Chapter 1: Out of the Past
Hey guys! Thank you to those who read the prologue! Bigger thank you to those who are following this story and those that have deemed it to be a favorite! However, the biggest thank you goes to the two people that reviewed. Honestly, I wasn't really sure that this story would receive any popularity. However, the reviews have urged me to continue.
GreenLavender: Aw, thank you! I really appreciate the review and yes, I will continue to do the best I can and make great chapters for you guys! Yeah, I like to start out with Phantom. I don't know if it's his charisma or just that he's so easy to write about, but most of my fics generally begin with Phantom. Just cuz.
Guest: Thank you! I'm excited to see what my imagination gives me next!
Oh, and before I continue - I was reading Deathly Betrayal's awesome story Meeting-Line and proceeded to go to her profile. While I was searching her list of stories, I noticed that one of her many great stories was also titled Paradox. I just want to say: 1. That is a really great and thought provoking interpretation! 2. I meant in no way to plagiarize your title or any of your ideas. Frankly, I just discovered while I was... I don't want to say stalking, but rather... browsing. Yeah, let's go with that.
If anyone else has written a story similar to this, just PM me and I'll write a little disclaimer like this giving you credit in the next chapter. Thank you! Now, please review and enjoy!
With a purple flash of light, the party appeared inside of a grand hall supported by bejeweled pillars and lit by bright, jovial sunshine. In front of them stood a beautiful woman holding an adorned hourglass and wearing a flowing white dress. She gave off a blue aura of clockwork gears. This woman was no ordinary being. In fact, she wasn't even mortal.
"Good day, my children." she said, "I am Rhinne, the Transcendent of Time."
The group bowed to her in respect and greeted her. Luminous tried to bow to her, but instead he winced and clasped his left eye in pain. It felt like an inferno within his head and the eye burned the mage and glowed redder than ever. Rhinne looked at the mage in sympathy.
"Forgive me, Eternal One. I- " Luminous apologized.
"You need not apologize to me, hero. I am aware of the curse you carry from my brother. The darkness within you can feel my divine aura and is trying harder than ever to take over your light half. Three hundred years ago, when I had my full strength with me, I could have cured this curse of yours in an instant. However, dark times have befallen on not just the mortals, but the Transcendents and Overseers themselves. My brother's act of renouncing the Light and falling to mortality signified not only a time of peril in your world, but had schism amongst the Overseers themselves. Those who have chosen to side with the one you call the Black Mage have breached my Temple earlier this morning and disabled its defenses, allowing my brother and his followers to infiltrate these walls and enter the Gate to the Past. I, along with the remaining Overseers, have done all we can to protect your existence and secure the Temple's defenses once more. As Shinsoo has informed your Empress's mages, your existence is not at risk whilst you remain under the boundaries of our protective spells. However, if you leave the outer gates of this Temple, you shall cease to exist. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Transcendent Rhinne, we understand." they said.
"But if the Black Mage has really gone back in time, why didn't you stop him?" Evan asked.
Aran and Mir both gave him a smack upside the head and made him apologize at once to Rhinne, who smiled slightly.
"Your name is Evan, no? I remember your predecessor well. Dragon Master Freud was a gifted mortal, blessed by the Goddess of Knowledge herself. His knowledge of the Ancient Magicks was so great that it rivaled that of some of the Overseers themselves! His favorite was Time Magic, making him a mortal favored by me. What better way to answer your question, Evan, than to let the Master of Magic himself answer it for me?" she exclaimed.
She turned towards a door, that Evan was sure had not been there before when they'd arrived, and nodded slightly at it. It opened and let forth a powerful gust of wind and light. From it, a dark silhouette of a man holding a stick formed. As it grew closer, Evan saw horns protruding out of his head. The stick grew sharp points on its head that made Evan realize that it was actually a staff. The horns were actually dragon wings decorated on top of a headband.
"It looks just like mine..." Evan breathed.
