RFY - Chapter 8 - Resetting For You

"Oh god… oh god oh god oh god oh god…" Ina started to tremble. Her entire body shook with such force it looked like she was going to explode. Amelia couldn't comfort her best friend since she was also breaking down. They both just sat and cried next to their dead friend.

Police sirens wailed in the distance and the crowd around them grew bigger. The pool of blood crept along the road until it began to soak into their clothes. They didn't care, though. They didn't care about anything right now.

A loud crash and screaming filled the air. Another car had destabilized, most likely from a timeline where Gura wasn't killed, and had hit a power pole nearby. The destabilized car vanished, but the damage remained. The wooden pole came crashing down along with the high voltage wires. People dove away from it, but Amelia and Ina didn't. They didn't care, after all.

The police arrived at the gruesome scene and the two girls were finally pulled away. It almost looked like they were bleeding out, seeing how they were dead eyed and covered in blood. Amelia would like that outcome, though. She didn't want to live here anymore. She'd done enough damage.

Gura's body was taken away and loaded on to an ambulance. A pair of police officers approached them and tried to talk to them. Their words fell of deaf ears. It only took a few tries for them to give up trying to help. No one else tried after that. The two girls were left covered in blood on the sidewalk.

"H-hey," Ina's soft voice floated through the air. It had been a few hours since Gura's death. The sun had set behind the buildings. Amelia turned slightly, so that she could just barely see Ina's face.

"Hey…" she whispered back. The air around them was thick, almost muddy. Neither girl knew how to start the inevitable conversation. They sat in silence for a little longer.

Amelia felt an overwhelming sense of guild the longer they sat. It was her fault they were stuck in this hell hole. She deserved to get hurt, not Gura. Her friend had done nothing wrong.

Ina also felt guilt. She had been right next to Gura when she stepped out into the road. If only she had waited for her friend, maybe she could've been the one taken...

"Sh-should we do this?" Ina asked quietly. They could still try and pull off their plan.

"B-but…" The obvious roadblock hung in the air. Neither Amelia nor Ina needed to finish that statement.

But what about Gura?

"If we fix this, maybe everything will go back to normal?" Ina said with the tiny amount of optimism she could muster. Amelia disagreed.

"W-we don't know. *hic* Anything could happen. I-I *hic* don't w-want-t to b-be here with-th out her…" Amelia slowly broke down again.

"You need to go back in time and save her then." Ina's stern voice scared Amelia for a second. She looked at her friend and saw a new look of determination on it.

"But then our plan won't work…" she said. Her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. There was no way they would be getting a happy ending out of this. Either they risked Gura staying dead or they would have to come up with another plan.

"You can figure it out. We don't even know if it will make it that much worse." Amelia, again, had her doubts about that.

"Are you sure?" Ina nodded. Amelia felt her friend's resolve bleeding into her. A sense of urgency filled her. She needed to do this. She could save Gura and figure out what to do next. They would get through this.

"I trust you, Ame." Amelia looked Ina in the eyes and nodded strongly. She pulled out the time watch and stared at it for a moment before looking back at Ina. "Go, Ame. Save Gura."

Amelia returned to the past for the final time.

The world faded back into existence around her. Except this wasn't how she had left it. Everything seemed a hundred times worse than when she had left. A building sign fell off of its hinges, striking someone underneath it before returning to its original place. Cars jumped around in the road, causing accidents left and right. It was hell.

So, the destabilization was an exponential phenomenon. Amelia cursed her luck before beginning to scan around her for Ina and Gura. As long as she could save Gura, this would all be worth it. They could figure out how to deal with everything else later.

But what about all the people getting hurt now? Did they deserve to be hurt just because of Amelia's decision to save Gura? She had just done the same thing-

"No!" Amelia lashed out at her own mind. Giving in to those thoughts would only prevent her from doing anything here. If she found and saved Gura fast enough, no one else would die in her place. But she needed to be fast.

Breaking into a run, she began to search the streets for either of her friends. With the changes she'd made by going back, they were probably taking cover somewhere nearby. She called out to them through the chaos. It took a few streets and a lot more time than she wanted, but a response eventually came.

"Ame!" Gura's voice tumbled out of a nearby alleyway. It was laced with terror and worry. Amelia sprinted her way to the alley and turned into it. Ina and Gura both stared back at her with wild looks in their eyes. "Ame, what the hell is going-?!"

Amelia wouldn't let her friend finish before she lunged at her. Gura yelped from surprise as Amelia squeezed her in a hug.

"You're alive, you're alive, you're alive, you're alive…" she repeated as she cried on Gura's shoulder. Ina looked even more confused.

"What do you mean, Ame? Of course she's…" Ina put the pieces together. Amelia's manic crying, the destabilization getting worse in an instant. "You time traveled again, didn't you?" Amelia picked her head up and looked at Ina with slight guilt. She didn't answer the question.

"Wait, I died?!" Gura said in surprise before collapsing onto the ground with a light grunt. Amelia prevented her from hitting the ground hard, gently setting her down.

