Sins Of The Innocent
Source: https://twitter.com/oddnumberr_/status/1507507375909277696?s=20&t=pvwHYXhmCTAeg3vf5ohfFA
Entry 15
Eschatology
“Hey Mumei? I’m back. Wanna order a couple pizzas?” I shout out into the foyer; I don’t see her in the immediate area so maybe she’s in her room or something. I take my boots off by the door and set them on the shoe rack. I set my cleaning case down next to them, don’t feel like dragging it all the way to the kitchen so…yeah…here's to you Lazyroniie.
“Kronii? Be there in a sec!” The voice shouts back, answering my call. I walk into the living room and throw the T.V. on for some background noise and then head into the kitchen. I grab a cup and pour some water into it from the pitcher, Mumei must’ve prepared this ahead of time for me. Always remember to hydrate, especially after fighting bizarre…shadow…monster…things. Footsteps rush down the staircase, into the living room and then she calls for me.
“Hey. Kronii! Welcome back!” I turn around to face her and smile.
“Yeah…hey…I’m back…” I stare at her and she stares back at me. Her face instantly drops, and she rushes into to the living room for a moment.
“H-hey? What’s going on Mumei?” I ask her, sipping my water in confusion.
“You…got hurt?” She rushes back to the kitchen with a first aid kit. “Stand over the sink Kronii, let me clean this up.” Starting the water she pulls me by my hand, already decided that she wasn’t going to take “no” or “I’m fine” for an answer. The water and soap mix in her hands and she gently dabs my right eye to clean it, at least as best as she can. She rinses her hands and then dries them with a wash cloth, moving on to the dab the cloth over my right eyebrow to dry it up.
“Does it hurt or anything Kronii?”
“No, nah, not really. It’s not even this big a deal Mumei, it’ll get better before you know it.” I try to keep her calm…why am I trying to keep her calm…I’m the one who got hurt.
“You…did you guys really fight? Was what she wanted that bad? You hate them that much now Kronii?” She asks me, concern seeped deep into her voice. Ah…as far as she knows…I went to see Bae after work. Didn’t mention to her at all about that encounter on the way home. Well not that I've had a chance to yet. But...maybe it's better I don't tell her.
“It was just a little spat at work. Wasn’t watching my feet. Oops! Clumsy me! Hah Hah!” I laugh nervously, that was an awful lie. She’ll see right through it and then I’ll spill everything out to her in a second anyways.
“You? Had a spat? And you didn’t stop time to prevent it?” She’ smirks at me, playing along for once huh? She washes her hands with soap and water, then does the same to my eyebrow.
“Yeah…well…you know how it is.” Mumei digs back into the box and pulls out a bandage and a towel. She pats me with the towel, drying the area up.
“Alright stay still…this is gonna be a bit awkward to have on…but it’s to help heal.” She fixes the bandage across my right eyebrow, pushing it down a bit to make sure it’ll really stick.
“This is gonna suck peeling off.”
“It always sucks peeling band aids off. Is my time lord afraid of losing some hair on their brow?”
“It’s gonna look weird and uneven man…”
“Oh it’ll grow back…Maybe you should’ve I don’t know…stopped time?” She smirks at me and reaches for the phone. “So…a couple of pizzas?”
“Yeah…please…long day…didn’t eat much…Would you get some hot water going too? I want some leaf juice before the pizza arrives.” I close my eyes and smile at her, it’s actually a bit surprising that she didn’t press for the real answer. But maybe she already knows and is putting on a brave face for me. It is pretty likely that Bae called after I left, talking about what happened at their…club house? Hidden Lair? Whatever that place was.
Mumei wanders around while speaking to the restaurant and I find myself walking into the living room, sitting on the couch, and staring blankly at the T.V. Gura. Gawr Gura…A trident, that’s the biggest clue about her identity. The symbol of the marine deity Poseidon. Does that mean she’s from the sea? Would that explain her sinking into the ground after throwing her trident at me? No…she was some sort of…shadow figure. Shadows and the ocean…what relationship do those two things have? Some sort of magic…based on Poseidon? No…never heard of anything like that before. What could it be…what’s the link? If I had more clues maybe I could formulate something better, but at the moment... I’ve got nothing, except this cut on my face. Ugh annoying. Well I guess ultimately…Mumei doesn’t need to know. Would she even believe me? Hey Mumei, this sea…shadow…monster fought me in the middle of my ride and basically had the upper hand on me the entire time.
