"Your light is strong." - Cloud of Darkness

With Max's timeline-traveling powers and Monica's directions, the four of them found themselves on some steps leading into a large, foreboding tower with vines climbing up the walls and ravens perched on withered trees. A cold wind blew in from the north, blowing dead leaves across the broken, cobbled road.

"We prefer to keep him isolated," Monica said, holding her hair down against the wind. "He can be dangerous if kept too close."

"Right," Toan said as he climbed the stairs. He'd only caught a glimpse of Arc in the cave before everything changed, and he did manage to throw up a wall of earth from the ground.

Toan stepped up to the door and raised his hand to open it. But before he could do so, ice appeared, encasing the whole door and barring entrance.

"We also taught him not let any strangers in," Monica said. "Well. Flagg did. Honestly, I think he has a little too much fun with this one and hates the thought of sharing."

Toan looked up. The windows would be hard to get to, not to mention that Arc would probably do the same ice trick to them. With a sigh, Toan rammed the hilt of the Chronicle into the door's handle and broke away enough to try the handle again.

And felt a sting in his palm, just like some choice chests did in his travels. Toan removed his hand, revealing a tiny little spike sticking out of the front of the door handle.

Poison.

Toan gave a tired sigh and pulled an antidote from his bag as he kicked the door open.

Inside, he found only a long, winding staircase leading a ways up. He took point, swallowing the antidote, and led the others upward. He stepped carefully, ready for more traps. The stairs had no railing, so if something knocked them off, it would prove to be a long fall to the bottom. Something smelled unpleasant here and it got stronger the closer they got to the opening in the ceiling that led into an attic room

Once he climbed inside, the putrid scent of death and decaying bodies filled his nose. Toan covered his mouth with his poncho again. He hadn't smelled it so strongly since he first entered the timeline.

Dropped his empty antidote bottle to the floor when he saw the dismembered body parts that littered the room, some crudely sewn together, others scattered and stripped of skin. Dark, oily black blood stained the walls and tables, coloring the whole room blackish.

"Oh, man," Max breathed while Refia trembled.

Monica stepped up next to Toan, taken by the spectacle. Her face was frozen in disgust, but she didn't flinch away.

Toan struggled to move forward. Tables lined every wall, covered in bubbling substances that were kept in strangely-shaped bottles and containers. He scanned the room, but it was hard to see where—

There. Tucked away underneath a table was a shivering figure with matted brown hair and too-large robes.

"D—Don't come any closer!" Arc said, holding up a small dagger. "I—I have a weapon!"

Toan swallowed the lump in his throat, dropping his poncho. He raised a hand.

A feral kitten leapt out of the shadows, its tiny claws extended. Toan reacted by instinct, pulling out the Chronicle and swatting it away with the blunt of his blade. The kitten mewled as it hit the ground again. Toan stopped, seeing a familiar tan hue underneath all the dirt. "Wait," he said softly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The kitten hissed, arching its back. Toan extended his hand. The cat swatted at it, ripping through his gloves, but leaving the skin intact.

"I'm Toan," he said. "What about you?"

It hesitated. Toan moved his attention to Arc, who pressed himself up against the wall. Dran's feathers, was his baby brother really so tiny?

"Calm down," Monica said impatiently. "You're making me anxious."

"E—Empress!" Arc said, startling. Like he only just now saw her.

"Not Empress," Toan said, brandishing the Chronicle. "I think you know her as something else. Come on, I need you to step away from the wall."

Arc looked at the sword for a bit, then up at Toan, then back to the sword.

"Here." Max stumbled forward and approached Arc, who scrambled outside of the table just to get away. "I have something."

Arc finally paused, but he wouldn't stop shaking. "The Promised King, I'm so sorry—"

"Wait, wait." Max dug into his pockets and pulled out an emerald. Toan admired the way it caught the light of the scattered fires. "Look at this."

Confused crossed Arc's gaunt face and he blinked. "What… what is it?"

"A gem." Max placed it in Arc's hand. "Just stare at it for me, would you?"

Arc glanced toward Monica with wide eyes and Toan gestured for her to move away. She did so with a groaned, "Fine."

