Time Holders: The World of Balance

Black. All he could see was black. Aldrus woke up gasping somewhere cold, his body still draped in the same clothes Cedric sewed, lying on his back.

Another nightmare? He thought, seeking for any shred of meaning.

But it was no nightmare; it was the future. It gave the same sensation [Visione] did, but something was different. He had experienced many things in that short period of time—relief, confusion, terror, disgust, shock. All of those were possible, he knew, yet there was one more—one he thought incapable of feeling in that state. It was cold. Physical cold: the cold of winter winds.

If it had truly been [Visione], then sight should have been the sole sense he got, not taking psychological feelings into consideration. But if his powers were unable, and it had not been a dream, then what was it? He wondered, yearning for any thought to help his mind forget.

Such a sickening, harrowing image he had witnessed. The boy had heard of it before—the perilous fate Time Holders suffered upon obtaining knowledge of the essence of Time before their bodies and souls proved ready. There was no mistake. That translucent skin, the hazy state of their minds, the pulsating of their flesh—those were all but the bodily consequences of learning a truth far too early.

Yet if that truth had been the inscription on the wall, why had Aldrus, who read it first, failed to suffer the same torment?

There was no way to know for certain, and the milky-eyed boy had yet to gather his thoughts.

Aldrus stood up amidst the black; between four walls was he once more, the same damp walls of midnight stone. The gloom was even thicker now, or so he had thought, for maybe it was the memories distorting his impression.

He took hesitant steps much different from the ones before—the once confident stride of a drunk man. And upon reaching the farthest wall, his gaze sharpened, blinking away cold sweat, expectant.

Yet there was nothing there but the smooth, uninterrupted surface of the stone.

N-No way...

Had it all been an illusion? In part he wished it so, but his wishes were granted naught, since the weight of the words missing from that wall lingered; proof enough that the horror was, indeed, very real.

Ugh... What does it mean?!

The moment he thought of them, a sudden pain smote him. He could feel something tremendous being kept from him, hidden deep within his own being. It reminded him of what Sir Ludwig had said. In a way, whatever he had learned just now could be connected to the force inside his body—the one Ludwig himself had been powerless to halt.

Ultimately, even with all the ambiguities, there was one thing that had been clear: the boy must not tell—not if he wanted his comrades to keep breathing.

In silence, Aldrus glanced at the wall one final time, and then he turned around and left the chamber.

Outside, everything was just as he had foreseen, disturbingly so. The same black sky and the same bone-chilling winter breeze. The only difference was that the others were not there. Thus, the black-haired boy came closer to the center of the crater, where they had agreed to meet before. And once there, he noticed something odd.

He had not thought about it for a space, for greater matters had taken a hold over his mind. But ever since he woke up from that wretched nightmare, the unknown spell that had once pushed him and his friends into a trance had grown weaker; he felt the urge no longer.

”Aldrus?” Suddenly, Cedric, who was already waiting there, called. ”Back so soon, man? Did you not find anything interesting?”

”Ah, that... No.”

”Um... I see. Well, me neither, though I’m too tired to be treasure hunting now; I’ll just take a look tomorrow. Tomorrow...”

Yeah.

Aldrus lowered his gaze. They did not know whether tomorrow would come, nor did they know how many more they would be allowed to see—and worst of all, they did not even know what awaited them if they managed to remain alive.

”Sigh. Well, let’s just wait for the others, yeah? I’m... tired as well,” Aldrus said.

”Alright.”

Not long after, Aiden and Alice joined them, their bags laden.

”Hey, you’re here,” Cedric said. ”Uh, what’s with all that clutter?”

As the youths lumbered closer, the clank of silver echoed all around. It seemed they had found a heavy bounty.

”Hahh, w-we’ve made a fortune, for sure,” said Aiden, dropping his pack.

As soon as the boy said that, and as though he had been seduced by the finest of sirens, Cedric jumped onto his feet, spilling drool onto the ground.

”Well, let’s check it! Come, Aldrus. These guys plundered everything!” he exclaimed.

”D-Don’t say it like that...” Aiden protested.

Aldrus was not in the mood for anything other than sleep, but a burden like his could not be hidden by feigned indifference.

”Um! Let’s see our treasure!” he said, crouching by their side.

For a moment, he thought he had seen Alice stare at him.

”Well, I’ll go first!” Cedric said. ”And to make it fair, I’ll cover my eyes and choose at random.”

Thus the blond boy sank an arm into Aiden’s bag and rummaged loudly through the objects, as if to boast about the fact he had gone first, and soon after, he pulled out something sharp.

”Behold!” Cedric said, swinging his prize up to the sky.

The object seemed to be some manner of old dagger, rusted and dull. On the surface, it did not look like anything precious, but they could not be entirely sure, for it was well known in tales that the ugliest items tended to be the best.

It was, unfortunately, not the case.

The blond boy froze in place, perhaps waiting for appraisal, but the others did not utter a word; they were just as speechless as he was.

”Cedric... You’re bleeding,” said Alice.

”I know,” he replied.

”Then? Heal yourself and throw that garbage somewhere else.”

”Okay.”