"I don't think we've had an opportunity to meet each other before. So how do you know my name?"
Nari's confused words had cemented the reality for Claire.
She had actually traveled back in time, even if it sounded not that plausible. Shouldn't it have worked for Jim only? Apparently, no.
But if the girl had jumped back to the past, wouldn't that mean that she wasn't the only addition to time travel? What about Douxie? Or Bellroc?
Claire froze in horror - while it would be great to have her magical teacher around, the fire demigod should have been the last one to be in this timeline.
Jim had planned to prevent disaster, not bring a more horrifying future.
The girl felt panic quickly overcoming her and nearly jumped when she felt a comforting touch.
Nari. Somehow, Claire had managed to forget about the plant goddess already.
The former member of the Arcane Order was watching her with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
"You are odd," she said at last. "Your soul is unusual".
"Unusual?" the girl repeated. "How so?"
"You collapsed some time ago - and it changed," Nari clarified, still looking at her with puzzlement.
What could it possibly mean? Had she ended in someone else's body or something? Claire got a glimpse over herself, noting the familiar magic armor Merlin crafted from Jim's Vespa.
"But I'm still myself," the Latina disagreed.
"You are," the plant demigod nodded. "The soul is like a tree - there are no identical ones. It grows through the entire life, becoming bigger and stronger with experience. Yet yours somehow developed significantly in some moments as if you had gone through a lot".
So that was what Nari meant. Claire couldn't blame her for the confusion - after all, no one would expect time travel.
On the other hand, the girl couldn't help comparing her current experience to the one she had previously, during her unexpected journey to medieval Camelot. That time was a true time leap as her body had ended in the ancient period. Yet now it seemed that only her mind (soul?) had gone back.
Nevertheless, it felt like not all pieces of the puzzle were added.
Yes, there was a matter of the time stone. If Claire's consciousness was in the past, it simply couldn't have ended in her possession - back then, it should have been still empowering the Krohnisfere in China.
The girl unclenched her fist, examining the green crystal attentively. Nari's eyes went wide open from the genuine shock the second she had seen it.
"How do you have that one?" the plant demigod whispered, her hand reaching for the time stone unwittingly.
"I'm a time-traveler," the Latina confessed. What was the point to hide it more, especially from Nari? Weren't they on the same side?
"I see," the goddess muttered, her expression turning pensive all of sudden. "So it ended in the worst-case scenario…"
The worst-case scenario… Could the future she had come from actually count as one? Yes, it was horrible for their team of guardians, they had lost too many, yet…
Claire opened the mouth to comment but closed it at once. Could there be any right answer to that? The girl seriously doubted that.
"May I have your name?" Nari asked.
"I'm Claire," the Latina gave her a friendly smile. Somehow, it felt so awkward right now. Though, it wasn't like their first introduction in the previous timeline had been better with all the Arcane Order-related stuff going on.
"Have I sent you here, to this time?" the plant demigod inquired earnestly. "To change the grave outcome for this world?"
Claire shook her head:
"Honestly, I shouldn't have ended in the past at all. Someone else wanted to go… The things didn't go as planned, and now I am here…"
How could she even explain all of the events that lead to this current predicament? The girl still couldn't comprehend everything herself. Besides, the time stone in her palm felt impossibly heavy for some reason - most likely, it was just her imagination, the fruit of her guilt.
"I think, you should keep it, Nari," the Latina held the green crystal out to her. It should have been for better.
Nevertheless, the plant goddess smiled kindly and clasped her hands over Claire's outstretched palm:
"It has chosen to stay with you. Nothing in this world happens without reason."
"Nothing… Without reason," the girl repeated as the sudden realization had hit her. Exactly! Wasn't she at this time and place for some reason? Shouldn't there be something that could bring the change to everything?
The answer was Nari or, more exactly, the information she possessed. All the time during their confrontation with the Arcane Order, the Guardians of Arcadia were no different from blind kittens who tried to stumble across anything that could help. Yes, they had Merlin's grimoire, but hadn't it proved to be not that reliable when one accidentally skipped page contained the vital information?
They would have never made such a mistake if the old wizard had been alive, even if Claire hated to admit that. Merlin's decisions had been cynical and heartless, but unlike his allies, he had actually had a full grasp on the entire situation.
The Latina wondered for a second why the old man had never bothered sharing his thoughts or plans with any of them. She could bet that even Douxie didn't know everything about his master's mindset.
Nevertheless, their team had been surely ignoring the way more reliable source in their close vicinity. Nari was older than the planet itself, and if someone knew everything, wouldn't it have been her? Be it her words about the ninth configuration, the Krohnisfere, or the time unfolding differently - all of those proved to be game-changing. So why had they never asked the plant demigod? Well, most of them had no opportunity to communicate with the former member of the Arcane Order for that long, but shouldn't Douxie have more than enough time during their run?
"I'm not sure about most of those things you've mentioned, but I wouldn't tell him in any case," Nari said forlornly. Claire realized too late that she somehow had ended voicing all of her thoughts aloud.
"But why?" the girl wondered if the plant goddess told so only because she still had no opportunity to know Douxie. After all, those two shared a close, nearly sibling-like bond in the future.
The reply to that was anything, but the thing she had expected.
"There's some knowledge in this universe that only deities can possess," Nari whispered, her eyes cast down in shame. "If everyone else wishes to get it, they should pay for it with something they hold dear… The universe itself would claim the payment… So, unless there's no other choice, I'll never say anything…"
"But…" Claire opened her mouth and closed it at once. It hit her like a wall of bricks.
The knowledge only deities could possess.
The price to pay.
Something dear.
Back then, when the Arcane Order had tried to return Nari's soul back to her body, she actually had given them two pieces of information. Did it count?
Apparently, yes.
