Amelia was still dizzy and nauseous, as her brain was still recovering from her time travel. Ina'nis and Kiara helped her to get up and get her to the car while Kiara continued Amelia's treatment. Gura, meanwhile, went to the kitchen to get some paper bags as Amelia still had the tendency to vomit by sudden movements and Calliope went to the wardrobe next to the front door and searched for the car key in Amelia's jacket. She found it after a while.
"So about the time travel thingy." Gura tried to ask.
"Not now." Amelia rejected her question as she, again, was about to barf. Because of Amelia's bad condition they were approaching the yellow vehicle very slowly and when they arrived, Amelia requested:
"Let me sit in the driver seat."
"No way!" Calliope rejected her request. "We are not risking our lives because of your current inability to drive safely!"
"I am not driving!" Amelia protested. "This car can drive on its own."
"Really?" Calliope squinted her eyes.
"I am from the future and there we have many self-driving cars."
"Then why should you sit there? Couldn't I sit there?"
"Because I am the only one who can activate this feature AND CAN WE FINALLY GET IN!" Amelia grabbed one of the paper bags that Gura prepared for her and vomited into it.
"Sorry." Calliope mumbled as she was opening the door of the driver seat and let Amelia get in. She then took the passenger seat. Right behind Amelia sat Kiara, who still continued to put her left hand on Amelia's head and healed it. In the middle of the back row was Gura and on the other side Ina'nis. Amelia took four additional paper bags and gave it to the others.
"Feel free to use this after this trip." she said, which was responded to by four "What!?".
"Big Ame, teleport us 350 miles north and 276 miles east from here."
"Understood.", her car responded and accelerated to a very high speed instantly. The scenery around the car became a blur and then changed into bizarre looking images like a kaleidoscope. The girls got pushed back into their seats by the G-force and screamed as their heads could not comprehend the bizarre atmosphere. When the car stood still, everyone opened their paper bags and vomited in sync.
"What was that!?" Gura asked after recovering from her first spatial transportation.
"Side effects of my version of teleportation." Amelia answered, still holding her bag in front of her face. "Also, sorry Kiara for worsening my condition."
"It's okay." Kiara said as she put her left hand back to Amelia's head. "But please promise us to never do this to us ever again."
"Can't promise it."
"Ame!"
"But I can promise you to try." Amelia pushed a button combination on the dashboard which resulted in replacing the gearshift with a tablet looking thing where Amelia placed her right palm on it. She then moved her fingers in a way that the others could not understand, and her car began to drive by itself.
"Where are we driving?" Calliope asked.
"To our enemy." Amelia answered.
"And how long does it take?"
"Don't know. Probably a few minutes. We teleported in his proximity."
"Wait." Ina'nis intercepted. "Couldn't we just teleport to his door or something?"
"Sadly no. My method is not precise and as you can see outside, it also requires that the destination is quite spacious." Everyone but Amelia turned their heads to their side and noticed that they were currently driving on a big grass land. "I know that you have many questions about my origin and my mission and I try my best to answer them later, but not now. We should concentrate our attention on the danger that is about to come to us."
"Then, what is your plan?" Calliope asked. "Just go there and defeat all the enemies?"
"More or less. When we can apprehend the mastermind and take control over his console, we should be able to stop the Leviantis."
"Ok, I understand that, but what is our battle plan? Just charge in and hope for the best?"
"Yes."
"How is that a plan!?"
"I was unconscious during this incident. Also, I didn't have enough fuel, for traveling back further than 1 week, thus my investigation and planning was very limited. But from what I could gather is, that you guys were able to destroy every single leviantis without losing anyone."
"But when we were able to defeat them," Ina'nis said, "then why were you traveling back in time?"
"The main problem is not them, but Gura."
"What?!" Gura shouted. "Why am I the problem here?"
"I am not saying that it's your fault. The problem is that our enemy has for some reason an Atlantean obsession. When he finally got you in his captivity, he began his experiments, which resulted in you probably going berserk and killing the others." Her friends were silent for a few seconds to process what they just heard.
"So... Wait." Calliope said, still trying to process the information. "You are telling us that Gura here, and I mean no offense, who has less fighting experience than me and Kiara, still managed to kill a phoenix, who can rise from her ashes upon her death and a reaper, where the whole concept of death is entirely different from yours."
"You both are not immortal." Amelia countered.
"In my book, yes we are."
"Sadly no, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But I have to admit that something doesn't add up. The technique needed to kill a reaper is very complex and should be lost through time. I can't imagine that Gura was able to do that by pure chance. But that shouldn't matter, if we can protect her."
"And why do you know all about this, if it is supposed to be lost?"
"Do you know about the great war?"
"Yes... Wait..."
"I was there and took part in it. I know that it is a lot to take in, and I want to thank you for trusting me."
"Don't get me wrong. I am trusting you with this instance, as the dangers you foretold turned out to be true, and our enemies are strong. However, when everything is over, I only trust you again, when you tell us everything."
"Sorry, but I can't do that."
"Why?"
