Hello all welcome to 'Talisman's of Time' Redux version. This is a Redux of an original fanfiction by Gamerctm (he's on both here and deviantart) however I have decided to pick it up and create a Redux (a word which here means brought back or revived.) Of course I have revived this once before, but the state of it was not very good, so here I go, one more time. Enjoy
Chapter 1: Home
Beginnings. Beginnings are always the hardest to talk about, the hardest to envision, even harder to have. People go through their whole lives trying to conceal their beginnings, their pasts, their mistakes. Harder than even that however, is when the very past you held dear is torn from out of your brain. As was the case with a man by the name of Alexander Zeno. Thrown to another world, living memory by memory hoping to find some rhyme or reason for it, but being left empty handed all the same.
Of course, however, the past has a way of returning to even those who try to lose it, or even for those who had it taken from them.
"Artemis...Artemis." A man, whose voice could be best described as deep yet high pitched at the same time, cried out. He felt pain, emotionally and mentally. His body was beaten and bruised, and his mind and soul felt as if it were the same way. He couldn't see very much, as he eyes seemed to have been burned by some form of high intensity light source, however his tears still flowed down his face as he curled up into a ball. He looked to be clutching an object, a simple black band that looked to be cracked into many tiny pieces.
His clothes, as well, looked to be suffering a similar fate. Long rips, cuts, and even some burn marks peppered the entire outfit, which was comprised of a simple tight black shirt, black cargo pants, and a pair of black boots. His shirt looked to have taken the most damage out of all however, showing off various cuts and bruises on his torso. While he was bleeding slightly, it looked as if he was slowly healing, but not fast enough to stop the bleeding completely just yet.
"Artemis...no please...don't leave me." The man said in a broken voice, as more tears flowed down his closed eyes.
A simple passerby might have questioned this display, finding him insane, crazy, maybe even delirious. They would also be right to think in that way, as that was sure how he looked. However, where he was, there didn't seem to be a single passerby, not a single person, not a single chirping bird. It was night where he was, a dark night at that, with clouds covering any form of light the heavens could offer.
Pain. Pain was the life that Alexander Zeno, the man curled up on the ground, knew. Pain had become a part of his life from an early age, and had stuck with him since then. Loss after loss, even while winning, loss followed him.
He opened his eyes, for the first time in what felt to him as forever, and he could finally see, his eyes healed after what had happened.
"W-Where am I?" He questioned softly, his voice sounding weak and full of pain. He uncurled himself and slowly rose from the ground, his clothing revealing his bruised and battered frame. He glanced at the sky first, noticing the clouds that had covered the heavens, then turned his gaze to the immediate place around him. He looked to be in some sort of city, futuristic yet medieval at the same time. This all felt familiar to him for some reason, yet alien at the same time.
Dark and brooding blue seemed to be the theme of this city, from the very stone that made up the building to the very lighting of the place. He then turned his gaze away from the city and instead towards the pieces of the metal band in his hand. A pang of guilt and sadness hit his heart like a truck, pulling his mood down even further.
"I'm so sorry Artemis, I failed you." He spoke softly, collecting the pieces into his hand then putting it into one of the pockets. He then looked up, down the street, and saw what looked to be a large castle, and for some reason it-
"Alexander, you understand...we must." A voice echoes through his head. He glanced around thinking it was someone, but not seeing a single soul.
"Who is-" Alexander muttered as he continued glancing around.
"You do not understand my Alex... As hard as it is, you must endure...forget us." The voice spoke softly, yet full of pain, once again.
Pain.
Once again pain filled his being, it was as if this voice was hurting his very soul, for reasons he didn't know. Why was this happening to him? Who was it that was speaking? Why did he feel such pain for them?
He pushed the thoughts out of his head, he didn't have time to focus on those things. He had to figure out where he was above everything, to do that, he thought his best course of action would be the castle. He dear friend Artemis was gone, the band was his only contact with her, and he sure hoped her consciousness had made it to the other pieces of the armor. If it hadn't...she was as good as gone.
He then made the effort to take a step forward, that's all he could do after all. There was no sense in looking back, was there? He shook his head once again and focused on the castle, steeling his emotions and his nerves as he approached the main gates of the castle. As he reached the two large gates, he also noticed two large guards with extremely sharp weapons, and just as tough armor to go along with it. He couldn't see the features of these two guards however, he wasn't really concerned about that.
"Identify yourself." The guard on the left said, gripping the hilt of his sword, the other guard did the same, but didn't say a single word. Alexander then began to rub the ring on his right hand with his thumb.
