My stomach churned, a violent, involuntary spasm that threatened to send the meager contents of my last meal, a stale bread roll I'd scavenged from a discarded cart, back up my throat. Goddamn it, I thought, the curse a silent snarl in my mind, a futile attempt to regain some semblance of control over my own body. I stumbled into a narrow alleyway, the stench of stale refuse, rotting vegetables, and something vaguely resembling urine a welcome, if disgusting, distraction from the bile that was clawing its way up my esophagus. I couldn't afford a scene, not here, not now.

Not with the city's eyes, or whatever passed for them, watching. Not with the lingering feeling of Kirin's amusement still clinging to my skin. My knees hit the grimy, uneven cobblestones, and I vomited, a wretched, heaving mess that splattered onto the ground, the sound echoing unnaturally loud in the narrow confines of the alley.

The taste of bile was a bitter, metallic tang on my tongue, a visceral reminder of the lives I had just ended, the countless timelines I had helped to erase, all in the name of some twisted, convoluted plan that was meant to save everyone.

A shudder ran through me, not just from the physical exertion of vomiting, but from the cold, hard implications of my actions. Tens of billions, I thought, the number a crushing weight on my chest, a mountain of souls that I had helped to extinguish.

Kirin, that manipulative, arrogant bastard, had told me, each time erasing the revelation from my memory, that erasing timelines was a necessary evil, a way to starve the Prime Devourer of fuel.

He claimed it was to prevent the devourer from using those timelines once it awoke, or arrived, or whatever the hell it was doing.

He'd never been clear about the Prime Devourer's location, or even if it was sealed. He spoke of it as if it was some kind of force of nature, something that could not be stopped, only contained.

But there had to be a better way than killing billions! Maybe, just maybe, undoing the doom and getting more help would be better? M

aybe, if we were strong enough, we could go back and save those worlds, those people, those lives? Maybe, if we were strong enough, we could actually fight back and win.

I pushed myself to my feet, my body trembling, not just from the sickness, but from the sheer weight of my own thoughts, my own guilt.

I looked down at the pair of swords at my hip, the smooth, dark hilts cool against my skin, a tangible reminder of the two women I needed to protect so that they could protect me. Anna and Jessa, my two anchors in this chaotic mess, the only reason I was willing to wade through this sea of blood and despair. They were the reason I was doing this, the reason I was willing to risk everything.

I had a concrete goal now, a path to follow, a purpose that was not dictated by Kirin's manipulations.

First, I needed to find a new enchanter, a real one this time, someone who wasn't a charlatan or a puppet of some greater evil. The specialist in enchanting witchery had scammed me on the sealing key's potency last time, that pathetic little trinket that was supposed to help me seal Kirin the last time I remembered what he was actually doing. That was a mistake I couldn't and wouldn't make again, a lesson learned in the blood of countless lives.

Second, I needed to find a way to retain my memories, even after Kirin erased them. I couldn't keep relying on his manipulations to guide me; I needed to be in control of my own fate, my own mind.

Third, I needed to find a way to communicate with Anna and Jessa without Kirin noticing, without his all-seeing eyes and his manipulative whispers. He was too controlling, too manipulative, and I couldn't trust him. He was using us, and I was done being a pawn in his game.

Fourth, I needed to trick Kirin into giving us back our original ages. Being thirteen again was a joke, a pathetic attempt to control us, to make us more pliable, more easily manipulated. Fifth, I needed to trick Kirin into automating the transfers to the dimensions.I was tired of being his puppet, of being yanked around like a ragdoll.

Sixth, I needed to trick Kirin into letting us all go to the same city and timeline, to the same place where we could fight together, where we could protect each other. We were stronger together, and I wouldn't let him separate us again.

With my goals set, a cold, hard determination settled within me, a burning ember of defiance that refused to be extinguished. I walked out of the alleyway, my steps now purposeful, my gaze fixed on the path ahead. The weight of the world still rested on my shoulders, but now it was a weight I was willing to carry, a burden I would not relinquish.

I was not just a tool, I was not just a pawn, I was a force of nature, and I would not be denied. I would find a way to break free from this cycle, to save those I loved, and to make Kirin pay for his manipulations. I would not be a victim, I would not be a tool, I would be the one who changed everything.

The first step was to find that enchanter.

I moved towards the market district, the sounds of the city slowly returning to my ears. The smells of food and spices were a sharp contrast to the stench of the alleyway, a reminder that life, in all its messy glory, continued, even in the face of such horror.

