Redux 21: Soul Survivor
Celeste climbed the stairs all the way to the top of the tower; a floor that could not be accessed with the elevator. "Huh." There she encountered Ichirou and a few other XYZ-guild members. "I am surprised you stuck around, Ichirou. Everyone else already bolted." She sneered. "Oh I know how it would look if I crossed over without you." He laughed humbly. "No, you're not an idiot, they follow me more than you." Marie walked to the gate. It was a rectangular metallic frame supported on a large platform and powered by half the energy in the city. Just turning it caused all lights in the tower to flicker. The inside of the frame formed a curtain of light, beyond which lied the other world. "I wonder. Should we destroy this machine, to make sure Adamant and the likes cannot follow us?" Ichirou suddenly proposed. "I am not going to destroy anything. Do I need to remind you that without Martel, this is our only gateway into this world? I am not cutting us off permanently." Celeste rasped. "Now get in."
"It was just a suggestion." Ichirou raised his hands and shrugged. "Then again, I am sure Adamant is no longer a problem."
...
"I... died?" Adamant trembled. "You couldn't have, sir." Winter replied. "you were dead. not anymore. you really do not.. remember anything?" Anastasia pulled her hand back to marvel at her work. "No." He was not sure how to feel about this at all. "Wait, wait, wait. Go back. What do you mean; Tempus blessed you?" Eric sputtered. "this... before i met him, i was a normal girl in a simple farmers village. one day i caught a cureless disease, and it took my life.. that was when father showed up, and healed me. i didn't know how at first. later i learned.. that he turned back time to before my death and gave me the cure my world had yet to invent... it was the same for marco. his family lived on the border of two countries. when war broke out between both sides, his family was caught in the middle. they could not get everyone out in time. he was one left behind; crushed underneath the rubble of his own home. father came as he lay there dying, chose him and gave him the power to reverse his own end. that is what father does, he visits those that were destined to die, and gives them a second chance."
"A second chance?" Alice looked back forth between her and Uno. "Then he did the same of you?" She wondered if Uno remembered that part of his past too. "I guess. I must have been too young to remember." Uno still could not visualize the faces of his original family, his original life. "But.. afterwards, you kept those powers? And if Tempus could do that, why didn't he save a lot more people?" Each answered question divided into a dozen new questions. "because it takes a lot, to save just one. and once you do, they will forever be marred. i didn't just keep the power to stop death, it became part of me." Anastasia suddenly took a surgical knife from the tray and cut her own wrist. "Eeeh!" Alice shrieked. "Dude!" But while she and Eric were left gasping for air, the blood flowed back into Anastasia's arm and the wound sealed itself. "Ana." Even her brother was appalled, though he knew that this would happen. "the blessing keeps me alive, at all time. Father made it so that every time I come close to death, time twists backwards for me to save me. that was why.. in the end.. i had to leave my original family. i no longer was a part of their world. you could see it as a curse as well, i suppose."
"Then why did he go through it at all?" Uno grunted. He would never know now why Tempus took him away. "Guilt." Adamant could answer that one. "Sir?" Winters rushed to his former commander as he tried to walk out of the treatment pod. "Tempus must have left many worlds behind, condemning billions of souls to oblivion each time. That is why he saved you, Marco and Uno. He didn't just want heirs, he wanted to soothe his own conscience." As someone who came face to face with his own regrets recently, the XYZ-duelist felt like he understood Tempus a little more now. "So.. uhm.. is Adamant immortal too now?" Eric tried to lift the heavy atmosphere. "no. father told me from the beginning that i could not pass the power on permanently. i think he believed that he made a mistake with me, and he wanted to be sure it would be repeated." She laughed briefly. It was strange sort of tearful laugh. "Well, I only followed about 10 % of every spoken words so far. But I am just glad to have the commander back. Excuse my informality, sir." Winters saluted the revived Adamant. "It is nothing. I..."
