Chrono Corruption
Act 1: The Frozen Flame
Chapter 4: A Strange Anomaly
Ty and Tomo awoke in an indeterminable place and they were amazed. Their amazement quickly turned to fear, however. "Ty, where in the world are we?" Tomo asked as she sat up from her position.
Ty was a bit overwhelmed, "I... I don't know, but it makes me feel sick and disoriented..."
The place they were in had no logical form. The sky, if one could call it that, was grey, as if they were on some alien world. The storms in the sky were roaring, but there was no wind. They, themselves, were on an impossible structure that reminded one of a bismuth crystal, but it was not as colorful. It was suspended in the void. Other structures also littered the sky of similar design. The place also seemed spiritually iridescent as everything seemed to be a little fuzzy, but bright. Finally, small mysterious orbs flitted about everywhere.
Tomo turned to Ty with a look of fear, "Ty... are we... dead?! It's so, cold and dark here..."
Ty inspected his person, "I don't think so, if we were I don't think we would have any mortal items on us. See, I still have my clothes and my daggers!"
"What should we do then?" Tomo asked curiously.
"Well, I guess we should just do what we do best, explore," Ty said with a shrug.
"Hmm, not much else we can do I suppose...," Tomo agreed.
With Ty leading, the two began trekking around the rather small structure. Easily, they found a small orb of light perched on the other side. "I wonder what this is?" Ty said as he went to place his finger on it.
"No wait, Ty...!" Tomo yelped as she was cut off by Ty's sudden disappearance. "Wah, no, come back Ty, don't leave me here all alone!" she whined.
"Hey, I'm over here!" shouted Ty from another structure across the abyss.
Tomo turned her head immediately and smiled with relief, "Oh, how did you get over there?"
"Just touch it! It connects to another orb over here!" Ty explained.
Tomo gulped as she touched the orb and before she could even process the thought she stood before her rival. "Whoa, it worked!" she said with amazement.
"See, nothin' to it! I think we can get around this way," Ty added. "Let's continue shall we?"
They regrouped and began hopping between structures hoping to find an exit from the strange world they were placed in. They engaged in small talk to keep their minds together. "So Tomo, how exactly did you get so..., um, 'big' anyway?" Ty asked as politely as he could.
"Well, as I said before it's just from me abusing the Gastromorph spell I created and..., well I was always sort of a... chubby kid," replied Tomo with embarrassment.
"Huh, I did just meet you face to face around a year ago, so I guess that makes sense that I wouldn't know that," Ty said as they hopped to another structure. "And you said you were able to compress all this excess as well?"
"Yeah, my Lipomorph spell lets me shape my body into a slimmer, more convenient body type," she explained.
"Why not just lose the extra weight?" Ty asked curiously.
"...I never really thought about it because it never inconvenienced me that much. Actually..., it's helped me out a few times. I've trained so much with my dad over the years as a young teen that I just got used to it being there," Tomo shrugged.
"I knew about the weight training, hell all you Levine's undergo that training, but I didn't know it would be literal 'weight' training for you," Ty joked with a chuckle as they made it to another structure.
"Oh, ha..., ha... make another joke why don't you?" Tomo said sarcastically. "And what about you? Why are you so fast on your feet for such a large person?"
"I exercise...," Ty replied simply.
Tomo grunted, "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer... And the whole poison thing? Explain that to me..."
"Gladly," started Ty. "Since the Middle Ages, my first ancestor, named Eston Drayguard, harmed the ecosystem of the bog that I live in. I'm not sure about the details, but he was a master toxicologist. His studies were rumored to have been the cause of the toxic swamp my family, as well as a few others, lived in. Since Eston already had great immunity to toxins due to self-poisoning techniques, he passed this on to his children, both in knowledge and in the flesh as the swamp grew more toxic over time. As time passed, many families left, but my family adapted along with a few other stubborn ones."
"Huh, I guess your all a bunch of mutants then?" Tomo chuckled as they moved to another platform. "I also heard from my dad about Eston. He was rumored to be, 'King of the Thieves' and he was actually exiled to the Choras Boglands," Tomo continued.
