Still stuck twenty-four years in the past, Kayde and Xander arrive at the shore of the capital of the Sacrosanct Empire after two days of sailing over a serene ocean.
“Kind of feels weird to be back here before everything changes for the better doesn’t it?” Kayde mentions as he starts to confidently stride towards the city entrance, his ring disguising his usual appearance that would have caused him to be ostracized in this current time.
“Yeah, let’s just get what we need to travel to the arctic and get out of here,” Xander agrees, not wanting to spend too much time in the capital. They pick up winter clothes and fire-starting supplies before heading West towards where they know they can find the Cult of Chaos in the arctic.
“So we have some time to plan before we get there. I have to ask the obvious question, how the hell are we going to get them to help us? I mean they are like this big bad shadow organization and stuff,” Kayde points out how ridiculous their idea is to seek help from the Cult of Chaos.
“What? Not confident you can just talk your way through it like you usually do?” Xander quips slightly.
“Woah, is that a challenge? Cause I will try if you say it is one, but then you won’t know the plan… so it probably won’t work, but my pride is on the line so I would give it a shot,” Kayde threatens, turning it around on him.
“No, that’s okay. I did have something I was thinking about, but you aren’t going to like it. And I am not sure it is even going to work… but I can’t think of anything else to do,” Xander starts to share what he was thinking of.
“Go ahead, I’m not going to say no before you even explain it,” Kayde urges him on.
“Alright, I am going to tell them about the Scientist. Not about what happens or anything, but they get their hands on him either way at some point. I don’t think it changes anything if we tell them that they will need him for their plans to come together… which is true so it will be more convincing,” Xander lets Kayde in on his thoughts.
“Oh, so you want to be upfront with the whole from the future thing?” Kayde notes, thinking they were going to conceal that information.
“Yes, it doesn’t matter. We are asking to be sent to the future so why not admit it? Plus it will give us the power of information. Which is the key to my plan really,” Xander expounds upon the idea.
“Alright, we can go with that. You’re right about it not mattering if we mention the Scientist, but nothing about us getting him away from them or the safe house he ends up in,” Kayde agrees, noting some things to be careful of.
They travel for a few days before making it to the part of the Sacrosanct Empire where the plains and forests are replaced by snowy tundra. Despite the harsh conditions, the two of them continue on spending night after night sleeping in the harsh cold.
As they continue on, Kayde notices Xander’s expressions have become more and more depressed each day.
“You okay man? You look like you are pretty down,” Kayde asks him about it.
“I… Well, we are separated from them… and we don’t even know where or when any of them ended up. Even if we get back to our time how do we know they will be there? I don’t want to be negative, but I feel so hopeless,” Xander explains what has been troubling him.
“I have been thinking about that as well but I’m not going to let it stop me from getting back. Just like I know it won’t stop any of them. Where or whenever they are, they will be trying to get back as well to get to us. So don’t look so sad, you’ll see Gwendolyn again buddy,” Kayde attempts to cheer him up.
“Sorry, I was being melodramatic. You are right; they aren’t going to give up either. It’s just lonely… I guess I got used to Gwendolyn always being… well, you know what I am saying,” Xander admits.
“If you need I can snuggle with you, although I will warn you my metal parts are really cold out here so I don’t think it will help much,” Kayde jokes, suggesting he fill Gwendolyn’s role.
“No thanks, I will be fine,” Xander turns him down, smiling a little at Kayde’s jest.
“I gotta admit I miss them all too. It’s gotta be tough for Fore out there without me. He can’t communicate with anyone… He would have been so useful if he ended up with us,” Kayde notes as some of Xander’s feelings have gotten to him.
The two of them eventually reach the edge of the mountains, locating the single pass between the range where the Sacrosanct Empire will march through during their campaign twenty-six years from now.
They don’t make it far up the mountains before they come upon a curious sight. Sitting there alone is a single boy; the clothing he is bundled up in covers his shaggy black hair.
