Chapter 254.
PART 1.
In an ancient forest of some unknown era, the howls of a beast echo throughout the land. This howl is so fierce and loud that it causes all the animals to abandon the area immediately. The birds flew away, while a stampede started among the animals of the land to flee from this beast as soon as they could.
They did not know that this howl was not of some animal who was laying claim to this territory. Instead, it is the painful scream of Arjun Reddy, who does not belong to this era. It does not matter how much he screams and roars, the pain does not go away.
He was the part of the trio who wanted to turn back the time, so they could regain their lost glory and get rid of the king who dared to trample on them. Along with the king and his men, they wanted to kill that cursed blind boy, to make sure he could not cause the damage he did to them, and they were the ones who emerged victorious in the Fifth Magical War. Once they did that, they would get rid of the king, and form a council of noble families to govern the countries. That way, they would never have to worry about someone threatening their way of life ever again.
Unfortunately, the ritual they did to turn the time back did not work. Instead of turning the time back, and bringing them into the past, it created a vortex that sucked them in. They do not know what happened afterward. By the time Arjun woke up, he was changed.
Instead of a handsome man of noble lineage, he was now a humanoid beast with fir throughout his body and extremely muscular limbs. His magic also became stronger. He continues to have this form in his present state, where he is writhing in pain on the ground of this forest.
He was not the only one to twist into this primitive humanoid monster. His other noble allies suffered the same fate. When he met one of them, he realized that the time itself had splintered. He knew of this possibility because unlike them, he studied the notes of Samay the sorcerer, who created the ritual which they used in the first place. He also worked out the theoretical spell which allows one to travel between various eras, and that is how he met and murdered one of his old allies, and acquired the first fragment of time.
He repeated the same process to acquire the second time fragment. Both of his victims were not ready for him, as they did not know that it is possible to travel between times like this, or even how to track these fragments. Arjun counted his lucky stars, as he ran into the group of people who turned the rightful world order on its head. Here, it was time to take revenge and acquire the remaining time fragments.
Once he had all five of them, he surmised that he could take the entire timestream under his control, and everything would be according to his desires, the past, the present, and the future.
But this plan fell apart. They all looked tired, and they were not able to match his beastly form and its power. However, that cursed blind boy, was still challenging him. With one lightning blast, he nearly killed him in the void. However, it was clear that even he was tired. So, he decided to use something he learned after studying the fragments he had acquired.
He developed a curse of rotting, which works according to the principles of time. The life form that experiences this curse experiences an accelerated rate of rotting as if they have lived for hundreds of years within seconds. But something strange happened.
The runes on that boy's body started to glow. He was then turned into a baby, which is the opposite of what the curse was supposed to accomplish.
Still, it was no problem for him. Whether he turns him into dust or squashes him like a helpless baby. Either way, he would kill him, and get rid of the thorn on his side permanently. But his pesky friends jumped in the way and started to defend him.
He managed to throw the others into various eras of time. Rest, he murdered. But He made a critical mistake. He underestimated that exiled noble Munshi. This is not surprising to him. After all, noble blood is noble blood, exiled or not. Before that old necromancer died, he put a curse on him which torments him by using his magic against him.
Now, all the fragments are scattered throughout time, and he must track them once again. "If only this unceasing pain stop!"
It appears that the curse listened to him. He gets some relief time before the pain starts once again. Taking advantage of this, he began to gather the necessary energy to perform a spell of purging. Hopefully, this would give him enough strength to pursue his enemies and get those fragments from them. Once he has accomplished this task, he can get rid of this curse in peace. He will have an entire eternity to find a solution after all. He is certain he will manage to recognize the properties of this curse and remove it completely.
PART 2.
Iteru is a long river. The locals are not interested in finding out how long exactly, but they do know how long it is. Many historical events have taken place on the banks of this river, but today, none of that concerned the people in this local area.
Because you see, a child is crying. Now, that is nothing unusual. Children are akin to noisy furniture, as someone who was considered a wise person once said. The fact that this person was a sellout to one secret agency or another is a different matter. People don't like kings spying upon them, you see.
Ah yes, the crying child. That is nothing unusual, as I've said before. Unless this happens to be a baby, crying near the river while the sun is shining harshly upon him. People took the boy inside quickly, concerned with the baby's life. Though the boy does not look like them, they are still moved by his plight. It is an abandoned child, that sort of thing is enough to move most people. Unless you are a sociopath or have reached nirvana.
Now, they would have taken care of the boy until they could find his parents. But the problem with that plan is that he has strange glowing symbols on his body. Strange glowing symbols, signify only one thing.