"Mostly true, he was called the King of the Thieves, and well, he was a thief," started Ty with a sigh. "But he never called himself that, it was a title others gave him because of the ways he went about collecting all of the treasures he had. He kept all the treasures hidden deep within the Boglands."
"So is that why some people decided to stay behind in the swamp, hoping to find your treasures if the swamp killed you off?" Tomo asked curiously.
"Possibly, I wouldn't put it passed them," Ty chuckled. "I swear I've seen Guardia Soldiers snooping around from time to time."
Tomo's attention was then grabbed by an anomaly, "Um, speaking of 'seeing things', did you just see that chunk of rock just vanish into thin...!" she was cut off as a chunk of rock materialized in front of them.
"Woah...," they said in unison.
They watched the anomaly unfold, trying to understand it. They found that these platforms would phase in and out of wherever they were going at thirty-second intervals. "All right Tomo," Ty started as he turned to her. "It looks like we'll have to make a jump for it, so on three!"
"Right!"Tomo agreed as they braced themselves.
"One..., two..., three!" Ty announced as they leaped to the platform. "All right, let's find the next one!"
"Hey look, I think we are headed towards something!" Tomo said as they approached the next platform.
"That's interesting, let's keep moving before this thing vanishes again!" Ty said urgently.
They timed their jumps and after seven more platforms, they landed on a far larger structure that was simply made up of cubic blocks. "Whew! We made it!" Tomo said as a small orb of light passed her glance. "Huh?" she gasped as it seemed to dance in front of her. "Hey Ty, look I think it's trying to communicate!" she said with a heavy whisper.
Ty took a closer look, "Hmm, cute little fella, but I wonder what it's trying to tell us?"
"I think... it wants us to follow it?" Tomo said as the orb urged them to follow suggestively.
And they did so, the orb led them around a corner and flickered as strange creatures appeared. Peeling off the walls and floors like paintings that have come to life, the two-dimensional creatures captivated the two explorers. They had two arms and legs and resembled ancient cave drawings that had no real shape or form beyond the erratic.
"Ty... what are these things?" Tomo asked as she drew her hammer.
Ty drew his daggers, "If I had to guess? Total Chaos is what they are! There's almost no rules to these things, how freaky!"
The anomalous entities lunged from their position and attacked. Ty ran his dagger through one, cutting it like common parchment. This seemed to destroy it as it burst like a firecracker. Tomo crushed one with her hammer and it spewed sparks of light into the atmosphere like throwing a log onto a bonfire. "Nice! These things are easy to destroy!" Tomo said gaining confidence as she crushed another.
"Yeah, they only look weird I guess!" agreed Ty as he sliced another to bits.
With quick footwork and heavy strikes, Ty and Tomo vanquished the strange creatures in no time. After their work was done, the orb signaled them to continue following suggestively. They did so for only a short while, in the meantime, they faced several more waves of the 'Total Chaos' anomalies. Finally, they were led to another challenge space and time had for them. Spacious platforms moved, converged with one another, and then vanished only to reappear at their starting positions.
Tomo examined the strangeness before them, "Okay, so it seems we can jump onto and ride one of these platforms to the next one, but we have to be quick to move to the next one before the one we are on vanishes. Should be simple enough, right Ty?" she said as she turned to Ty.
Ty, however, already leaped to the first platform. "Come on slowpoke, I think I see something at the end of this sector!"
"What are you doing you moron?!" Tomo cried out as she ran and jumped to the platform as it moved away. She stammered as only half of her feet reached the platform.
"Tomo, no don't fall...!" Ty shouted as he dashed to her.
Tomo fell and Ty could only watch in horror as she plummeted into the abyss below. She screamed as she fell, but then, she vanished in a flash of light, leaving Ty speechless. Ty then heard her scream from above him as she returned to the starting structure unharmed, but dazed. "Oh, thank goodness she isn't...!" Ty was cut off as the moving platform he was on vanished and he fell into the abyss as well. Like Tomo, he vanished for on second, then found Tomo beneath him as he landed on her flabby body. Ty laughed, "Thanks for breaking my fall. You were right about this body of yours helping you out before! Now it's helped me out!"
