Tick, tock.

The Thing That Was Not didn’t look at the clock. Partly because it had no eyes, but mostly because there was no clock. Well, if you wanted to be pedantic there was never and will never be any such thing as a clock, but more specifically there was no material object that may be referred to as a “clock” within the relevant spacetime surrounding and failing to enfold It That Never Existed. In fact, there wasn’t really anything that was material at all, or mental or spiritual or hypothetical or any other sort of –al, because reality preferred to avoid The Ultimate Antithesis and its tendency to narrate itself in the third person. That’s me, by the way. Hi! I don’t know who you are or how you understand this, but I hope you’re having a nice everything. Also, you’re going to die someday.

Tick, Tock.

I hummed with vocal cords I didn’t have. Today was a very special day, you see. They’re going to meet today! Two very precious, very wonderful, and so very unimportant souls are going to smash face first into each other and magically improve both of their lives. Isn’t that great? These two worthless little morsels can screw up everything about themselves and still end up with a happy ending. It’s more beautiful than any mind can comprehend. But I don’t have one. So I understand. So horribly, horribly well.

Tick, Tock.

You see her, up there? The bored little girl, running for her life. Not that she’s in any danger, mind you. No, no. She’s fine. She could walk straight into those fools and emerge unscathed. That charm around her neck could stop a nuke. But still she runs, because what else is she supposed to do? What use is that beautiful, precious, rotting little mind to her? She just needs to flee. To head to that river, where destiny calls her...

Tick, Tock.

And what of him, down there? The boy who is no boy. Oh, I hate him. So much. It’s actually incredible how much he needs a hug. It’s incredible how many people would be willing to give him one. Yet, for some absurd reason, nobody does. And so there he goes, dancing through the city so quick, none notice the miracle he weaves with each step ‘til all that remains is the whisper of the wind in his wake. North, he heads. He never really had a choice.

Tick, Tock.

It’s going to happen. She’s going to slip on one of the rocks. Her charm will protect her, but she still goes over the falls. He’s going to find her at the bottom, unscathed but needing his help to guide her home. Their fates intertwine, as they always have. Soon. So very soon.

Tick, Tock.

We just need to watch. Here, at the end of all that is and the beginning of what will never be, we can see all of it. Future, past, and present. Every choice, every action. The story unfolds before us, started and finished, perfected before we ever laid eyes upon it.

Tick, Tock.

.

.

.

I trip her. Chaos Incarnate cracks her head right against the rock she was supposed to slip on and flushes their perfect future right down the drain along with the blood now spilling from her head. No charm, no god, no fate could stop me.

Tick, Tock.

I never did think perfection was good enough.

******

I dodged an arrow and cut another one out of the air before it could hit the man next to me. A bandit attack, of all things… Does Weeping Moon city not have any security at all? We’re on the main trading road! There’s quite a few of them, too. I’ve killed at least ten so far, with another thirty dead from the caravan guards. There were still far too many of them, at least a hundred and sixty as opposed to our hundred and twenty or so guards. How could mere bandits be so strong as to threaten a large merchant caravan? For a given definition of ‘threaten’, of course. I’m certainly exterminating them easily enough, but that just makes it all the more confusing that nobody more powerful has come forward to stop me. In fact, they were entirely too organized to be just bandits, I considered as I stabbed one in the heart. There weren’t exactly regiments, but I certainly noticed some form of organization and tactics as I spun to dodge a thrust and beheaded the offender. If it were the usual undisciplined riffraff I used to deal with back in the day, either their leader would have charged forward to challenge me or they would have broken and scattered. But no, they’re trying to stall me with bodies while that squad they think I don’t see loots the carts. A few well-aimed daggers could take care of that, but I only have so many and that doesn’t really address the source of the problem. I need to pinpoint the commander- there. He’s very well disguised, even dirtier than the rest of him, but the body language of him and the people nearby belies him. Let’s see... about six feet even. Physically powerful, but unused to hard labor. Right-handed. Sword sheathed on his left hip. Both arms equally muscular. Eyes are brown. Flicking about, but never seem to drop to the ground. An auricular tubercle, neat.

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I have what I need. No point in waiting.

I sprinted in his direction, slaughtering anyone who stood in my way with single, well-placed strikes to vital areas. Unsurprisingly, he appears to have noticed a wave of death headed in his direction. Too late to run, bastard. He appears to agree. With a curse I couldn’t hear but could read on his lips, he drew a blade just before I collided with him. From the first strike, I managed to approximate his strength.

