glad that didn't happen," George answered.
"Fuck you all," was Charles' only response before he walked away, free at last.
Author's Note: If you're curious, Charles was singing "Flow my Tears" by Dowland.