"Look," Max reminded Arc. "See the way it flickers in the center?"

"… Yes."

"Just keep watching it." Max glanced to Toan. "Don't look away."

"I still don't understand."

Toan took slow steps forward. Arc gathered his coat about himself like a blanket and rubbed at his arms. His small size probably didn't hold in much heat.

Toan whispered, "What did they do to you?"

Refia came over and taking Arc in a tight hug. He squeaked in alarm and dropped the emerald. Refia held him close. "Do it," she said. "Now."

Arc glanced between them, terror in his eyes. The cat pawed at Toan's boot, mewling as he tightened his grip on the Chronicle.

Right.

He brought it down on his little brother.

Arc leaned into Refia's hold. Papers, documents, and equipment surrounded him. The stench of blood was strong, the rotting flesh stronger. "Refia… what is this?"

He remembered the cave, the Crystal, and his father. He remembered a moment of relief that faded to mixed horror and disbelief. And then… blood. A lot of blood and bodies and death. And Flagg. And…

Arc looked down, feeling a strange sensation on his hands. His fingers were covered in a dark substance, the colors of which swirled in the light like oil. Fairy blood.

Arc looked down at the table closest to him. Body parts were scattered across, like the pieces of broken dolls. Arc looked back up at the familiar boy in front of him as it all sank in and the world tipped.

He stumbled and his chest heaved. Refia held him tighter, keeping him upright.

He felt weak, fatigued. His arms were thinner than he remembered and his clothes felt heavy and baggy on his skin. A cat brushed at his leg, mewling pitifully.

"Where—?" Arc cut off as his stomach churned and threatened to empty of its contents. "Toan." he managed through the nausea, "Refia, what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Toan asked, sounding surprised.

"No. It's… it's all images. Vague distortions. It's…" His eyes heated and panic clawed at his chest. "Oh, Crystals."

He… kind of remembered. "Don't make me," he whispered. "I don't want to think about."

Refia made a hushing sound and pressed her forehead to his. "You're safe now. Don't worry about it."

Toan lifted his sword and brought it slashing down on the cat. Arc jumped in shock, tripping back on some equipment and almost bringing Refia down with him. But the cat didn't split in two. Instead she wobbled for a bit, shaking her head. Disoriented. Like he was.

Like…

"What is that thing?" Arc asked, hefting himself to his feet again. He gestured to the orange sword in Toan's hands. "Is it magic?"

"You could say that," Refia said. She looked different than Arc remembered. A lot… blacker in apparel.

Monica was also here, dressed in fancy clothes. She hung toward the room's entrance, tapping a finger against the doorframe. Her friend hovered close, worry in his eyes as he stared at Arc.

The cat steadied again and looked up at Toan for a long time. "Mreow."

"Hello, Xiao," Toan said weakly. "Sorry I took so long."

"Mrow!"

"It's awful, I know."

"Arc," Refia said, finally releasing him. "We need your help. Luneth's been taken by the Cloud of Darkness, and we don't know how to get it out. Do you know anything that might get to him?"

Arc hesitated. Ideas came to mind even though he didn't remember discovering them, like muscle memory. "Uh, maybe. I—I can shake him out of it? Wait, no. There's a way to get into his mind, if I can just-"

"Great," Toan said. "Let's try that."

"Purl." The cat dashed away, tail swinging. She yowled when they didn't immediately follow. "Mreooow!"

Toan and the two girls ran after Xiao, and Arc followed despite the frailty to this body. He remembered things being… heavy, in this life. Like he was dragging a weight constantly on his back. He slowed down on the steps, wheezing. Crystals, he thought, what did I do to myself?

… What did Flagg do?

"I should have you know," Arc said. He tried to shout, but it came off as more of a hoarse whisper. The others seemed to hear though, pausing in the stairwell. "The Darkness has forces that can leap across time. They'll track us, maybe even kill us. They're not bound by limitations, and they know everything. They see everything!"

"We know!" Refia said. "We've already arranged for that!"

"How?"

She paused to let him catch up, then grabbed his hand. Monica ran back and took his other hand. And then the tower flashed out of sight.