I needed to find a way to navigate this world, to use its resources, and to find the people who could help me. I needed to be smart, I needed to be cunning, and I needed to be ruthless. I was done playing by Kirin's rules. I was done being a pawn in his game. I was going to be the one who changed everything.

I walked down the "Street of the Craftsman," the massive thoroughfare, a chaotic symphony of hammering metal, grinding stone, and the shouts of hawkers trying to peddle their wares. The street was a testament to the city's industry, a place where anything could be made, for a price.

I turned down a smaller side street, the entrance to the witchery quarter, the air immediately growing thick with the scent of incense and something vaguely metallic, like old blood.

I needed a gold coin to pass the guard, a burly man with a perpetually bored expression, to enter the slightly less massive street down the street of another street in the market district, but with the few hundred gold and other denomination coins clinking in my pouch, and the similar hundreds of platinum in my storage amulet, along with my other stolen materials from the times I had stolen resources on my way to my death a bunch of times before this, I definitely had enough.

He grunted as I passed.

I could feel the weight of them as I returned the punch to my belt, a tangible reminder of the lives I had taken on purpose and by accident.

The skills I had acquired in this endless cycle, felt as stolen as the lives that had been cut short.

I examined each building, each shop a potential source of the help I needed.

I entered a few shops that catered to extremely wealthy clients, places where the air itself seemed to shimmer with arcane energy, but each enchanter seemed to either be too busy, too arrogant, or too disinterested to hear out a special order.

Each time I had entered a shop, the attendants looked at me with disdain, their eyes sliding over my worn clothes and my young face, dismissing me as another naive fool with a foolish request.

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I could feel my frustration growing, the weight of my goals pressing down on me. I needed to find someone who would listen.

How hard was it to sell to someone who had money?!

I eventually reached a shop that seemed small, almost insignificant, from the outside, but was surprisingly larger on the inside.

The walls seemed to stretch into the distance, lined with shelves filled with jars of strange ingredients, glowing crystals, and books bound in leather that looked older than time itself.

The air hummed with a subtle energy, a feeling that was both unsettling and strangely comforting. A voice, old and raspy, but with a hint of amusement, broke through my thoughts.

"You seem to be in a rough spot, lad. What do you need from Old Lady Kuu? I won't claim to be the best enchanter, but I will give you what you pay for."

I jumped back in panic, my heart hammering against my ribs. I hadn't felt her approach at all, not even a whisper of movement. I drew my blade, the familiar weight of the Daito a small comfort, and used the technique for surprise attacks directed at me from behind, a technique that Kirin had drilled into me, towards the voice behind me.

The blade slammed against an invisible barrier, a solid, unyielding force that stopped my attack cold.

Shit, I thought, my face flushing with a mix of embarrassment and anger. "Ohohohoh! Jumpy aren't we? Please put the swords away, young man. You must be in some serious trouble for that to be your first reaction to being snuck onto. Come tell granny Kuu all about it."

I turned around, my gaze locking onto a smiling and wrinkled old lady, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Her hands, gnarled and weathered, seemed unnaturally strong, her grip like iron. She was covered in small gems, each one a different color, each one shimmering with an inner light, all sewn into the form of a cloak and dress.

I could tell, even with my limited knowledge of sensing magic, if not using it, that each gem was enchanted with some effect, a subtle hum of power emanating from her very being. Every single facet of the dress was an enchantment, a veritable arsenal of arcane power.

I sheathed my blades, the sound of metal on leather a sharp contrast to the soft hum of the shop, and bowed at a ninety-degree angle, my head lowered in a sign of respect.

"Grandma," I said, my voice sincere, "I am very sorry for entering your store and treating you poorly. I was not thinking clearly." I remained there in my bow for a few moments, my muscles aching, and Kuu visibly nodded in my peripheral vision, a small, almost imperceptible movement.

"I can forgive you," she said, her voice still raspy but now with a hint of kindness, "Now, tell me why a store that only appears when a great need of a cataclysmic weight, appeared to you, a small child of thirteen?"

The bell above the door rang, a sharp, insistent sound that cut through the silence. I looked up, bewildered, and saw Anna, her face tear-streaked, her violet hair a mess, standing in the doorway. "What?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, my mind reeling.

"What?" Anna added, her mouth wide in astonishment, her silver eyes mirroring my own confusion and astonishment.

"Well, this is interesting," the old woman declared, her voice now laced with a hint of something else besides amusement, something that I couldn't quite place, but that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Her laughter was kind of grating now.

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!”

