Time Holders: The World of Balance

Before long, the three of them found themselves staring through the cell bars at the tall cloaked man.

”I see your friends decided to listen too. Good. I won’t repeat myself, so pay attention,” he said as he crouched down to their height. His hood concealed most of his face, leaving only a faint smile visible through the darkness.

”Look, you three are valuable assets we need right now. You don’t get to say a word. This was just your bad luck. Anyone would’ve been useful; you just happened to be the ones we found.”

Aldrus frowned. The man spoke casually, almost as though he were apologizing for an inconvenience rather than admitting to a crime.

”We know that much! Shut the fuck up and explain yourself!” Cedric snapped.

”Easy there, friend.” The cloaked man chuckled. ”I’m just getting to that.” He rested his elbows on his knees. ”Well, you don’t need to know much. Just behave for a while, and we’ll let you go.”

That can’t be it. The answer was far too simple. If all they wanted was to keep them alive, why bother saying anything at all?

He wasn’t trying to intimidate them. If anything, the man sounded almost... accommodating. Every answer he gave felt deliberately incomplete, as though he wanted them to notice the gaps themselves. It was unsettling. Whoever their leader was, they didn’t seem interested in keeping them obedient through fear alone.

”Or, you could try to break out by yourselves. This cell has a weak point, you know...” The man’s smile grew wider.

What...? Aldrus’s eyes narrowed. Something about those words didn’t sit right with him.

The guy continued, ”My job here is simply to keep you alive for as long as our leader needs. He told me you could attempt to escape as much as you want, and if you were to find a way out, you’re free to go.” He rested his chin between his hands. ”Be grateful; not everyone gets a chance like this.”

”What are you saying? Why would you keep us here if it didn’t matter if we stayed or not?” Alice asked, displeased.

”Oh, I never said it didn’t. You don’t need to know the details, but let’s just say your purpose here will be over once you manage to get out. Otherwise, you could just wait a few days until we free you ourselves.” The man stood up with a dangerous smile. ”Well, that’s actually all I had to say. If you don’t have any more questions, then I’m out. Wait for your food patiently.”

”Wait,” Aldrus called. ”We are not the only ones here, are we? Why would you lie and say we’re valuable?”

For the first time since arriving, the cloaked man’s body stiffened.

Interesting...

He remained silent for several seconds, his back still turned toward them. Aldrus couldn’t see his expression beneath the hood, but the pause alone was enough to confirm his suspicion.

”Well, you are sharp, boy. That’s right. We took one more of you with us, but he’s... even more valuable than you, if that makes sense. Well, don’t worry too much, he’s getting VIP treatment, heh. If you behave, maybe you’ll be able to see him again.”

”Wait, you bastard!” Cedric yelled at him, his eyes burning with fury.

The jailer stopped once more and said, as if he had just remembered something, ”Oh, that’s right. We left your brother unconscious in the woods, but I’m sure he’s fine, as promised. Thanks for your help, by the way.” With that, the cloaked man laughed and left the place.

”Damn it!”

”Calm down, Cedric. We know some useful information now,” Aldrus said.

”Calm down? You want me to calm down?! What’s wrong with you? This guy is just playing with us. ’You may find a way out’?! Are you shitting me?! Who would ever buy bullshit like that?!”

Aldrus remained silent. Cedric had a point, but no matter how much he thought about it, the jailer’s words simply didn’t make sense. However, there was something more important on his mind right now. ”Alice...”

”Yes.” The blonde girl’s expression turned bitter. ”...Aiden’s here.”

***

The previous day—

It had been roughly thirty minutes since Aldrus’s last report. The Yellow Team was still in the camp, waiting for a follow-up.

”Hey, do you guys think he’s fine? He seemed confident about the plan, but if his Perspective ran out...”

”Oh, he’s fine~. You worry too much, Loyu. I’m sure he’s still just knocked out. Hahaha~!”

”Hmm. I’m not sure,” Oriel said. ”This was our only strategy. Maybe we should wait a little longer.”

”No,” a red-haired boy suddenly joined the conversation. ”The plan was for us to look for him after his report. We decided to stay a while to wait for confirmation, but since it’s already been long enough, I’d say we should start moving right now.”

Seris glanced at him, narrowing her eyes. Sornel seemed to be acting strange, almost as if he was in a hurry. ”Hey, Sornel. Why are you so eager? Don’t tell me you’re jealous because Aldrus is getting all the fun~.”

The boy remained silent for a moment. He had witnessed enough to know better. Aldrus’s control was clumsy, sometimes even laughably inefficient, but his Perspective itself bordered on absurd. After what he had seen last night, the thought of Aldrus collapsing from exhaustion after such a small amount of use simply refused to make sense.

Gathering his thoughts, Sornel finally replied, ”It’s precisely because this is our only strategy that I believe we should start moving. What if he’s waiting for us? Sure, he might be captured by now, but that doesn’t change anything; we should be on our way as soon as possible in case his next instructions require rapid action. And also... he isn’t running out of Perspective anytime soon.”

”How can you be so sure?” Loyu asked, confused.

”Just... just trust me on this one. I can’t explain now; you’ll have to see for yourselves.”

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances. No one answered immediately. They had spent hours practicing Aldrus’s plan together, yet none of them truly understood why Sornel sounded so certain.

After an awkward silence that lasted for a minute, Oriel jumped to his feet and spoke. ”Well, let’s get going, then.”