*********************************
*Shuaaa*
*********************************
*Crunch Crunch*
Snow keeps getting in my eyes. I blink hard and the Omniscient Guard’s Silent Tower comes into view. When I turn the corner, I lose track of it for a split second. While I’m in the shadows, I check my coat pocket. I might have to fight Selena if she beats me to Kisa. In that case…my chilled fingers brush against a hard leather binding. The reassuring weight of Raingod Adam’s notebook sits against my chest. Fortunately, the thin pages seem to be either enchanted or just superbly made to withstand water. It’s completely dry. The book, filled with forbidden knowledge, tugs against my hand as if it wants to be read out loud. I let it go, not quite ready to turn to that yet. If the worst comes…I’ll show you the price of messing with my employees. Don’t push me, Selena! You have no idea what I’m capable of! No one does!
*Crunch Crunch*
I turn another corner and the Silent Tower appears again. Short and squat, Merekeep’s torture house jail, is an ugly stain on the skyline. Despite being called a tower, it’s only a few stories tall. Maybe four or five at most. My guess would be because the guests don’t stay there for long. I remember what the Stranger told me once about their fates-
“Any important prisoners are sent to Selena’s personal dungeons within the palace. As for the others…their pelts keep the city ramparts from getting too wet when it rains.”
*Crunch Crunch*
“Don’t worry. Kisa’s important,” I whisper to myself, “They won’t hurt her until Selena comes.” I have no idea if what I’m saying is really true. But I need something to believe in right now. My hands unconsciously clench and I work hard to keep Gust going at full blast. I’m more flying than running. Before, it used to feel unnatural, boosting my movement with magic. However, now that my body is trained in Qi usage, I can take it. The strain of a high-speed turn barely causes me to pause. She’s going to be fine. They’ll want the information she has. The Stranger was just trying to manipulate me. He wanted me to help take the palace. But I won’t fall for his lies this time. Kisa’s got plenty of time. I’m GOING to make it. I’ll make it. I have to make it!
*Shuaaaa*
Speed. More speed!
Go faster!
I channel mana until I’m scared a sonic boom really will come out. Push my legs to the utmost. It occurs to me that I should be careful not to run into Selena. She’ll be coming from the palace. Will our paths cross? No…they shouldn’t. The palace is farther from the Silent Tower than my shop. If I hurry, I can definitely get there first!
“Come on…just a little bit further!” My breath is ragged, but I force my cracked lips to choke down more ice cold air. The Stranger’s voice rings in my ears.
“That stupid girl is doomed!”
“Don’t sacrifice everything for nothing!”
“Screw you! I’ll make it!” I roar at no one. There’s just a few more turns. Somewhere, far away, I hear an explosion. Everyone is hiding tonight. Operation Demi-storm has scared even the fierce residents of Merekeep into their homes. A small boy peeks at me through a window only to duck below the sill as the force of my Gust breaks the glass.
*Crack*
I ignore the panicked cries that follow me. The city is already full of debris and burnt out fires from my Icebombs. What’s one more broken window?
Huh!
There’s someone on the street-?
“-Get out of my way!” Just a random bystander. I almost barrel into them, but manage to leap up and run sideways along an apartment wall over their head. Whoever it is, screams as they’re blown aside by my passage, but I don’t care. Damnit, I almost hit that guy. What kind of idiot goes out on a night like this? Didn’t you hear? There’s a revolution right now! Suddenly, I remember that the Stranger isn’t here anymore to block my Foresight. Hoping to avoid any more accidents, I nervously tug at the invisible veil in my head…and it comes to me. The world tingles as I start seeing two timelines at once. Present and future, neither of them are good, but I need to look. The Silent Tower will appear soon. Just around that bend. I’m going to make it! Selena’s not here yet…wait…what?
It’s cold on the streets.
My heart trembles.
Something is wrong.
Horribly wrong.
It doesn’t make any sense-
Why are they dead?
Two Omniscient Guards lay slain at the doorstep of the Silent Tower. Bright red footprints of blood lead inside an open door. Merekeep’s jail is wide open. I don’t understand it. Why…? Is she already here? No way…why would Selena kill her own guards? I shake my head. Clear the pointless thoughts from my mind. I need to think clearly now. But it’s so hard. The pounding in my head is breaking up my thoughts-
*Drip…*
One of the guard’s dead eyes stares sightlessly into mine. A little puddle of blood is forming under his slit neck. An identical wound is present on the other guard. They were taken out at the same time? Even with linked helmets and armor? I dash past their corpses, unease trickling into my heart as hot prickles run along my neck. Going through the open doors, I find myself inside the Silent Tower. It’s quiet inside. Dark like a jail should be. A place of awful horrors and unheard screams. The bloody footprints go straight through the lobby, up a set of stairs. Halfway across the floor, another dead guard lies draped over a desk. He was halfway up before his throat was slit. Even though he should have heard or seen what happened outside with the Omniscient Guard’s shared vision, he still got taken out with a single cut to the throat-
Damn.