His head turns as he spots the two travelers, both of them disguised as Sacrosanct villagers with the help of the rings Lunette invented to hide their true appearance. “Hey,” the child calls out to the two of them.
“You the one standing guard?” Kayde jokes as he greets the kid.
“No, I want to get over the mountain. There are people I have to meet there,” the boy tells them.
“Okay… we do too, what is your name? Mine’s Davin,” Kayde lies about his name, not bothered by finding a random boy on a mountain.
“I’m Frederick, let me come with you,” Frederick demands. Once he says his name Xander remembers who he is, the mighty warrior that Drakthar mentioned killing in the tunnels all those years from now.
“Sure, let’s go. We’re heading through a pass right now. It’s much easier than going up the mountain,” Kayde explains as he agrees to travel with him. Frederick doesn’t waste time, getting up and starting to walk forward towards the pass.
Once he is far enough ahead, Xander leans over and whispers to Kayde, “You know this kid becomes the strongest fighter in the Black Sun Empire right?”
“Yup,” Kayde responds.
“But he isn’t that right now,” he adds, content to help him make his way to the Cult of Chaos.
The three of them make their way through the pass, taking half a day to make it out the other side, spotting the large castle the Cult of Chaos calls their home, barely visible, masked by the falling snow.
The group of five men approaching them is only noticeable when they are within fifty meters away.
“Here we go,” Kayde mumbles to himself as they reach them.
“Frederick, who are your friends?” The man in front asks.
“I don’t know, they helped me through,” Frederick explains, letting them in on how he got here.
“You two come with us, Frederick you know where to go,” the man declares, wanting to know why these two strangers are here.
They are brought inside the castle, many people eyeing their unexpected guests as they pass by. The man leads them into a room, the untrusting eyes of the others never leaving them until they disappear through the door.
“Who are you two? And why are you here?” The man gets straight to the point.
“I’m Davin and this here is Walter,” Kayde continues to hide his and Xander’s name from them in case it could hurt them in the future.
“Well Davin and Walter, I don’t know why two villagers have made their way to this outpost but you should head back to the village you came from. Everything here is under control,” the man tells them, trying to play this place off as a Sacrosanct Empire outpost.
“What? You going for the: we are part of the Sacrosanct lie? Interesting call, you believe them Walter?” Kayde jokes around, not afraid to challenge the man’s lie.
“No,” Xander responds plainly, not amused by what Kayde is doing either.
“Alright, so if you know we aren’t Sacrosanct Empire, who do you think we are?” The man asks them, honestly amused that these two saw through his deception.
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“Cult of Chaos… I feel like that was what the people in Melusarej called them. What would they be going by now?” Kayde tries to find exact words, not caring to mask his thought process.
“Black Sun,” Xander utters, the raised eye-browns of the man speaking with him makes him know he is right.
“So how do you two know about us? And what is it that you want?” The man gets serious.
“We are from the future and we want to get back to it,” Xander gets straight to it, not letting Kayde dance around the point anymore, as he likes to do. The man leans back in his chair, taking a moment to process what he is being told.
“I don’t know if he believes you Walter,” Kayde notes as the man continues to think.
“I do believe him,” the man tells them.
“Okay, so can the distortion fire guy control where his portals make people end up or…” Kayde trails off as he asks.
“You two seem to know a lot. It is best if you follow me, there is someone who would be better able to answer your questions, and because you already know about him I don’t need to hide him from you,” the man declares as he rises from his chair.
They follow him out the door and he signals for additional men to watch these two, their knowledge causing him to believe they are more of a threat than he initially might have thought. Either way, if they prove to be too much trouble the man he is bringing them to now can take care of them.
They are led down twenty flights of stairs, descending deeper and deeper into the depths of the castle. The room they end up in is large, although to them it would be more apt to call it a cave, the uneven stone ceiling reminiscent of the place they escaped from to end up in this time.
