Sins of The Innocent
Source: https://twitter.com/flo_ni08/status/1562160148994355200
Diary 3---Entry 20
In Conviction
“Stay with me! Stay with me Kronii! Just a bit further!” Sigh This is the worst scenario. Absolutely horrible.
“Friend! Friend! We’re back!” The shouting keeps me feeling like I’m doing something. Focused. Keep that focus, that cool, just like Kronii would. It’ll be fine…we’ll roll the time back…fix the wounds…something…anything.
I brace for the landing impact, swinging my wings to level just above the ground and sit in place as I slowly descend. I look back at the path, trying to see the headlights from Krono’s car. Nothing yet. He’ll be here, he said he would come. I need to get Kronii onto a mattress or something. Lay her down. What can I do with what I have. A first aid kit isn’t prepared for a million stab wounds. I finally realize how much blood has spilled. The lower half of my dress completely soaked in crimson, my hands pruning, this definitely isn’t good! I step towards the doorway but notice a puddle in front of us. Water? It didn’t rain tonight. Odd…
A breeze hits us from behind as I make my way to the door, no time to think just get inside Mumei! I reach for the door and push it open. I rush past the foyer to the living room and set Kronii on the couch. I pull her sword off of my back and set it down on the floor. No time to think about the mess, just get some bandages, towels, anything! I run into the kitchen and pull out the first aid box. Some linen bandages here…not enough but it’s better than nothing. Oh! There should be some towels in the bathroom! Let me grab those really quick! Running back into the living room I glance at Kronii’s face. She doesn’t look worse…but I doubt she’s any better…don’t you die on me! The dark night stares into our foyer as I look out the door and then run up the stairs. Busting the bathroom door down I grab towels that I had previously hung earlier in the day on the shelf inside. What a day…it was only a few hours ago that I pulled these out of the dryer. Now I’m using them to help Kronii…
I leap out of the bathroom and run back down the stairs, only to freeze in place when I spot something standing over Kronii. Krono? N-no…who is this? Did someone follow me? Ok…deep breaths…aggressive action might be a trigger for them. Just…slowly…calmy walk into the room. If they wanted to kill Kronii they’d have done it by now. I step into the foyer and stare at the figure. It stays in place, completely still. So far so good. Play it cool. No need for any more fights tonight. I hold the towels tightly against my chest, this is beyond frustrating. But it’s for Kronii’s sake. Everything is for Kronii…
My steps into the living room don’t change it’s position. Zero reaction. It’s…a…girl…like a kid…She’s wearing a weird hoodie and oh…OH! OHHHH! Th-the trident girl! A trident in her hands! The couch hid it from view. Ohhhhhhhhhmygod. Okokokokok…What to do what to do? Ok…talk…did Kronii say she talked to her? Oh god I can’t remember aaaaaaaa. Kronii struggled to fight her…what chance do I have…
“She’s not the one I want. She can lead me to the one I want.” H-huh? D-did she just…
“I watched the entire fight. Your friends set her up. She was winning too. Until another one showed up.” Winning? K-Kronii? Set up? Another one?
“H-hold on a second…could you…explain…please?” I try cracking a smile…can I even move these muscles after everything that’s happened today? Her head finally looks up at me. O-oh she’s cute…wh-why was she after Kronii? What the heck is going on?
“The demon girl lost to Kronii.” She knows Kronii’s name! “After the demon lost…Kronii showed up. But a different Kronii. A strong Kronii. The one I was looking for. The one that will bring Watson back to us.” Other Kronii? Watson? I recall Kronii…Kronii talking about that girl. The detective. She wanted to find clues, something, anything about her. So much so she’s…here on the couch within an inch of her life…
She pulls a bottle out from her jacket…coat…hoodie? She pulls a bottle out, it’s crystal clear and inside is some sort of blueish liquid. Wh-what is that?
“D-do you mind? If I just…” She says as I apprehensively stare at the bottle and then spring down to the floor and reach for the sword. I raise it up at her and take Kronii’s hand in mine.