"Are you ok, Gura?!" she asked, extremely concerned for her friend's well being. Gura nodded, but her expression was different. Like she had seen something that she shouldn't have.

"I'm fine, Ame, don't worry. Let's just fix this," she said as she sat back up. Ina grabbed the bags of electronics and pulled them over to the group. Amelia just stared at them.

"I-I'm not sure that'll work anymore," Amelia felt embarrassment fall off of her words. Gura looked at her with wide, crazed eyes while Ina simply sighed.

"Wh-what do you mean, Ame? This will work. This has to work. You said it would work!" Gura became uncharastically aggressive for a moment before she calmed back down. Amelia felt genuinely scared of her friend for a moment.

"So we just need more energy?" Ina asked, surprisingly calm. Amelia nodded slightly.

"Yeah, but I don't know where we're gonna get it…" Amelia replied depressingly.

"So that's it then. We're done." Gura dropped her hands to the ground next to her in defeat. Ina opened her mouth to refute her, but she couldn't come up with any argument. They were truly done. If what they had wasn't enough right now, they didn't have any more time to get more.

"I'm s-sorry guys. I r-really *hic* tried…" Amelia said as she also fell to the ground. Ina lowered herself to her friend's levels as well. The three of them let the new reality settle into their souls for a couple minutes in silence.

"Well then, I should go back to my house. My parents are probably worried sick." Gura stood back up and sighed, "Thanks for everything you guys. I love both of you, truly. See you later." Ina could only manage a slight wave to their departing friend. Amelia didn't manage anything, she just continued to sit on the ground in silence.

"Ame, are you ok?" Ina asked, closing the distance between their faces. All Amelia did was stand up and walk out from the alleyway. She stared, dead-eyed, at the destruction she had wrought upon the timeline.

It almost looked like she was beginning to time travel. Everything was turning fuzzy. People were starting to duplicate along with every other object in sight. Nothing seemed real anymore. It was all a dream, it had to be.

"Ame…" Ina's voice pulled her attention away from the nightmare in front of her. A pair of arms gripped her from behind. Ina hugged her tightly from behind. Slowly, Amelia turned in Ina's grip and hugged her friend back.

And just like that, Amelia's emotional dam broke again.

"I-Ina, I-I'm s-so *hic* sor-rry…" Amelia sobbed into her friend's clothing. Ina held onto her tightly as the buildings around them phased in and out of existence. Ina felt Amelia begin to fall down, so she sat the both of them onto the sidewalk gently.

"It's ok, Ame," she comforted her best friend, "We tried everything we could." This only made Amelia cry harder.

"I-it's *hic* m-my fault," Amelia struggled to get her words out in between her sobs. Ina felt confusion bubble through her sadness.

"This isn't your fault, Ame. You didn't know that this would happen when you came back here."

"N-no, our p-plan was going *hic* to w-work. B-but then sh-she *hic* d-d-di-ied a-and-d I c-came *hic* back h-her-re." Amelia began to cry even harder as the guilt she felt overwhelmed her. This was all her fault. All of her selfish choices to run away from her problems and try to fix them by abusing a power she didn't understand. She had caused all of this and now she was going to pay for it.

"I would've done the same thing," Ina's confident voice cut through her foggy mind. Amelia pulled away slightly so she could see Inas face. Tears danced on the edges of her eyes, but she was smiling at her. A real, genuine smile. "If you died, Gura and I would've gone back for you, too. Even if we were to fix all of this, I wouldn't want to live in a world where you were dead. Hell, I would probably cause all of this to happen again just to try and save you. Just like how you did all of this so you could try to save your parents."

Ina's words sank into Amelia. They were filled with an unshakeable confidence that she'd never heard before. They were true and nothing but true. However…

"I didn't g-go b-back to save *hic* m-my parents, Ina…" she confessed. Ina's expression twitched for just a moment before Amelia continued, "In my original timeline, I-I only came back h-here b-because I w-was *hicc* jealous of y-you and Gura getting t-together…"

Finally, the whole story came out to Ina. Amelia prepared for Ina to shove her away, to tell her that she was a horrible person and that she deserved this. But that never came. Instead, Ina continued to look at her with the same steely expression, never twitching again.

"I know."

The words rang out above the sounds of the deteriorating world around them. Amelia's expression of sadness turned to one of confusion and then shock. Ina knew.

"W-what? How d-did *hic* you-" Ina cut her off.

"I can feel memories that aren't mine in my head. They're fleeting and hurt a lot, but I know what I saw and am seeing. I was holding Gura's hand before leaning in to kiss her. Only after did I notice you standing, watching us in shock. I'm so sorry that I did that to you," Ina explained, "But I didn't want to mention it to you. It wouldn't help us right now…"

"I-I-I'm so shitty. I *hic* c-caused all of th-this out of s-some selfish *hic* d-desire t-to get w-with s-someo-one I *hic* d-didn't-t dese-serve…" Amelia covered her face with her hands. She dug her fingernails into her face out of anger and self-hatred.

