Disclaimer: I did not invent Shadow Hearts or Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Though I did create the world. Joke!

Interesting fact: There was a time travel convention some time last May. Seriously. People from the future who had invented time-travel were invited, but to our knowledge, none of them showed up. Oh well.

Our Old Mistakes Do Come Back To Haunt Us. Especially On Video.

Peter O'Toole

Soon, we are seated in Saki's home. I look at her. She is a close relative of Yuri's, and he never knew she existed.

He didn't have to be alone.

Saki stands in front of us. "Margarite has told me everything," she says. "Now I have something to tell you,"

She begins, "Do you know of Yuri's mother, Anne?"

I nod. She continues, "Jinpachiro met Anne when he found her collapsed on the ground. He brought her here, and they fell in love. She told him she was from a small town in Russia, though she was always vague on the details, and to my knowledge did not speak a word of Russian. Yet, I trusted her. I thought of it as one part of the puzzle. And now, today I have found the other piece,"

Karin and I exchange confused glances. Margarite watches Saki, an inscrutable expression playing across her features.

Saki goes to a box in the corner of the room, and takes something out, an old photograph by the looks of it. She holds it to herself, so we can't see the picture.

"Anne and my brother…they were very much in love," she says. "They adored one another," she smiles, at me, at Karin. "Yuri…he was so like my brother. Inside and out,"

She walks towards us. "I…I thought you should see this," she says. She walks towards us.

"The characters on the back read 'Jinpachiro, Anne, and three-year-old Yuri," She says as she hands me the photograph. Karin and Margarite, sitting on either side of me, look over my shoulder.

We all gasp. Karin takes the photo from my unresisting fingers.

"I…that…that's me!" She says.

Saki smiles. Margarite starts laughing, slightly hysterically.

"Of course," she gasps. "Of course. Why didn't I think of that?"

We look at her.

"Karin, Saki gave you this photograph before you told Yuri you loved him,"

I look at Karin, relief flooding through my veins.

"You…" I say. "Then, you…"

"Oh," gasps Karin, realising. "That's what she…I…oh!"

Margarite continues, "I guess when you got caught in the time warp you wished to go back and meet Jinpachiro…"

We smile at each other happily. Karin and I…we are not rivals. We never were. We both loved the same man, yes. But we were never in competition. It is then that a thought occurs to me.

"Wait," I say, feeling the colour drain from my face.

"What?"

"What will happen if…if Karin doesn't go back? You said it was Kato who sent you all back before, right? How is this Karin going to get there?"

"Ah," says Margarite. "I…I didn't think of that,"

"You're right," says Saki. "She must go back, otherwise Yuri will not have been born,"

"What's that word?" I wonder aloud.

"Paradox," says Margarite.

"I don't think I've heard that word before," says Karin.

"It means…a contradictory statement. For instance, if I say 'I always lie'. You see, if I always lie then that statement must be a lie. So if it's a lie that I always lie, then I must tell the truth. But if it's true that I always lie, then-"

"I get it," says Karin.

"Yes," I say. "So in this case…If Karin doesn't go back, what will happen?"

"No-one's ever attempted it," Says Margarite. "No-one's ever been able to travel in time before now! But…some scientists have been discussing the question,"

"And?" I ask. "What do they think?"

"Well, according to them, the universe will unravel. It'll be the end of the world,"