34. Line of Time
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Ynnihlas POV:
As the day passed. My sister was still sick.
She suffered on her bed. The family got the best doctors in the kingdom to treat her, yet to no avail.
My sister was everything to me. Whenever I was sad she would be there. Whenever I cried she lend me a shoulder to cry on. She was my sun, my best friend. Yet.. I failed her.
Our mother died young. On the other side our father was grieving and let go of himself and indulged himself in alcohol.
Grandpa was the only one who has still stayed strong and searched for something that would save my sister, he went left and right, he traveled the world in search of ways. Years and years, nothing.
Elves have much longer lifespans than the humans and demons. Me and my sister were 48 years old, but we were still considered teenagers. At that age humans would be middle-aged.
Such was the way of nature and elves were the ones who received its favour.
As my Grandpa traveled the world and my father indulged in alcohol, the family reputation reached a new low, we were a marquis-ranked family. Rumours went wide inside the kingdom. ‘The Abandoned House’ they called us.
Day and day, my sister still suffered from the unknown poison. The only good thing was that the poison worked incredibly slow. But with time.. the poison started to reached towards my sister’s heart.
One day, as I was holding my sister’s hand, the door was slammed open. It was my grandpa, he looked tired.
“I found the antidote.”
My eyes brightened up. At that point, It was the best thing I had ever heard all of my life.
“Then quick give it to her..” I looked at him anxiously.
“Ah, right.”
He took a sealed bottle from inside his storage ring. He went near my sister and slipped the bottle on her lips.
Red liquid came out from the bottle. My sister, who hadn’t opened her eyes for months was wide awake. She gulped down the liquid.
“Amelia! H-How do you feel?” I was excited at the thought of my sister finally being cured, so I kneeled before her bed and held her hand.
*Cough* *Cough*
“N-never ..better.” She muttered. Her voice.. It had been a long time since the last time I heard her silky voice.
I looked at my grandpa in joy, he was also happy seeing Amelia. We both had tears slipping out of our eyes as we chuckled in joy.
However… This happiness didn’t last really long.
A week later. My uncle, Rumion betrayed us. He assassinated my father, claiming the position as head of the family. My father didn’t even fight back and just went with the flow, “Finally out of my misery!” Was what he said right before he died. I only know this because I was there and watched it happen. My uncle looked at me with a piercing gaze, “You know this is what needs to be done, he was a failure through and through.”
Later on, he imprisoned me and Grandpa. But before he did that he killed Amelia right before our eyes. I was shocked.
Rage! Rage I never felt before possessed me. We were so close! Close to getting our family back together. Yet before I could see that…he crushed this dream. Shattering it to pieces and stomping it.
I cried in the prison cell for days, while my grandpa stood in shock. He didn’t mutter a single word.
Everything fell apart. We were chained and couldn’t do anything. That bastard kept us alive just for his own amusement.
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My rage skyrocketed just when I thought about him. I wanted to kill him. OVER— and OVER again…
One year passed.
Grandpa still hasn’t said a single word, no matter how much I talked to him.. he wouldn’t say anything. We were barely holding ourselves together.
A guard sent us food only once a week. And the food was only for one person.
Grandpa didn’t eat much, but he had to eat once a month out of necessity to survive.
After another 6 months. He finally said something.
“It’s the only way.”
I didn’t understand what he was talking about.
“You finally spoke, huh..”
He looked at me with a wry smile.
“All those years I spent searching for that person shouldn’t go down the drain.”
I chuckled, “So you’ve gone crazy too, heh..”
“I’m sane, I’ve been through more than you can imagine Ynni, something like this can’t break me.”
“This is what you say after almost two years?” I looked at him with a frown.
“I was planning..”
I mocked, “So what if we get out of here, we’ve already lost everything.. there’s nothing to go back to. We might aswell just rot in here.”
He shook his head, “Not all hope is lost..”
He continued to look at me and asked, “Ynni, how much do you know of our family history?”
