Time Holders: The World of Balance

Far away from the burning hut, the four students wearily made their way through unknown paths. Well, ’four’ was an overstatement. Alice and Aiden were still unconscious, slung over the others’ backs.

Huff... Hahhh...

”Damn... Where are we?” Within the darkness, Cedric asked.

”I... I d-don’t know,” Aldrus replied, each of his steps faltering. It seemed the boy was on the verge of collapse.

They had been wandering blindly for roughly an hour below a starless sky, and although they couldn’t make out anything but shadowy shapes, at this point, any direction was better than staying close to that place. After all, they had no idea when the rest of their captors would arrive.

Aghh... Huff...

The biting winter breeze pierced their battered bodies. Its chilly touch brought them a strange mixture of peace and agony all at once.

As they kept up their grueling pace, before long, the blond boy suddenly glimpsed something in the distance.

”Hey, Aldrus! Hurry up! I think I see something!” he called out, steam puffing from his lips.

However, there was no answer.

Ughhh... Haahhh...

The black-haired boy’s vision blurred rapidly as his palms went numb. He felt as though he were trapped in a waking nightmare, or at least, a state terrifyingly close to it. His surroundings were almost as dark as the cell he’d been locked in for three days, and through his muffled, ringing ears, only heavy waves of distorted static existed.

”Aldrus!” Cedric halted in his tracks. ”What’s wrong? Are you feeling worse?”

Eh... Cedric...? Ah... No, what? It hurts...

No matter how hard his comrade tried to reach him, Aldrus was already too far gone. Cedric knew he was injured and severely sleep-deprived, but even so, that shouldn’t have been enough to make him drop like this.

”What the hell...” As that thought crossed his mind, the blond boy’s eyes widened in sudden realization.

”Aldrus!” He quickly approached his friend, pressing a flat hand against his forehead. He hadn’t thought about it earlier—how long Aldrus had served as their guide, how extensively he’d used Perspective throughout the battle...

The terrible Burnout that was bound to follow.

”Dammit, Aldrus. You should’ve told me—” Cedric began to scold him, but the unexpected temperature of his body made him freeze. ”Eh?! T-There’s no fever... H-How?! If it’s not Perspective Burnout, then...” However, just as the question left his lips, the black-haired boy finally plummeted to the ground.

”Aldrus!”

Uh... Hahhh... N-No...

...

***

Ugh... Wh-What... Where am I?

Aldrus woke up in an unfamiliar place, struggling to open his eyes. He couldn’t remember much of what had happened, but he could feel a comforting warmth that his body had yearned for all this time.

It’s soft... Smells good.

He forced his vision to stabilize, and soon, the blurry landscape of the dream realm faded, giving way to a beautiful, sleeping face.

”A-Alice...?”

The moment he uttered her name, the girl above him grimaced slightly, slowly fluttering one eye open.

”Mngh... Ah... you’re awake,” she said, a soft smile gracing her lips.

As the remnants of sleep began to clear, Aldrus quickly noticed a couple of things. First, it was daytime; everything around him was illuminated by the warm morning sunbeams. Secondly, and far more important, Alice’s face was... inverted?

What? Am I upside down? Aldrus thought, quickly checking his posture. However, it didn’t take him long to realize he was not. Instead, he found his head resting comfortably against something.

A pillow...

”Ah, Alice. You’re awake,” he said, still disoriented.

The blonde girl tilted her head, golden locks cascading down onto his face. ”Uh, why are you repeating what I just said?” she asked, genuinely confused.

Ah, that’s right, she did say that first... Wait. Her hair is... falling over me?

His eyes widened. He was indeed lying on a pillow.

A lap pillow.

”Eh... A-Alice, why am I—I mean, n-no... Agh, it’s nothing.”

The girl listened with a warm smile before a cheerful chuckle escaped her lips. ”Hahaha! Hey, what are you talking about? You were hurt. Also... I guess I’m just returning the favor,” she said, gently helping Aldrus sit up beside her.

”’Favor’? What do you mean?”

”C-Come on, don’t be like that,” she said.

