BM - Chapter 11 - Going Back?

Ina wanted to sleep like the rest, but it was still too early for her. She was inherently a night owl and she had been up most of last night to help out around HQ. Without Emersyn a lot of work was needed to be made up for. She wasn't going to sleep before midnight, which was still a fair few hours away. The sun hadn't even fully set yet.

This all meant that her mind was still being allowed to run feely. But it was running into a brick wall right now.

She held the time watch in her hand, turning it over and over in a rhythmic fashion. She was feeling all kinds of emotions over it.

Anger at herself for considering using it.

Anxiety about using it.

Excitement about what she might see if she did.

But one emotion trumped all the rest.

Guilt.

She was going to betray Amelia's trust so horribly if she actually went through with this terrible idea.

'It is natural to be curious, our Priestess,' the Ancient Ones attempted to calm her nerves. It only helped slightly. If anything it was their fault that she had lost her memories to begin with.

What would she see? Who would she meet? How did she act? Where did she really live?

The Ancient Ones were right. She was desperately in need of answers.

"Do you think my memories are like Gura's?" she asked the Ancient Ones quietly.

'You remember when you first woke up, right?' Ina remembered that day daily clearly.

It had been raining, the clouds blocking most of the sun from reaching the surface. Ina was covered in rain water, laying on the muddy ground. There was nothing around her but wilderness. She then trekked for days, trying to recollect what had happened to her. She, of course, never remembered.

It was a weird beginning. She was able to speak English, Korean, and some Japanese. She could recognize objects and could pick up on social cues from the people around her. She even remembered her name.

But she couldn't remember a single detail about how she had gotten on that muddy ground.

'There is nothing saying that you killed everyone. However, we doubt that happened, as we have never been able to control you. Even if you went insane when you were taken by us, it makes no sense that you would then wander to such an empty place to lay down.' The Ancient Ones made a few good points, but without concrete evidence it was still just guessing.

She knew that the watch was the only way to know for sure.

'You are not giving yourself much of a choice…' the Ancient Ones responded with a sigh. 'You know, this might affect your relationship with Amelia Watson.' Ina knew this.

Amelia was actually warming up to her recently. They could talk, make eye contact, and just hang out alone without her running off to go throw up. When Ina heard that her first reaction to her was to throw up, it kind of hurt. But now, she understood where that resentment came from.

If she could figure out how she became a Priestess, she might even be able to help Amelia with her brother. Ina shook her head sadly. She knew that was only a vague self-justification for her actions.

"I just need to know…"

'We can confirm that the time watch is functional, however we can not predict any problems that may arise from your inexperienced use. We would recommend waiting for Amelia Watson to recover and have her accompany you,' the Ancient Ones explained. Ina stopped turning the watch in her hand and gripped it strongly. She could wait, but would Amelia actually give her the chance to go through with this?

"Am I going to replace my previous self?"

'No, you are a different being with us having changed you.'

She could accidentally rob Amelia of her one and only chance to go back to her own timeline. Ina gritted her teeth. Was this too selfish of her?

"Would I remember or just see what happened?"

'You memories would most likely come back to you. At the very least, you would be able to remember your past from a different perspective.'

There were a million different reasons for her not to go and only one to go. That one reason was surpassing all the others, though.

"What are the chances that I get back here?"

'It is highly likely you would return, but it is not guaranteed. Understand this risk and either embrace it or leave it.'

Ina turned the hands of the watch to a few weeks before she had woken up in the mud. The thin hands were still a little bent, but it was within the acceptable margin of error. She hovered her finger over the switch to activate the watch.

'Do you embrace the risk?' the Ancient Ones asked for a final time. Ina nodded intently.

"I do."

Ina pressed down on the switch and watched the world around her fade to gray.

Ina looked around at the fuzzy world surrounding her. It was a mix of what she assumed was her present and the past she was returning to. Her room started to vanish from the fuzz, replaced more and more by the new room she was in.

The room was bare with the exception of some discarded cardboard in one corner. It also seemed bigger, but she tossed that up to it being empty.

Apparently this building had existed at this point in time. Ina guessed she should be thankful for that, otherwise she might have plummeted a few stories to the ground. She would survive without any risk to herself, but it would have been one hell of a wake up call.

Ina peaked out into the hallway, seeing that it was just as barren and rundown as the room she was in. She carefully and quietly made her way to the stairs and descended them. The lobby was deserted, but showed signs of use. There were tables and chairs folded up and laid against the walls.

Ina was forced to break the lock on the door to get out. But she repaired it the best she could while still being discreet. The outside world was mostly void of people, but a few still wandered the streets and sidewalks. Ina was thankful for the disguise she had put on beforehand.

There was a slight problem, though.

The cars looked too modern to be from the seventies.

And there were certainly no smartphones back then either.

When the hell was she?

'Don't panic, Priestess.' Ina tried her best not to, but it was pretty hard. She quickly dug the time watch out of her pocket and got ready to activate it again. 'Don't, we are recharging it to prevent any risk of Destabilization,' the Ancient Ones explained.

So Ina just needed to wait here and she could go back, right?

'It will be a few days to make sure the watch is sufficiently charged.' That wasn't optimal, but at least she would be able to return.