At the other end of the room is a fiery figure in a single stone chair, another man is holding up a book for him to read. Once he notices the presence of the others the man covered in distorted fire turns to look at them.
As Xander and Kayde get closer the blackened, almost charred skin of the man inside the flames stands out, it being much harsher a look than the man they ran into underground had.
“Why would you bring them to me?” The man inside of the distortion asks, his voice is deep and uneven but oddly familiar to Xander and Kayde. They realize at about the same time that this is the very same person they found in the subterranean civilization twenty-four years from now, sharing a look to confirm it.
“They know my lord, about you and about what you can do. They have a request... but I thought it best for you to consider it,” the man timidly explains, almost afraid to be in this thing’s presence.
“I understand you may leave. You as well,” the distortion turns to the one holding his book. The two of them exit the room so only Xander, Kayde, and the distortion are before them.
“What’s up?” Kayde asks familiarly, despite knowing to his knowledge their paths have never crossed before.
“It would seem I should be asking the two of you that. My man stated that you had a request for me, so let me hear it,” the humanoid distortion orders.
“We are from the future, we want to return there,” Xander states plainly.
“If you are from the future how did you end up here?” The man asks, knowing likely how it happened.
“A man, with a very similar appearance to you, opened up portals that we were forced through,” Xander tells him, hoping that somehow this one is able to control when he can send people.
“I see, so you are two of the people from back then,” the man states, a devious grin coming onto what is left of his face before he rushes the two of them.
He gets right up next to them, almost as if he were gliding over the stone floor between them, before asking, “Where is he? The one who fueled my power?”
The horrid look on his face takes the two of them aback; the sheer eeriness of such an expression on this thing’s face is enough to make even the most hardened of men flinch when it is this close to them.
“Woah, hold on. What are you talking about?” Kayde asks, actually not sure what he means.
“I have only used that power twice, once for myself and the other was when an odd group of people ended up in my home. The two of you don’t look like any of them, but I have changed much in these years so you could have too,” the humanoid distortion declares rather manically.
“Look, I don’t know who you think we are but we were sent back here at a tower. So maybe it could have been someone like you,” Kayde lies, trying to get him to move on from this.
“No, you know where he is, don't you? That man… I will never forget his face, so boyish and those purple eyes. Yes... I must find him,” the man ignores Kayde, going on about Xander who he doesn’t realize is right in front of him, disguised only by Lunette’s ring.
Xander is confused as to how his eyes could have been purple when they only become that way when the sun shines on them, there was no sun in that place underground.
Xander’s thoughts are interrupted when Kayde tries to respond to the man again, “Have you ever considered that it was future you that sent us back here? I mean we are from the future”.
The distortion’s menacing smile fades as he considers this a possibility; he stands upright, backing away from the two of them a little as his excitement fades.
“Okay, I can send you back to your time. But I cannot think of why I should,” he notes, the Black Sun not being a free time traveling service.
“Okay, first off we are from the one hundred and third day of the year one thousand twenty-nine,” Kayde tells him so he knows when to send them.
“Davin, he wants something from us first, he isn’t going to just do it,” Xander comments, knowing Kayde ignored the question on purpose.
“Your friend is correct Davin. That’s an odd name, but I guess my old name was just as odd,” the humanoid distortion comments.
“Oh, what was it?” Kayde asks, moving away from the point at hand in order to fish for more information that could prove useful.
“I cannot remember it has been millions of years since I have been called that. The only name that matters is the one I go by now,” he states, reminiscing of times his brain cannot go back to.
“So… are you going to say it, or no? It seemed like you were building up to it,” Kayde can’t help but interject turning a lull in his monologue.
“Yes, my name is Dark Star, god of the Black Sun and eventually ruler of this world,” Dark Star boldly declares, the confidence in his voice portraying he thinks of it as an eventuality, these meager beings able to do nothing to stop him.