"Ha, ha, just get offa me!" Tomo said with irritation. They quickly separated and got to their feet. "This time, wait, and let's go together you bone head!" she scolded.
"Alright, alright, I got ya," Ty said as he scratched the back of his head with embarrassment.
The orb of light guided them both as they jumped to the treacherously moving platforms. After several jumps and perilously close calls, they made it to a large cubic platform with a massive sphere of light. It radiated electricity and flashed visions of a place unknown to them. They were in awe as they approached. "Wow, this is amazing Ty, pinch me and tell me I'm not dreaming all of this!" she said in astonishment.
Ty shrugged as he grabbed a handful of her rear, "How's that?" he asked flatly.
"I said 'pinch', not 'grab', idiot!" she replied angrily as she punched him in the stomach.
Ty keeled over, "...Fair enough...," he moaned.
As Ty recovered, the orb that had been their guide hid behind them as something began to appear between the portal and them. "Uh oh, something's happening!" Tomo warned as she drew her hammer.
Ty followed suit, "Look, those anomaly creatures are... coming together! They're forming something new!" he said as they did just that.
The resulting fusion created a massively armed creature that kind of resembled a cactus. "It looks like some sort of Chaotic Mural or something!" Tomo described.
"Yeah, like it jumped right off a canyon wall or something!" Ty added.
The creature bellowed with what sounded like static as it tried to swipe at them with its large spiked appendage. They managed to narrowly avoid the attack as Ty retaliated with a dagger swipe. The creature followed up its erratic movements with more swipes. Tomo beat its arms away with hammer swings while Ty took swipes with his daggers. The creature then paused as the damage regenerated. "Oh crud, it can heal itself?!" Tomo pouted.
The energy that moved across its body was fed from a shiny object at its core. "Hold on, I think I see something, maybe I can grab it!" Ty said eyeing the core. Ty's muscles and senses heightened as he dashed like the wind and leaped up to the creature. He reached the core with his hands and drug it out, plundering it. Ty retreated with a bright white stone that resembled a bismuth crystal physically. "Hey, look at this Tomo," he said astonished.
"It's gorgeous...," she replied in awe.
The creature didn't like this one bit as it responded with erratic movements and static gurgles and moans. "What's it doing now?!" Ty said looking on.
"I think it may be... counting down? It sounds kinda like numbers are being announced from it!" Tomo said as she listened more closely.
"So how do we stop it? It might explode or something!" Ty said trying to find a place to take cover.
Tomo then got an idea, "I know, I'll Gastromorph it!" she said strongly.
"What, but it didn't work on Mustarl, how do you know it will on this thing?!" Ty asked nervously.
"Don't worry, I realized what went wrong before," Tomo explained with a grin. "Every time I use this skill on a creature, it was wounded. Mustarl wasn't even scratched when we fought so it could just shrug my spell off! This creature, however, is damaged quite badly, so I believe it will work this time!" she said as she pointed her finger to the Chaotic Mural.
"Okay, if it doesn't I'm hiding behind a rock!" Ty said backing up.
Tomo breathed steadily as she shot forth the beam of yellow light into the monster. The energy enveloped the Mural and it began to morph into a foodstuff. The Chaotic Mural vanished with only what looked like a small pile of flan. Tomo went up to it, "Flan? So Anomalies become pudding?" she said as she picked it up.
"You're really gonna eat that?" Ty said as he walked up to her.
"Yep, I wonder what it tastes like?" Tomo replied as she tossed it into her mouth. "Oh, it's tingly, but it has quite a soft, but mysterious taste!" she finished with a satisfying gulp.
"So I guess we can call it, 'Phenomenal Flan', then, huh?" Ty said with a chuckle.
Tomo then shivered as her body wafted a mysterious light. "Woah, this is so incredible!"
"What the! You just lit up, what's happening?!" Ty shouted as he instinctively backed up.
