Time Holders: The World of Balance

Aldrus slapped his face, steeling his resolve. Then, he sighed and exited the restroom.

Immediately, his hands stopped dripping and his face ceased tingling, but his mind remained clear... until it didn’t.

He headed back, opened the door to his room, and strode in before he could hesitate.

Sitting on his bed, he stared intensely at the wall beside him as if he intended to bore a hole through it. After a while, he glanced over his shoulder.

About three meters away, a golden-haired girl with purple eyes sat atop a puffy white mattress—she was looking out the window, seemingly at peace.

Damn it! A mixed-gender shared room! Whose idea was this?!

The whole day had been quite pleasant in general; his chat with Alice lasted for a couple of hours, and night had fallen before they realized it. Soon, their endless chatter gave way to a silence so thick it felt like it would bury them beneath its weight.

By now, any semblance of clear thinking was long gone, and the only thing he could think of was the absurdity of it all. First—he ran into a Guardian and became a Holder, nearly losing his life in the process; then, the government provided him with an apartment of his own just to be told to move out after mere days of settling in; and now he’s expected to sleep in the same room as a girl whose beauty is so dazzling that he might as well just stay awake all night!

I really am the worst... Aldrus felt bad for thinking about himself so much; he hadn’t even stopped once to consider Alice’s feelings. Of course, it wasn’t his fault they ended up there, but he still wanted to make sure she wasn’t uncomfortable with his presence—she was his first and only friend, after all.

So, with renewed conviction, he jumped to his feet—startling her. Then, he got into bed, lay on his side with his back to her and stammered, ”G-Good night.”

She remained silent for a second, then answered, ”Uh...yeah, g-good night.”

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to force himself to fall asleep. Surprisingly, it ended up being easier than he thought; it seemed his body needed a break, even on days as peaceful as these.

Both of them now lay in bed, sleeping like babies. Time went by slowly, and a comforting silence enveloped the world. However, after a while, something strange happened.

Aldrus woke up to a constant banging somewhere in the room. He got up quickly and checked his phone—it read 04:21 AM. Still half asleep, he narrowed his eyes, then frowned and shook his head.

At first, he thought someone was knocking; maybe something had happened, or maybe a teacher needed something from them. Fortunately, it wasn’t anything like that—rather, he noticed a slender silhouette repeatedly hitting something as if it intended to pass through it like a ghost.

Alice kept bumping stubbornly against the door, seemingly in a trance. Her blonde locks swung back and forth as each impact sent jolts through her body.

What the hell...?

”Alice, what’s wrong?”

No answer.

”Hey, are you okay?” he asked again.

Still nothing.

Aldrus tiptoed to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and tried once more. ”Alice!” he hissed.

”Mmnngh...”

She turned to him, her eyes still closed. Her steps were shaky, and her voice sweet.

Only then did he realize.

She’s a sleepwalker!

***

Morning.

Aldrus woke up to the alarm on his phone, his eyes so baggy they made him look like a corpse. He sat on his bed, letting early sunlight reach his face, then glanced beside him, only to notice Alice had already left.

Today was their first training session.

He stretched, rubbed his eyes, and stood up, heading to a wooden closet near his bed. There, he picked up clean clothes, sighed, and headed outside.

After changing, he ate the nutritious breakfast the academy provided to the students as an essential part of their training program and dashed directly to the training field.

I hope I’m not late...

Once there, he stopped dead on his feet, gasped, and looked up at the magnificent metal structure.

The place was enormous, built entirely from a thick reflective material. It was similar to a mirror in appearance, but the total opposite in terms of resistance. It was specially designed to withstand physical attacks of any kind. Not just anyone could hope to inflict damage on it, and certainly not someone like him.

Its ceiling was retractable, allowing fresh air to flow freely while keeping rain and snow from soaking the inside.

The floor was made of the same material as the walls, making the whole structure look like a giant iron cage when the ceiling was closed.

Aldrus walked inside, looking in every direction with awe. Soon, his gaze met Alice’s—she welcomed him with a warm smile, and he replied with a single forced grin.

That girl... man, how on earth will I be able to sleep now?!

Alice seemed oblivious to the fact that she had been sleepwalking last night, forcing Aldrus to put her back in bed multiple times—interrupting his sleep. Of course, he wasn’t happy about it, but her beautiful face, so innocent and carefree, stopped him from saying a thing. He really couldn’t bring himself to complain. After all, who could ever choose to take that smile away?

Sigh...

After whining about it some more in his mind, he joined the line of unfamiliar faces, and waited patiently while his head kept drooping and his eyes fought to stay open.

A few minutes later, just as he was about to fall asleep on his feet, a familiar voice startled him, taking away every single bit of sleepiness from his body.

”Dagon!” A red-headed beauty stood menacingly in front of him, staring directly into his eyes with clear dissatisfaction.

Miss Leona had arrived at some point while Aldrus struggled to stay awake.

I-I’m gonna die!