"Because I know that when I tell you what is going to happen that your action will affect the safety of this world. You should know that I am not your enemy here, I am here to help."
"Aren't you exaggerating?"
"A little bit."
"What?"
"Look, I made some contingency plans in case something bad happened. There's a chance, which isn't huge, but it's still a chance, that what I just told you will happen. As you can imagine, predicting, what the future will look like by changing one thing, is very difficult."
"I see." Calliope said, pretending to understand, what Amelia just said. But she was still doubtful of her time traveling friend.
"By the way, Calli, I need a favor from you. Can you please contact Daiestro for me?"
"Our king, Daiestro? There is no way that a nobody like me is even allowed to speak to him!"
"Huh, still having this stigma, doesn't he? Anyway, believe me, he won't ignore your call."
"How are you so sure? I mean, there is no way that he is going to remember you after that many years."
"Calli, please just call him. I would do it myself but as you can see, I am still recovering." Calliope looked at Ina'nis who just said:
"She was not lying if you ask."
"Wait, you can tell when someone is lying?" Amelia asked, shocked by this revelation.
"Not passively." Meanwhile, Calliope clapped her hands together and chanted something that most of the others could not understand. Purple sparks appeared between her palms, which became purple flames. When she separated her hands for a few inches, the fire became a circle. In front of her flames, Calliope saw a familiar face. It belonged to her king, Daiestro, who looked surprised at the apprentice.
"Calliope Mori." he said with a surprised voice. However, contrary to what Calliope expected, he was not angry but rather excited to have this conversation. "What did I do to earn this pleasure?"
"Ehmmm... well... I am sorry to disturb your peace with my humble presence, but..." Before she could finish her sentence, he laughed very hard.
"Oh yeah, right, you are like this around this time, aren't you?! Hahaha. Let me rephrase myself, what can I do for you?"
"Ehmmm..." Calliope still struggled to keep her calm.
"I got it." Amelia said as she couldn't endure this awkward situation. She waved with her left hand a bit, and Calliope's communication device began to move and landed on Amelia's left hand.
"Hela..., no, Amelia Watson!" Daiestro said, surprised but entertained by her presence. "Should have known that it was your doing. Haven't seen you for a while. What are you even doing on this timeline?"
"Fulfilling a promise." Amelia answered.
"Man, I still can't get used to your appearance."
"Sorry to cut our chit-chat short, but as you can see, I am recovering from my injuries, and we don't have that much time. I need to redeem a favor."
"Suddenly, so serious, huh? Well, I can do that, but before that, tell me, how is your research going?"
"It's finished, however, we need to start a different study to satisfy your interest. Did Dave not tell you?"
"Who?"
"My assistant, whom you assigned to me?"
"Ohhhh. That person... Did you still need him?" Awkward silence.
"Whatever, can you please erase the names of the four queens and the entire population of Atlantis from your coescient book?"
"Wait, they died? Well, alright, I can arrange that. But what about your next research?"
"When I am done with this here and have the time, I promise you I will continue."
"Nice. Sooooo, do you have some time for chatting a bit? I am a bit bored here and..."
"No."
"Ok, cool, cool. By the way, do I spot the fire queen in the background? Oh, and is that..."
"Sorry, Daiestro, but we don't have much time. We can talk later."
"Ok, ok. But before we hang up, let me ask you another question, does your interference in this timeline endanger this planet?"
"It shouldn't."
"Ok, ok, I trust you. I don't want to lose this timeline."
"Hopefully see you later. Bye."
"Ok, ok, bye." The flames hovering over Amelia's hand began to shrink and disappeared shortly after. Amelia sighed after the call and told Kiara that she had recovered. Calliope became more suspicious of her.
"You were a warrior in the 'great war'?" Gura asked excitedly. "And you are best friends with the king of death!?"
"Yes and kinda. He is only interested in strong or weird people. And because I am a time traveler, it appears that he took a liking to me."
"Took a liking?" Calliope screamed in disbelief. "You just held a conversation with the personification of death itself and seemed to be annoyed by it? What the hell? And why does he know me? I thought that I was a nobody in the reaper realm because I quit my apprenticeship as a grim reaper and began to live here. Wait, did you tell him about me and my future and that I become someone that important?!"
"It's complicated. Anyway, I know that you have more questions about me..."
"Duh!" Gura said.
"...but, as I said, we should talk about that later. Now let's concentrate on our attack. What Calli said before made me realize that we should be more organized to increase our chance of our survival. For now, let us inform each other of our powers."
"Well, as for my powers..." Kiara said. "I can somewhat control the fire that I produce and channel my energy into a severed phoenix limb to transform it into a weapon. The quality of these weapons depends on the limb itself and on the quantity of energy it got from me. As you could see, I used too much to create a very high-quality sword, which caused me to almost collapse. Because I am in my human form for far too long, I kinda forgot how to transform back into my phoenix form and can only maintain a hybrid version. I also have a trump card, the usual room."
"Wait, that is real!?" Gura asked. "I thought that was a joke."
"Yes and no. Oh... I am also capable of absorbing specific energy sources, like the laser beam the leviantis used. And I think that's about it. Who's next."
