There it is, finally! Some hope! A shining beacon in the darkness that is my meaningless existence. A chance I have been waiting for 14 years.
Ever since I was reincarnated into this world, I have been looking for it. My destiny, my calling.
I have been preparing for it, searching for the reason that I have been chosen.
Why it was me who was sent into this off-colored facsimile of the past. Why I, had a second chance in reliving my life, with all my memories intact.
For all these 14 years I couldn’t relax even for a second, waiting for my end of the deal to come through. For no such thing existed, neither in reality nor fiction, to be given an impossible opportunity to fix past mistakes in exchange for nothing.
But here I see it. A glimpse of an adventure, challenge, and the extraordinary. The turning point of both my…
“Hey dude! Do you want the pink or the green one?”
“Wha..?”
“For 200 tickets, you can only get a keychain. Do you want pink one or green one?”
Said Tim, the arcade employee, bored and exasperated. Off his fingers dangled two tiny teddy bear keychains in the already mentioned color schemes.
“Green”
He extended the one I have chosen towards me and I took it off his hand. But arcade prizes weren’t why I had the revelation.
It was an honest to god leprechaun, who entered the door behind the counter, that made me think, that this was my chance. He wasn’t a cosplayer, nor a simple colleague of the ‘keychain dealer’ because when he stood in the foyer, his supernatural presence was unmistakable.
The velvet green top hat, shining green leather boots and an eye-catching golden necklace. The undeniable otherness, short stature and a signature lush ginger beard, all of it pointed towards my guess. But the magical aura of peace and serenity told me he was the real deal.
“So, are you looking for part-timers? I am looking for a job for the summer, but that’s mostly to get parents off my back, so I am fine with anything really.”
The moment has arrived, the opportunity is here, and I will grab it, but first, I needed an excuse to loiter around the staff area.
“Eh, dunno. But the boss is here, so you can ask him yourself if you want.” Tim said nonchalantly, pointing towards the door the leprechaun has entered.
“Thanks.” Nothing ventured nothing gained, especially for a ‘chosen’ standing one door away from his destiny. “Um, you sure it’s alright for me to go in there?”
“Yep, he is pretty chill dude, so go ahead.”
With a nod and a calming breath, I strode forward toward my future.
________________
“We don’t really need more staff at the moment, kiddo, but lemme think. The movie theater across might need some help, they are always looking for an extra hand or two this time of year. Otherwise, can’t really help ya. We, here, are a complete crew.
“Kid, don’t be upset. Don’t know what makes you want to work here, but if the movie theater doesn’t work out, you can still check around the mall. I am sure there would be someplace where you could earn some pocket change, with the upcoming summer sales and all.
“If it doesn’t work out, come by the next month, maybe I could find a place for you here then. Yeah?
“Kid? Ya alright? Do ya hear me, son?”
The man continued droning on and on and on, not letting me enjoy the pure white brilliance of his pendant. The calming and reassuring waves of its light and melodious whispers brought me peace of mind I haven’t felt since coming to this world.
“Urgh, bollocks. Ye are one of those “far-seeing” types aren’t ya? Pain in the butt, that’s what ya are.
“That’s what I get for making plans for the evening. *sigh*
“Where is the blasted phone?
“Hey honey, sorry, but something urgent came up here at work. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it in time. Not sure how I can explain myself through the voicemail, so call me back when you can, okay? Love ya. Bye.
“Now, what to do with ya…
“Well, first things first. WAKE UP!!!”
One violent kaleidoscope of colors later, and I was staring now at a tall, big man with a magnificent beard and balding head instead of a diminutive magical creature, whose presence lured me here. The pendant that held my attention prisoner now was nowhere in sight.
“Easy now, kid, you’ve been just forcibly separated from a magical artifact. Don’t move too much and take it slow. Don’t want ya to throw up all over my carpet.” the man said, reassuringly squeezing my shoulders.
The panic, vertigo, and nausea kept me away from questions and in the chair even as the surrounding office was seemingly swaying from side to side. The man said something about magical artifacts, so I tried to gather myself as well as I could. The conversation didn't start the way I expected, nor did I see the leprechaun, but the man infront of me might still have some answers.
“I am good now,” I said a few long moments later when the worst of it subsided.
“Splendid. Now what got you here? A prophecy, an omen, some unclear vision?” he says, getting back into his chair.
“Wha..?”
