Sins of The Innocent
Source: https://twitter.com/QUASARCAKE/status/1443773796368879639
Entry 18
In Solitude
I stare at the darkening horizon, watching Krono’s car speed off somewhere and someone remain at the edge of the rim. My clothes scrape and scrap against the road, I’m not too worried about my situation though. I haven’t lost a fight in a thousand years; I don’t plan on losing on here. That weirdo Gura didn’t count, wasn’t a fair fight. Digging my heels into the ground, the demon’s pulling slows down.
“Ugh. Unruly, bratty child. You are reckoning with someone far beyond your knowledge.” She tightens her grip on my shoulders and pulls me upward. I guess it's a display of her brute strength. She is already dragging me after all. Her arms and I move back, I think she’s trying to throw me. Interesting…but unusual. We’re by that old building, the final old building along our walk back. I see, planning to shut me off from the rest of the world inside here huh?
Snapping my fingers, I take the reins of time into my hand, freezing things in place. I hop off of her hands and walk into the dark shadow of the building. If she was taking me here…I guess that could mean this place has significance. I’ll give it a look after taking care of this weirdo. I snap my fingers again and watch her panic as she realizes I came over here of my own will.
“You! How? You weren’t supposed to be able to control the flow here! She lied! LIED TO US!” The demon flies at me at an impossibly fast speed. That’s impressive honestly. I take the flow once more in between my fingers and freeze things, stepping safely to the side. Pulling my blade from my back, I slam the handle into her face, letting the flow resume. She flies into the wall on the other side of the building, crashing outside of it. She leaps up and stares at the wall. Well…guess she’s got a little fight in her. She’s rubbing her face a lot. Guess the back handle of my sword hurts a bit. Heh...
“I will unfold! Unwind your mind! Your Soul! Till you shatter! Like GLASS!” Her voice shrieks out. Guess she didn’t like that. Try not telegraphing such a simple attack then.
She pushes her hands forward and balls of shadow leave her palms, floating through destroyed building wall. I guess I shouldn’t be touching those things. Side stepping them in my frozen world I look on at the figure. Her attacks are all straight forward, obvious, and easy to dodge. You know…that looks a lot like IRyS. But…kinda…like…inverted? Is this an outfit or something? An out of season joke? Did…Did Mumei forget to get her soda?
“Hey. What’s your name?” I shout out to her. Maybe this is just a misunderstanding? But hmm…no she’s never been like this before.
“I have no name.” Her reply remarkably less heated than the previous engagements we’ve had.
“Alright no name. Why are you here?”
“I don’t need to tell you.” Expected…
“Can I just go home? I’m kind of looking forward to dinner with my owl.”
“W-with your what?!” Ahaha…perfect. She’s off her guard now.
“Yeah she’s kinda like…my roommate and my f-friend but you know we had some pizza and soda…” Ok looks like she’s still listening to me. No need for soul rending, please just let me go home man…
“P-pizza and soda? With an OWL?” Her voice is sounding more and more perplexed, this is great. Slowly I start walking towards her, continuing my talk jutsu.
“Yeah. She’s pretty independent though. Does a lot on her own. Lets me do my thing. It’s a good relationship.” It…it is a good relationship. And I was kinda weird with her the other night…now I feel a little bad…Maybe when I get back I’ll snuggle up to her on the couch. That sounds nice…ah I’m…
“A relationship…with your owl? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? Bahahahaha” She turns her head up into the sky and starts laughing hysterically. I keep my approach slow and subtle, I don’t even need to do much more. Just a bit close. A biiiit closer and I can just knock her out and head home.
“Oh yeah! I mean sure it’s a little unconventional but hey…sometimes it just works.” I crack the knuckles on my left hand and get ready to spring the final stretch of my plan into action. She still seems distracted by this.
“And you have…pizza AND soda…For an owl…I thought birds weren’t supposed to have carbonated drinks because they can’t get rid of the excess gas…in which case you would be a rather irresponsible partner. What do you have to respond with?!” She shouts out at me before realizing how close I’ve gotten to her. Her eyes widen, taking up all of the space on her face. She has heterochromia, this has to be IRyS. Sorry IRyS, you’ll probably need to ice this for a week or so.
“Well…things…can’t…be that bad!” I freeze time one final time and lay a punch into her face, hitting her as hard as I can. And I do it again and again and again before I let time resume and watch her fly off back inside the building. She never saw it coming, I almost feel bad…almost. “She does still welcome me home after everything that’s happened so far.”