"I can go next." Gura said. "I can use my trident, though I am not a trained professional. I can summon it when it is in my proximity. And I learned from our previous fight that I am capable of manipulating water like a water bender. Oh, and by the way, the leviantis are shooting water from their cannon. That's how I learned that water bending is my power."
"Wait." Calliope said. "When you said that we defeated ten... Don't tell me that you got ambushed outside our hangar and got shot by them."
"...Yes, I was... and to be honest, it was quite frightening. Luckily, the one who attacked me was kinda malfunctioning and with the help of my trident, I was able to defeat it. When I saw the next wave flying to you guys, I was afraid. Afraid of losing you guys, as I kinda see you as my new family on land. For that reason, I somehow found some courage in myself, slinging myself with my new water power to your rescue."
"Guys.", Amelia said with new-found determination. "We are definitely going to protect Gura, no matter what!"
"I agree." Calliope said. "As for my powers, I can summon my scythe and am trained in its arts. I can also use some ‚Reaper magic'. But currently the usage is limited because I haven't done that for many years. And also, I am bad at it. I can also conjure soul flames that can destroy most things and is most effective against souls."
"As for me," Amelia said. "I sadly solely rely on my weapons and futuristic tools. I picked up some martial arts and magic techniques here and there, but I am not very proficient in them. So I have to give the tough guys to you, as I am clearly one of the weaklings in our group."
"Well..." Ina'nis said. "...I think it's my turn... I will be honest with you guys, I don't like to hurt someone. I am very good in magic, combat spells included, but I don't like to use it to intentionally hurt someone."
"What about the creature you summoned in the fight?" Calliope asked. "They can fight with us... Never mind, we don't want to sacra..."
"Bradenry isn't dead. Because the atmosphere here is moderately toxic to demons, a new body must be created which they can possess and control. When this body gets destroyed, they return to their original body in the demon realm. However, a proper summoning ritual needs a lot of time, and last time was an emergency. The summoning circle was too hastily constructed, and the temporary body was not that strong, which is why Bradenry was so easily defeated."
"What about possessing your body?" Amelia asked.
"Ehmmm... It's a possibility, I think... Haven't thought about that."
"Then don't do it." Amelia said.
"What?"
"Promise me that you won't do it. Your future self was able to do it, but involves a great risk, we cannot take at the moment. she also said that a great risk is involved. However, I forgot the details about these risks, So for all our safety, you should not let anyone possess your body for the moment."
"Ehmmm... ok."
"Wait, your body is compatible for possession?" the demon king said in Ina'nis head. "That's rare."
"Oh, you're here." Ina'nis said in her head, surprised. "Then do you care to explain to me why the others weren't 'available'?"
"Well, you see. I forced all my higher ranks to watch with me your anniversary collab stream and promised them to then take the week off. So... after the stream they went home or something and I couldn't contact them. Only Bradenry was with me discussing something..."
"YOU SHOULDN'T ABUSE YOUR AUTHORITY LIKE THAT!" Ina'nis screamed, which startled everyone in the car. "WE COULD HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF THAT!"
"...sorry." Ina'nis sighed and took a deep breath.
"No, I'm sorry." She said. "I got too emotional and shouldn't have snapped like that. And thanks for trying to save me."
"Who are you talking to?" Gura asked.
"Oh, sorry, I was talking to my Dad."
"Oh." Amelia said. "Then can you tell him that he himself shouldn't come here to help us because we don't have enough time to prepare..." Her car suddenly beeped and on the display of the dashboard showed a sonar location looking graph on which two dots are approaching them from the front.
"Sh*t!" Amelia shouted. "Brace yourself! Our enemies are here."
Her car suddenly turned left and dodged the incoming two water beams from above. Then it turned back and passed the leviantis by driving under them. Their opponents were flying in the air using their side thrusters. The two leviantis turned around and followed them, still flying in the air, and continued shooting at them with their water cannons. Amelia's right fingers started typing on the tablet, which resulted in her car transforming its right side into a weapon which looked similar to the leviantis' water cannon. It then began to counterattack by also shooting a similar looking white beam at its enemy.
"Wait." Gura said. "Your car has weapons?"
"Not only weapons." Amelia replied.
"How could you legally register..."
"I did not tell them, and they have no means to check it. It's from the future, after all."
"But..."
"Can we please concentrate on our enemies!?" Ina'nis shouted.
"Yes." Amelia agreed. "The car does not have enough water to continue its atta..."
Another dot suddenly appeared on the radar.
"Sh*t. Are you all fastened?" Amelia asked, which was replied by four "What?". "Are you all fast..." The dot came closer to the center of the radar, and Amelia could see the new giant leviantis from afar.
"Sh*t." Amelia swore again. "And sorry." She spread her fingers on the tablet three times, and it split in two parts, revealing a big red button. She slammed her fist on it. The roof of her car burst open as the roof plate swung to the back of the car. The seats of the others suddenly got shot into the air, making everyone except Amelia airborne.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!" Kiara shouted at Amelia.