The light vanished. Replacing the silhouette was a man dressed in splendid red robes. His hair was a messy light brown and he had eyes as blue and open as the sky. Although he did not give off a visible aura like Rhinne, there was a feeling that he gave off - charismatic and friendly, yet powerful and knowledgeable. He wore a smile that made Evan want to run up and hug him as a long lost friend. However, the most curious thing that he had was a glowing yellow rune on the back of his right hand. It was the Spirit Pact rune that matched the one on Evan's hand and Mir's forehead. Evan stared in awe at this figure before him. The man looked at him from head to foot, as if judging his character just from sight. He seemed to approve of him because he grinned and ruffled his head.
"Hello, my young friend." the man said jovially.
"H-Hello." Evan said shyly.
"I don't believe we have acquainted. I am Dragon Master Freud, Master of Magic and Founder of the Maple Heroes." he said.
"But you're dead."
He did not mean to offend at all. Freud seemed to understand that, though his face darkened for just a second.
"A common misconception. However, my existence is not of such importance as yours from what Rhinne tells me." Freud deduced.
"Freud, it's okay. You haven't seen your friends in three hundred years. They are not in immediate danger - you may talk to them." Rhinne said.
Freud nodded and bowed to Rhinne. He ruffled Evan's hair and walked to Mir. The dragon wagged his tail in earnest as Freud scratched his back.
"And what do we have here? You look just like your father, my young Onyx prince." Freud commented.
"Thank you, mister! Master Evan and I have learned all about you and King Afrien from Master Evan's friends and my father!" Mir cried.
"Did you now?" Freud laughed, "I see you are just as powerful as Afrien if not more so! I'm glad to see that the Spirit Pact still survived."
The mage walked over the Aran, who looked at him blankly.
"Aran! How are you? I must say, I've never seen you look stronger! Although, have you been slacking off in cleaning Maha? Look at that dust!" Freud playfully scolded.
"I-I'm really sorry but I don't really know who you are." Aran said sadly.
"Oh... I forgot about the curse. So it's true? You really don't remember anything?" Freud asked.
Aran shook her head sadly. Freud clasped her on the back and grinned.
"Well, at least there's a good thing about today. On your journey, you'll get your memories back!" Freud said happily.
"I will?" Aran asked earnestly, her eyes widening.
"You are traveling back in time to your past, of course! Just because you've forgotten doesn't mean it didn't happen!" Freud said.
Aran broke into the first true smile anyone had ever seen in a long time. Freud smiled and walked to Luminous.
"Freud? Is that really you?" Luminous asked.
"Is this really me? Are you seriously asking that question to me? Has the Black Mage's curse dulled your senses or were you always like that?" Freud asked.
"The cool demeanor and the witty sarcasm... it really is you, Freud." Luminous said.
Luminous offered a handshake which Freud warmly accepted.
"Oh, and don't worry about the darkness. You've done better at mastering it than I did." Freud said simply before walking on.
Luminous opened his mouth immediately but closed it, looking flabbergasted. Freud now approached Phantom and stopped smiling.
"Phantom." Freud said coldly.
"Freud." Phantom replied with equal enmity.
"You haven't change much, have you? Between all the gold you wear and that narcissistic, conceited head of yours, it's a miracle you can stand up at all." Freud said.
"I could say the same to you. One would at least expect to relax in the afterlife, but those bags under your eyes beg to differ, you bookworm." Phantom smirked.
Both Freud and Phantom broke into a grin and embraced warmly as two long-lost friends reunited.
"Always one for dramatics, aren't you?" Freud laughed.
"I am the greatest thief of all time. I know how to steal a show as well!" Phantom replied.
Still laughing, Freud walked to the last of his comrades. Whatever joy that was on his face faded at the sight of the Queen of Elves. Mercedes was not smiling at him nor was she showing any signs of happiness at her friend she had assumed dead. She simply stared straight through him as if he did not exist. Freud could not look into her eyes. Nor did she expect him to. No one dared to even breathe. Finally after thirty chilling seconds, Rhinne dared to cough and took everyone's attention.
