Cherry-Tree: That was fishy part, trying to make Masquerade look good for once. Induced suicide, would be how I call this.
InnocentDiamond: Yes I am! Accidental confessions FTW! Yes, I purposely rearranged Alice's name. Originally, I wanted Claire, but the R was so random.
Cup of Violet Tea: Don't quit on me! Celia's reasons will be revealed here!
GoldenPiggy: Suicide is the least expected cause of death. No, I wouldn't do ridiculous stuff. I'm pretty sure "Mad as a hatter" came from Alice in Wonderland where hat factories contained a lot of mercury by-products.
MagicxMusicxMelody: Glad you like it! The air kiss just popped in my head. There's more to Celia than meets the eye.
SSR: Okay, this is unbelievable. It's been almost a month since I last updated, but I have worked on a lot of stuff.
Shun: (cough) Vacationing.
SSR: It's summer vacation! What do you expect?!
Alice: SSR doesn't own Bakugan but owns the OCs!
Chapter Twenty-Four
Back to the Beginning
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...
"Suicide...?" Shun shook his head as he repeated that word like it was new to him. "Suicide...how ironic is that?"
"What did you expect?"
"Masquerade, of course!" Shun's rage was still no match against the barrier Celia created. "All you wanted was a body to store your mind and soul in so you can carry out your revenge against him! Why did you have to drag Alice and me into this?! All those short, bittersweet memories we had together before we were supposed to meet just came and left! Having Masquerade erase all that was upsetting enough. I thought she forgot only because I wasn't of importance yet. But you?! The only thing that sets you different from Masquerade is that you cut to the chase while he took his time to mentally torture us! You're the one who took her away from me! What kind of friend are you?!"
Taken aback and completely speechless, Celia stood up and nodded her head. "Go ahead. Blame me for everything. Might as well not save any of you when Masquerade came. Oh wait, that's also my fault. You think I don't know that?!"
"All you know is how to keep yourself alive."
Without a doubt, she slapped his face, and the burning sensation stayed for a long time. "Stings a lot, doesn't it?"
"What did you do to me?"
She put her hands to her knees and stared right into his eyes. "That is exactly how I feel everyday about myself if it weren't for Alice."
Shun stared into Celia's eyes and couldn't help but see Alice in them. "I really despise you right now, but every time I look at you, I can't help but see Alice."
"Like she's still alive?"
"In a way...what am I thinking? You're the one with the unstable existence and borrowed her appearance!" As Celia stood back up and slowly walked back, Shun noticed that there was something different about her. "Alice wears yellow, you wear purple. Her hair is dark orange, yours is light auburn. But your eyes are still the same shade of chocolate brown..."
"Congratulations for noticing. So what?" Now Celia was berating and acting like she didn't care. "I swore to myself that as long as Alice let me say by her side, I'd protect her against everything."
"But you didn't. Masquerade caught up to you and began haunting her. Do you know what she's been through? People don't want her around, friends went away, and even rumors spread. Don't say I'm exaggerating this because she wasn't at all like that when we were together."
"She probably never told you anything because I just erased it all out of her mind." Celia waited for Shun to finishing glancing at Alice and the purple lip prints on her forehead to continue. "How else was I supposed to make Alice the ideal person you'd love forever?"
"That's an excuse. You couldn't possibly have predicted the future. In fact, Julie and Marucho don't even know who you are. Don't even say that you asked them for help."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." She held up her hand with the bracelet and shook it, and the jangling echoed in Shun's ears as he face was still in pain. "You know how I was here before Masquerade, right? I was also here before Marucho and Julie."
"But...who was the Guardian of Time at the time?"
"Doesn't matter now," Celia point to his chest and smiled, "because you're the one who eventually made everything happen."
"Me?" Suddenly, the pain and ringing in his ears slowly faded. "I don't get it. What did I do other than time-travel?"
"Did you honestly think that this charm bracelet you gave her was just a present for keeps? After I tidied up her memories, I stayed inactive for a full year. From behind, I watched your relationship with Alice and knew you were the only one who could save her. I continued waiting and avoided taking matters into my own hands until that day when you gave her this bracelet."
"It's just a charm bracelet. She's the only person I love and the only person other than my family whom I care about really deeply. I'd do anything for her, too. There are loopholes to your story, by the way."
"Really? Tell me."
"So you came here four years before present day, stayed with Alice since, and was aware that I would come back in time to assist you? Doesn't make sense."
"Before Marucho and Julie came, the current Guardian of Time was an elderly man named Kato. They probably never told you because it's unimportant, like how Masquerade thinks I'm unimportant. I told him my predicament, and since he was about to retire, he agreed to do this one last deed and hope to see Masquerade disappear before he left. Kato might actually be back, since Marucho and Julie both arrived and thus left their station alone."
"So he let you go forward into time? I never knew there was a third person in charge."
"Yes, I went forward and saw time pass the way it was if I hadn't met Alice, but since you were there for her, she was the best choice."
"So you used her because she had me to save her? That's basically using me."
"I know. I'm sorry. Thus, I started planning long-term for a way to solve my problem without interfering with Alice's past life as much. Then Masquerade caught up, and in order to protect Alice from the past from getting hurt so she would be fine in the future, I had to go forward, tamper with the bracelet, and have Julie bring it to you so you would go back and make him back off a bit, at least." Celia walked back to Alice and stroked her orange hair. "Because I was the last person to erase those 'past memories', I've basically undone everything I've worked hard for. My three years' worth of countermeasures..."
"But why wait until one year after to come back?"
"Because you just happened to take her to the shrine that day, and she just happened to pick a bad fortune. At first, it looked like Masquerade chased her to her death, but no. I told her to untie her fortune from the tree and keep it on her long enough for the car accident. That was the only way for Masquerade to stay away long enough and think that both Alice and I were gone. The rest was up to you."
"And it all led to this..." Shun buried his face in his hands and kept his head down. "Unbelievable. You convinced Alice to commit suicide so Masquerade would get off your case? And that I would go back into the past to solver earlier problems? You put the life of the person I love the most at risk in the present and future so I would save her from it in the past?"
"However you want to interpret this, it's the simplest explanation I have. Although the identical fortunes now render useless, there is one thing left that you can do."
"Tell me."
Celia removed her bracelet and placed it in Shun's palm. "Masquerade needs this to completely destroy all obstacles and dominate both Time and Space. I need this to retain a body that will exist stably with Alice's help. You need this to go back to the present, prevent Alice's 'suicide', and get rid of Masquerade once and for all."
"Why me? Can't you-" Celia spun Alice's the chair around and revealed another Alice, this time wearing a light, winter coat that Shun recognized from the day they went to the shrine. "How did you do that?"
"Shun, please. Listen to her." winter-coat Alice pleaded. "Even if her actions were often reckless and selfish, Celia only wanted to protect us."
"Alice..."
"Shun, it's all up to you now." said Celia. "I can't always be there for her."
That sentence...
"Hold it tight, close your eyes, and make your wish." After looking at one last smile from both Alice and Celia, Shun did what Celia said, and the bracelet lit up brightly.
I wish to go back to just before present day to save Alice from that accident so my efforts won't be done in vain...
SSR: I hope everyone distinguished the difference between Yellow Dress Alice and Winter Coat Alice.
Dan: Look! A shooting star!
Everyone: (facepalm)
SSR: All because Shun made a wish? -_-"
Alice: Just review please :)