What is she saying?! He stared at her in confusion for a few moments, but as he turned the matter over in his mind, his face twitched into a horrified grimace.

”A-Alice, you’re surely not talking about... I mean, when we—you know, back in the cell... and stuff.”

”What else would it be? Yeah, it was... odd at first. But I know you did it with good intentions.” The girl nodded to herself righteously.

T-There’s no way... Aldrus’s jaw dropped.

”Alice, you know... You were the one who did it. I mean, while sleepwalking. Like you always do...”

”...”

”...”

”...Sleepwalking?”

***

Unexpectedly, the blonde girl had been completely oblivious to her own condition. At first, she refused to believe a word of what Aldrus told her, but as she reflected on the past, a lot of things began making sense.

It explained why not only Aldrus, but also her own family members looked like living corpses every single morning; it explained why she always woke up in bizarrely different positions, and also why she had ended up sleeping on top of Aldrus back in that damp cell.

As for Aldrus himself, he was just as bewildered. Granted, he hadn’t brought it up with her ever since they first met, but he truly believed she was aware of it. He had simply been too scared to tell her; scared that she might’ve gotten angry at him for complaining about something so harmless.

...

”...So that’s how we got out.” The blonde girl muttered.

”Yeah... I’m sorry. I know it was harsh, but we had to make sure you’d get desperate enough to break out. Of course, I intended to tell you once we made it to safety. I... just couldn’t risk making you self-conscious. You were our ace in the hole, after all,” Aldrus said.

”Sigh... I-It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean any harm. I just... Agh! Damn it! I can’t believe I forced myself onto you like that, Aldrus. I’m so sorry...” Alice squeezed her eyes shut, bowing her head deeply. A suffocating mix of embarrassment and guilt weighed on her shoulders.

”It’s fine, really. Honestly, if it weren’t for that, I would’ve never come up with the escape plan in the first place. And besides...” Aldrus crossed his arms, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. ”I got a pretty nice pillow out of it, too.”

***

A short while later, the two of them shared a quick breakfast from a game animal Aiden had managed to hunt down.

While they ate, Alice filled Aldrus in on everything that had transpired during his unconscious state.

As it turned out, Cedric had stumbled upon a comfortable cave on the night of their escape. After Aldrus collapsed, the blond boy had dragged them all inside and established a makeshift campsite with Aiden’s assistance. A day later, Alice finally woke up from her Burnout and helped the boys organize their temporary shelter.

This was already their second day there.

Although Cedric was entirely unaware, Aldrus’s peculiar Perspective Burnout hadn’t actually triggered until a full day after he passed out. Furthermore, he hadn’t collapsed because of it to begin with—rather, his body had simply succumbed to the damage on his lungs and broken ribs.

The fact that he had slept for two straight days was merely a coincidence; his Burnout had begun while he was already fast asleep, ultimately prolonging his rest.

On the bright side, he felt significantly better now. His friends had given him a quick medical evaluation and managed to set his fractured bones back into alignment, ensuring a slow but steady recovery. As for his lungs, the internal tissue had already begun knitting itself back together.

He shouldn’t have been recovering this quickly, but then again, Time Holders were naturally stronger, faster, and far more resilient than an ordinary human. This held true even for first-ranks, though the underlying reason why the other Holders didn’t get to enjoy such an advantageous trait remained a mystery.

”Guhh... It still hurts,” Aldrus groaned.

”You won’t be fully healed for a week or two, so be very careful how you move.”

”Sigh... Still, I know Aiden and Cedric have been out hunting, but where are they getting our water from?” he asked.

Alice tilted her head. ”From a nearby river. Why? Does it taste bad?”

”Oh, no. I was just wondering how long that water source would remain viable. I barely remember tasting it anyway, so don’t worry about it. Having anything to eat and drink out here is already a luxury.”

”Hmm...”

”...”

”...Hey, Alice.”

”Yeah?”

Aldrus’s expression grew somber. He couldn’t play dumb forever. ”...Where are we?”

”...”

The blonde girl closed her eyes as she tried to ease her trembling lips. She had known that question would come up sooner or later.

”...Follow me.”