“Hey. They said it’ll be about 20 minutes.” Mumei enters the living room and sits down next to me.
“Oh… Oh cool, that’s pretty quick! Not bad for a Wednesday night!” I reply cheerfully, pizza sounds so good right now
“So uh…is there…or I mean…hehe…how was the…how DID the uh…meeting with Bae go?” Mumei says with little confidence, her voice quieter than the news about the pizza.
“Yeah uhhh so…we chatted…for a bit and uh…told them I wasn’t interested in whatever it was that they were doing.” I answer her question, thinking back to that sad scene I saw earlier. Bae looked fine, Fauna and Sana…definitely have seen better days. I guess…that’s the toll on their bodies. They’re…in much worse shape than I am. As if on cue, the needles dig back into my left arm and take hold of it with my right hand. This…is really more annoying now than anything. Sure it hurts…but god every time? So dramatic…this is where I am…this is where my life is right now. I’m arguing with my body in my head…
“Kronii? Hey! Kronii!”
“Gwa…huh? Oh what? Did you say something Mumei?”
“Yeah, I’ve got your tea juice ready!” She has me a cup by the handle. I take it from her and have a small sip for myself, just testing the temperature of the drink. Sip Ah…That’s good. Makes the day feel a little better now. Yeah…just like that the pain evaporates…until the next rainfall hits body…
“Thanks…That’s pretty good tea Mumei.”
“Yeah of course! I had friend record your exact preferences for a rough day like this…It hasn’t been this bad since the timeline mess a couple weeks ago.”
“Ugh…don’t remind me. I didn’t even think…alternate realities were actually a thing until that other...what the hell was his name? Krono? When Krono showed up.” Mumei gazes at me with wide eyes, I think she’s pretty interested in finding out the truth of his appearance too.
“Oh my god yeah! Two Kroniis! Well...I mean he's not Kronii...I mean you...but he's like you and you share abilities and looks and oh my god. That was pretty wild!” Her eyes slowly grow with the excitement of the conversation topic.
“What? His charm sweep you off your feet or something Mumei?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean! Uhhhh...Think he'll actually come back like he said?"
"Well he said he had to work with his team to find a way to get back here...He wasn't supposed to be here at all. I think some really bad stuff is going on...everywhere, every universe...not just ours Mumei."
"Yeah no I mean...what can we do right? Maybe he'll be back maybe he won't." She smiles warmly at me. I fire a smile back at her and she takes a seat next to me on the couch. I scoot a bit away from her, just to keep some personal space.
“Still not…No! Sorry! I shouldn’t have…”
“No it’s fine it’s me…I’m just not…can’t…you know. Maybe later...”
“Yeah sorry…” The brightness faded from Mumei’s voice, she looks forward at the T.V. and now I’ve created this awkward situation. Oh gawd. I shouldn’t have said anything. She just sat a little close…Why am I like this? What do I keep making things weird for…My heart sinks into my stomach, I feel awful. Ugh why why why… My eyes peek to the side, seeing how much more space I created between Her and I. Even after all we’ve done…I’m still afraid of…Man…I already…we were already were close…she bandaged my eye. God can I just, not?
Pin Pon
“OH!”
“OH!”
We shout out simultaneously. Pizza delivery guy… you are a life saver!
“I’ll go get it Kronii! Just stay here!” Mumei leaps off of the couch and heads over to the door. Heh…wow…Can’t believe how much of a relief that doorbell was…
“Okay, I hope you’re hungry! A couple pizzas should do us both some good!” Enthusiastically, Mumei takes the pizzas into the kitchen. I hadn’t thought about having multiple. That’s lunch tomorrow too! I take another sip of tea; it’s cooled down a bit. Hmm…I should get another cup. Well…finish this one first! Huh? Wait a sec... Both of us? Did...something happen while I was gone? Uh well...not sure if this is the time to press that issue. Lets just have dinner.
“Hey Moomers, is there still some hot water for more leaf juice?” I shout out…why did I shout? I should just go to the kitchen and ask her… I get up and make my way over, turning the T.V. off and picking my cup up.
