Beyonder Return
- Second Act -
The world kept going.
Even as The Beyonder saw the lights fading out of Natsuki Subaru's eyes, the blood seeping into the wooden tiles, and the faint, other-worldly blinks of life forced out and taken, the world kept going. The wind rattled the window glass, the distant noise of wildlife hummed, and the clock on the far wall still ticked.
The Beyonder thought about how fleeting a life was, as the half-elf let out a small gasp and ran toward the young man, eyes blinking down tears.
He could feel it, the way the boy's life and soul were brought back through the ripple in time. past the natural laws and all that guarded it. Flying easily through the cracks and errors, his memories all full and intact.
The Beyonder got out of the loot house, looking up at the blanket of little lights scattered all over the dark blue.
And the world blurred.
He didn't know what had happened, except that things started zooming in and out, tilting, warping shapes and sounds and colors. The roads and broken-down houses in front of him turned into something abstract, almost impossible to describe beyond weird blobs of existence.
And then he was back. The world gained back its colors, the place around him morphing into the market street he had once occupied to tail a certain human and his companion.
The Beyonder took a second to stare, and another to glance at his left, and—
Natsuki Subaru was talking to an appa merchant.
The Beyonder blinked.
Huh.
It had been a little more than half a day since he had followed Natsuki Subaru, and The Beyonder had reached a hypothesis.
He had, most likely, brought himself back in time. There was no reason he could think of other than he had subconsciously done so just to continue to watch over the human.
It didn't make sense, but then again, his very existence was made of the impossible, so he didn't fuss over it too much.
What was important though, was the fact that the young man was steadily repeating his own fate, albeit with a few altercations here and there. And he, somehow, still didn't realize just what was happening.
The Beyonder supposed that was normal, since time travel was not a very common occurrence. Still, with the human's imagination and interest in reading and watching those things they called 'fantasy', The Beyonder thought that he would have at the very least suspected it.
Apparently expecting what the human might or might not think was a waste of time.
The Beyonder continued following the human then, silent and out of sight, making a nudge here and there to make sure everything was just a tad smoother.
There was something nagging in his mind, though. He had been having a… sort of a bad feeling for a while now.
Having an extraordinary mind and the vague knowledge of the future that came in the form of his intuition, bad feelings were something The Beyonder was familiar with. And normally, it was easy to find out the root of any potential danger.
Now though, he didn't have much of a clue. He had tried to flood his senses strong and wide, only to come up with no such existence that could do him any harm. That was strange, and it made him the slightest bit annoyed.
…Was the bad feeling about humans? Was it because of his presence that the human died in the previous timeline?
The Beyonder wasn't sure—peeking into another universe would be too risky for something like this—so there was only one thing he could do.
He should stop giving humans a helping hand.
He figured the young man was brought to this world with a purpose. Surely he would have something that would keep him going even without The Beyonder's help.
Thinking such, The Beyonder kept silent as Natsuki Subaru was ambushed a second time—or was it still right to call it the first?—in the alleyway, standing still and watching the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the walls.
There had been a couple alternatives he thought could possibly happen, such as the appearance of Felt the thief or the help of the master swordsman whose presence he had been feeling hovering nearby.
But Natsuki Subaru had come back in time, had hurried in his haste to find the other end of his red string, and had changed the whole of his fate.
And he had died. Again.
The Beyonder felt like watching a record that had been pulled backward only to roll again, static in his ears. He walked toward the boy, once again lifting the veil of invisibility only to find unfocused eyes struggling to stare at him.
"…You... You're—"
"You've done pretty well."
And that was all he said as the young man's time ran out, black eyes dimming, crimson leaking through the cracks. A mocking laughter flew past like background noise.
And the world blurred.
The second pull in time felt no less familiar than the first. The same market. The same people and carriages. The same appa merchant.
But this time was… a little different than the ones before. Not by nature, but by the way that the young man was finally starting to realize that something was wrong.
The Beyonder looked on as the human met the half-elf and the thief, much earlier than he should have, only to be left alone to waddle through the alleyway. Again.
"Would someone please be a little nicer to me?"
The Beyonder knew that talking to oneself could be a sign of intelligence or growing insanity.
He wondered which one the human was.
It didn't really matter, though, when the three thugs—whom The Beyonder was starting to get sick of seeing—strutted up to the human, all familiar greed and mocking smiles. The Beyonder knew that, if nothing was to be done differently, they could very well kill the young man again.
And fate, despite being a fickle thing in the middle, was famous for having a strong sense of finding the same end. If Natsuki Subaru was fated to die, then he would, no matter how nor how many times. Fate was just stubborn like that.
But then again, The Beyonder had wiped death, so what was another abstract concept to kill?
With a whim and the slightest of smirk on his face, The Beyonder walked inside the alley, invisibility spell gone and the shadow of the walls looming over him.