"This boy is the child of those otherworldly people." Said one of the old men. "We cannot keep him here. Children like him invite trouble upon common folks like us."
"But we can't leave him to die either." Said another old man. "What if one of his parents came here in search of him, and got angry at us? We don't want that kind of trouble either."
"So, what can we do?" Asked one of the younger men.
"Why, give him to the illustrious lord. Go in a group. Take the baby with you. Explain everything clearly to him, and then return. He will handle everything." Instructed the first old man.
"Sure." Said the young men, and shrugged. What else they can do?
When these men show up on the doorstep of the local mage, the servant informs him of the situation. Annoyed that he must leave his work, he goes to meet with them. Upon seeing him, one of the men starts to praise him immediately.
"Oh, lord illustrious, knowledgeable in healing arts, learned in the ways of building, representative of the great merciful one--"
"Just stop, and tell me what is up that you have to interrupt my writing?" Said the mage.
He doesn't like the praise for the great merciful one, aka Pharaoh. Aka that inbred bastard who constantly annoys him with every problem of his. Aka, that person about whom he does not like to think.
"Oh, great Imhotep, we found this child on the bank of the river, crying alone. His parents were nowhere in sight, and we brought him to our village to shield him from the harsh sun. But we saw that he had strange glowing symbols on his body, so our elders surmised that he must have been touched by the otherworldly forces. As a result, we have brought him here, for none of us can deal with such forces, and you are an expert in these matters." Explained one of the men, still using that singing formal tone, despite his instructions not to do so.
Sometimes, Imhotep wonders whether they are doing this on purpose to annoy him. To see how far they can push him. But he shook his head. These people are terrified of magic. They would never dare such a thing. Their terror of him is the cause of why they speak to him the way they do.
Imhotep also sensed magic in the baby. Far more magic than any baby should possess. "Very well, leave the child with me. You may go, and do and live your daily lives in peace." He instructed them.
The people leave, satisfied that the mage will take care of the child.
Later in his study room, he tries to make sense of the runes on the body of this child. They do not make sense to him. He has never seen symbols like these. He cannot even start guessing what they do individually, let alone this complex system that is actively working even now.
However, something even more alarming happened. The nearby palette starts to move on its own. Imhotep can sense this source of movement, and the source leads him back to the baby. He is making the palette move on its own, and writing something on the papyrus. Thankfully, he seems to be using empty papyrus, instead of writing over his carefully prepared notes.
The palette kept writing for the next five minutes, after which it came to a stop. The boy is tired. Though his magical potential seems great, it is clear that channeling it like this has exhausted him. Which is not a surprising thing. His body is still undeveloped. 'I must stop him from doing this again. He could do permanent damage to himself if he keeps repeating that.'
Expecting nothing but a child's doodling, Imhotep goes to throw the used papyrus. But he is surprised to see the detailed runes on the papyrus. And unlike the runes on the body of this boy, Imhotep understands these runes completely.
These runes are an instruction to perform some kind of ritual. Imhotep never thought that instructions could be given this way. He is not certain whether the ritual described in these runes is even possible.
The boy gives him an expected look, after he recovers, and sees him go over the papyrus. He felt like he was taunting him. "Can you do it or not?" He imagined the words in his head.
Deciding that he will not be bested by a child, Imhotep gathers some items. These are not difficult to gather. Mostly, these are things related to growing up. Nutritional food, books and writing materials, toys, adult clothing, and other such items that someone might use during different stages of their life.
He then painted the runes described in the ritual and put the boy in the middle. It is disconcerting to see him so calm. He is not making any moves. Any other baby would be squirming or crying by now, making a mess of this ritual. But he is lying there in the middle of the runes calmly.
Imhotep channels the magic, and after a crackle of lightning, he finds himself with a monster of a man instead of a baby. After his paranoia is done, he starts to bark at this human-looking monster.
"Who are you? What's your name?" He asked him, ready for any hostile action. He ignored the growing smell of ozone in his lab.
"Ha... Ha..." The man seems to be unable to speak. "Ha..." He tried one more time, but he couldn't say a single word. His expression goes vacant, indicating that he has lost consciousness.
Grumbling to himself, Imhotep levitated him out of his lab. "Too tired to say a single word, eh?" He said to the large man, who was now asleep on a futon which Imhotep had to enlarge for his size. Noting for a moment how strange his eyes look; he then leaves for his lab. He opened the windows so that the smell of ozone would stop because of some fresh air, and settled down to wait.
PART 3.
When Josh and Raven regained their senses, they got attacked. However, they soon realized that it was just a hoard of fleeing soldiers. Then, the army shows up, from which the hoard was fleeing. Given their foreign looks, the duo got attacked as well, so they had to run away and find shelter in the cave in an isolated valley.