Ina shook her head to clear her thoughts and began to walk down the street. It was fairly hot out, but the air was quickly cooling as the night descended. There was no destination in her mind, just that she shouldn't sleep in a run down office building. Maybe she could find a hotel or even an old mattress to sleep on.

This was turning out to be a big mistake.

Ina looked at the buildings around her. She was still in the same city, but they were just smaller. Ina kind of preferred it if she was being honest. One building caught her attention.

A small convenience store with some bad blockbuster movie posters hung on the windows. The employee inside turned the sign over from 'Open' to 'Closed'. Ina didn't recognize this from the normal city, but it did remind her of the one in Amelia's story.

"Heh, that would be kind of ironic-" Ina cut herself off when she saw another employee in the store. They waved goodbye to the person closing the place up and walked out the door. Ina seemed to go unnoticed.

That other girl was her, another Ina.

She seemed to be a little younger, but it was definitely her. The purple hair was a dead give away.

Ina watched her intently as she walked down the street at a brisk pace. Just as she went out of sight, Ina walked as fast as she dared over to where she had disappeared. She was still walking down the street.

A painful throb shot through her skull. Ina clutched her head in her hands and groaned, trying not to collapse from the pain.

'We're so sorry Ina…' a voice from just behind her said solemnly. Ina felt the pain lessen and she turned to face the voice, but no one was there. For a second, she thought that the Ancient Ones had just accidentally caused that.

'Impossible…' their reaction to the situation said otherwise.

"What was that…?" Ina hissed at them, the last of the pain fading from her head. She started to walk towards her other self again to not lose her.

'That was a memory. Keep following that version of yourself,' the Ancient Ones practically commanded. Ina didn't need to be asked to keep doing that. Her curiosity was at an all time high. Something about this Ina was causing her memories to come back. It was the only logical conclusion she could draw, even if it still made little sense. There was no way she was going to just let this chance slip by.

Her other self took another turn, this time down a more residential street. They were reaching what seemed to be the outskirts of this smaller version of the city. Ina followed after a moment.

Her other self shivered in front of her, rubbing her arms to try and keep warm. Now that the sun was truly down, it was starting to get a bit cold. The other Ina wore a tank top and shorts, so she was definitely feeling it. She took out a phone and started to type on it, taking a few glances around her.

Ina didn't want to dive for cover to avoid being seen, so she instead slowed her pace and pretended to not be paying attention to her. The other Ina eventually continued to walk at a slightly faster pace. Ina matched it.

A couple more turns and they seemed to be approaching a couple of apartments. This must be where she lived. Didn't Amelia's version of Ina live in-

Someone suddenly jumped out from around a corner and swung something at her. Ina ducked under it with her quick reflexes. She couldn't get a good look at the person, since they were wearing a blue hoodie with the hood up.

"H-Hey! Help!' she called out, trying to get the other Ina's attention. Damned if they caused some paradox by meeting, she needed help. She couldn't use any magic here unless she wanted to get hunted during her short stay.

After another swing that Ina dodged, she saw her other self begin to run over to her. Thank god, now she would be able to chase off this lunatic and-

The other Ina didn't stop running once she reached her. The Priestess was caught by surprise and was knocked to the ground, landing with a hard thump. The other person stood over her, a metal bat in her hands. She turned to the other Ina and pulled her hood off…

Gura's familiar face shown in the moonlight.

The two girls above her looked at each other before turning back to her. Ina was paralyzed in confusion at the sight of them.

"Who are you!" Gura demanded. Ina knelt down to get a better look, but Gura put her hand out to stop her. They thought she was some dangerous stalker. That's why she had been acting nervous earlier.

"I-I…" she stuttered on the ground. Words weren't forming in her mouth properly. Ina and Gura's eyes suddenly shifted to looks of confusion that mimicked her own.

"Oh shit…" the other Ina said under her breath. Gura took a step back, trying to drag the other Ina with her. However, she stood her ground and got closer to Ina. With a gasp she shot back up and finally backed away.

"Y-you're me…" she said quietly. Ina took a shaky breath on the ground, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Don't you fucking move!" Gura pointed the bat at her face, making Ina stop.

Her world began to spin as the realization about where she was truly dawned on her.

A human version of herself and Gura, living in an apartment, the similar convenience store…

"This is Amelia's timeline…" Ina'nis breathed out.

Author's Note: Sorry that this took longer than expected to come out. I had a a bit more work than I expected both with the story and irl. I've made a few adjustments to this arc to adhere to the lore a bit better. The edits to previous chapters are also coming soon. I wanted to have them done when this chapter came out, but I never got the time to do them.

Anyways, BIG REVEAL! It is Amelia's old timeline! We haven't seen her timeline's Gura and Ina in a hot minute, so we've got a bit of catch up to do.

When I was writing the outline, Ina was supposed to actually go back to her past. The events that followed would be similar, but I always felt like it was too out there. It was just a big change of pace (introducing new characters, adding a ton of new plot points, etc...), so I decided to go with this instead. I think it is much much better. Don't worry though, Ina's past will be revealed in due time ;)

This was a bit shorter than I would've liked, but it was the best place to end the chapter for now. The coming chapters should be a bit longer. Thank you all for waiting and look forward to more!

Next Chapter: Catching up with myself

Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!