Unlocking the mysteries of how the passage of time shapes an individual's choices, and in turn, shapes their society and existence as a whole is nothing short of a captivating expedition through history. Shedding light on the reasons behind different decisions is a mission for those dedicated to this exploration of evolution through experience. For others, examining history allows them to come to terms with their own choices, especially when clouded by uncertainty.
It was within the latter group that the Protector, a man who had grown up witnessing the harsh realities of the world of Gaia as his sole window into the choices of others, found himself a part of on a night when the world was threatening to tear itself apart. That fateful night, as the world teetered on the edge of self-destruction, he found himself standing alongside those who grappled with their pasts. Had he taken a moment to look back over his life, he wouldn't have argued with the assessment that his instinct to protect those who could not defend themselves could easily cause more harm than good if left unchecked. Yet, he was so set in his actions and routine that if he ever needed to give up his life to protect the citizens of Gaia, he would not hesitate to do so. In several cases, events nearly pushed him to take that course of action.
While he would never run from the chance to protect someone, he felt he had no choice other than to continue running down the multitude of hallways that always looked the same to him no matter how many times he traveled them. Even after a few millennia, the old stone that lined the floor still hummed with the life force of the planet, glowing a gentle green hue. Over the years, metal had replaced some of the side panels on the walls; while those may have been fabricated from some of the natural elements of the world, they didn't have the same glow as the stone. With the absence of the glow, the Protector experienced challenges when exposed to pockets of darkness between the radiant hues of green. This wasn't any normal sense; his perception of what was Gaia's life force was a deeper connection akin to an intuitive understanding.
His quick progression in making his way down the hallway nearly prevented him from recognizing that the glow was slowly moving toward dark red. The ambient temperature was starting to increase dramatically, leading the Protector to believe that the core of Gaia was likely going into a meltdown. Even with all the abilities and skills at his disposal, he knew trying to save Gaia would be a lost cause.
'I can't stop this now…' he thought to himself, perhaps admitting for the first time that he was vastly outclassed by those he could justifiably hold responsible for the destruction of Gaia. Those four who had the most god-like powers were collectively known as the "Magi". The final act of the centuries-long War between the Magi and the side of the Protector was complete destruction. 'Perhaps, however, the answer to all this is not now…'
The War, as it came to be called, took its toll on the world, but no matter what the Magi had thrown at him, the Protector stood his ground, protecting as well as he could. The only way he had even come closing to stopping them was by using forbidden time travel to understand his enemies better. With each new travel to the past, he returned to the present with a new determination to stop them that had increased ten-fold; the sheer focus on taking them down lead those close to him to believe that whatever secret about the Magi he learned was dangerous enough that he could no longer ignore their presence as a momentary nuisance. As the War continued, however, his pain grew as he made friends only to watch them die. He tried his best to protect them from the Magi, leading to many instances when he felt as if those who showed little to no resistance to the Magi were wastes of time. Those moments of indecision tended to leave him distraught in the back of his mind, wondering whether those thoughts were the right choices to make and if they ended up destroying those most important to him.
"Libby…" The name escaped his lips as part of a half-forgotten memory from many years ago, a reference to an important part of his life that was taken from him. There was a feeling within the Protector that whether it was a brief instant or a thousand seconds in his mind, the moment she breathed her last was when his world crumbled. He went from being the savior of the world to the one who needed a savior. He tried to justify the dangerous actions he committed after that when fighting against the Magi as anger towards himself. He should have been able to protect her. After all, could he truly be a 'Protector' if the one person that he cared about above all else lost her life while he was forced to stand by and watch as it happened?
'The answer to all this is not now…'
The thought stuck in his mind. A chance did exist that he could avert it all from happening; if he traveled back in time far enough, he could undo everything that he blamed the Magi for. The War. Her death. His anger. The failures.
As he focused on his thoughts and less on his movements, the Protector turned a corner and ran headfirst into the only person from his small group of friends who survived the War to this point. They both slammed into the ground, reeling from the knockback.
"Jack, my friend, are you alright?" the Protector muttered under his breath as they pulled themselves up, grasping onto whatever part of the wall would be strong enough to hold their weight. Unfortunately, neither of them could hold on for long; the nearby piping system was heating up faster than the wall itself. One look at Jack told the Protector they both felt how close Gaia was to the end of its life.
"I will be fine. You need to get to the Chamber of the Pendant as soon as possible. There is very little time left." Jack couldn't have stated this any simpler; the Pendant was the only way the Protector could save Gaia now. The look of fear on Jack's face led the Protector to rest a hand on his friend's shoulder. Even in such dire circumstances, Jack felt reassured that everything would turn out fine. For the most part, if the Protector was certain he could save Gaia, then who was Jack to argue?
The Protector nodded before bolting down the hallway towards the Chamber where the Pendant of Time rested. Jack ran after, but he knew there was no chance that he would catch up to his friend; the Protector was flying along the hallway, using the build-up of energy from Gaia to literally propel himself as if gravity itself were pulling him towards the door. It was another thirty to forty seconds after the Protector arrived before Jack appeared around the corner. Jack was met with the sight of the Protector desperately trying to open the door, a door that should have opened simply by their presence.
"Are the sensors damaged?" Jack asked, hoping it was something as simple as that. The look of frustration mixed with determination that sat upon the Protector's face left Jack with only one answer: they weren't going to get through the door the intended way. "Perhaps we should reach out to Bahamut or Ramuh? They might know a workaround. Anybody on the Celestial Order, even."
"No. They are no longer involved in this," came the very flat response from the Protector as he continued to stare at the door.