"Where exactly are we?" Asked Josh.
"Zhongguo." Replied Raven. "Long before any emperor."
"Just our luck. We have to end up in the most violent and craziest of places." Grumbled Josh.
"There is no point in complaining about this." Said Raven, keeping his cool. "We need to recover our strength. We don't know what happened after we were thrown here. We need to go back and investigate."
"I took a note of where Shin was thrown." Said Josh. "I should be able to track him at least."
"Later." Said Raven, yawning. "Sleep first, then tracking later."
Josh is too tired to argue. So, they both enchant the cave for some comfort and then go to sleep. Once they wake up, they are stiff from sleeping on the rocky floor. But Josh starts to work on the tracker to find Shin. Raven leaves to find some food, leaving Josh alone in the cave.
They do not know where others might be. Their only hope is to find Shin, and then hope that they can find others from there. 'Once we're all gathered, that bastard is going to die.' Declared Raven in his mind.
PART 4.
James is alone. It takes a while to sink that. There are no humans in this era, let alone his friends. This is worse than his childhood. At least he had some human contact during that time, even though he hated the said human contact.
But in this frozen era of Earth, there is no human presence. They have not evolved yet. But James doesn't care about that. His sole purpose is to find his friends and kill Arjun Reddy. Unlike the beast they faced to retrieve the fragment of time, the animals in this era don't seem to know how to utilize magic actively for their use. Therefore, it is easy for James to keep them away, and take over a cave.
Once he is rested, he shrugs and opens the portal to the void between time. He has nothing else to do here. He decided to wait there in the void until someone showed up. Maybe he could get a drop on Arjun Reddy, gather all the fragments, and then regain all his lost friends.
'Don't waste your time in fantasies.' He scolded himself. 'Just be patient. I will have my chance.'
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
PART 5.
Shin was not that badly injured when he ended up in this unknown era. It took him a while to understand, but judging by the geography, he has ended up in...
"Albion." He sighed. "Why?"
It is long before the domination of humans on this island. Currently, there is a struggle going on between the local spirits which are called Faeries, and humans. Shin remembers this from a small amount of reading he did about this place before he left with his team for the dueling tournament during his teenage years.
These Faeries consider humans as unsophisticated barbarians, who are no match for them. Though Shin remembered reading they lost this struggle, and the land came under human control. But reading something, and seeing that same thing live is a very different thing. These faeries are not able to match humans at all.
When he arrived at this time, they tried to put some kind of headwear on him to control him. But that did not end well for them. The matter quickly escalated, as various faeries tried to subdue him. Shin also responded with all the violence he could muster. And he can muster a lot of it. After all, living with a maniac like Hatori can give someone like him a lot of ideas.
And thus, he walked out of their city, while it burned behind him. He posed for a moment, while the flames reached the sky, imagining himself as looking quite a cool person.
After that, he waited around, just regaining his breath. Once he was rested enough, he appeared in the void, where James immediately homed on his location.
"Do you know where others are?" He asked him.
"No. I don't." Said Shin sadly.
"No matter. We'll wait for them here." He said, not losing hope yet.
Shin draws some strength from the determination of James, and settles down in the void with him, hoping to see his friends again and murder an ugly-looking bastard.
PART 6.
It took him a while, but Josh completed the tracking spell. Once that is done, they leave the cave and appear in the void after casting the spell to go between time. Then, Shin and James appear before them, having homed in on their location immediately as soon as they appeared.
"Dammit! All the effort to track you, and it went to waste!" Raged Josh.
"Shouldn't you be happy that they are both safe?" Asked Raven.
"I know, but I was so worried." Complained Josh.
"Do you have the third fragment?" Asked Raven.
"I do." Shin confirmed.
"Good. Then we only need to find Hatori. Can your spell track him, Josh?" Asked Raven.
"No. I don't know where he has ended up. We can't find him like this." He replied.
"Then we have no other choice but to wait for him." Said Raven.
"Don't worry. He'll make it." Said Shin.
"Let's hope he will come as an adult." Said Josh. "I won't change his diapers."
"Such a spoiled brat you are." Rebuked James.
"Oh yeah?" A fistfight breaks out right in the middle of the void, while Raven shakes his head.
He feels like he is back in his school days. As an adult, he lived and worked in a different place from his friends. As a result, he forgot how chaotic they can be when they get together like this.
PART 7.
Imhotep goes to check on that monster of a man. When he passed out in exhaustion, Imhotep put him in one of the rooms in his house. He did not leave him just like that though. He put several containment wards to keep him there, and he also put several alarms to inform him when he wakes up, or if he managed to escape the room.
