Chapter 1 - What Just Happened?

Soo...

This is a quick note from me, before Pyrox starts talking through Cupro and me (Lance).

COVID-19 has shaken my life up a bit. I don't know how frequently I will be able to post chapters, so...putting it out there.

This is the sequel to On Mechanus, so check that out if you haven't already.

XXXXXXXXXX

Oh, hey, Pyrox again.

I'm going to narrate what happened to me after the...Fabric Incident, I think it's called?

For the sake of less confusion, I'm going to call my android self Pyrox II.

A web address for a Pyrox II stat block will be put on CuproTheDragon's profile page later.

Now, let's get started.

I woke up with a mild headache. Do keep in mind, though, that when I say, "mild headache," it's very strong by your standards.

I got up. Was that all just a dream?

I looked in the mirror in front of me. One horn. One scratch. None of the things I added onto myself during my time on the Ætherplane. The Lunar Stone? Gone.

But I looked behind me, and I saw my family, sleeping soundly. Hysperia's rising and falling light green scales, Cendia's dark red and parchment white, Ispil's blue, Ninilus's black, gray, and white, Cruor's red and green.

I smiled, and looked in the mirror again. Wait one second! I was wearing the Planar Amulet around my neck! My mind flicked instantly to the errands I needed to run: Making a deal with Asmodeus more than three thousand years in the past, modifying my younger self's memory so I remembered what I remembered now, bringing Hysperia back or forward in time so she appeared in the Ætherplane if she wasn't in the right time...

I told the Planar Amulet first, "Take me to where and when Hysperia was one second before she got to the Ætherplane, and then freeze time."

I appeared in an empty cave. I rounded a corner into the open air. I saw Hysperia and a wizard in the middle of a fight, a beam of light frozen coming out of the wizard's finger, and Hysperia's claws in the air.

Heck, I even saw a butterfly frozen in midair.

I whispered into the Amulet, "Send Hysperia back or forward in time to one second before the Ætherplane forms. Keep Hysperia frozen during the time travel."

Hysperia disappeared, and I said into the Amulet, "Take me to where and when Hysperia was one second after she left the Ætherplane, then freeze time again."

I was transported back to where I started, except a few minutes before. I saw myself sleeping soundly along with my family. I smiled, and said, "Take me to when I was 4 years old, then transport me to a place near myself where I can see my past self, but he can't see me."

I chose four years old because I was becoming fluent in languages then.

I was transported into a forest, just a few feet behind me actually, but I'm too lazy to just walk. (This is actually not true. I simply forgot that I was here when I was four.)

I saw from behind a bush my four-year-old self walking around. I started to cast a memory modification spell, and sprung into action. I cast the spell, turning my first memories into false ones. I really did not like doing this, but hey, you don't want to mess up the timestream.

That was done, so I went and said, "Take me to Nessus 3,001 years in the past." (Just needed to make sure I didn't accidentally enter the Nine Hells after my deal was over.)

I popped out into Nessus. An ice devil immediately charged me, and I whipped around, dodging it, and said into the Amulet, "Freeze time."

Everyth...ing...slow...ed...do...wn... and I walked for a while. After a bit, a whole city just appeared right in front of my nose! In frozen time! How does that work?!

This was probably the Wandering Emporium, or its precursor. I looked around suspiciously, shrugged, and walked in. Everything in it was frozen in time. I walked around a bit and located a big bank. (Of course the Nine Hells have banks! How do you expect to have a lot of soul coins?) I walked in and over the counter, and behind the bankers, and simply took all the soul coins, fifty in total.

I had this (not so great) idea. I told the Amulet, "Take me to another bank that has soul coins." In this manner I amassed something like three hundred soul coins.

I then said, "Take me to the next time Asmodeus is unoccupied, into his throne room, and resume time."

I appeared in Asmodeus's throne room, and dropped into a bow. Asmodeus yelled, "What are you doing here?"

I said, "I've come to strike a deal." and spilled all of the soul coins onto the floor. I said, "In the future, I'm going to want to make a copy of this." I held up the Planar Amulet. "If you help me, I will gladly give you all of these soul coins."

Asmodeus eyed me and the coins. A piece of paper appeared out of midair. He looked it over, and handed it to me with a pen and inkwell. I looked at it. It was a contract. Everyone knows that signing a contract written by a devil is never a good idea, and signing a contract written by the god of devils?

But the contract seemed to be legitimate. No fine print, clear meaning...Asmodeus must have really wanted those souls. I signed it, and gave it back. Asmodeus took it, and the contract disappeared.

All the soul coins floated up and popped away. I said, "Thank you." and whispered at the Planar Amulet, "Take me to where I was when I left Hysperia and my kids and time was still running."

I was a bit dizzy after all of that time traveling, so I took the Planar Amulet off, hid it under an anvil, and sat down. I shook my head for a bit, and realized Pyrox II was gone, and I couldn't contact him anymore.

I didn't worry. Apparently, he was his own individual, and I had somehow magically gained control over him. I found that out during my time on the Ætherplane. I was tired, but I couldn't fall asleep. Instead, I woke everyone up.

They all woke up.

Hysperia said, blinking, "What was that?" I noticed she looked younger than she did on the Ætherplane, but it could have been the constant stress that it put on everyone.

Cruor, Ipsil, and Cendia grumbled various things about sleeping in.

Ninilus got up, yawned, and stretched. She pushed the other three children around until they got up.

Cruor said, "Hmph." He then looked around and asked, "Where are we?"

I looked around. A clear area, a broken table, a mirror, a gaping hole in reality, an anvil...

"My home," I said.

"So this is where you lived," said Hysperia. "It's awfully nice, considering it's in the middle of the forest with no walls."

"Thank you," I said. "I'm going to take a walk. I need to clear my head."

I walked out of my home, and down a forest path. I walked out onto a road, and there The Frost Beast was.

"Well," I said. "Look who it is."