Finding the rest of their party proved difficult. Toan's friends, like Refia's, were scattered across the world, some of them in different time periods.

After roughly a dozen trips, however, Toan managed to gather the rest of the Crystal heroes together. And under Refia's guidance, they managed to find a quiet little town in some obscure time that provided a secure-ish tavern to settle down in. Morning light seeped in through the windows, pooling on the floor and casting a silver light to the room. The hearth was cold and quiet, and everyone sat, scattered around the room.

"They're going to be here soon," Ingus said solemnly. Toan and the others retrieved him from a position at the head of an army about to ride into certain death. "What is your plan?"

Toan rested his chin on his fingers. Everyone expected him to come up with a magical solution. He'd managed to find everyone, though not all of who they were in their real lives remained. They were all more cynical to varying levels—Ingus being the worst—and some, like Arc and Goro, were hardly even capable of fighting.

They managed to restore a little of Arc's body mass, but Goro was slowly dying from a poison with no cure and could barely use one half of his body. Ruby was a little brain-damaged from centuries of neglect inside her lamp. Xiao was a cat again—a malnourished one at that—and Ingus was missing some fingers and toes.

It was like trying to plant an entire field with only a quarter of the necessary seeds.

"I'm open to ideas," Toan said at length.

"Let's review the situation," Monica said, taking the front, the beads in her hair clinking together. "We have an army of darkness on our tail, some infinitely strong, and the window between our jumps and theirs is closing. The Genie is flooding all of time with them, and we still need his body slash vessel before we can continue. We need to find a way to lure him here so I can help Arc get into his mind."

"What's the point of that again?" Goro asked. "We're supposed to bring the Genie here so the empress maniac can help the basket case do some parlor tricks?"

"Oh, come on!" Ruby exclaimed. "When are you going to get the point that it's not tricks? Would you say me shoving you into that wall is a trick?"

"Hey!" Osmond said, joining Monica. He was in the best shape of all of them. "We're not here for threats! No shoving into walls allowed! Monica, how about you explain how that all works real quick and get these idiots to shut up?"

Monica nodded, and took a seat beside Toan. Everyone's attention turned to her. "It's something available to those with special roots. The Fairy King—or, Luneth, I should say—can do it, I can do it, and Refia can do it. But since I'm a little more practiced, I'll be the one helping Arc. It's a spell meant to create a link between minds, a dimension in which only those linked minds can enter. Some of you have met the Fairy King this way in your original lives."

"Wait," Max said, holding up a hand. "Didn't you do that to me, too?"

Monica nodded. "That's how we met."

"And you can activate it via a third person?" Osmond asked.

"Yes. I'll be giving Arc instructions on how to get in, and then after that it's all up to him."

"But," Goro said, "What does it do?"

"I just told you," Monica said. "Stop talking."

"Either way, we need to break Luneth out," Toan said. "Just like I was able to free you all with the Chronicle II Sword, the only way to get ourselves out of this is to get rid of the Genie permanently. We just need to get the Genie out, and then maybe we can start fixing things. Otherwise, this world is doomed to the Void."

"And what of the army?" Ungaga asked. "No matter when or how we get the child's body, it's all lost if we're destroyed by the Void anyway."

"He's got a point," Toan said. "We'll need volunteers to fend off the army while we deal with Luneth."

Silence fell. Some exchanged shifty glances.

"Don't all speak out at once," Monica muttered. "Fine. Refia, if you want to take Arc, then I—"

"No!" Refia protested a little too quickly, jumping from her seat. "I'm fine with fighting! I'm not scared!"

Monica raised an eyebrow. "Then please, volunteer."

Max raised a hand again. Monica shot him strange look. Max dropped his hand again and stood. "I can't help with Luneth," he said. "It only makes sense that I go with the army of darkness."

"I as well," Ingus said.

"I'll do it," Ruby said. "In fact, I bet I could take on the entire army single-handedly, unlike this guy here."

Goro glared. "Hey! That means I'm going, too!"

"For all the good it will do," Ruby huffed.

"Maximilian is right," Ungaga said, "it only makes sense for all except Toan, Arc, and Monica to go. The more we have in number, the longer we'll stall, and the greater chance of success."