That is standard mage security 101. He does not understand why other mages frown upon him for this. "Idiots. They are going to die one day due to their carelessness." He grumbled while entering the room.
"Probably." A deep voice agreed.
Imhotep nearly cast a spell then and there, but he then saw the source of the voice. The large man is sitting on the futon with his legs stretched out in front of him without a care. He is now looking at him with those strange unnatural eyes of his.
"Who are you?" Asked Imhotep without any preamble. He wanted to ask several more questions but stopped himself from doing so.
Hatori could tell that just by looking at his face. He has gotten used to recognizing expressions over the years. Having said that, he still fails to guess the mood of a person just by seeing their face. It is rare, but it happens sometimes.
"I am Hatori Eagle." He introduced himself, deciding to fold his legs and sit in the cross-legged position.
"You are not from around here. How did you end up here?" Imhotep asked the next question.
"Right." Hatori then launched into the recount of his journey, the time-related problem in the future, and how exactly he ended up here.
"Wait, so that sorcerer is a woman?" Asked Imhotep.
"Yep. I was surprised as well." Said Hatori. "Also, how come you are not doubting me? Magic is magic, but time traveling is one of those things that causes people to raise their eyebrows a little."
"I don't know. I just saw a baby turn into a monster of a man a day ago." Said Imhotep sarcastically.
"Fair enough." Said Hatori. "Do you plan to remove those wards? I am not hostile towards you. Also, I forgot. Who are you?"
Imhotep starts to put those wards down. "Imhotep."
Hatori sports an amused look after hearing that name. "So, my name is funny in the future, is that it?" He asked Hatori in a frosty tone.
"Not at all." Said Hatori, still smiling. "It is just, that there are a lot of stories about you. And well, some of them are pretty wild, to say the least."
"Like?" He asked as they started to leave the room.
"Like when you fell in love with a princess, and they turned you into a mummy as a punishment alive." Hatori continued to speak for a while, and Imhotep shook his head.
"The future is horrifying. How soon are you going to leave, so you won't corrupt my time?" He asked him. "Before you answer that, shouldn't I be worried about receiving knowledge from the future like this?"
"Not at all. Once the time is fixed, this entire event will be erased. You won't remember me. We have never met in history after all." Replied Hatori.
"I can't say I am pleased about that." Said Imhotep. Future knowledge is one thing, but he remembers meeting this man. Getting his personal history erased like that does not please him in the slightest.
"There is nothing I can do about it." Said Hatori. "To answer your second question, I will leave as soon as I have eaten something."
"Sure. I'm not certain you will like the food though." Said Imhotep.
"That is fine. I am not a harsh critic of food." Said Hatori. "Unless you are an Albion." He added.
"...Right." Said Imhotep, deciding not to ask about what exactly an Albion is.
Once Hatori has eaten, he brings out a vial by rubbing his wrist. "A healing potion?"
"Right. My body needs it to absorb the nutrients and use the magic to repair itself faster." Said Hatori.
"So, is that what your runes are?" Imhotep asked while Hatori drank the potion.
"Exactly. They tend to be pretty active when they are trying to keep me alive." Explained Hatori. "Usually it spooks people, or so I've been told."
"Sir," said the house servant. "The men of the Pharaoh are here to see you. They are demanding to see the child."
"And that is my cue to leave." Said Hatori. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem." Said Imhotep, glad that the problem is leaving on its own.
He saw Hatori disappear into a strange void which terrified him, to be honest. He then told the men that the child was gone, and his parents came and took him away. Disappointed, they left his home.
'They will be back again, I know. I can't wait for that clone Earth project to be completed. I am sure the magic users will live there in peace, unbothered by the inbred kings, and doing research to their heart's content.'
PART 8.
When Hatori appeared in the void, James sensed him immediately. "Guys, get ready. He is here."
"Yep," Shin confirmed.
Raven and Josh did not need to confirm who they were talking about. The expression on the faces of James and Shin let them know that Hatori has made it successfully.
Hatori sensed four magical signatures coming at him fast. He is unable to react, as they all collide with him. Then Josh and Shin grabbed him in a hug. Their grip is so strong that his bones start to creak.
"Guys... Stop it already!" He asked them.
"Sure. Sure." Said Josh, backing away and patting him on the back. Shin did the same, and then James cast some diagnostic spells on Hatori to check his health. While he was doing that, Hatori told them what happened to Tom and Munshi.
"Tom would have made it," He was saying, as James was done with his final analysis. "But he needed to guard me. He couldn't protect me. I saw him getting crushed in the grip of Arjun Reddy before the portal was closed."