"Huh?" one of the goons saw him, body half-turned. "Who the hell are you?" At the other side of the narrow space, Natsuki Subaru widened his eyes "You—!"
The Beyonder raised a hand, mind racing through the possibilities of what he should do. Should he use physical attack? It sure had been a while… On second thought, he probably shouldn't. Lowly murderers or not, these guys still didn't deserve such a thing.
With his mind made up, The Beyonder gathered the energy around him, pooling them around his core and hardening them. He looked at the three thugs who were mildly alarmed, took aim and—
With a snap of a finger, the three guys fell to the ground, eyes rolling back. It was like puppets whose strings got cut, all stiff limbs and slack heads. Their bodies landed on the cobblestones with a hard thud.
Natsuki Subaru stared
"I didn't take their lives" The Beyonder disclaimed, thinking that he didn't want nor need the useless lives anyway. But the human still stared with a stupidly blank look on his face, before his lips slowly stretched and he beamed.
"Whoa! That was cool! Wha—What was that? How did you do it?"
The Beyonder blinked, mildly surprised at the unexpected enthusiasm. He didn't do much, actually. Not at all. He even barely moved a hand. Why was the human overreacting—
"And aren't you the one that I saw at the loot house? Do you remember me? Wait, what were you doing there, anyway? You—"
The young man kept going, talking continuously and only stopping to take a big breath and talk some more.
It was… a little jarring. And unsettling, maybe. How the human didn't seem much traumatized after having his stomach cut and his guts almost spilling over twice. The boy was still excitedly talking to him, looking relieved and strangely hopeful.
It could be an act, but…
There was genuine enthusiasm flooding off the human, the kind that was almost impossible to fake. And there weren't any black roots looping around his brain, the kind that existed when someone was messed up in the head.
"—you know where Satella is? You know, the pretty girl with silver hair?"
And he still had his priority straight. Not trying to avoid his problem or even death, just simply looking for the half-elf. Not many people could experience a life-changing event and come out wholly intact in both body and mind.
This human was clearly stronger than most others, at least in the mental department, and The Beyonder could respect him for it.
"I was there, indeed" The Beyonder finally decided to respond, referring to the loot house (and to everywhere Natsuki Subaru had been in this world, but he didn't need to know that. It might sound creepy without the full context).
"And yes, I know where she is. The thief girl, too" he had been wanting to say that since the first timeline, it felt good to finally be able to know.
The boy lit up, as if he had found the way to save the world, and The Beyonder thought that he was an answer away from jumping in place.
"Really? Then where is she? I really need to meet her!"
The Beyonder tilted his head to the side a little, the edges of his lips curving up in an amused smile, "Why should I?"
"We—huh...?"
The Beyonder huffed a chuckle, entertained by the boy's reaction.
"I do know their whereabouts" he reiterated, hands folding in front of his chest, "But why should I tell you?"
The human looked surprised, confused, then panicked, hands flailing around "Well, that's… uhh—"
It was clear that the boy was struggling to find an answer. The Beyonder knew how he looked right now—a shallow guy who would help others only when he could get an advantage in return. And it was not entirely wrong.
He had been getting entertainment from helping the human, and he still hadn't grown bored of it for now. But he just didn't feel like throwing yeses or promises to help or anything. He knew that light words could very well turn into heavy burdens, and he didn't need any of that right now.
But just like any other time, the human did things The Beyonder hadn't expected.
Natsuki Subaru kneeled down, hands and feet touching the ground, and began talking in a loud voice "Please! I really need to find her! I owe her a lot, so it would be great if you can—"
Honestly. The act of lowering oneself didn't mean anything for The Beyonder, but he knew that it meant something—meant much—for most creatures. An act of claiming inferiority, or gratitude, or desperation. He didn't need to ask which one Natsuki Subaru was right now.
…That didn't mean he would do as the boy wanted.
The Beyonder raised a hand, and in a swirl of the wind, the boy was forced to stand right back up.
"You're going to look for them alone" The Beyonder said, vaguely adjusting his clothes. He slowly put the invisibility spell back on and threw one last smirk at the boy "And if you're desperate enough… who knows. Maybe I'll help when I feel like it."
As far as the young man knew, the weird guy in a white jacket and pants had gone away, leaving him alone to deal with his own problems.
But The Beyonder had merely let himself out of sight, only to hover around the young man again, waiting for any interesting things that would happen.
Which it did. The fact that the human was finally using his head was definitely interesting.
Natsuki Subaru had realized that he was physically in the same state as when he first came to this world, just the same as the state of the market he was in, as well as the people. He had finally found out that he could go back in time (through dying, which was nothing but ominous), naming it his own power with some fancy words.
The Beyonder was only slightly surprised to feel the sharp-and-heavy aura approaching the human.
"What happened here?"
It wasn't hard to recognize the figure clad in white, head one of the brightest reds. The master swordsman—Reinhard Van Astrea, The Beyonder's memory supplied—approached Natsuki Subaru and inquired about the thugs lying on the pavement.