“It doesn’t matter. She’ll pass anyways.” Wh-what? How would she know that…unless…
“I…I won’t let you do it. If you want her, you’ll have to get through me.” I feel Kronii squeeze my hand with her. I won’t let you down Kronii. I’ll save you, at the cost of my own life if I need to.
“Hey hey hey! Whoa what’s going on in here?” A voice from the foyer shouts. Krono!
“Krono…She’s…I don’t know what she is but…”
“I already said, I’m not here for her. I’m here because she can lead me to her. Or the…one I want is the her and…she can lead me to the her and uhh…”
She trails off, stratching at her head with the bottle. She pulls it back down and takes the top off, a slight chill runs throughout the room. She pours the concoction inside over Kronii from head to toe. It looks small but, so much is coming out. A magical bottle? A magical substance oh gosh who cares what does this do? She then pushes it into Kronii’s mouth? What the actual fuck is going on?
“Our dead Time Warden can lead you to…who?” Krono steps into the room and stands behind me. His partner stands at the door to the house, blocking things from entering or exiting.
“She’s not dead. Do they just let anybody out of the Time Academy now. You’re seriously dumb!” She taunts Krono and from the fumes exiting his nose, I can tell he’s no fan of it. I grip Kronii’s hand and stare up at the girl.
“What’s your name? Who are you? Why are you here? What did you just put on Kronii!?” That…probably wasn’t the best way to go about things but…asking straight forward is…straight forward.
“Her other sword?” That’s not an answer. Hello?
“H-her other sword?” The girl pulls the bottle out of Kronii’s mouth. It’s empty now. She closes it and sets it back into her pocket.
“Her other sword. Kronii has two blades. You’re only holding one. Where’s the other Mumei.” M-Mumei?! She knows my name? No! I need answer!
“Answer my questions and I answer yours. Now answer!” I look back at Krono and he nods at me. I’m not leaving this conversation empty handed. I look at Kronii’s face, that’s all the motivation I need to make sure Kronii didn’t fight for nothing. If this girl has information, I will get it out of her.
“I ASKED FIRST BOZO!” She shouts at me. Sh-she…this girl! This brat! Fine! But so help me God if she doesn’t answer my question we’re having lamb amirstan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow. I take a deep breath, let’s just calm down. Everything is fine.
“Ok…Ok…She…lost it after the calamity. Everyone lost something that day to save the world. Kronii pushed hard…so hard…she lost her ability to push time forward and back in cases like this. That’s why she’s not able to rewind her wounds as well…and in a case like this…” The room is silent. Nobody makes a sound as I pull back the veil. What we lost was nothing in comparison to what we saved…and yet…
“What did you give up Mumei? I want to be able to trust you, to believe you.” I stare down into my rustic dress, gripping at Kronii’s hand for a sense of security. The real reason that I’m here with her, exiled away from the other council girls…
“What I gave up…I gave up…my humanity.” Silence is once again the name of the game. It looks like she wants to open her mouth and say something, but words never exit. I turn around and look at Krono. He gives me a slight smile, perhaps trying to reassure me and might even go, “You did what you had to Mumei.” Ah…secret’s out now…
“So you two…no…all five of you…lost your authority?” I nod at her and look back at Kronii.
“It hit us all at varying degrees. Kronii for instance, can’t control the flow of time as well. Fauna’s nature is decaying and dying. Bae and Sana…it doesn’t look like they lost much now…especially after what just happened back there but, they were definitely bed ridden for months.”
“And you? What’s the draw back to losing your humanity?” Ah…really don’t want to get into this. But if it’s for info…I let go of Kronii’s hand and sword. I pick myself up off of the floor and stand in front of the stranger. I take a step in front of her, but not with my body, with my soul. As my body drops to the floor, no different than a lifeless doll, I hear a yelp from the foyer. Guess he must be afraid of ghosts.
