After One Thousand Years

Source: https://twitter.com/QUASARCAKE/status/1536287341152972800

Diary 1337---Entry 1003 Prenotion

“Ame”

“Ame?”

“Aaaaaaaammmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”

“Ame. Wake up stupid!”

The various voices telling me to wake up sends shivers down my body. My heart drops into my stomach and I feel like I just woke up late for something really important. Ugh…when did I even get the chance to…

“You finally back? I told you not to touch anything and here I find you, sleeping on the job.” Kronii spits out at me, I’d recognize that voice…that…voice? Wait…wasn’t…she fighting?

“Kronii…you don’t need to yell at her…it’s your fault we’re all here anyways.” A gentle, airy voice replaces the harsh words from Kronii is that…it’s Fauna right? That voice is unmistakable. I rub my eyes and stare at the cast of voices that called my name. Ugh…Is this…Council? The…yeah…the council girls. Where did they come from?

“How many times did I tell you not to touch something? And of course the first thing you do is touch something. Should’ve just left you here for eternity.” She is unbelievable! I pick myself up out of the chair I apparently sat in and away from the desk I apparently fell asleep on. Ok…deep breaths…you can do this.

“What do you mean I touched something?! You didn’t establish rules for what can be touched and what can’t be its not my fault!”

“Are you dumb? What does “Don’t touch anything.” mean to you Ame? Unbelievable.” Why am I being treated like a kid right now? It’s her fault not mine! Staring at the door, I watch it creek open. Is that…

“Oh hi.” Certainly the unmistakable representation of humanity herself, Mumei. I take moment, recollecting my thoughts and honestly, trying to catch my brain back up on everything that’s going on right now. I stare at Mumei, then at Kronii and then around her are all the other council members. Bae, Fauna, and Sana are all chatting with each other but, I do take notice of them all periodically shooting glances at Kronii. Oh…that’s right! Council was gone the whole time! I had never run into them a single time when returning from the end of time with IRyS. Hmm so does that mean that council was…actually what does that mean? Kronii never had run into any council member during this adventure. Were they here the whole time or did something happen to them. Well better to just ask, it at least seems like all the girls are on decent terms. Or they’re waiting for me so they can drag both Kronii and I away.

“H-hi guys…how’s the uh…things…lately?” I stretch an uneasy smile across my face. I hope we’re on friendly terms, I didn’t do anything to you guys.

“Ah there she is, returned from her slumber. Significantly shorter than ours, however, isn’t that right Kronini?” Sana speaks up, feels like it’s been forever since I’ve heard her cheery, genki voice.

“Congratulations, you beat Ouro Kronii, the biggest jobber in Council. Not a particularly difficult achievement Ame…” Fauna replies in her ever-gentle tone. Did she just roast Kronii? Oh god! I draw my eyes across the room at her, she’s shaking. She’s mad huh? Really mad. Wh-what possessed her to say that?

“Y-yeah hey everyone. I guess…I did doze a bit off just now..." Suddenly, Kronii interrupts me with some shouting of her own, I guess that didn't sit well with her.

“I am NOT A JOBBER! SHE USED…SHE CHEATED…SHE” Kronii experiences interruptions herself when Fauna cuts her rant short.

“Ok, ok Kronii. This inexperienced time traveler beat the concept of time herself because she cheated. If that will help you sleep at night fufu…” Her laughter is going to live rent free in Kronii’s head for months. I... Ahahaha…it’s nice. This is normal. We’re getting back to normal.

“So uh anyways…where were you guys at?” Each council member snickers then walks towards Kronii.

“H-Hey guys! Cmon! I already apologized! It doesn’t have to be like this gwak!?” She begins to receive an onslaught of tickles and pinches across her body. Many that’s a lot of tickling. She falls to her feet, laughing and laughing. I don’t think I’ve seen Kronii make a face like that for a thousand years!

“Ok, ok, ok. I get it! Sorry again. Really I am. At least thank Ame for saving you guys.” Saving them? What did I do to save them?

