nature is fleeting, yet interesting, and as an ecologist, (you) were focused on the here and now along with preserving it for the future
but still you held a passing interest in the life of the distant past - especially the Cretaceous - and when Fauna, Mumei and Kronii offered you a chance to see it you jumped at the opportunity
after all, it would be safe, no machine to worry about, just the clock’s powers
you were more worried about Mumei than yourself, what with her tendency to look for berries
maybe Fauna would try and bring back some ancient plants but surely you and Kronii would be safe, right?

you arrive in a late Cretaceous landscape, which is lush and beautiful, full of ferns and monkey puzzles - but you sense this will soon change
”This is a couple days before the meteorite hits. We’re pretty close to the impact site too, but since nothing here should fossilise it’s all unknown to science” Kronii displays an unusual amount of knowledge about this
pausing for a moment, she adds “And don’t bring anything weird back, I don’t want you messing with scientists or timelines…any of you” she looks at the group in turn
Fauna meanwhile is observing the…fauna, as you’d expect, and asking to bring back some little saplings with her, specially of a short, odd looking monkey puzzle unlike any modern form
”Fauna, what did I just say?” sighs Kronii, “You ought to know better than that. We can isolate it with our powers but I don’t want you spreading plants outside their own time”
the Kirin is unimpressed but goes along with it, frowning and looking geninuely upset
pterosaurs overhead screech concerningly, although you remain adamant the main species of this time are fish eaters
that said, from your books you know there are some pretty large fish around…
other strange sound effects from various unseen dinosaurs hint at danger, as do the birds scattering from a nearby tree
your group carefully walks away from the forest into an open clearing where the girls’ powers can be used for self defence
”Where’s Mumei?”
you notice a trail of disturbance in the undergrowth of small shrubs, which had been covered in berries before, and scattered fruits and sap plus some brown feathers inform you Mumei is the culprit
”Uuu, she’s run off for berries…we’ll go find her, stay around here, okay anon?”
”Here, if you take this it will bring you back to our time when you’re ready, don’t lose it…think of me when you use it and you’ll be home”

says Kronii, handing you a small blue crystal

”and remember, the meteorite impacts soon, you can’t stay longer than a couple days”
with that, she draws her swords and runs after Fauna, heading down the path made by Mumei
the sun seems to be setting, but thankfully your new handy crystal glows with an azure light and lets you see clearly

against your better instincts, you wander towards the nearby shore, covered in all sorts of debris
broken ammonite shells, which would be priceless in their own right, mingle with more recognisable seaweed and other shells
one shell appears intact, and you hold it, observing the shifting colours of its shiny nacre
you stuff it into your pocket as a trophy, knowing the owner is long dead
various small pterosaurs are bickering with similar sized birds, soon to be masters of the skies
you notice a conspicuous lack of dinosaurs despite the period, but then they are about to go extinct anyway…
you also find another one of those shrubs, this one having kept its berries
hesitant, you try one - it looks like some kind of early flowering plant, although you remind yourself they predate this era by tens of millions of years it certainly looks primitive
the berry is red and hard, and seems more like a gumball than a fruit
you pop it into your mouth, it’s juicy but bitter, probably from being so close to the sea
suddenly, as if summoned by the berries, a familiar voice calls you
”Hey, anon…see ya found the berries~”
it’s Mumei, whose eyes are…glowing oddly
”Mumei, why are you here? Kronii and Fauna are looking for you! You should go find them, before they get into danger too”
”I’ll be fine, anon” she smiles and twirls her fingers through her hair elegantly
”Shame about you, though, I think they’ll forget you even came here”
before you can react to her comment she stabs you viciously in the stomach with a knife, twisting it
as you double over in pain she snatches your blue crystal, cutting into it sharply
it still glows, but you can’t feel its power anymore, and she drops it back onto your fallen body
”Gotcha a front row seat here, anon, you might even be lucky enough to survive the impact” you would punch her smug face if you weren’t paralysed in bloody pain, hands mingled with sand and blood
”Eat enough berries and the pain might go away, if the local wildlife doesn’t eat ya first”
”Anyways, I’m off, anon, see you in 66 million years” she kicks you in your wounded stomach and you lie flat, listening helplessly to her gently walking off on the sand
you wonder what Sana would make of this star-filled pollutionless sky, but you note the constant omens of the meteor shower, and realise no matter how much you think about Kronii, you aren’t going home
a bright shape seems to be getting bigger and bigger, clearly the meteorite which is close to impact
pain fading, you sob softly, using your ammonite shell as a proxy for your now lost clock, and drift to sleep under the ancient stars