"Oh that's—they tried to rob me! And I—well, and someone came to help, but he's gone now" the raven hesitantly replied, "Ah! Come to think of it, I haven't said thanks to him… And what even is his name? Shit, how do I even look for him—"
The swordsman looked concerned, but he crouched down instead. He grabbed the thugs' wrists, and when he was certain they were just knocked unconscious and not dead, stood back up to check on the boy.
The Beyonder was pretty amazed by the swordmaster's social skills. Talking like an old friend without pushing nor meddling at all. The perfect distance to make people lower their guard but not get too comfortable.
Which was probably why Natsuki Subaru held himself back from asking for help, even though he had no problem groveling in front of The Beyonder earlier.
What a weird person.
Natsuki Subaru had left for the slums after leaving a message for the redhead to relay. The Beyonder looked up, noting the orange and red hues dominating the blues, and realized that despite many things changing, they still ended up going to the loot house near the end of the setting sun.
It raised so many alarms, added by the familiar presence bumping into the human.
Dark wavy hair, dark eyes—Oh, it's that woman. The one who killed the young man the first time around.
The Beyonder had met many of her kind before. The ones who took pleasure from the suffering of others, who practically fed on pain. The ones who smiled not when they were feeling pleasant, but when it was convenient. Those who had so much blood on their hands it looked like the crimson dripped down their arms continuously.
The ones who were so close to death, they sent many people its way every other day. "Something tells me we'll meet again"
The Beyonder frowned at the words. He was sure the woman didn't have any idea of the potential future, but the fact that she said that could only mean…
That Natsuki Subaru would most likely die. By her hands. Again.
The Beyonder felt an itch of annoyance as the woman walked away, the young man looking stunned for a minute before continuing looking for Felt's place, the sun steadily going down and down.
The small hut built on plywood and patchworks made a bit of a sad sight, especially when knowing that a young girl slept and lived there alone, calling it her house.
Then again, The Beyonder had seen worse.
The blonde attacking the young man was very much expected, considering their track record and the way the girl was continually on her guard. The Beyonder nudged Natsuki Subaru a couple times to not let any fatal hit make contact.
She was no murderer though, and soon enough they were talking like civilized people, before the girl finally invited the young man to visit Old Man Rom, the owner of the loot house. The human easily accepted.
So it ended in the loot house again. At this point, The Beyonder believed that Natsuki Subaru was fated to go there, no matter what he changed, at the time of the slaughter. It wasn't a nice thing, knowing that someone would die no matter what only to be revived again and again, at one exact point in time.
The Beyonder stood at the edge of the bridge, only vaguely listening in on the conversation of the two people, eyes wandering over the sunlight reflected on the water. A leaf went by, dragged down the stream and out of sight.
In the midst of countless loops between the past and present, The Beyonder wondered if death would be kinder.
The human was either the luckiest or unluckiest person.
He finally got to meet the half-elf again, but she didn't recognize him. Didn't even spare him so much as a glance, too busy with trying to threaten the thief to give back her insignia.
The Beyonder peeked at the string, noticing the way it blinked in and out of existence.
…wait.
Could the red string of fate—
There was a knock on the door.
The Beyonder frowned, knowing full well just who was on the other side of the building. And it wasn't good. The old man and the girl could fight, so did Natsuki Subaru (to some extent). And the half-elf was strong, her magic pulsing like life around them.
But this threat… she was different.
She wasn't someone who really listened, and—if The Beyonder had to say—was a bit out of her mind. Talking sense just wasn't an option.
And she was strong, unpredictably so. The half-elf's merciful nature would only open up so many windows to land a hit. The Beyonder thought that their chances of winning were lower than dying.
…which wouldn't be a big problem, since Natsuki Subaru would just come back in time and undoubtedly try again, but still.
They had gone through so much, and it was finally a timeline where they were all gathered in one place—another strong presence blinking not far from them—and if they wanted to change their fated demise, it was now.
So The Beyonder took the time to think. He kept standing still, stretching the milliseconds into minutes and hours in his mind, taking in all considerations and possible altercations any action would bring.
And he came to a conclusion.
The shards of ice went still in the air with a raise of his arm, and the assassin stopped moving, hands still clutching her sharpened, custom-made metal.
Natsuki Subaru gasped.
"I'm pretty sure you're in a desperate enough situation" The Beyonder said before the human could get out a word. He walked toward the center of the room, the soles of his shoes making small taps on the wooden floor.
"I am The Beyonder" he said, the air rumbling at the call of his name. He swept a glance at everyone in the room, making sure to make eye contact before staring down at the assassin, the woman too wary to move.
The Beyonder smiled. The air around him trembled, dark locks of hair levitating ever so slightly "It's nice to meet you."
And his eyes glowed golden.
To be Continued