“Right Ameeeee! Heyyyyy wazzzupppp! Thanks for stopping Kronii and all that. We weren’t really sure what happened, same as you I guess.” A voice I’ve sorely missed and welcome. Bae sends her attention my way as the other girls move away from Kronii. Although interestingly enough, Mumei stays to help pick Kronii up and they start whispering to each other. I’ll keep a mental note of that, and I return my focus to Bae.

“Same as me? What do you mean?”

“See Kronii mentioned that you shouldn’t touch anything right?”

“Right.”

“Well when we first arrived we were just told these are our rooms and to rest up for a Council meeting here in Zeal.” I nod my head and look at the other girls. They all nod their heads and then stare at Kronii and Mumei who were still whispering to each other.

“Uh yeah well…it was…a…trick. I knew I couldn’t take all four council members at once, not to mention IRyS might’ve shown up too, so I decided to…enlist some help.” That raises an eyebrow. Help from who? As far as I know, she only worked with uh…me…another me from another timeline. This is the first I’ve heard of another collaborator.

“Who did you work with Kronii?” I quickly fire the question at her, hoping that she’ll answer truthfully in front of the other council members.

“
Omegaα
“

The name echoes through the room and nobody says a word. Omegaα…who was that? The…the god or something right? Hmm the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet…The room sit quiet as everybody absorbs the information. I hate admitting I don't know a ton about them...or perhaps I've yet to experience working with them since I've been sidelined from life for awhile.

“What? You worked with Omegaα?! I thought your whole deal was that you wanted to free yourself of burden, not indebt yourself to them Kronii!” Bae finally breaks the silence and my though process along with it. But she is right. Kronii did state several times that she was breaking the cycle. There’s a contradiction in her actions.

“I know. I know. Just…give me a second to explain." Kronii’s hand slips by Mumei’s. They’ve been awful close since entering…I’m gonna need some answers from her later.

“The purpose of this facility is twofold. Specifically this area which we call Zeal. One, is to safeguard the Mooncell Automaton’s that record all council members actions. Two, to seal the council members away in events of extreme danger. Dangers being threats to order and chaos.” Threats to order and chaos…like hiding them if they were targeted by something…or someone…

“And sealing them away…helped your plan?” I press on with a question, partly satiating my own age-old question of why no council members stopped Kronii before things got this out of hand.

“Yes. With Omegaα’s assistance, I successfully had all blissfully unaware council girls…no offense…blindly walk into a trap. You had first had taste of that trap Ame. That’s why you were asleep at the desk when we found you. All you had to do was touch a single thing in the room. Computer, desk, walls, light switches, beds, anything. Once you touched it, Omegaα took care of the rest.”

“Took care of the rest how?”

“Well you’ve already experienced it. Eternal rest.” Rest? But I was…I didn’t feel like I was sleeping. It was more like…being spirited away or something.

“And what goes on in that rest? I saw you Kronii…or…rather I was you. Fighting someone.” Kronii raises an eyebrow in interest and stares intently at me. My face is feeling hot…why am I back in this position?! I’m the one who was wronged!

“You saw me? And you were fighting someone as me? Straighten the story out detective. Nobody was supposed to receive any sweet dreams. It was plain, boring old rest. Did any of you girls experience what Amelia said?” She looks around at heads nodding left to right. W-what does that mean? Did I see something special?

“Explain Amelia. What happened?” I nod my head up and down, agreeing to share my experience.

“Well…I was…you? I’m not sure when exactly but…you were at some sort of school…or maybe an academy. It was near graduation. You needed to pass a combat exam and fought uh…who did I fight. This flashy, showoff, asshole dude…he had a scythe and…rapped…poorly during our fight and I uh…” I wander into my memories. No wait.. that’s not right…that’s not a memory…Not my memory…What was it?

“Go on.” Her cool, calm voice slips into my ears and I return my focus back to the explanation.

“Right…sorry. I saw your origin…I guess. His too. Mori…Oh! OH! Mori! But…a guy? It was odd…And you lost an arm. Actually I almost died. But when I stared at him and felt like it was done, something pushed me back from the brink. I saw…his origin, my origin… and found a way around his attacks that cut through time.”