occasionally you awake to the bizarre noises of the time but overall you sleep well considering your wound
eventually you manage to pull yourself up, still bleeding, and stumble over to the berries - only to find most of them are gone
you search for more, and manage to climb the fern covered bank by the side of the beach, overlooking an ashy forest and volcano
it looks oddly familiar
this must be some kind of territorial track for beach going dinosaurs as there is an obvious gap amongst the plant growth
you notice miniature carnivorous dinosaurs scuttling away as you approach, far too late do you realise they’re tyrannosaurs
you hear a mighty roar, obviously from their mother, who slumps out of the undergrowth with terrifying speed despite her size
yet she moves no further as between you and her a great tank of an animal, an ankylosaur, has idly waddled, blindly munching on leaves
you steer clear of the beast entirely, remaining on the beach as it swings its massive hammer tail and growls at both you and the angry T-Rex
her offspring have rejoined her, so you hesitantly back away, looking for another exit to the beach
wandering down it, your bleeding does seem to stop eventually, although maybe it’s just the sea water
all sorts of interesting marine life remains litter the beach, and you think sadly about how much of it is about to be lost forever
belemnites, rudist clams, and of course the iconic ammonites, plus the off shore marine reptiles, all gone in a literal flash
speaking of a flash, that object in the sky is getting brighter and brighter, and seems to hover over the south
you wager you’re looking right at the gulf of Mexico although from the northern side
far away enough to escape the actual meteorite but close enough to witness the impact, perhaps
you sit under a dawn redwood tree, still bearing its healthy summer leaves, or perhaps Cretaceous forms are evergreen? paleobotany was never easy for you, modern plants were easier to identify with Fauna around
a small river flows into the sea here, and you spot hadrosaurs, distinctly reptilian with their lack of feathers, drinking heartily in spite of their coming destruction
you observe the strange flowers, like summer water lilies only taller, and recline on the open bank, having forgotten all about your injury
you see the fascinating mix of grasses and ferns showing a world about to change, and doze off to the sound of the stream flowing into the sea

a little time later, you awake just early enough to spot the impact that evening
loud and earth shattering, it cuts out your hearing as it slams into Chicxulub to your south - eventually, the silence becomes ear ringing, but joined by the chorus of panicked animals and quakes from the distance
you run from the water quickly, knowing drowning is probably not a fun way to go, but you can feel the ground shaking and know either the blast front or the tsunamis will catch up in no time
you head to the forest where you arrived, watching the pterosaurs and birds flee to safety as the sky clouds over
the dust cloud is already blocking the evening sun and lumps of ejected rock begin hurtling downwards - one almost hits you and turns the tree in front into a smouldering stump
through the trees you can see waves rising towards the shore; you seem to be out of their way, but the blast front is not far behind
the air begins to choke you as it fills with ash and smoke
you try and think about Fauna, Kronii, and even Mumei…the owl that betrayed you and left you here
you can still see her smug grin, and you swear you hear her mocking laugh echoing in your head
you can’t do anything about her, though, since she’s millions of years in the future
thinking about all this has left you absent minded, but you know death is near anyway
you managed to escape the tsunami after all, but the ash and dust had practically cut out the sun, and is burning through your lungs
not even Fauna’s nature powers could save you now, you choke and splutter as you fall sideways next to a burning cycad
the ash settles around you, and you feel your strength fading
you still have the ammonite shell on you, as well as Kronii’s jewel…
you attempt to write something in the ash, but it’s piling deeper and deeper around you, and you can’t breathe anymore
your last thoughts are of Kronii and Fauna and how you let them down…
so it is that you perish, millions of years before you were ever born, all thanks to a jealous and sadist owl

the ash piles into thick layers, forming a deep cast over the landscape and suffocating its plant life
the mass extinction wipes out most of the marine life as well as the dinosaurs themselves, changing earth’s life forever
all as expected
you, as an anomaly in the timeline, will be different though
in spite of what Kronii said some of this land would indeed fossilise
the ash compacts around your decaying remains and preserves them, including the ammonite shell and Kronii’s jewel
this gradually forms into rock as the world changes and moves around above you
millions of years pass and the dinosaurs, aside from the birds, disappear into history
species rise and fall, the climate shifts to its modern state, and the land itself moves to its current forms
humanity evolves and spreads through the old world, eventually moving to the new in many waves - learning farming and wiping out megafauna in the process
just as the species did empires rise and fall, though your remains have ended up somewhere nondescript in a southern American desert
eroded away, the rocks and dust reveal (you) to a palaeontologist team looking for K-T extinction remains
this would be a hell of a find for those palaeontologists to explain
your full body is extracted along with your jewel, ammonite and cycad, all preserved well if a little crushed, and taken to a museum
a museum that happens to be close to where Kronii and friends are meeting for an offcollab