"Whoa now you two, let's not get so testy, I'm just a simple guy looking for some simple answers." Alexander spoke putting both of his hands up slightly to show that he wasn't armed. The two guards looked over him in detail, then relaxed themselves a little bit.
"Ask your questions then hurry on out of here." The guard on the right spoke in a much deeper voice than his companion on the left. The hairs on Alexander's arms stood up after hearing his voice, it slightly reminded him of someone he truly didn't like.
"Well I know this might sound like an odd question, but I have absolutely no clue where I am. If you two could just tell me where I am then…" He spoke, letting his voice trail off as he looked to the two guards, indicating they should speak.
"Are you daft? You are in the Raybrandt capital city, just outside the castle." The guard on the left said shaking his head. Once again, a sense of familiarity struck Alexanders brain. This kingdom, Raybrandt, it all sounded too familiar...but why?
"Raybrandt…" He muttered as he looked down.
Alexander Zeno was nothing close to normal, one would be able to blatantly see this by looking at his hair and eyes. They took on a bright yellow color, his eyes even glowing to add to his unusualness. Even if he were placed in a group of magicians, demihumans, or regular humans, he would definitely stand out from the crowd. Being that this was one of his most defining traits, one could logically assume that he found himself in a number of odd situation, a number of odd places in which he knew nothing of the world around him.
This however, to him, was a much different scene.
It was as if a sheer fog had been places around this world, the fog representing familiarity, but familiarity with absolutely no answers whatsoever. From the grass, to the castle, to the name Raybrandt, all of this felt too familiar. However, how could a street kid from New York, who had never journeyed to any land such as this one, find familiarity in a setting such as this? These were all questions he thought to himself as he pondered the name Raybrandt.
He had been to futuristic worlds, worlds such as his own, and worlds filled with war, but never one such as this. The only way he could think to describe this place was a fantasy world, but yet somewhat futuristic at the same time. This was certainly odd, but again the familiarity struck him hard.
"Are you going to say anything kid, or are you just going to stand there looking stupid!" The guard on the right questioned loudly, definitely irritated. Alexander was pulled from his thoughts, and turned his attention back to the guards.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm a fool as I'm sure your well aware." He apologized, as he glanced down at his clothing. His wounds had all but healed, but his clothing still showed the damage of his light fight. The fight that had claimed his- No he mustn't think that way now, his job was to survive, to get out of this without dying. That's what she would have wanted.
"You are, what do you think your doing here anyways, you look like you're from Palm Brinks." The guard on the left scoffed as he shook his head. Once again, the feeling of familiarity filled his emotions.
"Yeah that shithole. Wonder why Princess Monica decided she needed to go there, seems stupid to go to that monster infested place." The guard on the right agreed, shaking his head. Alexander's expression suddenly changed completely, he felt a pang in his heart.
Princess Monica, he recognized that name, he felt emotions for that name. But why? He couldn't identify the reason at all. To his knowledge, he hadn't met anyone named Monica. For a moment, he stayed still, trying to find within him why this was happening, but after that moment...he had made up his mind.
"Where's Palm Brinks?" He questioned, looking at the guards, determination blatant on his face. Out of all the names to mention, Monica was the one that confused him the most. He felt that if he found this woman, he might be able to get some answers as to why he felt this familiarity.
For you see, Alexander had been to a number of places. Universes, times, memories. All of which, were not involved with him. All of which were not as hard to decipher. All of which held no emotional investment to him. He knew he was here for a reason, all of these places he had traveled to had a reason, usually made abundantly clear from the very moment he arrived there.
But this was much different. There was no quick battle he had to fight before moving onto the next one. There was no conversation he needed to have, only to whisked away once again so quickly.
All of this felt different to him, felt new but yet also old at the same time. This felt as if it were some sort of finale to whatever his purpose for traveling was, as of course his travels were not by choice. He felt the hand of the person sending him to these places lift from his soul. This sequence of events was all up to him now.
And he was damn sure to do the right thing this time.
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"Yes." A voice spoke from darkness.
Log date, 2017, August.
Drop your head in wonder into the next chapter as Zinex makes it to the TOURNAMENT OF POWER and sees someone he never thought he'd see, sarcasm meeting sarcasm, and other things you won't believe in the next chapter of 'Talisman's of Time'...
When the Past Returns!
"When the Past Returns...How fitting." The voice spoke once again, laughing ever so slightly. "Though I believe the name Zinex is out of date, he hasn't used that name in quite some time. Nonetheless, I shall await your arrival Alexander."