"It's that creature, Ty, I learned a new spell after eating it! I think I just absorbed its power! That's never happened before!" she said excitedly.
"What, another one?" Ty said sort of glumly as he still did not have even one spell. "Well, that kinda reminds me of an old saying, 'If you eat the flesh of your enemy, you gain its strength'! Or in this case, flan...," he said still a little overwhelmed.
"Chaotic Zone..., that's the feeling I get from this spell, that's what it's called!" Tomo said inspired. "I don't think I have the stamina to use this spell now though, it's a doozy. I'll have to train a lot more to use it!" she said happily.
"Hmm, well then, what do we do now?" Ty asked dumbfounded.
Then, the orb of light returned to them and urged them, "I think it wants us to walk into that giant sphere...," Tomo deduced.
"How do you..., oh whatever, let's just do it," Ty said as he approached the sphere. Tomo followed. Ty reached out cautiously as he was understandably hesitant.
Tomo grew tired of waiting, "Come on, anywhere's better than this!" she said as she swiftly pushed him in with herself. Once more, they were enveloped by the bluish atmosphere as they were transported to a place unknown.
*?*
Ty was unable to see or even breathe as he felt a soft mass covering him. As he felt around he could tell his arms were free and it was Tomo that was on top of him rather haphazardly. Ty muffled as he wiggled his feet, hoping Tomo would get the message. Tomo quickly realized she was smothering her rival and did a push-up, to reveal his face. He breathed heavily in response, "Okay Tomo, now it's your turn to get off'a me!" he groaned as he struggled for breath.
Tomo chuckled, "Oh sorry, wait, let me make this easier," she said as she chanted. Her body emanated a soft yellow glow as her mass was compressed and her body returned to her fit state. She moved off of Ty who came to his senses. "I'll occasionally swap body types to fit a situation or mood. It's much easier to do now that my Crystal Hourglass is all charged up!" she explained as they both rose to their feet.
The two breathed heavily as they took in their surroundings. Small bits of trash paper blew around a solid concrete base that overlooked what seemed to be a large body of water. No other forms of land could be seen. It seemed as though they were at some sort of dock for ships that were held inside a large facility. Ty ran out to the dock and gazed upwards at the facility. He was in shock, "Tomo you have to come and see this!" he said with urgency.
Tomo went out to the dock with him, "What, what is it?" she asked as she did the same as her rival. She too became surprised, "Ty it's... the facility we saw under the El Nido Sea!" she gasped.
"Yeah, only now it isn't waterlogged!" Ty said with a smile.
Then suddenly, an elderly voice called out to them as an older gentleman approached from another dry dock that was parallel to theirs. The elderly man has pure white hair with a matching beard, eyebrows, and mustache. He was much shorter than Ty was and wore a lab coat with a maroon vest underneath with blue pants and brown leather shoes. He marveled as he placed a pair of glasses on. He leaned in and examined them both. "Well now, I was wondering if this might happen as our experiments continued…," he said with a slight tone of worry. "Judging by your clothes and rough appearance…, you're from another era in time, aren't you? Where are you two from?" he asked seriously.
Ty and Tomo looked at each other and then turned to the gentleman, "We're from Choras..., where are we?" Ty said nervously.
"Not 'where', but more importantly, 'when' you are…," the old man began. "Yes, so, what year did you come from?"
"Um…, 1005 A.D., just 'when' is this?" Tomo asked politely.
The old man took off his glasses and polished them with his lab coat and then placed them back on. "You're in 2400 A.D. the future…, well to you anyway," he responded flatly. "I knew our experiments on time travel would eventually start having repercussions on the fabric of time, especially with the use of the Frozen Flame."
"The Frozen Flame?!" Ty and Tomo shouted in unison.
"Why yes, the Frozen Flame is an artifact of legend! We have it here in Chronopolis as an energy source. We found it here in El Nido just sitting on the bottom of the sea back in 2300 A.D.," explained the elderly gentleman.
"Speaking of energy, do you know what this is?" Ty said as he handed over the shining stone he stole from the Chaotic Mural.