”Student Dagon, I’ve just arrived here. Is my class really that boring to you?”

His eyes widened. ”N-No! Miss Leona, this is a misunderstanding, you see—”

”It’s okay, I understand now. It seems my class isn’t the problem here, since I haven’t started yet. In that case, I suppose it is me who is boring to you,” she said, closing her eyes.

”Y-You’re wrong! Miss L—”

”Hmph, I see now. You’re not only dissing me, but my class as well.”

I never said that!

He glanced at Alice, begging for help, but just as he did, Leona spoke again. ”So you didn’t have enough with calling me and my teaching boring, but now you won’t even look at me.”

Aldrus panicked. ”L-Listen to me, please, Miss Leona, I didn’t mea—”

”That’s good,” she said, cutting him off. Leona crossed her arms, thought for a moment, and continued, ”Alright, then. Go get a practice sword, Dagon.”

”W-What...?” he asked, bewildered.

”You heard me. Go get yourself a sword over there—I will make a good example out of you.”

He looked at her with distrust, hesitated, and then carefully took a step forward. It’s not like he had a choice, after all.

***

Standing atop the shining surface of the floor, Aldrus held a wooden sword with shaky hands.

In front of him, Miss Leona stared at him with a smug smile, impatiently spinning her weapon around.

The students’ murmurs echoed all around them in an endless swirl. Among the mass of curious glances, a single person seemed slightly concerned.

Alice blinked in confusion, tilting her head slightly as if she was still processing the situation.

Don’t look at me like that, this is your fault, you know?!

He shook his head and gritted his teeth before asking, ”M-Miss Leona, we don’t have to do this...C-Can’t we just talk...?”

”We already talked enough,” she said as she took a step forward.

Leona placed one foot in front of the other, tucked a hand behind her back, and pointed her sword at him with the other. Then, she simply said, ”Move a single hair of mine and I’ll grant you a wish.”

You have to be kidding me...

”Come on, we don’t have all day. I’ll just defend myself, you don’t need to be afraid—see? I’m using only my left,” she grinned and gestured at her sword with her chin.

Why is this happening?!

For starters, Aldrus was already surprised that Miss Leona was their combat training teacher. As far as he knew, she was in charge of class 3. However, after thinking about it a little, that didn’t mean she would only teach that class; it just meant that she was their head teacher.

So, for better or worse, he now had to accept the fact that from now on, she would be the one to train them here. If he’d known that beforehand, he would’ve never let himself show such a pathetic first impression.

But all of that didn’t really matter. The only thing that mattered... was to live another day.

Damn it!

Strengthening his grip, Aldrus dashed forward, swinging his sword diagonally, aiming for her neck... How stupid of him to think he’d be able to do anything without his powers.

When the wooden edge of his weapon was just about to bite Leona’s skin, Aldrus gasped in surprise. In the blink of an eye, he felt his entire being squirm. It was as though every cell of his body warped unnaturally in a single direction...

B-Backwards?

That was the only thing he managed to think before he found himself back at the start, shaking his head and gritting his teeth—asking, ”M-Miss Leona, we don’t have to do this...C-Can’t we just talk...?”

Eh... w-what?!

Before he could ask anything, though, he noticed something. Miss Leona was already in her defensive stance, looking at him with sharp eyes. ”Please, do it properly this time,” she said with a giggle.

T-This witch! Don’t tell me she’s planning to defeat me like that... He shivered.

Leona was a Time Holder of the second rank. Unlike him, she could affect people. Anyone of her rank or lower could be affected, though weaker Holders were much easier to influence. Since Aldrus was not only a first rank, but also a newcomer with no deeper understanding of Time’s nature, he was basically just a puppet she could play with at will for as long as her Perspective lasted.

But that’s not the worst part. If she wanted, she could rewind him to the start of the match while leaving his mind intact, forcing him to surrender. In the eyes of everyone else, he would be nothing more than a loser who didn’t even try. Only himself and Leona would ever know what really happened.

Realizing the stakes, Aldrus grew somber.

Alright, then. He sighed, strengthened his grip, and dashed forward once again.

I have no chance, witch. But I’ll never lose like that again. With that, Aldrus closed his eyes, feeling the breeze cutting through his body. He concentrated on his feet.

Thinking is not enough.

Imagining is not enough.

Only knowing will do.

His legs carried no weight. They didn’t need to run. They were already ahead.

They had not been here before; it was the first time—but that didn’t matter. What mattered was to know.

They’ve been there before, they were there right now.

That was not the first time.

This is not the first time.

I was there, I was there.

I am there.

He opened his eyes. No time had passed since he started running, not a single second.

But he was there—in front of her. His sword about to graze her neck. And then...

Backwards.

He was at the start, shaking his head and gritting his teeth.

Miss Leona stood there, in front of him, smiling. ”That’s good, Dagon. Again.”

He looked into her emerald eyes, defiant. Then, he took a deep breath and shouted, ”Again!”