"Winters?" Adamant stopped. Rather, Winters stopped. "Wait.. what.." It was not just him noticing it, Eric and the others saw how the duelist stopped moving alltogether. "Why is it so.. quiet?" Everything else was put on hold too; the clocks, the machines and even the wind. "N..No.." It was a bizarre scenario, and to some also a haunting one. "It's.." This was what Alice experienced, before everything was destroyed. "You were saying sir?" However, just like that, the duelist snapped out of it. The silence broke and all resumed its normal course. "Winters I.. can you excuse us?" Adamant requested as he did not think the duelist needed to hear this. "Of course sir." Winters saluted again and left the treatment room. "Ana.. what was that!?" Uno immediately yelled. "?" He also felt something burning on his chest. "The pendulums are awake?" His crystal was glowing. So was the one on Anastasia's headband. "It's Marco, isn't it." Adamant surmised. "it is... temporary freezes are a symptom of a build-up towards a big temporal event. it has begun, he is going to jump back to the past."
"Damn it! Why can't I sense him then?" He thought that it would have been easier to track another pendulum crystal if it was being used like this. "i do not know. i do not.. i did not think he would actually go through with this.." Anastasia felt a shiver run up her spine. "Maybe, whatever Marco prepared while you were dueling the prisoner, was enough to cover his tracks?." Eric saw no other explanation. "But..how much time do we have?" Alice asked, her eyes darting left and right. "if he has gotten this far, then we only have an hour at best.." Anastasia shook her head. "The gate!" Uno now remembered the mission. "We still have a chance! Ana, I am going back to the fusion guild's tower! You stay here with the others, and tell them what is happening. Alice, Adamant, Eric; please hang in there. Use that communicator to call me if it happens again! I am going to stop my brother, I promise!" He did not have time to spare so he teleported away as soon as he was finished talking. "It's happening again.." Alice wished she could believe Uno. But.. she had been here before.
...
When he returned to the tower Uno made his pendulum take him to wherever August and/or June were. "Ah! You found the others!" Conveniently they appeared to have met up with Iria and Zach while he was gone. "Uno. What happened to Adamant?" Zach asked him right away. "He's fine now. It is.. a strange story." He answered. "Indeed." June commented, having apparently peeked into his mind to get that 'long story' in full. "So you did not leave for nothing. Not that I needed your help." August snorted. "Oh, I am sorry about that. But did you beat her? Did Celeste show you the portal?" Uno saw them standing in front of what he presumed to be the gate. "Hardly. The coward left more templars behind while she ran, she made it through the portal first." The red duelist began to say. "And he did need your help. He wouldn't be standing here if I hadn't shown up in time." Before June cut him off. "You prepared your fusions before hand. Of course they wouldn't have a chance then." August seemingly disapproved of being rescued. "Their fault for using this battle royal system." June shrugged.
"Okay! I get it. I'm sorry for abandoning you, I had to. But at least you found the gate now, right? Can we use it?" It looked like a normal rectangle now, Uno figured there would be more of a spectacle if it was active. "Unfortunately not." An irate Iria sat behind the controls. "Everything is intact, as far as I can see. But we can't get it to open, the fusion guild wont let us. Either they locked the controls from this side, or they are keeping their end of the portal closed." She had tried everything, and nothing worked. "Those stubborn fools. They must have experienced the same temporal shockwaves that we did." August slammed the side of the wall with his fist. "So you felt it too?"
Just then, Uno's pendulum released another burst of light. "Again?" The ambient noise of the machines stopped for a few seconds, and quickly returned to normal. "Yes. This is usually when we realize that Tempus.. that you.. are about to abandon the present. It's slower than usual, but that is the only blessing." June glanced at Uno. "It's not as easy to do when you're on your own. Every other time,me, my sister and him made the journey together." Uno responded, wondering if June said 'blessing' on purpose. "If we don't locate December and January, that extra time wont do us any good. Our future lies in the hands of the fusion guild, and I cannot see what their next move is going to be." She moaned. "Wait, maybe not. Maybe you can recreate the same event that catapulted you to this world in the first place?" Zach suggested. After all, Uno and the others didn't use a portal to get here. "That was a freak occurrence. We cannot control that. Nor can we control where and when we end up!" August grumbled.