The old man gasped in surprise, "Can it be...? Crystallized Annihilation energy? This I believe may be an Annihilation Fragment!"
The two had no idea what the man was talking about but decided to just listen. "Anyway, I'm the chief and curator of this research facility, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with me," said the chief. "I have to send you back to where you belong before the Counter-Time Experiment goes underway, which will be within the next 24 hours. I still have to make preparations."
Ty massaged his forehead in confusion. "Counter-Time Experiment, with the Frozen Flame? Just what are you guys doing here? That sounds ridiculously dangerous!"
"Indeed the repercussions of either success or failure could be catastrophic, but I feel at this point it is imperative to push on," the Chief said solemnly. "For now, just follow me, I'll have you put back home, safe and sound!" he said cheering up.
"Wait a minute, we found the Frozen Flame and this facility at the bottom of the sea in our time!" Tomo started distressfully. "Did something go wrong here?!"
The curator stopped in his tracks with his back facing them. "What did you say?" he asked as he turned back to Tomo. "This facility... you say you found Chronopolis at the bottom of the El Nido Sea?"
"Yeah, we were scuba diving for treasure and we found what we thought was something strange!" Tomo began. "So I told my dad to use the new bathysphere and the both of us rode it down so far deep we could see this facility at the bottom of the ocean!"
The curator paused, thinking heavily, "...And you say the Frozen Flame was inside...?"
"Yeah, we managed to retrieve it but some weirdo ended up stealing it and throwing us into some strange world. Then we moved around a little while in there and came out here...," Ty explained. "To keep it brief..."
The curator gave some thought as he stared off into space for a moment, "Hmm, thank you for the input, with this Annihilation Fragment and a few adjustments, we should be able to alter our calculations, thank you! Now, if you would, please follow me," the curator urged.
With nothing left to say, they both agreed. They left the dry dock via a high-tech door and they entered the facility by a stairwell. They traversed hallways upon hallways with many doors lining the walls that had differing experiments labeled in red lights above them. Biology, Geology, and Astronomy were just a taste of the subjects studied here. Eventually, they followed the curator to a foyer with a receptionist's desk. It was very nice and well kept with leather sofas and an elevator at the center of the large room that was in a transparent glass tube-like structure. The two followed the scientist to the elevator and he swiped a strange card and it made a noise. It came to their level and the doors opened smoothly. The curator walked in without a second thought but Ty and Tomo were slightly more reluctant. The doors closed as they both entered. The elevator then smoothly climbed up. The chief turned to them, "Now, forget about everything you saw while you were here. This was all just a strange dream. If you make a fuss about this place when you get back to your era then your peers may deem you mad," he instructed carefully. They agreed in unison.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The curator left as they both followed. They trekked through a small corridor and came to a door. Above it read, 'Restricted'. The curator swiped another card and the door responded by opening. He urged them to continue following him.
The room they entered was small but orderly. It was also elevated with small sets of stairs that surrounded a strange futuristic device that was the centerpiece of the room. Wires and tubes hung from the ceiling and connected to the 'roof' of the machine. The base was a pad of some sort that was surrounded by electronic screens. All around the room, large screens showed different versions of the World Map throughout history. The curator approached a control panel and then turned to both of them. "When you're ready, step onto the pad of this machine in the center of the room, this Tele-Pad will send you through an artificial time Gate we call a Rift!" he said as he began punching in equations with the computers keys.
Ty decided to examine all the maps that lined the room's walls and Tomo followed. The first map they came to was a map of only a single massive continent. The screen in front of Ty read, "65,000,000 B.C. although this date is just an estimate. This is Prehistory; the supercontinent viewed here we called Gaia. It is believed that this continent is the first landmass that supported life in the history of our world. Further study is needed, however."
Astounded, they then approached the next map in line. The world was mostly covered in ice at the poles and frost elsewhere with two more landmasses present. The screen beneath read, "300,000 B.C.; this is also a guessed date in time. This is the estimated end of the Ice Age, the humans survived and hunted for food above in this era in small tribes. This era is believed to be the era in which humanity first discovered and came into contact with the legendary, Frozen Flame."