“Yeah there’s still some in the kettle, it’s on the stove.” She replies as I enter the kitchen. “Doesn’t it smell good Kronii?”
“Yeah! Give me a couple slices would ya?” I set my cup to the side and grab a couple plates from the cabinet. Mumei sets the slices onto my plate and then grabs a couple slices for herself.
“Here’s some peppeloni, can’t go wrong with the peppeloni!” She giggles under her breath. Indeed, you couldn’t do wrong with a couple of nice, hot slices of peppeloni pizza. I look around and find that the bottle of soda is suspiciously absent this time. Delivery guy forget about it?
“Our transient not showing up tonight?” I ask Mumei before digging into the pizza.
“Oh no. Not today. She'll be gone for the rest of the week. Plus... I think I’ll have some leaf juice with you. If you don’t mind. Healthier right?”
“Aha. Oh No. Not at all. Feel free to have as much as you want. I think I can afford to give my owl a bit of my personal supply.”
“Oho! Personal tea, I’m super honored Kronii. Haha.” She and I laugh at the comment, and we get down to eating and chatting about various things during the day until Mumei decides to hit me with the question I’ve sort of been awaiting all evening.
“So…the cut…how’d you get it Kronii.”
“My eyebrow right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well…it all began…when I was born.” I smirk at her and laugh a little.
“Oh god Kronii please.”
“Ok ok. Well…I was heading over to Aulis after work and something…attacked me.”
“Something…spooky? Like a ghost? Or a phantom? Or an evil monster with sharp, red eyes and killer shark like teeth? Or is this like a mental monster that been sitting in your mind since you were born and reminded you of the cold crushing brutality of the universe and made you question why we even survived to see this future in the first place so it side tracked you while you were driving and then you weren’t paying attention and then crashed into a rock and flew off your bike and you couldn’t freeze time in time and scrapped your eyebrow over a particularly nasty rock that slit your face and spilled your blood?”
“Mumei…what the hell are you talking about?”
“Sorry…that was a strange thing to ask. Also you did say it all began when you were born! I was just brainstorming!” I stare at her in disbelief, hoping I’m still talking to the same person. The T.V. catches my attention, this weird poem or whatever for this play… I feel like I’ve heard it a million times but now…it’s kinda… odd.
“Do you really have to leave?”
“I promised. The people I love, are waiting.”
“…I don’t understand. Not at all. But…please take care of yourself.”
“Of course…I’ll come back to you. Even if you don’t promise to wait. I’ll returning knowing you’ll be here.”
The commercial ends. I return my focus to Mumei, she’s watching along with me. I guess I should explain what happened. She would understand. Stuff like this is why we split from the others anyways. Although this does concern all Council members…Even worse…if that thing…Gura? If she comes for Mumei that’s bad news, she can’t support herself as well anymore…
“Right…well uhm…well...I ugh…”
“Kronii.” Mumei takes my hands in hers and smiles. She’s so soft…Uhgh wahd kaw fwuah hah gwak! N-not like perfection herself! But…she’s close.
“Yeah sorry…maybe it was a monster in my mind, and I fell off my bike. Maybe I died there, and this is a projection of my spirit…”
“Hah hah hah.” She’s laughing at me…
“Ok fine. You don’t need to laugh at me. I’ll tell you. No more stalling.”
“Hah hah…Kronii I’m not laughing at you. I thought the joke was funny! I’m laughing at the joke I swear!” Mumei grips my hands tighter and smiles at me. It’s so warm. Heh..dumb owl…
“Well on the way to the other girls... I was attacked by a trident wielding maniac who could make a…shadow…version of herself and uh…then after she got this hit in on me…she called the shadow off and then…melted…into the ground.”
“Bwahahaha! Ok what?”
“You were laughing at me!” I pull my hands away from her and through them around myself. “This is why I was avoiding it!” Why am I behaving like this…she’s my friend and I’m acting like a fool.
“No no Kronii…I’m not laughing at you! Really! I was just laughing…I don’t know. I just do it sometimes that’s all…Sorry if I made you feel bad. So please, tell me more.” She stares into my eyes. I…guess I overreacted. Even after all this time…I’m still not completely comfortable around her. Sorry Mumei…
“Do you think it’s related to that…girl? The one in the detective outfit?” Mumei turns away from me, staring at the T.V. instead.