“Kiddo, ya got sucked into a barely working ‘medallion of a tranquil mind’ just by looking at it. So you are either an oracle or a prophet or other sum such. So don’t be shy now, lay it on me. Do I die soon? Get sick? Win a lottery?”
“Uh, no. I don’t know...”
“Ya sure? I mean, you can keep it a secret if ya want, just don’t beat yourself over it. All dem prophecies are hogwash anyway. It’s either some bastard messing with ya or you just got blasted by metaphysical shenanigans from parallel planes. Worthless in any case.”
The comforting words were anything but. He figured my secret as if it was obvious, said that my past 14 years were all bullshit, and assumed I was magical in a way I was not.
Stolen novel; please report.
I was, still am, a time traveler, not an oracle, a prophet or a wizarding diviner. A time traveler who has traveled sideways.
In my head, there is a whole life of a person who I would become. If I was born in 1999.
Today though is 1993. And my birth certificate says I was born on the same day, January 29, but two decade sooner. To the same parents, no less.
Even so, with twenty of hindsight, the nonsensical early birth and the time shift of my family should have been barely relevant. After all, I had the future in my head.
Ironically, it was the biggest source of my fear and uncertainty.
The first time around, I lived like everyone else. With ups and downs but without anything remarkable. I even died by chance, while hiking. The rail I was perching on gave way and sent me tumbling down the mountain, at the bottom of which I split my head open. Stupid, unglamorous, and utterly insignificant. Nothing that would nominate me for the role of Marty McFly.
My second life though was spent in a paranoid chase for the cause of my ‘return’. What I was supposed to do with my knowledge? What have I learned in my first life to necessitate my presence here? Why did I travel back in time at all?
The first nudge towards that thought was my older brother Alden. Who was supposed to be my younger sibling. What was weirder is that I distinctly remember why my parents named him Alden. We were named in honor of my mother’s late twin brothers. Alex the elder and Alden the younger.
In this reality, the switcheroo left us both with the same names, despite me becoming the younger brother. This uncanny similarity is what pushed me in front of a TV and newspapers, looking for other ‘coincidences’.
Every chance I got, I would spend hunting for any historical clues, and this’s what brought my nascent paranoia into full. Because apparently, “history rhymes” is a thing, even when you travel back in time.
Here, the Three Mile Island incident never happened. There was, however, Diablo Canyon leak. The same thing with a different name.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? It happened, but in 83. Far too late for it to be in line with the original history, even though I don’t remember the actual date. What I do remember is that USSR dissolved in 91 on Christmas, not on the 3rd of February of 92. Different timelines, the same result.
All these ‘similarities’ were what scared me. My knowledge, my only advantage, amounted simply to “it will happen, but I don’t know how”.
9/11? The Covid? My parents’ divorce? Are they inevitable? Would these things happen? In a different place, at a different time with a different name but to the same end?
“Is the future preordained?” the question just burst out of me.
“Son, the cause and effect are ironclad. It had been proven true countless time through magic and science. If something happens, it only happens because someone did something to make it happen. There are no fixed points in history or the destined outcomes, kiddo. So rest easy, whatever you saw doesn’t mean much.” said the ‘Boss’ whose name I forgot to ask.
“I am not an oracle or anything, probably. I am a time traveler. Or at least, I think I am. I was born in 1999 and died in 2023 then I returned as a baby to 1979. I know it sounds confusing, but I remember all 24 years of my life. The one I lived in the future. Now, I live long before I was born, in the past. Can I even call it time traveling? But it doesn’t matter, I still know things right?” I rattled everything that came to my mind, desperate to tell everything to someone who might understand.
“Alright. Settle down, kid. Can’t keep calling you kid, though, right? So what’s your name, kid?” he interrupts me with a painfully obvious joke.
“Alex, sir”
“Well met Alex, My name is Fergal O’Sullivan, or simply Fer. And as ya might have guessed, I am a leprechaun,” said Fer, demonstrably shrinking and shifting from a 6ft tall heavyset man with a tailored green suit to a 4ft tiny and bouncy magical creature I saw in the foyer. “So Alex, believe me, as a magic practitioner, the cause and effect are ironclad. Your first life, no matter how you lived it, bears no effect on this one. Besides giving you an unusual mental identity.”
“Does it mean I can change it, the future?”
“Sure, if that’s how you wanna view it. I am sure you already did just by being here. Just think of your memories as a potential future. So don’t worry your noggin over some dumb horseshit.”