“Oh my, late fifth tier… You seem a bit too strong to be just another bandit, you know?”

“Can it, b-“

I cut him off with a lightning-quick thrust to the sternum. As he parried, I pivoted and used the leverage I gained to rip the sword from his hand into the air. As I prepared to deal the final blow, he smirked at me.

“Falling Leaf Sword!”

He used a martial skill to manipulate his blade in midair, driving it towards the back of my neck from a blind spot I couldn’t see, much less defend from.

What a complete and utter idiot.

I grabbed a small metal ball from my belt and tossed it towards the sword, flash melting it with my qi as I did so. I then proceeded to completely ignore the deadly object flying directly at me while I stabbed him in the chest. A split second later, a limp and incredibly flexible piece of metal flopped against my back and slid off.

“Did you know that upon encountering liquid gallium, aluminum loses all structural integrity through a process known as gallium infiltration?” I smilingly informed my flabbergasted opponent. Did he not expect me to realize he had pulled out a flying sword? I mean, it even had wing designs on it and everything. Low to mid quality flying swords were always made out of reinforced aluminum; it cut down on weight so they could move faster. These orbs cost me about twenty crystals a batch and hadn’t failed me yet. They also, funnily enough, were only about twenty percent gallium. It drove my old squad mates crazy when they tried to copy me until I pointed out that I obviously wasn’t going to tell criminals how I defeated them and that there was plenty more going on behind the scenes. This criminal, at least, very kindly dropped dead from the rather large hole pierced through his heart, so it’s not like he could have passed the knowledge on anyway. Shortly afterwards, the call for retreat went up on the bandit’s side.

Heaving a sigh, I cleaned and sheathed my blade and left to go look for Milady. I know she’s fine- my job is more to prevent kidnappings than anything, and I don’t see any squirming sacks being carried off- but I still worry about her. She wasn’t in her cart, but that was hardly a surprise given how many arrows were lodged in it. The forest it is, then.

“Milady? Milaaaady! You can come out now, the fight’s over...”

I trailed off. Something was wrong. It was entirely possible she couldn’t hear me given that river, of course, and there’s no way she could be harmed with her charm, I just- something was wrong. I felt it in my bones. Faster, faster, I prowled through the forest barely even ruffling the undergrowth on my dash towards... something. What exactly was making me so- a tang wafted through the air.

I smelled blood.

The little forest that remained between me and the source was pulverized as I dashed towards the source. A splatter on a rock, and my lady nowhere to be seen.

“XIANLU!”

******

“Hah… hah… hah…”

I had stopped by a tree to catch my breath. In hindsight, perhaps I panicked and ran a bit too far. I was in the forest outside the city, the same one where I was found as a child. I always seemed to run here when I got nervous. Something about being surrounded by trees and nature helped to calm me down. I always felt at peace surrounded by the wilds instead of civilization, though I had no idea why. It just seemed to be where I belonged. I tilted my head back to breathe in the scent. What came to my nose instead was a horrendous stench.

“Ewwwww…“ I gagged. Apparently, during my latest mad dash to escape from my master, the large hooded cloak I always wore had become covered in sweat.

I sighed. Even though I had worn a cloak of this type for as long as I could remember, I still hated it. It was designed for winter after all; wearing it in all seasons was just asking for disaster. However, I still preferred the cloak to people staring at me. I hate being seen. At least, I think I do. Even Master Byakuya has never seen me without my cloak on. The only thing I let him and everyone else see is my pale face and red eyes. It may as well be the only part of me that exists. Would that it could be true...

While I thought, I decided to follow a stream towards a nearby pool to wash off. It’s formed by a small waterfall and spray tended to obscure sight in the area, so it was where I often went to take a bath without anyone finding me. It also helped that it’s quite a ways off the beaten path, so the chances of someone else being around are virtually none. Plus, the mist was so heavy even I couldn’t see myself. It let me pretend, just the slightest bit...

Having almost reached my destination, I began to undo my cloak strings before freezing. Something was different here. Something that did not belong in my territory. My eyes flicked to the river, barely visible through the trees. A few unnatural ripples. The faintest dash of red. Scattered black strands- my eyes widened. Hair, attached to a head. It was a girl, face down in the water. I was moving to help before my mind got any further than that.

If it had, perhaps I could have noticed the slight tug. Perhaps I may have realized things felt lighter than usual, as if a burden was set down. Perhaps I might have thought I heard snickering, for the briefest of moments...