“The…the one who showed up after the calamity? I…I don’t know if they’re related. We…never learned anything about her. I didn’t learn anything about the girl from earlier. I didn’t learn anything. I never learn anything. God I'm pathetic. Why am I such a failure.” Clenching my fists I get up and walk to my room.
“Sorry Mumei. I’m just…I need some Kronii time.”
“Ah! A-alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She says with her voice low, her head dejected. I just need some me time Mumei, I don’t mean anything rude by it…
“H-hey…” I quietly call out to her…
“See mumeiter!”
I rush into the foyer and take the stairs up to my room. Down the long hall to the left is my room. Mumei is on the opposite end. God…I left that so awkwardly and I probably looked so upset to Mumei. I’m not upset…I’m just frustrated…at myself. I’m just tired of…of being a failure. I couldn’t stop this…calamity…I couldn’t go back and fix things. The future…just refused to change…No matter what I did, I kept coming back to our messed-up timeline and now I can’t even control the flow of time as well as before. At least my arm hasn’t spiked up in pain too much this evening…Now I can wallow in self-pity without having to worry others about my failing body.
Opening my bedroom door I’m greeted by my most favorite view in the entire universe. My big comfy bed. You’ll never betray me. You’ll always gently deliver me to sleep and keep me safe and secure during the night. I walk towards my bed and begin to pull back on my weighted blanket before my mind stops me. Hey! You haven’t showered yet! Clean up first silly!
I grab my nightwear and a towel and travel down to the bathroom. It’s down the hall…roughly in between both my and Mumei’s rooms. She’s…god why did I leave like that. I don’t know if she headed to her room too or is just watching T.V. or maybe cleaning up the kitchen.
I knock on the door to see if maybe she had come in here.
Knock Knock
…
No response. I guess I’m free to enter. I look back down to the first floor to peek for her. Nope…
I open the door up to the empty room and hang my towel on the handle of the shower door. Getting the water started, I wait for it to warm up while undressing. I’m tired. I actually really tired…What a day. All this and it’s only been a single day.
Watson…Watson…What…or rather…who is Watson. Pulling off my top and taking my bra off I am hit by a thousand questions. Dropping the clothes into the hamper, I try to think of some link…any link…to well…anything! Are these two related in some way? Gura and Watson...Where would I even start to find out more info? Can I even find more info? Maybe if I could…go back…I’d be able to see that girl again. Act the scene out in a different way maybe…Tch…that weirdo earlier got lucky. See me before my shift not after…I’ll definitely win. Watson and Gura? Gura and Watson? Are they…here because of the calamity? Did the end of days awaken them? Are they guardians…heh…gawrdians of the planet? Mythical creatures hidden in a different plane of existence until the life of the planet and the stability of time and space are threatened? Pulling my skirt and underwear down, I quickly dispose of them too. Dropping them on top of my shirt and prepare to enter the shower. Man…I don’t know…I’m…I’m gonna try to find out thought. Who are these two? What do they want? I…I might…have to work with Council again…Sigh Before I get to step inside, a noise shakes me to my very core.
Knock Knock
“GWAK?!”
“H-hey Kronii? Are you in there?” The voice beyond the door calls out. I try to calm myself. Why did that freak me out so much…It’s just Mumei…
“HEY! Yeah I’m about to shower. Did you need something? Is it urgent?” I’m sort of in a compromising position at the moment. Please let it be something I can take care of afterwards Mumei…
“Oh you’re about to shower? Sorry I didn’t hear the water running. I’ll come back after you finish then!” She walks away from the door, and I assume to her room. Phew…I…actually…heh…I never locked the door. I…guess I forgot to. How nice. She still knocked, never even tried to enter. I find myself smiling as I step inside and begin to clean up. Humming while having a daydream under the water. Or is it a dream dream now…I don’t know but this is a mood booster. I’m definitely feeling better with the hot water hitting me. Super thankful for Mumei’s records of history, helping keep us in the modern age rather than the stone age. Guardian of Civilization…and of time apparently haha…Ahhh…I close my eyes and continue my cleaning, sending the night off on a comfortable foot.