Jack had heard that delivery many times before, though not those specific words. It was the way the Protector spoke, an interesting mix of concern and focus, that reminded Jack never to stand in the way. Today, however, there was something new about those words; a different meaning, it seemed, was hidden behind the statement that left the Protector's lips.
Going over to the panel and ripping it off the wall was the first thing that Jack thought might work. If he could restore the power, it might trigger the sensors to work again. He fiddled with it for a few moments while the Protector touched his hand to the door. When the Protector pulled it back fast, shaking it and testing his fingers still worked, Jack realized the door was heating up. Trying to fix the door wasn't going to work; the sensors had likely overheated already. Jack stepped back, hoping whatever the Protector was planning would be successful.
The Protector took only the smallest of steps back from the door, raising a hand in the process. With his palm facing the door and fingers outstretched, the Protector closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. In one quick motion as he swung forward, his hand clenched into a fist. Stopping an inch or two from the door face, the Protector's hand twisted to the right as his fist opened. The door crumpled against the wall as if the Protector had ripped a hole in the center and shoved outwards. While it may never open again, there was a large enough gap for them to crawl through.
The Protector bent down and went through the new entryway, motioning for Jack to follow. Jack stood there for a moment, wondering if he was ever going to understand how the Protector managed to pull off these little feats of magic or skill. Or was it more important to understand how the Protector could think up these actions with so little time? His thoughts, however, were interrupted when he heard his friend calling from within the room.
"Come on, Jack, we don't have much time and I need someone to manage the controls."
Even though he had been in this room many times before, Jack had to squint due to the Pendant of Time's bright shimmering glow. Only the Protector seemed to be able to stare directly at it; Jack never could figure out the reasoning behind it.
Jack sat down at what was left of the control panel, trying to get any sort of power through the various burnt circuits. There was so much damage, he wasn't certain that he'd be able to activate the Gateway. If he could generate a stable Gateway, they could use the Pendant of Time to travel to the past. It might be possible to stop the destruction of Gaia, though they would need the Celestial Order to allow the activation of the Pendant. Jack went to speak up about this, but the Protector already knew what he was going to say.
"This is a mess. I already talked to the Celestial Order." The Protector sounded frustrated. "They didn't want me to do anything. My next steps, in their words exactly, are to go home and live my life." He slammed his hand on the console he stood at, shattering it in the process.
Not knowing whether he should be more surprised at the response of the Celestial Order or the shattered glass, Jack sat there in silence. Why wouldn't the Celestial Order want to save Gaia? That was the whole reason they had a Protector in the first place. That was his purpose.
"Why don't they want you to try and save Gaia? In the past, you've always prevented catastrophes like this or stopped maniacs from trying to control everyone. Why should this be any different?"
"In their eyes, this is vastly different. We lost, Jack. The Magi won. They defeated us, and defeated Gaia."
For a moment, Jack almost suspected there was a crack in the Protector's voice. He knew the Protector must be thinking about everybody he lost throughout the War. Throughout all the different times he saved Gaia from people who would enslave the world or outright destroy it, the Protector had made hundreds of friends. He proved he wasn't just going to stand by while people who couldn't defend themselves were taken advantage of. The Celestial Order would have needed a strong reason to convince the Protector to overcome his natural tendency to fight.
"Or maybe they are afraid of what happens when you go back in time. Will Gaia still die here today? Will we still die here today?"
"No one knows, my friend. And no one will." The Protector remarked as he looked at the Pendant for what he feared would be the last time; with a flick of his wrist, he snapped and a Gateway appeared, a blue vortex that shimmered as if it were made of liquid glass. A gasp came from where Jack sat behind him; perhaps Jack had never seen him open a Gateway before in this manner. "Sorry – that's relatively new for me as well. We just don't have the time to mess with the systems right now."
The Protector knew that Jack was feeling extremely concerned and uncertain about what was going to happen. He could sense his best friend's emotions better than anyone since they both lost all they had many years earlier during the start of the War against the Magi. His focus, unfortunately, couldn't be centered on his friend's emotional state. If he didn't set the Gateway to exactly the right frequency, it wouldn't resonate with the Pendant of Time. Who knows where he would end up, let alone when?
"The past will change," the Protector said in a monotone voice in a failed attempt to hide his concern. "It will not continue to haunt any of us. We've made mistakes. I have made mistakes. I can't fix them. But maybe…I can undo them."
Jack looked up as the Protector made his way forward to the edge of the Gateway. Once he lost sight of the Protector, Jack knew there would be no turning back. They both knew there was going to be quite the penance if this worked; it would be worth it compared to the price Gaia was currently paying.
With one final look at each other, they nodded. It was time. The Gateway glowed, pulsating in a mix of blue and purple as the Pendant of Time started to resonate. The Protector stepped into the Gateway, disappearing as if he were walking through water.
A loud crash from behind Jack made him whirl around. The floor was falling apart, creating a massive chasm to the core of the Planet below. The normal green of the life force of the planet was almost melting away from what Jack could see. Gaia was long dead, what was left would not last more than a few minutes. Jack tried to make his way as close to the Gateway as possible, though the now near-constant explosions made that a daunting task. Arriving at the edge of the vortex, he prayed that this would work. He had faith in the Protector to pull Gaia through.
Jack closed his eyes as the room became engulfed in a series of massive explosions as the last remnants of Gaia caved in on the imploding core. The last thing he felt was something slamming into his back before he lost consciousness. A few moments later, the planet Gaia exploded in a brilliant shower of rock, fire, and the planet's lifeforce which lit up the cosmos in an intense rainbow of colors. It only lasted a few minutes, but when it died down, the planet of Gaia was no more.