”Hey Kronii, the museum has a new exhibit, do you wanna go see with Mumei?” Fauna asks Kronii, holding up her phone to display a news article
the article reads “ancient primate shocks researchers” as your remains are distorted enough to warrant speculation, as well as creationist conspiracies
Kronii, being as old as time itself, isn’t really one for museums, but it’s a natural history museum so Fauna will be happy
and she might as well humour the owl
the trio happily tour the museum, taking in its sights and exhibitions detailing other excavations, but are quickly drawn to the new one
it’s surprisingly quiet, but that’s because Kronii chose to freeze time since she hates crowds
Mumei is grinning oddly, whilst Fauna simply looks concerned
your remains are observed by the trio
Fauna notes the cycad “Poor thing, I wish someone could take it home with them”
always a sap for plants
Kronii notices the jewel, glowing as it nears her
”Hey, I don’t remember this…I’ll just-“
in a split second she smashes the glass, extracts the unfossilised jewel and repairs the glass immediately so as to not create a crime scene
but unfreezing, the memories of the jewel reveal themselves
in rapid succession, she sees Mumei wandering around for berries, anon trying to speak to her…the brutal stabbing
Mumei’s mind erasure, the meteorite impact, and your painful death and last moments
she drops it in shock and it shatters
”Anon….”
the normally stoic warden of time drops to her knees, tears forming in her eyes as she realises who she’s looking at
she knows of the passage of time like no other and yet she forgot about all the time she left you behind, thanks to Mumei
”Mumei…I…why did you do this? Why are you like this? Why?”
the owl simply giggles and says “Sorry Kronii, I forgor~” trying to play dumb
Fauna is listening, eavesdropping even, having forgotten what happened just as Kronii did
Kronii angrily draws her swords and rushes towards the smug owl, as Fauna shouts at her to stop
being in a metal and stone building, Fauna’s powers don’t work properly, and the Council are not supposed to harm each other anyway
Kronii didn’t get the memo, though
as Fauna tries and fails to call up vines and hold the time warden still, Kronii slams into Mumei at full force, tackling her to the floor
straddling on top of Mumei, Kronii points her swords at the owl girl’s neck and chest
”You’re gonna tell me how to get anon back, or I’m gonna make sure they have you as an exhibit”
”C-c-can’t, I-I forgor” stutters the owl, geninuely for once and struggling not to pee herself from nervousness
Kronii punches her hard in the throat, and orders again “Don’t fucking play dumb with me, tell me or ELSE”
”Kronii, please, she’s telling the truth” says Fauna in a soft tone, trying to defuse things
”Fuck off, she wiped your memory too!” replies the angry clock
”Sorry, Kronii…” the owl mumbles
angry Kronii lifts up her sword arm to stab Mumei, when suddenly a root bursts through the floor and wraps around it
stunned, she hears Fauna shout “Now, Mumei!” and looking down sees the owl’s scared expression turn to sadism
before she can react, Mumei jams her sharp dagger straight into Kronii’s heart
total defiance of the Council’s rules
Kronii’s strength fades and she drops her swords, as Fauna circles like a vulture
”Mumei…Fauna…why…anon….”
the blood loss is too much, and the time warden keels over backwards, never to wake again, as the blue light fades from her eyes
time unfreezes and will never stand still again, as the two girls contemplate what to do with their former colleague….

”FUCK! MUMEI! FAUNA!”
you are awoken by Kronii’s booming and yet scared voice in your ears, despite it being 3am
she’s in a cold sweat, eyes darting around everywhere
”Kronii?? What’s the matter?” you ask groggily
she stares blankly for a moment before reacting “Anon? ANON!!!!”
she throws herself on to you and gives you the tightest hug of your life, almost suffocating you in her warmth and rather large breasts
”Imsorryanonpleasedontleavemeimsorrydontdieonme” she mutters over and over as she hugs you
struggling to breathe you wriggle frantically to let her know, as you can’t speak with her muffling you
”Hah, sorry anon, I had this…dream…about you, and Fauna, and Mumei, and you…”
”Kronii, I love you, but please save it till tomorrow…” you love this dumb clock but not being woken up like this
”Okay…just promise me you won’t leave my sight, anon”
she kisses your cheek, and lightly wraps her arms around you
”I promise” you mumble as you doze off again
you loved this cute clock….although it was gonna be a hell of a time listening to her rambling the following morning…