"Hold on." Uno said as his communicator went off. "Yes?" He switched it to speaker-mode. "Hey, Uno. The hell is going on?" Tory yelled into the com. "Tory?" He was surprised to hear her voice. Stonewell was there too apparently, as he spoke next. "Your friends told us, but I still don't get it. Why do we see all these weird time glitches?" That was a good question, since Uno did not know either. "Because you're already desynched from normal timeflow. You used the pendulum to jump through space, which gives you a short-term immunity to shockwaves like this." June cleared it up. "Who is this?" Stonewell asked. "That's June, the lady who unscrambled your head. That's not important right now!" Tory snapped at him. "Well whatever it is, it sounds bad. Is there anything we can do?" Now Dom was talking too. The whole gang was there. "No I.. " Uno looked at the disciples and the travelers. "We are working on the gate! Just hold on!" He didn't know what else to say to them. "Damn it. Damn it, Marco!"
"?!" A thought occurred to Uno. "Maybe there is one way." There was a higher power, one with even better sight than December. "Margot..." The prophecy sisters. He had to ask them for help, it was the last measure. But how could he contact them? He usually only reached them one way.. "June, this will sound weird. But I know what I am doing." And she would probably know too, in a few seconds. Even if there was still the fact that thoughts about the prophecy sisters were obscured somehow. "Can you make me fall asleep?" He could try it himself, by damaging his pendulum or knocking himself on the head. But he'd rather take this option. "I think I know why you're asking me. And I can..." June raised one hand. "But I don't think this will work. Fortunately.." She zapped him and took away his consciousness in a snap. "I am willing to try anything."
...
It was happening again, it was going to happen to this world... and to her world. Alice wanted to tell them, tell someone, tell anyone. "Amelia? It's me! Alice.. hey.. how are you? I'm not interrupting anything am I?" The first thing she did was using the communicator to link up with someone who might as well have been family. "Huh? Alice? Uhm.. Me? I am fine.. Is there something wrong?" Amelia however was not aware of any terror in this hour, Alice realized just that from the way she replied. "Oh..." Of course, Amelia would not be aware of these strange time freezes. Nobody ever used a pendulum with her at their side. "Is there any reason you called?" But Amelia could tell something was up. Alice was as bad at hiding things from her, as she was from her own sister. "No. I was just wondering.. did anything happen.. with you and.. Emily?" She could not tell her, what would she even say? What good would a warning do to her, when the whole world was going to be destroyed? "No. I don't think so." Amelia was just happy enough right now not having to put up with a second mind in her body. "O..okay. Just checking." Alice almost wished she could talk to Emily. Her sister would know what to say. "Hey, you can talk to me any time. I think." Amelia offered. "Thanks.."
"Ah. I will call you later!" Alice hung up when spotted Anastasia walking through the halls, muttering strange things to herself. "Miss Anastasia?"
"alice.. brandt." The woman stopped dead. "Uh.. yes?" Alice wondered if she said something wrong. "perhaps you should come with me.." Anastasia sighed and started moving again. "Huh? With you? What about the others?" Alice stared down the hall of the infirmary. "they cannot help me. you can, maybe. maybe this is our last chance." The sister claimed, catching Alice's attention. "Chance? You have a plan?" She followed her. "there was always one last plan, my last plan. if it ever went too far." She stopped again in front of an elevator. "This way." She stepped inside, Alice cautiously did the same. "Where are we going?" Usually the lifts could take them to any place in an instant, but now it was taking quite a while. "to the top." It took a whole minute in fact, for them to get up to the very tip of the palace tower. "Wow.." They were far above the clouds now, Alice could see the moon and the darker sky. "can we even breathe out there?" All that seemed to be outside was a platform and a colorless forcefield. "we are still in the atmosphere, the tower provides us with life support."