“A fight against a reaper. A male Mori…So Calvin?”

“Y-yeah. Calvin. He was something. Taught me how to…”

“Hold on. Taught you? What did you learn Ame?” Sana speaks up. Surprising everyone in the room.

“I…well…I could begin to rewind and fast forward time, not just pause and unpause. That’s…wait…I never…”

“It seems she either traveled back in time…swapping places with a yet to be Time Warden Kronii or…inherited memories of a current Time Warden.” Memories…again…Sana does bring forth good points however.

“Hmm…Ame, didn’t you experience something similar when you first ended up at the end of time?” Kronii asks me, I feel so on the spot!

“Y-yeah, I did. But that wasn’t really her memories. They were mine. Or they were going to be mine.”

“Ahhh…and the time traveler yet learns under the careful tutelage of her master fufu.” Fauna chimes in a comment of her own. I’m sure Kronii appreciates the cheeky commentary.

“Clairvoyance. A powerful trait to have indeed Ame. That would be more useful than time travel itself, if you learn how to control it at will.” Sana smiles at me after finishing and then stares over at Kronii.

“Oh…OH! Th-that’s what it is?”

“You…never told her Kronini? Well I guess you wouldn’t want an opponent to know something like that huh? Well…all good right?” Sana laughs at Kronii and Kronii shakes her head in annoyance.

“Yeah Kronini!” I stick my tongue out at her and laugh. Ahh…

“Ok whatever. So you probably didn’t inherit any memories. Which might mean we switch places for a brief moment. I only went into the other rooms to wake up all the girls. Couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes.” 10 minutes at most. It felt like I was gone for days.

“I-is that why the end of time was dark when I first arrived? We were sleeping right?”

“Ahh…right. The first time you arrived. I put you to sleep and then myself. Although that protocol was only for my reality marble. And it was a one-time use kind of thing. The person who made it is gone.” What…wow…that was a lot to take in. I have SO many questions! What happened to that other Ame on the bench? How come I don’t remember falling asleep? Who’s the person that made the protocol? What the hell is going on here?

“Where’s Omegaα now Kronii?” In a surprising head turner, Mumei speaks up. Not…who I had expected to bring this up. In fact…

“Omegaα… Omegaα’s gone. I just said so.” HUH?

“So you already beat them?” Mumei follows her question up with another. Good question though. Although the answer might create even more. How much is there to a mystery that technically, has already been solved?

"Omegaα was no push over but yes, the fact that we’ve yet to run into them is proof. The downside to my victory however…was that Omegaα can’t inherently be killed.” She stares over at Bae and Fauna’s blank faces.

“What I mean by that is you can’t kill a god. So I tricked them instead. Omegaα never expected to be used by their own trick. So after we put all the council members to sleep, we returned to the Control Center to take view of everyone’s vitals and proceed with my plan, Omegaα touched the computers and well…fell asleep.”

“So Omegaα is asleep in the control room?” Man this is so much exposition…I’m getting kinda antsy…

“Nnnnot exactly…I never really trusted Omegaα so after they fell asleep I killed them.” Kronii looks off to the side, away from everybody else. Guess she’s not particularly enthused by her actions…and whatever the consequences of them may be.

“So… Omegaα is dead…but not dead. Is that what you’re telling us? But what was all that about not being a push over?” What is even actually going on right now…did we even get what we came for?

“Yeah, basically.” She winks, sticks out her tongue and does a peace sign with her right hand. S-she totally ignored the second question! What a character change…The power of gap-moe…

“So, anything else of note Ame? If not I’ll just take this…” Kronii walks towards the desk and opens a drawer. Inside is a box, it’s like a box that holds jewelry. She pulls the top upward and inside is the Mooncell…

“Wh-what the HECK? IT WAS IN THE DESK?! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO GET IT WHILE NOT TOUCHING ANYTHING?!” I stare at Kronii in disbelief and a bit of rage. She smiles back at me, a devlish grin that provokes me beyond belief. I run at her and get held back by Mumei and Bae.