Osmond breathed a defeated sigh.

"In that case," Monica said, "Max, if this is the last time we see each other, then I have something to say."

The room fell silent. Max looked at Monica, swallowing. "Yes?"

"I'm…" Monica looked down. Her face turned beet-red. "I'm sorry for killing you in six years."

"Oh." Max looked a little disappointed. "Um. It's okay, I guess. I mean, it's not actually you that does it, right? Or, did it? Will do it?"

"The Dark Genie will do it, I think. Technically. With my sword. And, well, my-"

Refia grimaced. "Mom," she said, "Dad. Please. You're going to embarrass me."

Max pointed at Refia. "She's our—?"

"Yes," Monica simply. "Try not to think about it."

"I guess," Toan said, "We'll call it here. Everyone make your final preparations. We leave in half an hour."

Toan stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down at the vast plains below. Wind howled through the land, whipping at the trees and brush and sending debris sweeping through the plain. Above, the sky was hazy and gray. Not overcast, but not clear, either. It was like someone pulled a film over Terra, dulling the light of the sun and hiding the clouds.

Toan toed the edge, cracking off some dirt and rock and sending it tumbling down the cliff before he turned.

And came face to face with Luneth.

"You're tempted," Luneth said, back straight, red eyes unblinking. He stood close enough for Toan to smell the blood on him. "Finally, you see why this is all necessary."

Toan looked between Luneth and the drop. After a moment of imagining himself connecting with the rocks at the bottom, he shivered and shook his head. "No, actually. I still don't get it."

"I've always wondered how you humans do it," Luneth said, taking a seat on a rock and kicking up dust. "It's all futile. You realize that, don't you? The monotony of life, the exact, repeating process of the day-to-day that goes on and on for years. I'm surprised humanity made it even this far. You're born, you learn to work, you teach your children to work, and then you die. It's all one long, endless cycle. And to what end?

"It's been centuries. Millennia. And yet you haven't made a bit of difference. You plant your crops, you pray for a bountiful harvest, all so you can merely survive. But what does surviving do? You eat so you can live another day, during which you could just starve again."

Toan tilted his head. "I see you've been thinking a lot about this."

The Genie leaned back and kicked at a rock in the ground. It dislodged, flying a short ways toward the cliff face. "I've been possessing humanity since the beginning of creation, boy. There are some patterns that I've noticed in the way you all think."

"Like what?"

"Everyone wants change. They want better things than they have now. What does that win them? Knowledge? Power? No, I've seen the eons and nothing ever changes. Technology moves on, slowly, but people? Even thousands of years later, it's still all about hierarchies and the unseen competition. The competition that puts all your lower-class peasants under greater burdens and the wealthy under social pressure. The Void is doing you a favor by removing all of that."

But then… he would never see his mother smile again. He would never go on another walk with Pike in the cool of spring or play a game with Gina by the river. Paige and her hobby of interpreting dreams, his mother's attempts to get him to eat more.

"You're a fool, mortal, thinking you could distract me. Don't think that I haven't noticed that your friends are here."

Toan froze. The Genie turned a cool gaze on him, one eyebrow raised. "One of my own, no less. I like to watch certain blips in the timeline that get in the way. There are many bothersome flies like you all down the line who get in my way. Raybrandt has proven especially difficult. Even the Empress' daughter travels to the future and enacts certain laws to prevent any chance of me finding a vessel. 'The Radiant Queen' they call her. Heh."

"We needed her," Toan managed despite his throat suddenly going dry. He missed something. What was it?

The Genie stared at him, looking unimpressed. "I took Monica for a reason. And now she's mine." His eyes rolled up into the back of his head. "Did you really think you could take her back with brute force? If it were that easy, would you have changed all of time for Seda?"

A shriek pealed through the air and Toan spun to see Monica appear out of nowhere. Her limbs moved at strange angles for a minute, like a puppet tangled in its own strings, before she rolled her neck and her limbs stretched back out to their natural positions. She ambled toward him, a tight smile on her face before stopped some feet away.

"Did you really think?" she said, echoing Luneth's words. "Wait… there's another one."