*Drip*
The lack of resistance in the Silent Tower scares me more than a fight. Already, I’m starting to put together the pieces. As I cross the lobby, I know something is wrong. Intuition is faster than Foresight. I can’t see it yet, but my mind already knows what’s happening. I just don’t want it to be true. Don’t want to believe it. A horrid voice from my subconscious whispers to me-
“You won’t make it.”
Why was he so certain?
Shut up. I’ll make it.
*Drip*
My feet follow the footprints up the stairs. I blast past the second floor, ignoring the hallway and empty cells. Gust propels me higher, taking me higher, to the third floor. I want her to be behind me, on one of the lower floors. For these footprints to lead to someone else. But it’s obvious that Kisa isn’t going to be in just any cell. And whoever’s killing guards isn’t doing it for just any prisoner. It has to be Kisa they’re looking for. But who’s doing this? I’m so close. Every second is precious. Each fractional bit of time, more valuable than anything else. Another set of stairs. Then I see a door at the top of the fourth floor. It’s ajar, just slightly. The footprints stop at it’s threshold. I rush up, giving everything I have. Kisa!
Reaching out, I shove the door aside, both the real one in front of me and the one in my mind. But the future waiting on the other side…it makes me falter.
N-No!
[I tried to warn you]
*BANG*
The door flies open and my frozen body tumbles through. I want to laugh, cry, and sigh all at the same time. In the end, it’s despair that takes over. So it was you. Raw panic, the kind that stops you in your tracks, and turns your legs to jelly, it gnaws at my soul as I see the truth all at once. What’s going to happen in the next few seconds. How little time I have to stop it. Move! THINK! My brain falters, running on too many tracks at once. I need to do something about what’s happening in front of me. But I’m stuck, frozen in time, thinking about how I should have known.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
It was obvious the moment the Stranger said I wouldn’t make it. He was so sure. So confident. Selena was coming from the palace. It’s a long way but I was going to beat her here. Yet all the same, he knew I’d be late. Why? I want to laugh at the obvious answer. Of course the Stranger wouldn’t leave anything up to chance. Whether Selena or I made it here first, he had to be sure. He always has to be sure. Damnit. I didn’t know who I was dealing with from the start! I thought I needed to be faster than Selena, but no matter how fast I ran…I could never beat someone who left long before me. Someone who’s faster than me. And leaves no witnesses. It was staring me in the face the whole time. He even gave the order right in front of the shop-
“Echo, take care of it.”
My eyes search the inside of the fourth floor. I see exactly the future I expected to see. A single small cell across the room, impenetrable, meant for the most important prisoners. Black bars, thick, with runes carved from top to bottom. Behind them, Kisa huddles against the wall. As far back as she can go. There’s a short wraith-like hooded figure standing outside her cell bars. The Stranger’s deadly assassin has a throwing knife in hand. Just like the first time we met, she’ll do anything to ensure there are no witnesses.
Don’t do it!
Echo, has her back turned to me. But I know what she’s thinking. It’s obvious what the Stranger has instructed her to do. I’m here though. There’s still time! I want to blurt out the first thing on my mind. Any and every word I can think of to stop her from killing Kisa. But I know I’ve only got one chance at this. Echo doesn’t miss. I can’t mess this up. I need to say the right words-
Think!
Don’t guess…calculate!
I rip into the future, tearing through every possible scenario.
Searching for the one that will lead us out of this mess!
My head’s splitting open from the infinite possibilities-
“Stop!” First, I’ll yell that. But stone-cold killer as she is, Echo will not listen. Dagger in hand, she’ll draw her arm back to throw. At this range...she’s not going to miss. I’ll call out again, a desperate plea, but I know it won’t work. No…no try harder! There has to be a way. I rip into the cosmos with all I have. Time splits down a dozen pathways at once. It hurts my eyes, my heart, my head, calculating this fast. Yet for all my effort…none of these futures work. Echo throws her dagger in every one. Is this fate? Why is it always wrong?!
Maybe it’s just hopeless.
NO! I have to try. I HAVE TO TRY! I swear, I can change things. Isn’t that why God gave me this power? Isn’t this why you gave me a second chance? Let me be able to change this one thing!
I calculate harder, reach further, until I’ve seen so many timelines I’m not sure which one is real anymore. But there are some common points in each one. A limited number of choices within an infinite amount of despair. It’ll happen something like this-
“Stop!”