"Well now that you've um... reacquainted, perhaps you could answer young Evan's question." she said awkwardly.
"What? Oh, um - yes! Evan! I almost forgot about your question!" Freud said, unhesitatingly striding towards Evan.
At this point, Mercedes pushed Phantom and Kaiser aside and strode away into the courtyard outside. Freud tried not to look at her until she left.
"Yes, well to answer your question... um... yes." Freud stammered, "You see, as a Transcendent, Rhinne is not allowed to directly intervene in the affairs of mortals. Her duty, given by the Overseers, is to supervise the flow of time and to intervene only if the course of the universe's progress was being hindered. The Black Mage, having cast off his immortality along with his Transcendentalism, is a mortal and Rhinne cannot directly be involved. The Black Mage knows this and has used this to his advantage. With the schism he created between the Overseers causing a deadlock and the Transcendents virtually powerless to stop him, you are the only ones who can ever hope to defeat him. Unfortunately for him, the remaining Overseers and Transcendents have seemed to favor you all. I'm pleased to say that you've been quite a large thorn at his side. That is why he's gone back in time to try and prevent us from uniting centuries ago and to stop the legacy of our fallen comrades, such as Kaiser and Xenon, from growing into powerful allies of ours. This is quite a gamble that he has taken, though. Actually breaching into the timestream... if Rhinne had been at half the power she was before she was drained by him, there would have been no reason for you all to be here right now. However, the fact is that Rhinne is to weak to take care of her duties of the unstable flow of time. That is why she has temporarily chosen me to guide you all safely as she performs a ritual to regain her power again."
"You're coming with us?" Luminous asked in surprise.
"Of course. Rhinne has given me an important duty to do in her absence. Personally, I wish to finish what I started all those years ago. No matter what happens, I will see to it that the Black Mage falls. With my own hands, if I must!" Freud cried.
"Freud - you know the laws that govern us! If you are indeed going to take my powers to protect your friends, you cannot directly be involved. You may guide them and tell them of impeding dangers, but you may not assist them in battle. If either they or my brother disrupt the equilibrium of the course of history, it is your duty to correct it or disasters of inter-universal proportions will take place. Do not forget what you stand here for, young one." Rhinne said.
"You're right. Forgive me, Rhinne." Freud said.
"Do not apologize. I want peace to ring in these halls once more as much as you do. However, ancient magicks prevent immortals from being involved. We must set aside our pride and independent streaks and put our faith in these young heroes in front of us." Rhinne reminded.
She turned her head to the band of heroes in front of her and raised her hand. Blue time mana rushed from her hands and Mercedes appeared back in her spot.
"Gentle elf, I pray that you've found your inner peace. But now is not the time for moping about your greatest failure. If you indeed wish to redeem yourself, you will be the first to go with Freud." she said.
"Greatest failure? What's that all about?" the young Dragon Master thought.
Everyone else seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Mercedes silently nodded and headed towards the door.
"Wait, what about me?" the Demon Slayer asked, "Neinheart told us to go in groups."
"Neinheart? I've never liked him much... such a sourpuss." Rhinne hummed.
There was a burst of laughter from the crowd in front of Rhinne, who enjoyed hearing the Transcendent of Time herself dissing Neinheart.
Rhinne lifted her finger and a door opened in the hall. It opened, and a lush green forest was visible inside.
"Good luck, Mercedes and Freud." Rhinne said.
"Thank you, Rhinne." Freud and Mercedes said together.
They walked inside and immediately felt a lurch of their stomachs. Their insides whirling through countless seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades, centuries...
Until finally, they opened their eyes and found themselves in the middle of a lush green forest. Small grass sprites danced in the wind and they heard the laughter of small children. However, they soon realized that the laughter of Elven children were actually screams. The sprites were flying away into the forest. In the distance, they saw a sorcerer with a white beard and a snake around his neck. Arkarium was cackling as he stood in the town square of Elluel, now burning in flames.
I almost forgot - I'll be alternating chapters between this and the Legend of the Heroes (my other story). Thank you for reading! Now, please review!