They continued to the next map. It had much smaller landmasses that were covered in frost. The screen read, "12,000 B.C. not much is known, but this is the supposed era where the ancient magical Kingdom of Zeal was supposed to have reigned. However, no scientific evidence has been found to support this claim. It is a major target of our research."
They continued to the next one. This map was very familiar but had slight changes to the continents he knew. "1 A.D. This era is the supposed era the Kingdom of Guardia was established and became the leading nation of the world at the time."
They then came to the next one. This map Ty was very familiar with, it was a map of his own era, "Roughly 1000 A.D. This is the era in which the first temporal anomaly is said to have taken place. This was said to have happened at the Guardia Millennial Fair. The great scientist, Lucca Ashtear also lived during this time and her research is a major staple in this facility's guideline, even to this day."
Ty walked to the next map with Tomo still in tow. This map was unfamiliar but seemed futuristic. An enormous crater was found at the center of a continent. The screen read, "1999 A.D. The infamous date of, 'The Day of Lavos' was said to have occurred here. More study is needed, however.
The following two maps were 2300 A.D. and 2400 A.D. Being only 100 years apart, there were little Geographic differences. The 2400 A.D. Map pinpointed their current location as a hidden island in the middle of El Nido. Finally, there was one more map that confused them and gave them a sense of dread. The map was of a dark world that bore nothing but destruction. The screen read, 2300 A.D. This simulated map is the theorized world if the 'Day of Lavos' had come to fruition. It was dreamt up by the original creator of this facility. It is met with much skepticism, however."
Ty and Tomo were in future shock, unable to comprehend anything they had just now witnessed. The curator gently urged them to the Tele-pad as they stood there not wanting to freak out. As the curator started the Tele-pad it buzzed and hummed. The atmosphere around the duo began to rapidly change and become 'fuzzy'. In an instant, they were once again sucked into a sphere of blue light.
*Hero's Grave, Choras, 1005 A.D.*
Ty and Tomo appeared from the Rift and landed in a familiar place. "Hey, this is..., the Hero's Grave, the grave of the legendary knight Cyrus!" Tomo realized with a smile.
"Yeah, it seems exactly the same, so I think we're back," Ty assumed as he looked around suspiciously.
"We should really take a look outside to see if we're right though," Tomo stated as a matter of fact.
"Yeah, let's move," Ty agreed as they quickly left the mausoleum.
*Choras City, Choras, 1005 A.D.*
As they made their way outside, they took in the view of their home. They sighed with relief, "It is the same after all," Tomo said first.
"Yeah, we should find your dad though, I want to 'clock out' and go home for a nap," Ty said with a giggle.
"Let's do that," Tomo agreed as she stretched.
*Later, Choras Café, 1005 A.D.*
The Explorer Corps employees were all gathered around having lunch at the Choras Café, their meeting spot. Ty and Tomo arrived and everyone seemed happy and surprised to see them. Posh came running up to Ty and hugged his arm, "Oh, Mister Drayguard, where have you been? It has been nearly a week since we left El Nido!" she asked with concern.
Gosh dashed up to Tomo, "Oh Tomo, my sweet, I was worried sick! What kept you? This oaf didn't do anything strange to you did he? If he did I'll clobber him!" he threatened angrily.
"Oh, silly Gosh, Ty wouldn't do anything like that!" Tomo said as she waved off Gosh's notion.
Then Tomo's dad, Toma walked up to them, "Either way, where have you two been all this time? We end up coming home from El Nido and you two just up and disappear! I was worried you know? I know you're an adult Tomo, but a little info about where you're going wouldn't be a bad thing!"
Tomo chuckled, "Sorry dad, we just got a little lost is all," she reassured. "Anyway, not to change the subject so abruptly, but what's everyone doing here?"
"Well, we were getting ready to go find you two!" Biggs said from the crowd.
"Yeah, but now that you're here safe and sound, we can all get going to Guardia and present the find we made in EL Nido!" Wedge said excitedly.