The lady Nisell walked out into the open air. Alice was still wary. It did not seem cold outside though, nor was it hard to breathe. "alice.. brandt.. your story touched me, when i heard it." Anastasia said out of the blue. "Hu..huhhh?" Alice was slightly perturbed that she would bring that up. "you were there, when it happened before, you lost everything because of us.. because of me. you know this, yet you never attacked me for it. you did not scream words of hatred or resentment. you have a kind soul." Anastasia took in the high air and breathed out. "but i never told you, that i am sorry. it wouldn't do much now.. all we can do, is ensure that it never happens again. that is what i wanted, that is what they promised me. and marco broke that promise.." She walked back to the tower, towards a control panel on the side. "i wont let this end, no matter what it costs.." She inserted her golden millennium card into a slot, which triggered a signal that shot out of the tip of the tower. "What is that?" Alice couldn't see where the beam stopped. it was somewhere up in space.
"tell me, do you believe in a life after?" The lady asked her, again seemingly for no reason. "Wh-what? You mean like heaven.. and hell?" Alice shuddered. "I don't..know.." It was not something she liked to think about. "i do.. i was there.. i was in bliss when the disease finally took me away from my weak body. all i remember now is a light. there was something.. i don't know if i can go back there." She traced her finger across her palm again. "it is better to lose your life, than to have never lived at all." She whispered softly. "Miss.. Anastasia.. what is your plan?" Alice began to think that it was a mistake to come up here. "the control cities were built this way for a purpose. each palace tower can send and receive signals and energy from the satellite network above, and i have sent such a transmission to all towers across the union. now, no matter where marco is.. the final measure will find him." The melancholic way Anastasia spoke was not putting Alice's concerns to rest either. "The final measure?"
"to change everything, everyone, everywhere.. into this.." She pulled out a random card from her deck. "?! No!" Alice yelled. "You're going to turn everyone.. into a card? Just like the Templars? You can't do that! They didn't do anything!" People like Amelia, Zenshin, Stonewells real family; they would all be carded without warning. "Can't we.. do something else? Can't we use the network or those satellites to look for Marco?" She desperately proposed. "that was already attempted. my brother knows how to stay hidden. this is the only way. the satellites will sweep everything at once, including my brother. once we know where he is, we can apprehend him, and turn everyone else back. they wont remember what happened." The lady could make something so horrifying sound so mundane. Nonetheless, it was something Alice would never want to do. "But.. what if this doesn't stop your brother either?" There had to be other solutions, or there were none at all. "then,.. it will keep those it did find, and take them into the next world. that was why uno made the monument.. after all."
"and if that fails too, we can always.. send everyone to the life after, before the guardians of time erase everything."
"But that is.." She was mad. Alice couldn't say it, but that's what she felt. "Stop!" She activated her dueldisk. "I..I don't want you to do this! Just.. turn it off, please." She was not planning to fight her. Except she would have no choice if Anastasia said no. "you want to stop this? i already made my choice.. there is no other solution." Anastasia took out her own cards. "No, I.. don't believe that! I'm not going to help you either! I don't know why you wanted me to be here!" Anastasia did not need her at all for this. "i thought you would understand me, you've been through the same pain. i was doing this for you.. what do you think is going to happen, if we don't do anything?" The lady's question had an obvious answer; the same thing that happened before to Alice's world. "But.. but the Uno I know wouldn't want you to do this either! He's going to find a way, he's going to stop your brother! I know he can, so he will!" Alice held her ground. "the uno you know..." Anastasia could see there was no convincing her. "then.. this is our future. try to stop me if you want to Alice Brandt."
(To be Continued in Redux 020: The Circle is Complete)