"D-do you think G-Gura *hic* knows, t-too?" Amelia asked, already knowing the answer. She saw Ina nod between the gaps in her fingers. Those gaps closed immediately after. So now both her friends hated her again. Both for being a liar and the person responsible for all of this.

"You think we hate you," Ina said sadly. Amelia didn't react. "I know I don't and by the way Gura was acting, she doesn't either."

"W-why don't y-you *hic* blame m-me? I d-did all of this-s *hic* and f-for ter-rrible reasons."

"It's ok, Ame. I can't say this time that I would've done the same thing. However, I can understand that you were already incredibly emotional and that was probably just the breaking point for you. Nothing you did was specifically meant to hurt me or Gura." Amelia didn't feel much better after Ina's statement, but she at least pulled her face out of her hands. "I know Gura feels the same way."

"You're j-just saying that b-because we're a-all *hic* about to d-die…" Amelia stopped crying by this point. It felt like her entire body was dried up.

In a complete 180 of the current mood, Ina laughed slightly. "Maybe I am. I would probably give you an earful about abusing your power and such, but that doesn't matter now. Me berating you wouldn't help us figure this out right now."

"I already told you, it's im-impossible. Unless we *hic* have a g-god damn nuke, we're fuc-" Amelia cut herself off.

"Don't ever lose or break the time watch. It has a crystal in it that can release enough energy to put the world's nuclear arsenal to shame."

Her mom's words from so long ago flowed back to her. Of course, there were still a massive amount of unknowns, but they were at the end of the line now. It was worth a shot.

"What is it, Ame? You figure something out?" Ina questioned her. Amelia looked into Ina's eyes with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, but *hic* it's really, really, reeeaaallllyy stupid," she accentuated her statement. Ina motioned for her to continue. With a sigh, Amelia started her explanation for her insane plan. With every word, Ina's expression shifted between different emotions, but in the end she looked satisfied.

"So you want to break the time watch?" Ina wanted clarification on the plan.

"Yessss," Amelia stared down at it in her hand, "Honestly this could just blow us up, but fuck it as this point right?" Ina laughed with Amelia for a short time.

"So let's blow ourselves up then." Amelia nodded and attempted to pick up a broken piece of the sidewalk. It wasn't easy to grab on to the rock, her hand just kept slipping through it. Eventually she got a grip and raised it above her head. She let it fall onto the side of the watch..

It hit with a resounding crash. The glass on the front cracked and the metal frame bent away. For the first time, she got a glimpse of the inner workings of the device she and her parents had been using all these years.

An ominous purple glow emanated from the center of it, explaining the weird purple glow it sometimes gave off. Amelia hit and pried the rest of the face off the best she could. It eventually came off and fell to the side. Now the insides were fully visible and they sure didn't look good.

"What the hell?" Ina vocalized next to her. Amelia agreed with her.

There was a cracked, purple crystal on the inside surrounded by dozens of, now broken, gears and wires. It was a tightly packed little device that Amelia couldn't even begin to understand.

However, she did understand one thing. The thing she needed to break was the crystal. She raised the rock above her one more time, ready to shatter it to pieces. But she couldn't do it. Her arm strained to keep her from breaking the crystal.

"I'm just running away again…" she said with surprise. God, she was fucking pathetic. She lowered her arm gently to her side. Turning her head, she looked out at the crumbling reality around her. Some buildings weren't even there anymore, having been reduced to rubble either in this timeline or another. It was a miracle that they hadn't been torn apart yet.

"Ame, you aren't running," Ina placed a hand onto her shoulder. Amelia snapped her vision over to her friend.

"W-what? I'm probably going to die here. Maybe the timeline just doesn't like me being here and it's going to obliterate me to fix itself… I'm just taking the coward's way out…" Amelia started to shake with frustration.

"That is anything but suicide, Ame. You would be making the ultimate sacrifice to save all of us. You're not running away from anything, you're fixing it." Ina's reassuring smile made Amelia smile genuinely for the first time in a while. Both of them clung to the little hope they still had. This had to work.

"Well, I still hope this doesn't kill me or anyone else. Maybe it'll just reset time or send me flying across the multiverse to another reality." Amelia felt herself begin to daydream of the possibilities, but quickly snapped out of it.

"Guess there's only one way to find out," Ina said as tears finally began to stream down her cheeks. Her smile remained, however.

"You're right. Thank you for everything, Ina."

"You're welcome. See you on the other side, Ame."

Amelia savored her last moment of seeing Ina's face before raising the rock back up above her head and crushing the purple crystal.

Author's Note: Amelia's origin has finally been completed. However, there are still two more chapters in this part. I wonder what happened to Amelia?

Wise words from Ina there at the end. Honestly, she is exactly the kind of friend I wish I had in life. Maybe she's a little too perfect, but she has shown that she isn't the best at confrontation. These versions of Gura and Ina will be back, eventually.

Something subtle: Neither Ina nor Gura Destabilized in the end because they were so certain of their actions. Ina specifically was incredibly resilient at keeping herself whole while the rest of the timeline crumbled around them. The whole memories from other timelines thing is also pretty cool and important. There are just so many possibilities.

Next Chapter: When are you Amelia?

Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!