"We shipped all the stuff there for the Guardia Festival. The Princess's wedding is at the end of the month, so we want to please her with our find!" Piette said anxiously.
"The Princess is also asking for someone to help with a special favor, that's where you come in Ty," Toma instructed. "I hate to ask a lunkhead like you, but the Princess needs someone, and since I need my daughter to help with the presentation, you're it!"
Ty recalled the letter he got from Tomo's mother but decided to keep it to himself. "Um..., okay then, will do!" Ty said passing off the strangeness.
Everyone then sat down to finish their meals as Ty sat near Biggs, Wedge, and Piette. He leaned near to them, "Hey, have you three eaten any..., Quadffid Seeds lately?" he whispered curiously.
The triplets looked at one another with a confused expression, then back to Ty. Biggs spoke, "No, not that we can think of, why do you ask?"
"Um, well I hear they are plentiful this year, and I just wanted to let you all know that you can't eat them as they are toxic," Ty explained with a laugh.
"Gee, thanks, Ty, you're such a nice guy!" Wedge said gratefully.
"Yeah, Toma may be rough around the edges, but he really does like you," Piette informed with a smile.
"Nice!" Ty thought happily. "These guys are all healthy. It looks like whatever change that curator made at Chronopolis, prevented us from getting arrested by Viper and... finding the Frozen Flame... crud...," he thought as he slammed his head into the table with a sigh. Then, Ty thought of something else that chilled him to the bone, "Hey um, what's happening in Porre right now? Is Captain Viper's daughter okay, I um, heard she got hurt recently?"
Toma chewed on his squid gut pasta and swallowed his bite, "Captain Viper? Where did you hear about his daughter being hurt? No, she's fine last time I heard. Although I keep hearing rumors that Porre may start some kind of rebellion against Guardia soon. I suggest you keep that to yourself though," he instructed strictly.
Ty sighed with relief as he reached into his rucksack and looked at the cure he made from the Hydra Humor. "Did someone else cure her then...?" he said quietly to himself.
"Alright everyone, once we're done here we're heading back to the docks and headed over to Guardia! Maybe this time, if we please the Princess enough, she'll grant Choras our independence!" Toma said as he rose from his seat, his meal finished. Everyone cheered having high hopes for what was to come.
Ty and Tomo snuck off to talk for a moment, "Hey, it looks like the whole thing between us and Viper never happened!" Ty informed.
"What, then that means, we never found the Frozen Flame!" Tomo said in despair. "No, I was still hoping that's what we were unveiling!"
"So that begs the new question, what the hell did we find?!" Ty asked curiously.
"I have no idea!" Tomo said completely stumped. "Not only that but did you hear what my dad said earlier? We just 'up and vanished'? What the hell is up with that?! Did we replace other versions of ourselves?"
"From what I get, if there are other versions of us, then they vanished in this timeline at the same time that creep in the cloak threw us into that temporal anomaly!" Ty deduced.
"So what, did we replace them? Merge with them? Were we somehow superior to our counterparts?" Tomo asked going wild with many questions.
"Those are all good questions, but wait, didn't that curator's thingamajig say something about someone living in our era that knew things about this time stuff?" Ty remembered with a gasp.
"You mean Lucca Ashtear?" Tomo asked with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah, my dad's told me about her. She supposed to be really brilliant or something."
"Maybe we should swing by and talk to her while we're in town," Ty suggested as he crossed his arms.
"That may be a good idea," Tomo agreed with a nod.
Posh came up to them after noticing their private talk, "What is this? I hope you two aren't talking romance!" she said pulling Ty away slightly. "You may talk to me anytime you wish Ty! Come, let us go talk about our find shall we?" she said sweetly.
Before Tomo could react, Gosh appeared as well and pulled her away, "If something is bothering you Tomo my sweet then you know you can always talk to me about it! Drayguard wouldn't know how to handle your troubles!"
"If you only knew Gosh...," Tomo thought with a weak smile. "Cause right now, Ty is the only man on this planet I can talk to about what just happened to us."
*End of Act 1*