Chapter 75 Conclusions.

The world was still, as it almost always was, as she walked into the underground town. She walked past people going about their day. From her perspective they were still life reliefs, in reality she was merely moving so slowly through time that everyone, who was moving through it at a normal speed, looked to be frozen in place. The air moved around her in such a way as to not disturb anything that was not within the exact space that she traveled through. The spell that her ability was based off of had been a work of art, her pride and joy, millennia ago. Well, it was millennia from her perspective, for everyone else it was a little over a millennium.

She wandered through the city for a little while to get a feel for it and its people. The people were pale but hearty, not in body but in spirit, from living in a place that was always under a threat of one kind or another. She stepped out of the way and into an alleyway. She took a deep breath to reign in everything about her. She tried to minimize her presence as much as she could so people, specifically strong people, wouldn’t notice her presence. She then changed her speed through time to as close to those around her as she could manage. She knew that it wasn’t perfect but it was close enough that unless someone was both observant and specifically looking for her they wouldn’t notice. She was sure that her words would come out either a little fast or a little slow while she was talking to people but that was fine. At most they would consider her a little weird. She was weird though, and no amount of tweaking her timeflow would change that.

She knew that her flowing robes and pants with dozens of folds would draw attention but that was fine. Most people would just think of her as a traveler from far away, which she was, and her accent would help to sell that fact. Her accent wasn’t very heavy but she rarely had conversations with anyone who was not a member of her clan and thus in their native tongue. She smiled as she thought back on her first interactions with her two best friends and how they all had to learn a spell just to understand each other. “Hi-” Her voice croaked as she tried to use it for the first time in only the gods knew how long. She never bothered to keep track of exactly how long time had passed from her own perspective. It was far too annoying when the sun passed at a consistent pace for everyone but her. “Hi.” She tried again and then nodded to herself.

She walked out of the alley and over to a stall owner. He was selling cloaks to residents who had lost theirs or needed a new one, but it was clear from the stall’s position near the main entrance and thoroughfare that he was looking for ill prepared travelers. “Miss!” He called out to her. “You look like you are in need of a good cloak. It’s a bit cold down here don’t ya think?”

“Hi.” She greeted him back once she was close enough that she didn’t need to yell. “Yes, I’ll take a cloak.” She told him and fished in her sash for a gold coin. She handed it to him and he eyed it strangely.

The cloak seller took the coin and bit into it. It felt soft and heavy enough that it was probably real but it had strange engravings on it so he hadn’t been sure. “This one here looks about your size.” He told her and handed her a cloak. The cloak was among the smaller ones that he was selling.

“Thank you.” She said and gave the man a slight bow.

He looked sheepishly at her and scratched the back of his head. “It’s nothin’.” He replied. “T-Take care now.”

She nodded and looked like she was about to leave before she turned back to him. “I am an adventurer from another kingdom.” She explained to him. “Where is a good inn for an adventurer of middling level to recover from a long journey?”

“Ya got good coin then?” The man asked her.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Pardon?” She replied.

“You have plenty of money?” He asked again.

She nodded. “I do. I made plenty of it on the way here at least.” She explained. “Though, I am not a noble or anything.”

The cloak seller nodded and gestured down the street. “Four blocks that way, take a right.” The man gave her directions to a place called ‘The Celestial Dawn’. She nodded along with his directions and then offered him another gold coin and bowed slightly to him once more. “Oh, uh, it was nothing nobody else wouldn’t do.” He replied. “I don’t need payment for just some directions.” He assured her.

She smiled and placed the coin in his hand. “Please, take it.” She told him. She could tell that her foreign accent and attractive looks were doing wonders to get the best out of people, especially middle aged men, again. She rarely actively tried to flaunt her beauty but she also rarely had to. The man took the coin and she was soon on her way.

She had just reached the inn she had been directed to when she felt a certain demigod approaching the town at high speed. She sighed and waited for him to enter the city. She tracked him with her senses towards a part of town a few blocks away. She changed the rate that she passed through time, again, to the extreme degree that she used while traveling long distances. She stopped a block away from Judgment and tried to equalize her timeflow. Once she was back to ‘normal’ she walked the rest of the way to a large building that reminded her of the theater in Altia from a half a millennium ago. The large stone building had holes cut in walls near the ceiling to allow some of the lovely sounds from inside to bathe the surrounding area in their art.

She waited there, listening to the songs played inside, for almost an hour until they finally stopped. She felt an odd flaring of power momentarily but then it was gone. Soon after, she felt Judgment moving back outside. She decided to wait and listen. There was no reason for her to get caught peeking when she could just see what happened in the past later.

She heard their conversation about one of their members and the rest of their interaction with relative clarity. Eventually they went back inside and continued playing as Judgment went in search of Gilgamesh or Klein. From everything that she had felt she was sure that the man that had slain Judgment was the one inside and she was also certain that he was not evil. Whether or not he was good was yet to be seen but if Judgment wasn’t sure how to deal with him then that meant that he wasn’t a serial killer at the very least.

She settled in and sat on her feet in the alley next to the theater. She was in no rush so she wouldn’t increase the rate that time passed from her perspective. She simply let the music from the duo gently caress her ears until they were finished. Once they were done, her job would get started in earnest. The Celestial Dawn would have to wait.

A few hours after She had settled in to listen to the music it stopped and the musicians and retinue left the building. She waited until they were long gone before rising to her feet. She dusted herself off and resumed her mission. The world around her slowed almost to a stop once again. She walked over to an area where she knew the pair had been and watched the past unfold before her. She had sworn to never go back in time again but she was more than capable of watching time in reverse.

She watched as the pair reentered the building and she followed along. With some focus towards her sash she became incorporeal so she could walk through the door and continue following the pair backwards through time. She followed the pair back and forth dozens of times. She tracked them through their excursion to the outside world to meet with Lua. She tracked them through their adventure involving Shamsha. She tracked them through their fight with Judgment. On and on she went through Isaac and Lenna’s entire past.

Eventually she reached a place out in the middle of nowhere where the trail seemed to end. Isaac was lying on his back in the dark with nothing but a box and a dim lamp. She then let it play forwards again. He sat up and found a letter in the box. She read the letter over his shoulder and her eyes widened at the signature. “You let me see this.” She said aloud.

“Yes.” Came a reply from the phantom image of the letter from months past.

“Why?” She asked.

“They are good kids.” Another voice came from right next to her. This voice was soft and motherly unlike the childlike voice from the letter. “We wanted to be sure that you knew that. You are, after all, the wisest among your pantheon.”

“Not Klein?” She asked and got a laugh that warmed her heart in reply.

“Watch him yourself and come to your own conclusions.” Said the voice from the letter. “But remember, you had better have a good reason if you decide to get rid of him.”

“Why?” She asked again. “Have you both given him your blessings?”

“Yes.” Both voices replied in unison.

“What about her?” She questioned.

“She is not to be touched.” The motherly voice told her sternly.

“I understand.” She replied with a bow. “Thank you both for informing me and letting me witness all of this.” She got no reply.