“C’mon Ame. We know how you’re feeling, believe us.” Bae speaks first pulling on me with all her might.

“At least you weren’t here for thousands of years Ame. Just…let it go.” Mumei speaks calmly but with assurance in her voice. I am simply livid at this time bitch.

“Fine. A bit of revenge on the person who beat you huh?” I stare into Kronii’s eyes, relaxing my body. Bae and Mumei let go of me and Sana and Fauna laugh at the interaction.

“Well you know, let that be a lesson. Never beat Kronii at her own game.” She shuts the box in my face and heads toward the door.

“Alright, lets get the heck out of here before we run into anybody we don’t actually want to see. The quicker we get back to my place the better!” Shoving the door open, Kronii elegantly gallops out, followed by the other council girls. Why is she like this?

I look back at the monitor…actually I did see one other thing. That…message. The code or whatever it was. Ah well…I’ll tell…wait…if I got a message…I-is that Omegaα? Did they think I was Kronii? That…that’s kind of a dreadful feeling. That also means Omegaα or whoever it is, is aware that someone is down here. Kronii did say she knows who runs this place. So it has to be Omegaα right? That’s just logic.

“Wow. Literally lost to a girl who randomly found your watch. I can’t believe it ahahaha.” I hear Sana tease Kronii up the hall. They’re all waiting by the elevator.

“Nothing is ever random Sana. And she didn’t beat me! She cheated!” It’s odd, even though Kronii stopped her “end everything” plan, it doesn’t feel like much has changed. All of them back together, laughing like nothing happened. Well…I guess it does go to show how much those five go through. For me, it was the end of the universe. For them, it was Tuesday.

“Hurry up Ame! Let’s get the hell outta here!” Bae’s impressive voice bolsters down the hall at me. I see Fauna and Mumei waving at me to hurry as well. I shut the door to Kronii’s room and look at all of the other rooms. Actually…at the other end of the hall…wasn’t it supposed to be Sana’s? The light is off now, it’s dark, the orange colour is gone. Odd. I walk towards the other girls and make my way into the elevator as the final girl.

“So should we like…go back to our duties or?” Bae speaks up in between the whining of the elevator. The other girls look at her and then at each other, shrugging their shoulders.

“We’d need a path back to the correct time. As well as the correct timeline.” Mumei says as she turns towards Kronii and stares at her.

“Ah…yeah I have the machine still. Ame, let’s return to base and get them back to timeline 1337. I’ll send them back to the correct era, it’ll be like nothing happened. You guys just continue your duties like you were up until arriving here.” Kronii looks down at Mumei, I think I can make out her lips moving. They are talking to each other…but talking about what?

“Okay. Sounds good. I was having a nice time with my work honestly. ” Fauna chimes in, poking at Sana.

“It wasn’t a bad deal we had. Although I’ll be taking my leave back into space. Don’t forget, my work is already done!” Sana pokes back at Fauna and they share a smile.

“Ah right…I had to really track you down. But bringing you here was worth the work.” Kronii smirks at Sana and Sana smiles at her.

“Oh I’m glad! I almost lost an eternity of peace…for an eternity of peace! A true monster you are Kronini!” Sana winks at Kronii and Kronii audibly groans. Even after everything they’ve been through…I’ve never felt so small before.

Ding

The elevator doors roll open, returning us to the office-esque floor Kronii and I had entered. We took a lot more caution earlier though…

“H-hey Kronii…do we need to remain quiet or anything? You’re all just kinda talking and making noise and…”

“Oh it’s fine now Ame. There was no sign of Omegaα nor any other Holo staff. This place has been long abandoned. Well…it is the end of time. It’d be more surprising if there were others still around.”

“I understand your uneasiness Ame, but we did have a quick walk around while Kronii was waking some of us up. It’s a ghost town. The only thing still alive here is the network that runs SE.RA.PH.” Fauna tries to reassure me, and I feel like I should tell them about the message. But for some reason, I stay silent and follow them through the building.

We hit the front door and exit into a new future.

