Chapter 4: Premonition

Ragna quirked an eyebrow at Sol, who had a seemingly accusing tone in his question. "How the hell would I know? I've never seen anything like this before!" he said defensively, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Sol looked back at his partner, who was taking his time surveying the area for any other people or creatures that could be considered hostile. Sol then clicked his tongue and glared back at the white-haired man. "Have you been living under a rock for the past two hundred years then? Everyone in the world knows what Gears are…" he said, his voice sounding a bit aggravated now. "Gears? What, like some sort'a machine or something?" Ragna said in turn, looking back at the felled beast. "So, that… thing is supposed to be a robot?" Sol shook his head, sighing in disbelief. "Not quite. I'll explain it to you, since you don't seem to have any idea at all." As Sol was about to start, Sin returned with a smile on his face. "A history lesson? C'mon Sol, we don't have time for that…" "Just a summary, so he can get up to speed." Sin shrugged his shoulders, then casually sat on the monster's arm that now lay on the ground.

Ragna groaned and tapped his foot, feeling like they were trying to make him sound stupid or something. Sol stabbed the end of his sword into the ground and crossed his arms as well, staring down Ragna. "Well, basically… Gears are a product of experimentation using both science and magic. Magic, as you know, being an infinite power source, granted these Gears power beyond human understanding… and control." Sol paused and sighed, still looking at Ragna. "You understand, right?" Ragna scratched his head, a confused look on his face. "Magic? You sure about that?" he said, chuckling a bit to himself. "I know about Ars Magus, but magic is just fantasy bullshit… It doesn't really exist! You don't expect me to believe that 'magic' is what gives these things power, right?" Sol blinked, then narrowed his eyes in frustration. "You can't be serious…" he said, stepping closer to Ragna, who in turn backed up slowly. "Hey, what's the deal?" Ragna said, backing up again. "Tell me… What's your name?" "My name? I told you already! The name's Ragna!" "Okay, now… what year is it?" "The year...? 2199, of course…"

Sol paused again, then stood back and shook his head, smirking to himself. "Hmph… Just as I thought…" Sin soon stood up and joined his comrade, looking up at him. "What is it?" "Yeah! What's just as you thought?" Ragna was getting frustrated as well, thinking that the brunette swordsman was keeping something from him. Sol looked back at the young warrior, his eyes seemingly burning into him. "It's the year 2187. You saying that it's 2199 obviously throws up some red flags." Ragna blinked and looked around. "2187? So, you're thinking that… I went backwards in time or something?" "It's highly possible. Maybe Gears don't exist 12 years from now. Trust me, you aren't the only time traveler I've met in my life." Sol sighed, then started to step away to investigate the dead Gear some more. Ragna rubbed his head again, partially unable to believe that he was in another time. "Damn… Now that I think about it, the last thing I remember before showing up in this city was fighting against—" "Hey uh, guys?" Sin said, interrupting Ragna's train of thought. "Look at this." he said, holding up a piece of paper with Ragna's picture on it. "Oh, yeah…" Ragna said, rubbing his head again. "That guy in the Gear… thing… showed me that. Apparently I have a bounty on my head in this time period as well…" "Yeah, but that's not all…" Sin continued, pulling out two more wanted posters, with both his and Sol's pictures on them. "You're not the only one Rags…" Sol snatched the poster with his picture on it from Sin, glaring down at it. "Well, my guess is… whoever it was that possibly brought you here, brought you here for a reason… and they're going to this length to find you… and for some reason, they want us as well…" "So, what are we gonna do?" Sin chimed in. "What else? We're gonna find the bastard and put 'im in his place…" Sol said, grasping the poster in his fist, setting it on fire as he held it. "Let's get going. You too, tourist." he said, looking over his shoulder at Ragna as he started walking off. "T-Tourist? Who the hell are you calling tourist?" "What, you don't want me to show you around? In that case, I could just leave your ass here for another Gear-driving bounty hunter to find you…" "Tch… Dammit…" Ragna sighed as he joined up with Sol and Sin, moving on to search for their pursuer.

Unknown to them, however, was that they were being watched. Off in an unknown location, several people were gathered in front of a large monitor, watching the three warriors as they travelled along.

"Aww~! Raggy found some new friends! Isn't that sweet~?"

"Honestly Hazama, are you always this irritating?"

"Come on now! Can't you have a little bit of fun?

"Gentlemen… Now is not the time for meaningless bickering. Our quarry draws near."

"I can already tell… these three will make excellent subjects for research…"

"Mmh, yeah… I wonder if ol' Freddie will remember me at all. It's been so~ long!"

"You will have your time, I-No… For now, we will wait to see where they go and what they will do…"

The figures continued to watch, some impatiently, as the three wandered on, oblivious to what lies ahead for them. They would soon find out, however, that things are not as simple as they seem.