At the last second, Echo will hear my voice. She’ll turn, just a tiny bit. I’ll stare into those tiny eye holes in her mask. Just two little pits of black. I won’t even see her pupils. Echo’s expressionless white mask is more terrifying than the Flesh Witch’s eyeless smile. I simulate a hundred different ways to plead with her. To make a deal. But she obeys only one man…and I am not him. The knife always goes forwards and-
NO!
Calculate damnit!
Find the right words to stop her!
More! Look harder!
Goddamit, Echo, why won’t you stop?!
Why won’t you even consider it!
Do you WANT to kill Kisa?
I’m lost in the possibilities, no matter how many times I fail, it only takes one to succeed-
…
But then the present catches up with my calculations and I realize we’re already here.
[Time’s up.]
No…I still haven’t found it!
What do I say?!
Echo’s hand is drawing back to throw.
She’s staring into my eyes.
I only have one chance and this is it!
But every single possible future has ended in failure-
Damnit, I gotta try something else!
Please…WORK!
My mouth blurts out some words,
“DON’T DO IT, ECHO! I’M HERE! WE CAN GET HER OUT!”
…
“No...you can’t.”
…
“She’s one of my employees! Just let her go! I’ll use magic to get her out!”
…
“The bars are enchanted. All the way through the floor and walls. Magic can’t break them. I can’t find the key.”
…
“I’ll figure out how to get them open! I…I’m…just wait a second, okay? I’m a genius! Remember? Give me a second to think!”
…
“No time. Selena is almost here.”
…
“Echo…please! I’m begging you! Just give me one chance-!”
…
“It’s too late.”
…
“NO! NO! NO! STOP-!”
…
“You’re too late.”
The throw’s going to happen so fast, before I can even blink. I...see it coming. But I can’t stop it. No matter how I try to simulate with my panic ridden mind, no matter what variation of words I yell to convince her, I can’t find the spell that will stop Echo. Two seconds just isn’t enough. I watch it happen twice. Once in the future I can’t change and again in the present I can’t stop. It doesn’t matter if I say something or nothing. The result is the same-
Come on…I still have time…
Keep trying…see further…
I can see what’s going to happen. Blood will spurt out as the dagger jumps from Echo’s hand to Kisa’s chest. No matter how Meera and I trained Kisa, she’s not a fighter. Her fragile Qi defenses will be like tissue paper before a true assassin’s throw. She’s already against the back of the cell, but when the knife thuds into her, Kisa will be slammed into the wall by the force. Or maybe the pain. Echo’s blade will slide in so easily. All the way in.
I won’t let you do this-
I’ll find the way!
Whichever route it takes to stop you-
*Puchi*
…
No…this future is a failure as well. Let’s calculate another…
Wait…why can’t I go back…?
There’s still time…right?
…
[Sometimes you just can’t change anything.]
Huh?
…
…
No…
Why is this…
NO!
“Hnnn-!” Kisa’s breath catches. Just like how I saw, a dozen times in the last second. But this time…it feels different. Her face turns confused. I see her eyes widen. She looks down. The knife in her heart seems huge on her small body. It grows until it takes up my entire field of vision. I see her falling once, twice, ten times, a thousand times over. Every single timeline I calculated, all the possibilities I was holding in my head…they blur together and disappear as my Foresight shatters.
*Kacha*
“Echo…?”
This…this isn’t the future?
I’m…too late?
You really…did it?
…
…
Why? Why? Why?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why wouldn’t you listen?!
Why wouldn’t you wait?
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
Whyyyyyyyyyyy?
Whyyyyyyy?
WHYYYY?
WHY?
…
My heart is racing. I can see Kisa sliding down the wall. Sitting down, gasping for air. Choking as if she’s drowning. I feel like I’m drowning with her. Falling into a sea of…
Rage.
“You…you…”
…
I can’t understand.
You wouldn’t listen.
…
Makes no sense.
Why wouldn’t you listen?
…
Kisa never hurt anyone.
Why would you want to kill Kisa?
…
Don’t get it.
How cheap is human life?
…
Do you think you have the right to take it away?
Do you?
…
Right in front of me, do you think you can get away with that?
Can’t you see what a mistake you’re making?
…
Can’t you see who you’re messing with?
Do I need to spell it out for you?
…
You have no idea, do you?
Do you have any idea who you just touched?
…
Any clue who I used to be?
Or who this girl is to me?
...
No, you have no freaking clue huh?
Then make sure you listen this time, okay?
...
That girl you're messing with?
Did you really think you could touch her?
...
I'll have you know-
That’s my F*CKING receptionist!
...
“ECHOOO! You piece of shi-!”
[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]
[Flaming Ember of My Desire, Burst Forth-Burn]