“I’m a walking, talking corpse. I gave it all up that day, so that humanity might yet still have a chance to live. Everything I have done from that point forward, was a bluff. Kronii took on the role of supporting me.” Outside of the guy by the door passing out, this is going pretty well. I don’t even show this to Kronii…I mean…ahah…why would I? Why would she like something like this. A hollow shell of a person who will constantly remind her of her failure. Just being near me must always be annoying, that’s why she never lets me in. Never lets me get close and
“HEY! You listening ghost girl? I’ve decided to join you all. At least until I get what I want.” Oh…the…girl right…Uh this is probably awkward. I float back into my body, regaining control of my corporeal form. That guy is still on the ground…Now I feel bad.
“I’m Gawr Gura. You can just call me Gura. I’m looking for a detective, goes by the name Amelia Watson.” My ears perk up, Amelia! The detective Kronii was looking for! “It may be hard to believe but, I come from a different timeline. A friend of mine and her wacky magic sent me to the last place Watson was at. When I arrived there was no Watson to be found, see my issue?” I nod at her and think about what went through her friend’s mind to send her over here. Not to be rude but she’s kinda…I look at her and she begins to dig into her ear with her fingers. She sniffs them after pulling them out. Ew…
“Hold on. You were summoned here by this friend or?” Krono chimes in, he takes a couple steps forward himself and stands behind me.
“She used magic to bring me here I dunno.” She’s staring at Krono. She’s also incredibly levelheaded, despite everything that’s been going on. Krono has been too. I feel like I’m the odd one out for not thinking this is a completely normal situation.
“So you don’t know how you got here, or at least know the process behind your travel. That’s a shame but…ah…”
“Yeah what? What is it to ya pretty boy?” Krono lets out an exaggerated sigh, I’m guessing he’s not a fan of comments like that. He runs his left hand through his hair, and I guess…recollects himself?
“Right…Anyways Gura. How were you going to get back?”
“a…”
“A?!” “A?!” Both Krono and I reply in similar shock…this girl…she’s kind of an idiot. She must be a much better fighter than thinker because sheeeeeeeesh.
“N-not to worry about it or anything, however. I have an idea. A crazy idea. But I think we need to take some action, and quick!” Krono walks over to his partner and slaps him in the face. This guy is odd. The blond guy gets up and then Krono walks up to Gura. He extends his hand out for a shake. Gura takes the offer with a smile.
Yawn “Gosh…how long was I out today?” I instantly turn towards the couch, hardly believing what I had heard! Krono rushes to the backside and gets down to take a look too. N-no way…h-how…sh-she-she’s….
“KRONII!” I wrap my arms around her as tight as I can squeeze her with all my might!
“H-hey man! That hurts what are you doing?” It’s her! Sh-she’s back! How?! What? The bottle? I pull back and let out the most cheerful giggle of my life! Kronii!
“Amazing…her body…it reset! Wh-what happened.” Krono stares at Kronii completely flabbergasted. His surprise is surprising me! But Kronii’s back!
“Yeah that’s the ol’ Watson Concoction. A special mixture of uhh...things…that…do… things. cough” This girl…honestly I’m starting to like that she’s so dumb. It’s like her charm point.
“Watson Concoction eh? And this is by Amelia I assume? The Amelia of your timeline right?” The quiet scaredy pants guy shows up and begins asking Gura questions.
“Yeah bub what’s it to you?” She fires one back of her own, with a little extra sass sitting on the end.
I take Kronii’s hands in mine and help her sit up. She really is all better! The cuts! The slashes! Everything! Not a trace…well all the dried-up blood but who fucking cares! KRONII!
Gura walks over to the quiet guy and Kronii starts to pick herself up. Krono moves back and joins Gura and the other guy. He smiles at me then turns his attention to whatever they’re talking about. True and blue, it’s her. Her flawless face, perfect eyes, beautiful lips, bountiful ribbon, chiseled abs, and dancer’s legs! My heart…the butterflies are having a field day inside of me. She’s ok…she’s ok…I let emotion take the wheel and begin to cry. What a twist of fate…she’s ok.