“Hey! You done? Getting back up?” I shout at her, watching carefully for any signs of movement. She might actually be down for the count. Well…should I take her back with me…or just leave her here? She might be useful to the rest of the council…but…alright just get her. Stop thinking so much. As I cautiously approach the “demon” girl, I fit my sword onto my back and gaze around the area, just in case. But the nature of the situation starts to hit me. I’d be walking back into a trap, just like turning around earlier. Whether or not she’s knocked out isn’t the issue here, it’s what’s hiding in the dark waiting for me.
“Whatever, you weren’t worth the time or effort. I’m going back home. If you can hear me, don’t mess with any of us again.” I turn around and head away from the building. Fortunately, this place didn’t fall apart when I knocked uh...IRyS? IRyS alter? IRyS Alter. When I knocked IRyS Alter through the far side. I wonder if Krono and that kid are waiting for me still. Maybe they went to the other council members to ask for help. Would those three even help me anymore? At the very least, I have some leftover pizza with Mumei to look forward to. This will make a neat story I guess.
Loud footsteps start echoing throughout the empty building. Hmm...What is that? She's...not moving...did...someone else show up? Heel...toe...heel...toe...whoever's walking around has a heck of a stride. It doesn't feel like someone's arrived though but there's definitely the sound of footsteps here. Maybe this building is haunted...heh...I take another look across the building, looking for anything out of the ordinary. But there's nothing other than IRyS Alter's knocked out body. Ah...the moonlight...it's nighttime. I guess we were playing for a bit too long.
I look up into the sky and watch as a cloud reveals the rest of the moon. It's full...well waddaya know. Real bright out tonight. That's for sure. I guess Krono and his partner will be able to see my silhouette a bit easier thanks to it. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a pocket watch to check the time. 9 p...
Snap
I instantly turn around to the location of the sound. Standing in the the beauty of the moonlight...N-no way…What the fuck? I-impossible! Th-that’s…that’s…that’s me! I stuff the watch back into my pocket. The source of the footsteps? But where was she?
“Oh, poor thing really was no match for you. I thought maybe with her hatred and despair she’d do something…but for a catalyst…worthless.” The figure is in my outfit, has my voice, my hair, my everything…
“What is this? Imposter hour at The Airship? This is getting ridiculous man.” I sigh staring at the figure. Maybe it’s some new form of magic. It is kinda chaotic…and Bae was missing…
“Imposter…oh no you have the wrong idea here. You’re the copy, a fake. Nothing you have is your own. Pathetic…” She trails off, but I’m not going to just give up. Something…somehow…some…way…I’m getting really freaking irritated by this.
“A fake? I think you’re the fake one around here!” I pick my sword back up and point it out towards her.
“Oh you…you never even found the second half to the blade. How did I create such a failure? You are really this pathetic…I suppose even I make mistakes from time to time…”
“S-second half? Wh-what second half?”
“Oh what’s the point in telling you. I’m calling up that lease on your life. You weren’t completely useless…But you have served your purpose. You may die now!” At the end of her words she speeds time up to close the gap between us. She’s good. Not a single indicator of her needing any sort of technique to control the flow of time. Well that doesn’t matter, just focus on her, she fights just like you. You know what she’ll do, and she knows what you’ll do. Just wait…be patient and…
“DIE!” Kronii screams out at me as she pulls up right in front of my face. I never even noticed her! When did she? I was just watching her to the left as…
“You never thought about the possibilities behind control over the flow? Only to pause and resume, so primitive minded. I think it’s easier to just remove time. Take it out of the equation all together. You can’t see something happening if it never happens Kronii.”
Slash
Two swords dig deep into my abdomen, oh…oh shi-
Kick
Whiiiiishhhh
Ah….my---ah….aiy head….ugh……it hurtsh…ahh…what the hek..my…owwwwww.
H-huck…aiy guawh….gawh…it…it’sh roken…shi roke aiy gawh…
“Oh, look at you! Still kicking huh? Here…I’ll give you a little secret. This…area…this crater…whatever you people call it. This is MY world. MY domain! MY reality marble! Everything in here is by my design, for my advantage! Of course, you’d never pick up on time or anything being off here because it’s natural to you. To me. Who are you? No one! Nobody! There’s only ONE time warden!” I pick myself up but fall back down on my bottom. I try to hold myself up with my arms and speak to her. I can’t…I can’t but…I have to…
“Jur rearity argle? Hwat ish gat?” I can’t speak…I can’t think…she’s…she’s been ahead of me the whole time. I was just a toy to her…Something she can easily pick up and discard. Shit…this is looking pretty bad. I just did this to that demon…and now she’s doing it to me. Someone out there definitely has a sense of humor…I can’t…can’t think of anything to do. I’m a cornered animal…hoping to escape…despite…Did…did I already say that? What did I just say?