“But it is not,” I said wryly. “Potential future, I mean. Things were already different before I got here. My brother, my parents, even some people I used to know are here too. Far too soon for it not to have any effect.
“The first time it happened outside of my family, I thought they were a time traveler too. Got away with detention when I managed to convince Mrs. Green not to call my parents and that it was just a stupid prank.” I say, thinking about that particular meltdown.
“Well, kiddo, the simplest explanation would be: this world is parallel to the one you remember, and you were just lucky to receive memories of your alternate self. Sounds bizarre, but it’s certainly not the most ridiculous thing to happen when magic is involved. So think of it all as you winning a magical lottery. Abysmal chances and a ridiculous prize, but ya got it.”
“And lottery winnings get taxed. Is that the punchline?”
“No, ya knobhead! It was a poor analogy, nothing else! Listen, no matter what those bellends teach you, there are no magical oaths or bonds of debt or other such nonsense. You haven’t paid the price, meaning it’s a gift, so no one will be coming to collect the interest. Got it?”
“Yeah…” it was supposed to be relieving to know that my worst fears were of no concern. But it was hard letting it go. I understood everything Fer said, but if it’s true, wasn’t everything pointless? “What am I supposed to do then, with ‘the gift’? All this time, I was preparing for something, you know… Archery, survival, sword fighting, climbing. Anything I thought would be useful. Zombie apocalypse, biblical flood, nuclear war. I was preparing for it all. What do I do now?”
“The same thing you’ve always done, kid. Go to school, get a hobby, find friends, and maybe even find yourself some sweet gal who won’t mind spending time with ya. Enjoy yourself, Alex.”
“Alright… Thanks, Fer.” I say with a sigh, exhausted, getting up from my chair. “Not sure what else to say, but at least I got some answers. So, yeah…”
“It’s fine, kid. You will figure it out, but just in case, does something happen to me in your future? Makes me wonder what you saw that made you jump the gun.”
“Sorry, Fer. I’ve never met you the first time around. I never knew magic existed even, much less leprechauns.”
“Oh, fucáil leat!” he jumps from his seat.
“Ya mean to tell me I showed an unwitting human kid magic?! Tá mo arís agam!” he shouts, pacing across the room after my revelation. “I thought ya’re a clueless wizarding kid, like all human wizarding shmucks, just with more mythical shite in his head! But you are clueless, clueless! Feck me.
“I thought you saw my familiar mug from dem visions! So you follow me into ma office, try to start a conversation with some innocent shite, but with ye head in a mess, the medallion of fecking tranquil thoughts, pulls ya in, and you start drooling onto ya pants.
“I thought I was helping a kid, instead of shoving a donkey up ma fucking arse.
“How ya even sensed the damn hunk of metal if you never knew magic, huh? How could ya see it if you haven’t seen under ma glamour?” Fergal stared at me with an accusatory glare as the questions stopped being rhetorical.
“I did! In the foyer, with the hat, the medallion, and all! Somehow I knew that you were real. Magical. I swear!” it felt painful to be berated by the only person who knew, but he had to understand. “I just had to follow you. It was my first time seeing something that could have explained what has happened to me.”
“It’s just my luck then that the first ever magic you saw was me trying to enjoy a peace of mind before an important dinner date.” said Fegral, already much calmer.
“I am sorry, Fergal.”
“It’s alright, it’s better this way. At least it wasn’t my fault. Silver lining is, we managed to get ye head straight with all that future nonsense” he said, after siting back down into his chair with a tired sigh.
“I take it the supernatural is a secret then,” I changed the subject. Fer might be certain that there is no higher purpose to my reincarnation, and he might be right, but if there is, that means I am meant to change things.
“Somewhat. I thought you were from one of those human wizard families who at least know some bits, but yeah, in general humans don’t know much about our side of things. And telling the unaware that fairy tales might be real is a big no-no.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“If you don’t go around telling everyone about it, then no.” said Fer giving me a side-eye. “Otherwise, I’d get deported and most likely in jail, and you would become a local clown. So don’t.”
“I won’t.”
“Splendid, now move on with your day, kid. You already shaved a few years off me, let me enjoy the rest.” he groaned, slouching in his chair with his eyes closed.
“Thanks again Fer, I am sorry for causing you trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah. You know the way out.”
I still had a ton of questions but they can wait for another time, when I had the time to process today’s revelations and Fer had the chance to decompress.