“O-Oh hey man? Are you ok? Mumei what the heck? Why are you crying?”
“No reason Kronii. I’m just…really, really glad to see you up!” She stares at me like I’m crazy but…you know maybe I am. I am just really crazy about you Kronii.
“Mumei…oh my god! You’re covered in blood! W-what happened?” Kronii gets up and pulls me up with her. She then looks down at herself.
“GWAK?! MUMEI! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED MAN? I’MSOCONFUSEDOHMYGODNOTHINGMAKESSENSERIGHTNOWDIDIDOSOMETHINGWRONGWHYAREWEBOTHLIKETHISICAN’TREMEMBERANYTHINGAAAAAAAA”
“K-Kronii! Kronii!” I catch her attention. This must be a lot to take in, and I don’t know what that concoction even full did to her. A bath…that might be best. A hot refreshing shower and a clean change of clothes. That’ll fix things up a bit.
“Kronii. Lets go up and shower. I’ll try to explain things to you as best I can ok?” She nods at me, and I look into the foyer, Gura and the guy are gone. Krono is standing by the door, he motions for me to come over.
“Uhh…i-if you’re hungry there’s leftover pizza in the fridge Kronii. I just need to take care of something really quick. Wait for me?” I smile at her and she nods again, staring at her lower half in disgust. This is really gross…I probably shouldn't be ok with it either but…whatever. I make my way to the door to find out what Krono wants.
“What’s up?”
“We think it’d be best if we discussed work away from Kronii. Don’t want to send even more shock into her system when she sees Gura with us.”
“Right makes sense.”
“So we’re gonna take her to the place we were staying at. Get some sweets or something…she seems at about that level of bribing so…yeah.”
“Did she tell you guys about the Watson Concoction? What it does or anything like that?”
“Ah yeah she said it was to heal her wounds if she got any, but she used it all on Kronii. She’s really banking on her being able to find this Amelia.”
“I see. Healing properties huh?” Krono nods but then shakes his head a second after.
“Well…it seems it’s not as clear what it does after consumption. Apparently it started out more as a uh…injection…that enhanced your perception and concentration. It’s gone through a few changes so…keep an eye on Kronii yeah?” I hear a sneeze from behind and turn around. Kronii is staring at Krono and I laugh. Krono raises his head and waves at Kronii. She makes a disgusted face and the takes the stairs up to the bathroom.
“Ah…yeah she’s back…but yeah, keep an eye on her. Anything unusual happens you contact us ok?” Krono hands me a cellphone. Wouldn’t it be easier to just give us the number instead?
“O-ok. I’ll keep a close eye on her.”
“Great. We’ll come by tomorrow morning. Make sure everything is ok and all that. Sound good?” I nod and smile at him.
“Yeah. Yeah everything is good now. I’m glad you guys were there and everything, even if at times I sounded like I wasn’t.”
“Don’t sweat it…there are just…hey you know what. Don’t worry about it at all. Let’s talk tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve gone through enough emotions tonight to go through an entire lifetime. Well…rest up Mumei. Call if you need anything ok?” I nod my head and he smiles at me. His eyes travel above and behind me, his smile breaks down a bit and he nervously laughs. Guess Kronii must be staring knives into him…
“Later!”
“Bye!” He heads out to his car, and I can see Gura in the back seat, poking at the guy driving. Those two…got along pretty quickly…Or at least Gura seems to be friendly with him. I shut the door and take a deep breath. It was a long day, an extremely long day. Some R&R would do me…my body…a lot of good. Turning around, I look up at the balcony and wave to Kronii. She waves back and we burst out in smiles, laughing. Why we were laughing, I don’t know, but for the first time in a long time, she was smiling. A real, genuine smile.
“Hey! You just gonna stand there gawking or get that mess of off you?” She shouts down at me, throwing a towel my way.
“I’ll be right there!” I travel up the staircase and join Kronii. Tonight…I’m not so nervous about entering with her this time…