“Oh don’t you worry! I’ll end your suffering don’t you worry! Death truly is the answer. I’ll end everyone’s suffering… And so shall your sins rise to the heavens.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Alright Kronii fuck it! Now or never! I grab my blade and swing as hard as possible at her, hoping it will amount to something. I hear laughter…she’s laughing why is she
“KUHHHHHHHHHHH!” I feel blade after blade force its way into my body. Unlike any sensation I had ever felt before. A beast, full forth in rage and hatred. My arms…legs…chest…over and over and over again. For minutes…hours…days…the blades shred my body apart, I can feel the blood pooling underneath me. The sound of the weapons crashing into my bone and sinew…her overwhelming force…
“You could’ve just closed your eyes and went to sleep. Instead, you were stubborn. This is what your stubbornness has wrought!” She tosses her two blades…at least…I think she does. The blood running down my head robs me of my sight as I try with all my might to look at her. Th-that’s perfection. The power of the ultimate time warden. She made…quick…quck work of me…and now…wha she goin to do? My eys stay traind on hr as she walk to y blde, piking I up for…for
Slash
M-my ch-ches-che-chestttttttt…heaagh…huuuuuuugh!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” A blood curdling scream pierces the silence of the building, my own sword sealing my fate. What a cruel mistress…fate. What if…what if I just stayed home today…watching T.V. with…heh…with Mumei…that…that would be a nice…I feel the blood and tears pool in my eyes. I’ve failed…this is failure…I…I will…I will die. Killed by…by myself…not…not how I exactly picture it…It hurts…it hurts so much! I don’t want this I don’t want to
“And for good measure. Let me ensure your passage to hell.” She rips my sword out of my hand and takes it in hers. She digs it deep inside my chest. I think…I think I’ve lost the sensation of pain…any remaining sense I had left…to protect my brain…My…my body has probably given up…shut down…accepted its fate. Breathing…I can’t…breathe…. throat…air can’t get in…out…Fuck…ugh…I’m sorry Mumei…I’m…I’m not coming back tonight…Stained tears red of rage roll down the sides of my cheeks. I’m conscious enough to be sad and mad. I can’t even see anymore…this…I lost…for the first time in my life…I lost…I lost Mumei…I guess…I guess I’ll be…
“A drama queen to the end. Ame!” The victor stands tall above her opponent shouting out an unknown name. Her foot securely stepping on my body, putting out the final embers of my flame.
“Yes Kronii?” A blonde woman shows up next to Kronii. She’s wearing a brown checkered skirt a brown jacket, a white top with a tie tied around the neck and an old-world hat. Th-that’s the!
“Get the Nephilim and take her with you when returning to the marble. She lost…but she still might prove at least a distraction to the other Council members.”
“Of course. Is there anything else I should take care of?” She asks timidly. She stands perfectly still. Her eyes closed. Hands on top of each other, hovering over her legs. Frozen in time. The seemingly perfect servant to the perfect master.
“Make sure that failure is dead. When she passes, the flow of time in this universe should shatter. That will unravel things, giving them rise to chaos, and the universe will finally break down.”
“Of course Kronii. Until later then?”
“Until later. See it done.” The woman bows to Kronii and Kronii vanishes into thin air with a snap of her fingers. The woman turns to face me and slowly approaches. How utterly repulsive…she won’t even finish me off…letting her lackey do the rest. Fucking bitch.
“You had no chance. Nobody does. Not against her. She’s had this plan in motion since the beginning of the universes. Since before…before the reset. She’s had an eternity to plan. Nothing you could do, your council, your myths, me…nothing I can do…to stop it…But…” Universes? She trails off, digging through my pockets…she’s…what is she…
“You won’t need this anymore. But don’t worry, I’m not taking it. I’m gonna let your friends find it. I’m gonna let them find you. Kronii has to stick to a very precise and specific schedule, she can’t do even a single second out of order for her plan to work. Which in turn…gives you a few more brief moments of life. What to do with it, you decide.”
She leaves the pocket watch over my chest; it sits brightly in a pool of my own blood. Heh…is she taking pity on me or something? Whatever…. not like I’ll be around for m-much longer. A few brief moments indeed…
I make her out picking up the demon’s body and then pulling out a watch of her own…so she also…maybe that’s why Kronii uses her…M-Mumei….I…