Old Lady Kuu's words and laughter hung in the air, heavy with implications that I couldn't fully grasp. "The fact that you know each other, entered from different cities, and even different versions of the same world, but your souls are of ones who love each other - despite having no chance of meeting under any circumstances, now, this is something even more interesting than me escaping the Prime Devourer and locking myself in here."

Her eyes, ancient and knowing, glittered with an unsettling amusement. "So I'm assuming you're the next two champions against the incoming threat. Which, I'm almost certain, should arrive in two years if not for the temporal interference. If it remains, we will have about five hundred. Now, ignore an old lady's rambling. Tell me your stories. They should be very interesting."

Unlikely didn't even begin to cover it.

Every single piece of information we just confirmed via action or word, to be true from each end was ludicrous, and all three of the people in the room had said things that, under normal circumstances would all get us sent to the funny farm-

And yet, this whole situation was equally ludicrous. So, I started speaking, my voice a bit rough.

"It all started when Anna, I, and another girl we know were conscripted..."

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It took a few hours, and a lot of glossing over timelines that I either forgot or didn't make much progress in, but she got the gist of it. I talked about the endless loops, Kirin's training, the devourers, the constant death, and the ever-present feeling of despair.

I left out the part where I had become a murderer of billions, and the part where I had almost lost myself to the darkness. I couldn't bear to think about that, not yet.

But given the context, she clearly understood.

"Don't bother trying to seal him," she said, her voice cutting through my rambling. "Nothing you do will work in that regard. Preventing him from destroying timelines is doable, though. That expression of time-space magic can be stopped. I'll make something for that, right quick." She waved her hand dismissively, as if she was talking about making a cup of tea, not stopping a god-like entity from destroying reality.

"Just hide it somewhere in his prison realm when you are done here." She began to move around her shop, her movements surprisingly swift for someone her age, gathering materials from the shelves with a practiced ease.

"I'll make you a trio of rings, ones that can have more than one enchantment. First ones going on there are a sort of telepathy I call scouts communication. Can't eavesdrop on that. We'll make this place a secondary nexus for when you enter a timeline. Need something for memory redundancy, but I don't have a shade-dragon's eye, so we'll have to find one. Good. Good."

She declared, her voice a mix of excitement and determination. She was a whirlwind of activity, her hands moving with a speed that belied her age, and I could feel the power radiating off of her in waves.

Anna just stared while looking baffled at the entire situation and I realized I hadn't worn guest slippers for eighteen years, plus however long I've been traveling destructively through time and space. The soft, plush material felt strange against my feet, a reminder of a life I had long since left behind.

"CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY ANY OF THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?!" Anna shouted, her voice echoing off the shelves of enchanted ingredients, the sound a raw, unfiltered expression of her frustration and confusion.

Her silver eyes, usually so sharp and focused, were wide with a mixture of bewilderment, aggravated confusion, and anger. "What the hell is going on here? Why are we in the same timeline? I had just figured out what kirin was doing and- and why are we all suddenly in some crazy old lady's shop?! This isn’t even the market!"

Old Lady Kuu chuckled, a low, wheezing sound that seemed to vibrate through the very floorboards of the shop.

"Sweety, please keep your voice down," she said, her tone surprisingly gentle despite her words, "It's happening because the whole situation is screwed, and you two and your plus one elsewhere are in deep shit. Now just leave it to old granny Kuu and we can handle this step by step. You going from timeline to timeline can't stop me from reuniting you three, oh, and you are both at the mortal limit. So let me help you with that."

Her words were a strange mixture of reassurance and ominous warning.

Mortal limit? I thought, my mind racing. What did that even mean? And what did she mean by ‘plus one elsewhere?’ Was she talking about Jessa?

Before I could even begin to process her words, a sudden, sharp pain exploded in my stomach, like a fist slamming into my gut. It was followed by a wave of intense heat that spread through my body, a feeling that was both agonizing and exhilarating.

I stumbled back, my hands flying to my stomach, but the pain was quickly replaced by something else, something far more powerful. It was like a dam had burst inside me, unleashing a torrent of raw, untamed energy that coursed through my veins, a feeling that was both terrifying and intoxicating.

I could feel three different ‘flavors’ of energy, each one distinct and powerful. Did flavors of energy make sense? Probably not, but that's what it felt like. One was a cold, sharp steel, another was a warm, comforting light, and the third was a chaotic, unpredictable storm.

The feeling was overwhelming, too much to contain, and my vision began to blur. I could see Anna collapsing in the corner of my eye, her body crumpling to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

The last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me was Old Lady Kuu's face, a knowing smile playing on her lips as she looked down at me with an expression that was both amused and strangely sorrowful.