“Well dude, things aren’t looking like that twenty-four years from now. The Sacrosanct Empire is still in charge due to their advancing technology,” Kayde comments, hoping to lead Dark Star into asking about the Scientist.
“That is not a problem, I have only one type of technology that interests me and I know that no one in that backwater place can achieve it,” Dark Star dismisses it, having been of the very technologically advanced society that lived underground.
“Is it time travel? Cause this scientist guy that works for him invented that too, well not yet. I mean he isn’t even there right now, but eventually, you know,” Kayde notes, knowing exactly what this guy wants.
Dark Star looks into Kayde’s eyes, trying to determine if he is lying. His face is much calmer than it was when he was asking about Xander.
“I see, what do you know of this man?” Dark Star asks.
“Nope, not now. Open the portal first and then we will tell you,” Kayde demands, not letting him give up the leverage he has. Dark Star takes a second to think, comparing the pros and cons of sending these two back to their time for information that might not be worth anything.
Kayde and Xander stand there silent, letting Dark Star mull it over without butting in to ruin their chances.
“Okay, I will open a portal for you, but I will kill you if you attempt to go through it before telling me who the man is, when he gets to the Sacrosanct Empire, and where exactly within it I can find him,” Dark Star lays out the terms and conditions.
“Okay, I’m good with that. You ready to do this now?” Kayde asks, wanting to get on with it.
“Why don’t you two stand by that wall,” Dark Star orders, pointing towards the wall near the door.
They comply, watching as Dark Star raises his hand, a very similar image to the one they witnessed very recently. Across from them, a portal appears, but there is also one above them, an eye peering down at them, it most likely belongs to the monstrosity that was summoned last time.
The monster seems content to wait behind the other portal, only watching, as Dark Star demands they give him the information, “Tell me what you promised and I will let you cross the room and return to your time”.
“Nope,” Kayde responds as Xander grabs his shoulder warping the two of them over to the portal. They jump through it before Dark Star or the monstrosity can even react.
They collide with the ground, finding themselves in the middle of the desert. Except there is something off, instead of it being empty dunes without a person in sight, there are hundreds of men surrounding them.
“You think I wouldn’t have been here when you arrived if you didn’t keep your end of the bargain?” Dark Star asks them as he appears between a group of men as they arrive.
“Okay, look. I know we didn’t keep up our side of the deal, but really when you think about it, you really shouldn’t have trusted us. You let all your power get to your head and think that people couldn’t outsmart you. Newsflash, it is about to happen again,” Kayde states as he disappears, turning invisible before their very eyes.
Xander, realizing Kayde has sort of left him out to dry, stops time. He quickly takes the uniform off the closest guy to him and hides within it. He pushes his way through the crowd as much as he can before time resumes. As soon as it does he switches himself with the person furthest from him that is in sight.
As everyone crowds towards the center looking for the two captives that got away, Xander and Kayde make it out of there, walking off in a random direction away from the ones they just conned, intent on finding out if Dark Star upheld his part of the deal and brought them back to their time.
“Thanks for the warning by the way,” Xander comments sarcastically once they are far enough away from the herd of men searching for them.
“I knew you would be able to handle it. And I was right,” Kayde points out, thinking Xander shouldn’t be bothered by this since it worked out.
“Alright, based on the sun it looks like that was West, if we head there we will hit the coast and then we can travel South to Melusarej,” Xander notes, trying to determine a way to some sort of civilization.
“Cool, let’s get to walking,” Kayde agrees. The two of them spend a few days walking before making it back to the free city that lies on the coast of the desert.
They approach the first person they encounter, “Excuse me. Can you tell me the day and the year?” Kayde asks.
“Yeah, it’s the one hundredth and sixth day of the year one thousand and twenty-nine,” the man tells them, finding it odd that they would ask for the year, given they are midway through it.
“Thank you so much,” Kayde tells him before he walks off.
“Now that we are back, it's time to find our friends,” Kayde declares, excited to be reunited with the others after their adventure through time.