I raised an eyebrow when I heard the question, “1500 years ago we were blessed by one of the heroines, and we gained the status of Marquis.”
He nodded and then added, “Yes, it was the Sage Heroine, she was known for her wisdom. But there was something else she was also known for.”
“What’s that?”
“Prophecies. The founder of our family.. the Eliunor family. He received a prophecy from the heroine herself and was entrusted a divine item.”
Prophecies? Divine items?
Suddenly Grandpa took something out of his torn pockets.
It was a pocket watch.
“This is the item.” He caressed it.
I used [ Identify ] on it.
[ Name - Old Pocket watch ]
[ Grade - Low ]
[ Type - Accessory]
[ Effect - None ]
I sighed as I looked at him, “this is just an ordinary pocket watch, what’s so divine about it?”
He shook his head, “This pocket watch will allow us to have a different life.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Everyone is already dead, nothing out there will give me life anymore It’s already gone.. It’s just gone..” I shouted and my voice started to get sore and cracked.
He sighed.
“You didn’t let me finish the story. The prophecy that was given to the founder told something that was far ahead in the future. That someday, the Eliunor Family will loose their core and hope and will go on to be nonexistent. This prophecy was passed down from head of the family to the next. I-I didn’t think that this prophecy would be realised with us. H-hah I truly feel ashamed of myself for letting this happen.”
I was shocked, prophecy? This was fate. I refused to believe in such a thing.
“Are you saying it was out fate to suffer?”
The rattling chains didn’t stop me from grabbing his collar. And as I did, a book fell out from his pockets.
*Thud*
I let go of him. He picked the book and looked at me.
“I didn’t ever think that such responsibility would fall to your hands Ynni.”
He wore a pitiful expression and then continued,
“You see.. the reason I say that this watch could save us.. is because it’s the only way to break the prophecy.”
“But isn’t it too late for that?” I was confused.
“It’s never too late to change times.. this item.. it will send you back in the past. A past where you can change things, so it never comes to the situation it is today. The Sage Heroine gave this item to the founder so they can escape their fate, so the chains that bind our family can be freed, and you are the one who is going to unlock the lock.. Ynni.”
All this information entered my brain. Go back to the past? Is this even real? Or are we both going crazy from staying in this shit hole. I didn’t know what was going on anymore. I felt.. trapped.
But so WHAT?.. if what grandpa is saying is true .. even if there’s a single possibility.. I would take this chance no matter what.
“What do I have to do?” I focused.
He gave me the book, “I don’t know how much this book will help you find him.. but make sure you do. Just remember, Dragon-Blood is something you’ll need to save your sister.. but there’s also another thing, I’m afraid only that demon knows what it is. Also make sure that the past me doesn’t know you time-traveled, we don’t know what could happen. And remember, the sooner you find the demon, the better. He is a being that grows faster than anything, surpassing even the heroes of old, so make sure you get to him before he de-“
He suddenly stops, “Before he what?”
He looked at me and gulped, “All you need to know is that the demon you’re going to look for is a person who gets easily bored and one who returns favours. That’s all I know even after going after him for years, as for the rest, you have to figure it out yourself.”
I gulped, “B-but how did you gain the antidote from him then?”
“I happened to help him in a tricky situation, and he returned the favour.”
“What tricky situation?” It was really frustrating, my grandfather wasn’t telling me every part.
“You need to go now, it shouldn’t be long before your uncle comes and cuts our heads, here take them.”
He gave me the book and the pocket watch.
“For the time-travel to work, you need this chant, repeat after me.”
I nodded and held the pocket with a strong grip and bit my lip, causing it to bleed.
“Don’t worry, you’ll see me in a jiffy anyways. Now don’t loose focus and repeat.”
“𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕺'𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑! 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖕 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖉𝖔 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗."
“𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕺'𝕿𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑! 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖕 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖉𝖔 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗."
I repeat just like he told me. When I finished the chant, bright light came from the pocket watch as it shook. Little by little, the light started to absorb me, I could hear my grandfather muttering something.
“Good luck..”