Their team had lost two members afterward - it had been like all the events were leading to Nomura's and Strickler's demises. The universe claiming the payment - it had to be that one.
But, wait, wasn't it quite weird? If the guardians had to lose someone dear to them, shouldn't it be someone else? Even Mr. Strickler hadn't been that close to most of the team, let alone aloof Nomura…
Claire gasped as the horrifying realization struck her. It hadn't been all the allies to pay the price for knowledge. No, only one of them had received that heavy burden. The one who had bonded with both Strickler and Nomura.
Jim. Hadn't he befriended the female changeling during their imprisonment in the Darklands? Nomura had been clearly his friend and ally first and foremost.
And Mr. Strickler? That one was simply a no-brainer. Jim had been willing to accept their World History teacher as a part of his family, he had entrusted his mother to the man.
Claire's chest felt so tight that she could barely breathe. Why had it to be Jim once again? Hadn't he already made too many difficult decisions? Wasn't he always willing to put everything to save those he loved, be it throwing away his humanity or willing to carry the burden of things that could be? Why her boyfriend had to be the tragic hero all the time?
Moreover, the third piece of information about the time unfolding differently… Had the price for it been Nari's own life? No, some kind of the sixth sense told the Latina that it hadn't counted.
The third sacrifice had been Toby - the more Claire considered it, the more sure she had become. It was as if all the circumstances had been against Jim's best friend. If Douxie's spell had malfunctioned, shouldn't all of them have been stuck? Or at least some of them? Yet Toby had been the only one.
He had been frustrated and anxious, most likely questioning his own worth. Claire could relate to that feeling of helplessness and uselessness - she hated it herself. Being excluded from the final battle just had to be the last straw for the redhead, making him try something outright suicidal. And the universe clearly had put his luck on minimum for the stunt - it had been waiting for the payment hungrily.
The only thought of it was too suffocating, too heart-breaking. The girl could hear Nari saying something to her, yet her mind refused to register any of the words. The current plant goddess had told Claire that she would never share the knowledge, yet the one in the future still had done that. Hadn't there be no other choice? Had kind and compassionate Nari chosen the cynical approach?
No. The Latina suddenly got the answer which connected all the loose ends. Nari from the future had actually attempted to lessen the damage as much as possible. That was the exact reason why the demigod's words were so cryptic instead of holding the detailed instructions. Claire suspected that otherwise, they would lose way more people. Besides, out of three pieces of information, only the first one applied to defeating the Arcane Order. The plant goddess could simply end with that one only, but she also had mentioned the way to fix everything. And when Nari had gotten an opportunity to elaborate, hadn't she chosen to give more hints about fixing the timeline?
The demigod had decided to entrust everything to Jim, and most likely, everything would have ended right. Yet…
Now it had become too complicated, with additional time-travelers included. Claire had steeled herself - there had been no time to panic. She had to think out something and fast. There had to be a way to get the information without such horrible sacrifices.
"Merlin's grimoire has information about the Arcane Order and titans," the girl started slowly. "So there are other ways to get the knowledge without consequences and…"
The sadness and pity in Nari's gaze made her stop midphrase.
"Can you imagine how high was the price Merlin had paid to learn all of that?" the demigod asked seriously, looking right into Claire's eyes.
It made sense. Too much actually, knowing about all the implications. Besides, wasn't the old wizard jaded and cynical enough to be willing to sacrifice few for the good of many?
Yet… That felt extremely cold even for him. Besides, hadn't Merlin sacrificed his own life to save his student?
"Did he willingly throw away those dear to him?" Claire rasped. She had never been the biggest fan of the wizard, especially after what he had done to Jim, but still, a part of her hoped that the old man had never fallen that low.
Nari shook her head and sighed:
"Merlin would never do that. Especially, back then. You know, he used to be a bright and hopeful boy, a bit reckless, slightly naive, and too confident in his own magic powers… It was his downfall. Merlin thought he had managed to capture Skrael, so he mindlessly interrogated someone he should never have asked anything… And Skrael just kept talking, fully aware what exactly it would bring upon the boy's head."
Claire put her hand over her mouth, realizing the sheer horror of the story. She could imagine it - way younger wizard, celebrating something he had genuinely considered his win, and the ice demigod barely hiding his own sadistic glee.
"Merlin had lost everything soon enough," Nari continued with the sad tale. "All those he held dear perished one by one. It scarred him for life. Merlin has a beautiful soul, yet it's covered with so many thorns now…"
"It's easy to crumble if the burden is too heavy," Claire muttered, more to herself than to the plant goddess. Her mind trailed back to Jim. That was exactly the reason why he shouldn't have stayed alone. Perhaps, no one would ever be able to be as good as Toby, but it never meant that others couldn't try to be moral support or even share the burden.
Right. The Latina wasn't Toby, but she could be of help some other way. She had her own strong points, so shouldn't she have used those? She had always been good with riddles and…
Think, Claire, think.
It felt like she had already had all the pieces of the puzzle, she just needed to connect those. The girl took the deep breeze, reviewing everything she had already learned from Nari.
Some things mortals had no right to know.
Universe claiming payment.
Exactly!
It claimed it only once. How many people had heard the plant goddess revealing information about the Ninth configuration and Krohnisfere? Yet only one of them paid. Reading Merlin's grimoire also hadn't made people drop dead right and left.
So…
"Nari, if some mortal already knows some forbidden information, can you share it safely?" the girl asked in an attempt to confirm her suspicions. It was just a formality, she was one hundred percent sure about that one.
The demigod's silent nod simply cemented everything.
"Then…" Claire took a deep breath, trying to muster some courage. "Can you tell me everything you can share without consequences? It doesn't matter if it may feel trivial or small to you, perhaps, I'll try to get something out of it…"