"Do you know what is the worst thing about this? I saw all of that happening, and I couldn't do a single thing. My second master died right in front of me, which is just Zeko all over again. Kalicharan and Munshi had a good fight, but they both died. And then Tom as well, all because I was unable to act."
"Well, you can act now." Said James, snapping Hatori out of his moping. "Your health is perfect. So, we need to think about what we should do next. First, tell me, you do have the fragments with you?"
"Yep. Both of them are here." He tapped his left wrist.
"Excellent." Said Raven. "Last time, we were not ready. But this time, we are ready and rested. We are going to strike at that bastard and take the final two fragments from him. Are you with me?"
"Aye! Aye!" Said all four of his friends.
"Good. Now, I have a wonderful plan. But someone has to act as a bate." Said Raven.
"I volunteer." Said Shin and Hatori together. Then they look at each other.
"Don't worry. Shin is perfect." Said Raven. "We will use you as a bate. We will go in the time where our target is, and then..."
PART 9.
Arjun is unable to go to the void. He is not willing to go there and ends up making an emergency exit when the pain starts once again. The purging spell was of limited help. Without knowing the exact curse, he cannot do more than simple pain relief, and general healing.
However, it appears that his luck is taking a turn once again. He can sense three-time fragments. He stretched out his senses and sensed only one magical signature. "Could it be?" He said to himself, a habit he must get rid of once he is surrounded by people once again.
He walked at the distance where he sensed the three fragments. There, he finds that nameless boy with bells in his hair waiting for him. "Well well well. Look who is here?" He mocked him.
"Indeed." Said another voice. "The dog smelled the meat, and came here to get slaughtered." Said Raven.
"You, how dare you? You two are not my match. That cursed boy is not with you. Without him, you can't beat me. You have left these fragments out here in the open for me. I will give you an easy death for this favor." He moves to attack them, but a massive bolt of lightning strikes him down when he moves to cast a spell.
Hatori lands from the air like a god, ready to smite the beast. "You are going to die." He said to him. More bolts came his way, and Arjun had to do a lot of rolling and crawling to avoid those. Still, he is unable to avoid the lightning completely. The entire area caught fire, as some of the bolts landed on the tree and they started to burn.
In the smoke, Arjun managed to get away. He fled into the thick forest, thinking himself to be safe. He goes back to the place where he came from. But in the middle of his way, he starts to hear the sound of rushing water. "That's strange. I don't remember crossing a river in my way."
And then, he is struck with the full force of the Tsunami created by Josh. Then, Hatori appears once again above him, and his soaked body is electrocuted once again. This time, Hatori used positive lightning. Arjun is so stunned that he drowns in the water which has flooded this forest. Everything is drowning in the water which is up to the waste of an average man.
When Arjun resurfaced, he regained some of his breath. He has enough of this. These men are strong. They are not mere boys. He got one over them when they were tired and not prepared for him. But they are now ready for him. If he continues to fight them like this, then he is going to die before he can accomplish any of his goals.
So, he took his chance to flee once more. Only two things stopped him and caused him to drown once again in the water. One, the curse of Munshi starts to act up again. "No, this is the worst time!" Screamed Arjun.
The second is the torturous music of Shin which starts to echo in the forest. It struck him even worse, as the vibrations were amplified in the water. Hatori lands on the surface of the water, looking at the bubbles as Arjun screams underwater.
Grabbing him by his hair, he pulls him out roughly. He takes the fragments from him, which is a simple matter. He breaks the runes Arjun is using to contain the two fragments he has while the human-turned-monster is hanging limply in his grip. He tossed these two fragments to Shin, who gave them to Raven. The general is still standing where he appeared, he has not moved a single step. He is watching everything as the steps of his plan are completed one by one.
'Now, the final step.' He thinks to himself. "Hatori, kill him! Don't bother torturing him." He ordered.
This is a critical moment. If Hatori decided not to kill Arjun, and torture him some more, it might give him some chance of stealing two fragments they have just acquired from him. It would put this entire plan in jeopardy.
Raven's voice snapped Arjun out of his pain-fueled fog. He starts to struggle in Hatori's grip. But Hatori grabbed him by his neck and lifted him high as if he were offering a sacrifice to the soul of his dead master. With a loud snap, he breaks the neck of Arjun Reddy, who immediately goes limp.
He then tossed him in the air and turned his body into ash with an eye-searing boom. The ashes land in the water, while Raven smiles as if he has just delivered a grand checkmate to someone.
"Let's leave guys," Said Hatori, "I have had enough of this."
"Sure." Said James, who was waiting in the forest as a backup in case Arjun managed to flee there. "Let's go home."