AN: Hi!
I turned to Louise, who was standing next to a girl dressed in a maid outfit, who had apparently taken my Bag from Louise's hands. Hey, she had Black hair! That's the first time I've seen that since being brought here! Uh oh… She was glaring at me…
"Alfie…" She growled.
I gulped, nervously. "S-So… W-Who's that?" I asked, pointing at the maid girl, hoping to distract Louise.
"Siesta, she's a maid. But that's not important! You have some explaining to do!" She snapped at me angrily.
I sighed, and nodded. "Okay… Let's just get somewhere private…" I muttered, taking the bag from Siesta and slinging it over my bag.
It didn't take me and Louise very long to find a spot. The tables which had apparently been set up outside for students and their Familiars were still there, thankfully less full than before. We quickly took seats at a table that was on the outer edges, allowing us some privacy. Fitting for a maid, Siesta was quick to serve us up some tea but she remained hanging around afterwards, finding an excuse to putter around. Her best one was to spruce up the other tables but she never went out of earshot even though she had cleaned the tables enough times to satisfy even the most determined of cleaners.
I had taken the Den-O Belt from the bag, along with the FFR Den-O Figure, the Pass removed from my pocket.
"Just how did you do that?" Louise asked calmly, but I could tell that she was bursting with curiosity from the way she refused to stop staring at me even though she tried dropping sugar cubes into her tea and missed completely.
"I just used this. It's called the Den-O Belt." I explained, gesturing to the belt sitting on the table.
"And just where did they come from? How did they help you beat Guiche?" Louise pressed, not liking my less than helpful answer.
'They were toys I'd brought with me to show a friend that turned into real tools of time travel and possible mass destruction.' I thought sarcastically to myself. The truth may have worked in about any other situation, but I had a feeling that Louise wouldn't accept it. I was in a place where magic existed and was used every day. Thus, the history of the Imagin in the Den-O series would probably be a lot more plausible than the answer I had. Deciding to simply feed the curiosity that was ready to burst in both noble and maid, I made my answer.
"Well, first, I need to give you some background information." I started, getting a slight nod from Louise. "In my world, there's a race of beings called Imagin. They're beings from the distant future, who lost their physical forms due to an event in the past erasing their own timeline, becoming dependent on the memories of others in order to survive. The Imagin forgot their pasts but retained their personalities, as a result. Led by a person called Kai, they travelled back to the year 2007 to find weak-hearted humans and through them go back in time to find a person known as a Singularity Point." I began to Explain.
"What's a Singularity Point?" Siesta asked, seemingly forgetting she was 'supposed to be cleaning'.
"A singularity point is a Human that's immune to changes in Time. For example. Louise, let's say you're a singularity point. I doubt you are but let's pretend." I started to explain.
Louise nodded, curious.
"If I, or anyone with access to time travel, went back in time and killed your parents before you were born, the future would change, right?" I asked. Louise nodded.
"Of course it would." She agreed.
"Right. But, you would still exist." I told her.
"How?"
"Because, as a Singularity point, you would be immune to changes in time. Even if your past self was killed, you would still survive. There's only one thing that can erase Singularity points. The Goah System, but I'll explain that later." I explained to her.
Louise nodded. "I think I understand." She told me.
"Good! Now, the Imagin went to 2007, with the goal of finding the Singularity point, and killing that person so that their future would be a reality once again. The Imagin would possess humans upon forging a contract, fashioning a physical form from the imagination of their host. The hosts, recognizable by the sands of time spilling from their bodies, are offered a single wish by the Imagin. In exchange, the Imagin is able to dive into the most treasured moment of the person's past. However, the host must remember making the contract for the Imagin to successfully travel to the past. Additionally, due to the greatly delicate nature of the contract, if the contract holder forgets or dies before the contract is completed, the Imagin bound to the holder would fade out of existence." I explained. "Singularity points however, are able to resist the Contracts creation, and instead, the Imagin possesses them. If they have a strong enough will, the Singularity point can force the Imagin out, but if they're unconscious, they can't." I added quickly.
"What do you mean by Sands of time?" Louise asked. "And why did you switch between past and present tense?" She added.
"The tense thing… I dunno? It just felt right…" I shrugged. "The Sands of time however…" I trailed off, thinking of how to best explain it. "There's a place that exists outside of time. It's a practically infinite desert. The sand there is known as the sands of time, it's also the name of the Desert for some reason. It flows from injured Imagin and Contract holders to signify… I dunno actually for the Holders… The Imagin one is because it's what makes up their bodies, since even though they have physical form, their true bodies are still lost, along with their future, I think… The Holders… I guess maybe to show that they're changing time, so the Sands of future timelines are being removed from the timeline?" I shrugged again. "In the Sands of Time, there's ways to travel through time, which can be used by Imagin and humans alike, as opposed to the Method that Imagin use to try and destroy the current timeline. See, timelines are represented as Train Tracks, and-" I was cut off by a sound of confusion coming from Louise and Siesta.
"What are Train Tracks?" Louise asked confused.
"Is a train like a Horse…?" Siesta asked quietly.