“Ahhhhhhh fresh airrrrrrrr. My goddddddddddddddd how long has it beennnnnnnnnn?” Bae exhilarates as we all make our ways into the floating city. She jumps onto Sana’s back and the two start laughing and walking around. Mumei and Fauna walk over to an edge across from the door and started chatting between themselves.

“Well…we got our 4D cube. Now what Kronii?” I stare at Kronii, she’s looking up into the sky at something. I look up with her and try to make out what I’m seeing.

“Uh…wh-what is it?”

“A reason to get the hell out of here.”

“O- Omegaα?!” My stomach starts to get a little uneasy as the motionless figure in the sky remains on Kronii’s focus. And enough to want her to get us out of here even quicker.

“We at least have the precise location coordinates down. Won’t have to walk across the city again on the return trip, should we need to take one.” Kronii pulls her phone out and walks over to Sana, handing her the device.

“So just dial 962. You remember the process right?” She pulls her hand back after Sana grabs the phone and waves for Fauna and Mumei to come over.

“Going back home already? Guess it can’t be helped. Though I’m sure we can come back after everything gets sorted out yeah?” Sana brings the phone up to her ear and begins the process.

“Bae after Sana. Then Fauna, then Mumei. We’ll go after you guys.” Kronii explains, turning her head back into the sky, staring at whatever is above us. Was that there the whole time? I don’t remember seeing anything but…I was so blown away by this place I might not have thought it was out of place at the time. Wait…why Sana first? Shouldn’t one of us be the ones to go back? To run the machine?

“Hey Kronii, why send Sana back first?” Kronii turns to me and smiles. Th-that was…a bit uncharacteristic…

“Sana is Space. She can just travel back on her own if things go south.” I look at Sana and she smiles at me, nodding in agreement with Kronii.

“O-okay.” I look back into the sky. Are we being watched or…are we doing the watching?

“I’ll see you guys later then?” Sana dials in the number and waits for Kronii.

“Yeah…if we’re not back in…oh let’s say 5 Earth minutes, go back on your own and tell Ina what’s going on. I’m sure she has another annoying tome that can function as another asspull to save our heroine over here.”

Kronii points her finger at me and snickers. That was uncalled for…but not wrong…Sana hits call and is sent back to Kronii’s reality marble. What a convenient device.

The phone begins to fall but the Kronii hands it to Bae. Well guess we’re going to all get out of here. I look back up and the figure is gone. That’s concerning. I look at Kronii and nod upwards. Kronii checks too and shrugs her shoulders. A cloud comes into contact with the land we’re standing on. That’s…amazing! We’re in a city…in the sky! A little wet…but hey how many people get to experience this?!

“What was it Kronii? 895?” Bae asks as we snap back to things in front of us.

“962 man. It’s literally my name. It could not be easier.” She sighs and then laughs a little.

“Right, right, right. Ok let me…”

Suddenly, not completely unexpectedly, a strong wind blows into us. That’s definitely not normal. Up to this point, the wind has never blown this hard. It has to be connected to the figure from a moment ago. The door to the Council facility is open…did we leave it open or? And that’s when the event’s begin to unfold. Bae starts getting shaky, she drops the phone and Kronii catches both of them in frozen time. We look around, I check the area around us and Kronii looks up.

“Anything?” She says, gently bringing Bae down.

“No, not a thing. The scene is exactly as it was before, minus whatever was in the sky.” I look at Kronii and she brings her face back down, shaking left to right.

“I didn’t want to make a fuss about it since we were about to leave anyways but…No it’s fine. Council can return and we’ll make sure they’re safe. Worse comes to worse, we have a fight on our hands. Think you can manage a god?” She resumes time and that’s when I spot it. Someone in a gas mask behind Fauna and m..uem…ah…huh?

“Mai…baudee.feeeeellsss sohsloughhhhh…..uh feengirr ahd ihtsss mmmaothe…sleeeepee…guhnuh ressst”

“Ame! Ame! Shit…that cloud wasn't a cloud! It was…sleeping…”

Floating Back:
Entry 1002 Soon: Entry 1004