With a dark chuckle, she flashed out of sight again, startling Toan. When she reappeared, she gripped a squirming Arc tightly in one arm while a dagger appeared in her other hand.

Arc opened his mouth to say something, but cut off with a squeak when Monica pressed the knife to his throat.

Toan bit back a curse. "We freed you."

Monica shrugged, then spoke with the Genie's inflection, "It takes more than that to remove my control."

Toan looked between her and Luneth. Luneth stared at nothing, a glassy look in his eyes.

Wait.

"Give it up, gnat," Monica said, taking Arc's head in her gloved hand. Arc's mouth worked silently, panic showing in his wild eyes and rapid breaths. "I can snap his neck or cut his throat. If you back off now, then I'll let you decide which way he dies. Or if you don't choose one of those, I can drag it out for hours."

Toan looked between Monica and Luneth. Luneth had stilled completely, face blank. He can only completely hold one at a time, Toan realized.

"How about you first explain," Toan said, "why you didn't return the world to the Void right at the start? We both know you could have."

"You're stalling," Monica hissed. "You already know why."

"What you told me is too stupid for you," Toan said. "You know better than to waste time, especially for thousands of years."

"I have my reasons."

"You have the Fairy King," Toan said, nodding to Luneth's unresponsive body. "This whole time, a young version of the Fairy King was traveling with me, and I've seen his power. Why not just destroy the Crystal immediately and bring on the real Cloud of Darkness?"

Monica's face hardened, and she tightened her grip on Arc. Toan fought to keep himself under control, even as Arc mouthed something akin to "help."

You can't hurt me, Toan realized. He didn't dare push the situation, however so he remained silent. He locked gazes with Arc, whose breathing steadied just a little as he silently muttered to himself. That's why you're threatening others.

But why not me?

"Too late." Monica drove the dagger into Arc's forearm and the boy screamed, "STOP!"

"Wait!" Toan stuck the Chronicle into the ground it in the ground. "Fine," he said. Perhaps if he could keep him busy—

Monica's body stilled, limbs freezing into place.

Time slowed. Toan looked to Arc, who scrambled out from Monica's frozen grip.

"Got her!" Arc shouted, blood flowing down his arm. "Simple time spell! Quick! Toan, cut Luneth! Cut him now!"

That was what he was mouthing.

Toan's body moved faster than he could think.

Time slowed as he yanked the Chronicle out of the ground and slashed in one move. Luneth had barely sprung to his feet before the sword slammed into him—

And blasted Toan back with the might of a gale-force wind. However, it was all the distraction they needed; Monica pushed Arc from behind, shouting in some foreign language, and suddenly Luneth's eyes went wide with rage before he stumbled and his eyes rolled back into his head. Arc collapsed and Monica barely caught him before he thudded into the ground.

A moment passed, in which Toan and Monica watched the two, ready for Luneth to strike out. But he remained upright, standing unnaturally still.

The air stilled and for a minute, all Toan could hear was the sound of his and Monica's labored breathing.

A minute passed. Luneth remained still on his feet like a statue and Arc breathed evenly in Monica's arms.

"Looks like he's in," Monica said at length, setting Arc down gently and wrapping his arm in a tight bandage. "The Genie can only possess one body at a time, and he should be kept pretty busy and distracted with Luneth here."

She came his way and Toan accepted her hand and she helped him to his feet again. "How will it affect Arc?" Toan asked.

Together, they moved to the edge of the cliff again, and looked below toward the dark shadow on the horizon, signifying countless creatures possessed by the Genie. A few figures appeared before the darkness, Ingus, Max, and Ruby at the head.

"He'll be fine," Monica said. "Nothing permanent can happen while they're like this. We can only wait now until they come out of it, at which point we'll know if it was successful. As long as the bleeding stops…"

"Well," Toan said. "I guess we don't have much else to do at this point."

The darkness below them shifted,

"Max," Monica said, taking a step forward. "We should help them."

Toan shook his head, grabbing her arm. "We don't know that the Genie won't find a way to send someone else this way. We should keep guard."

Monica frowned, brows furrowing. She kept her eyes on the encroaching darkness below them, but also didn't make any further attempt to move.

So they waited.