"No… Kinda? A Train is kinda like… It's like lots of Carriages, all linked together, but at the Front of it, is a different shapes Carriage, and there's no horse." I began explaining. "You remember how when I transformed, there were these lines on my helmet that the visor went along?" I asked, getting nods. "Those lines were rails. Train Tracks are bigger versions of Rails." I explained. "If I get the chance, I'll see if I can show you." I promised. "But anyway, Trains use the Tracks to travel across the planet. The Tracks in the Sands of Time are travelled by a few different Trains, known as Time Trains, or Liners." I said, getting back on… Track! Eh? EH? Come on! It was funny! "There's the train that I, as Den-O should have access to, the Den-Liner. It's based on a type of Train that's designed for speed I think. Then there's the Zero-Liner, which is based on the old types of trains that were powered by coal and fire. There's also the Goah-Liner, which is capable of wiping out Singularity points, but it's either hidden away somewhere or destroyed, I don't want to find out which, the Ghost Train, which can travel to the underworld, the King-Liner, which hopefully you'll never see in Train form, since it also doubles are stations for the trains to stop at. The Time Trains are capable of travelling through what I'll call the Time Tracks, allowing them to go through time, letting them chase after Imagin. If a future was erased but is later capable of being restored, the Time Tracks will form new sets leading to it, but the Tracks are likely to get tangled up, making it impossible to get towards the future. Going from those Futures to the past however is easy." I explained, stopping to catch my breath and drink some tea.
"How does the Belt come into this?" Siesta asked, reminding me that I hadn't explained that.
"Oh! Right! Okay, so originally, the Singularity Point was a boy called Ryotaro Nogami, who suffered from extremely bad luck. He later went on to become Den-O, due to being a singularity point. The Den-O Belt originally only had four buttons, which corresponded to his four Imagin Partners." I held up the FFR Den-O Figure, quickly switching it to Momotaros form. "Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, and Ryutaros, in that order going down the belt. How the Belt works, is that it transforms the user, and the form comes from their personality. For Example, Momotaros is rude, straightforward, and very violent, so his Den-O form is Sword form. If your personality is blank enough, you only get access to the Plat Form, which is the armour before the other parts are attached. Ryotaro could only access Plat Form on his own for a long time." I explained to them. "How it's used, is that the user, preferably an Imagin or a Singularity point, puts on the belt, and swipes this pass, which does lots of things, over the centre. If an Imagin possessing someone, they push their respective button, then swipe." I explained, playing with the Rider Pass. "I don't know if you always have to push the button, of if it's just for show when the Imagin do it on their own…" I muttered, before I shrugged. "I think that's everything…" I muttered, stretching.
"Well, how can you use it? Are you a Singularity Point?" Louise asked. "And who made such items?" She added.
"I don't know, I might be, and I don't know." I answered, responding in order. "I just hope there won't be any Imagin attacks here…" I muttered, drinking my tea…
I jolted, sliding down the wall a little. Oh no… I think that was a sneeze…
A boy scowled, muttering to himself about something… "Useless Zero, can't even summon a normal familiar… She just had to summon a commoner, and one that thinks he's a mage!" He snorted, standing in the shadows… Unnoticed, a small ball of light floated behind him, before it shot into him, sand leaking out of his body…
"Tell me your wish, and I shall grant it…" A voice said, as the sand took form…
"I hate this. I hate it I hate it I hate it!" I growled, glaring at the giant objects around me… "I CAN'T EVEN MOVE! GAH!" I screamed angrily, shaking a little.
I looked around idly, before I noticed something… Sand… "Sand…?" I muttered to myself. "One second Louise." I said, stopping her from saying whatever she was about to say. Instead, I put everything back into my Bag, and slung it over my back, getting up and walking towards the Sand, following the trail it had left…
"My wish? What do I want more than anything…? Ah, I know…"
"Your wish shall be granted…"
After a while, I found myself standing in front of one of the girls from when Louise had summoned me… She was also there when I fought Guiche actually… She had blue hair, and glasses normally, but… She was covered in Sand, and was missing her glasses, with a book on the floor next to her.
"Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up carefully.
She shook her head slightly, moving some dust. "Monster." She said simply, pointing in the direction pointing… Away from the Sand…? Weird…
"What happened?" I asked, trying to get some information.
"Just walking around, monster attacked, it ran off that way." She said, still pointing, before dusting off her book.
I nodded, and ran the way she'd pointed, grabbing the Den-O Belt out of my bag and readying it as I did so.
After a few minutes, I found myself standing in front of… An Imagin… Damnit.
"Damnit, looks like the Imagin are here after all then…" I muttered in dismay, catching its attention.
"You… Zero's familiar…?" The Imagin growled, its speech limited due to the giant fangs on its face… It looked sorta like Man-Bat, from Batman… But… Its mouth was full of giant fangs…
"Maybe. Who's asking?" I retorted, the Belt hidden from view…
"Me." It replied, lunging at me to attack me with its clawed fingers. I jumped back quickly, and put the belt on.
I pressed a button, and swiped the pass, only noticing at the last moment it was the wrong button…
"VEGA FORM" The Belt announced, the Plat Form appearing on my body… And then…
"OW! HOLY FUCK!"
I perked up as I felt a familiar tug… I let it pull me in…
Something was off… It wasn't right… It was a Den-O form, but I had the shoulder parts…
"Let me say this to start… The face on my chest is just for show."
I finally caught up to Alfie… He had a new form?
"Let me say this to start… The face on my chest is just for show."
"EH?!"
Alfie turned to me, and… Bowed?!
"Oh! I'm sorry! I'll just fight this Imagin, and then you'll have Alfie back!" He said, his voice different… He then turned away, and began to fight the Imagin… Alfie's bag was on the floor nearby, and it was shaking…
I fought against the Imagin, hoping to defeat it quickly so that I could explain everything…
'Nngh… My head…'
'Ah! I'm Sorry, but I had to take over! Your body would have been badly injured otherwise!'
'… Deneb? Wait… Why are you here?'
'I'm not certain, but I'm sorry!'
I used my shoulder cannons to knock the Imagin away, and readied the pass…