Kaid could feel it the second everything returned to normal. However, he knew after what he had just done there was no returning to a sense of normalcy. The entire Continent, the universe of stars above them, everything around him had been displaced after his reversal of time. In order to save his world, the world around him would pay the price. And his body along with it.

The moment of pulling back took him right back to the moment Bridger had taken him back to Vitross, after the temporary distraction to pull him away to Blackrock Island. He could sense the wonder from Bridger's body language alone, but before the portalist could demand answers as to the last half-hour of time, Kaid had collapsed to his knees in pain. He clutched his side, feeling the burning of a thousand nerves and neurons, followed by an overwhelming surge of heaviness. His blood felt almost solidified, his lungs heaving as if there was a large weight in his chest, along with a numbness spreading from his fingers up his arm.

"Shit. Shit shit shit!" Bridger spoke in a panic, running over to Kaid to adjust him. Bridger helped him lean against the wall, seeing in the Guardian's eyes alone the amount of pain he was in. Kaid closed his eyes, almost hoping it had been a mere dream, but his nightmare had come true. Except, it wasn't as horrifying as he thought it was. The pain was unbearable. But he knew it was his life only to forfeit, possibly saving the lives of Kiev and Mara, and most of all, Jessamine. His only fear was thinking he might die here never knowing if his plan succeeded.

"What did you do?" Bridger asked, "You-"

"Probably something I shouldn't have done," Kaid coughed, the sound of it wet possibly from the blood in his lungs, "Yet, I had to do it."

Bridger knew what that had meant. Kaid had known the consequences of this decision, a pinnacle choice that could end it all for him. Time could ravage, but Kaid knew it could also create time with manipulation. The glimpses of his past were just enough encouragement to step forward into sacrifice. After all, everyone around him seemed to sacrifice a bit for him, the least he could do was offer them another chance.

"We need to find Cadize, I'm sure he can find a way to stop this-"

"Jessamine...you need to find her, make sure she is okay..." Kaid muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"She will die. Or...she did. I suppose it never happened but still could happen," he explained, knowing to him it sounded much more confusing than it probably was. The blinks of time could be seconds, but also years. Kaid could swear he could still feel the remnants of his mother's comforting arms around him. Or the softness of Jessamine's lips against his cheek. Now, he felt nothing but cold.

"You gave her a second chance, I doubt she wasted it. Finding Cadize is my priority now," Bridger affirmed, knowing there was just about nothing he could do if he did in fact walk into that palace room. If Jessamine lost, it meant facing Payne and this sacrifice was for nothing. If Jessamine won, surely she'd find her way back here. She was always meant to find her way back to him, because it was the first time her heart felt any sense of direction when met him.

Bridger stood up before Kaid could protest, glancing around worriedly for a second as if upset about leaving him here alone. But someone needed to go get help, and the man was eager to run down the halls in hopes of seeing someone. And luckily, it didn't seem long before someone reprieved him. Kaid blinked the pain and sweat away, the exertion against his pain only making it more unbearable. But he had to fight. He couldn't succumb to his inevitable fate. Cadize had warned him to not do it again, not even for a second. If a second was a droplet of death, this had become a wave crash of annihilation, all to prevent one.

Kassandra ran over with urgency, her fingers resting on the pulse of his arm and the other hand brushing his hair aside, wondering if he was even alive, if she could see those brown eyes once more.

"Kaid, can you hear me?" she asked, seeing him nod slightly, "Cadize is going to get help. Christine is going to the main hall. You don't have to be alone, I'm here. How do you feel? Can you talk? Don't if it hurts." Her voice was shaky, even if she tried to swallow it down. Whether it was just anxiety from the unknown reversal of time, or having to watch her friend suffer in front of her, maybe even both...the stoic woman who hardly showed emotions was clearly showing it now.

"I feel...desecrated," Kaid swallowed, unsure of where he conjured the term, "I stole time back, in return, time stole something from me."

"Time always likes to steal something. You're the first person to steal something from it," Kassandra mused softly, kneeling closer to take his hand into hers, "time likes to steal our memories, our thoughts, our souls. You prevented that from happening today."

"I couldn't protect Jess-"

"You protected all of us. You always have, and no matter what happens you always will. You're the Lord Protector of Vitross, Guardian of the Empress, and most of all, you are Kaid Al-Yami, the man who prevented the usurping of not just a kingdom but the rest of this world as well. Now, it's our turn to try and protect you."

"I don't think I'm ready to die," Kaid swallowed the words. He didn't feel ready. Most people didn't until they felt a fulfilled life. There could have been so much more ahead of him, so much he didn't see. In his efforts to go back, he also tried to reach forward, to gather a glimpse of it even if it only came in his dreams. There was nothing he could see. Darkness never felt so terrifying to him.

"You're not going to die," Kassandra affirmed, but there was a crack in her voice, a tear forcing its way from her eye to slowly trail down her face, "keep your eyes on me, don't you dare let them close."

He couldn't die. What would this place do without him? How could she and Christine share their breakfast together with an empty chair? She'd never be able to look at the library the same way again. Any acts of goodness towards the citizens and orphans would always make her feel a sting in his honor. He couldn't die. Cadize would come here and fix it all, just like always.

Footsteps of urgency echoed the halls, Kassandra glancing over her shoulder to see Christine arriving first, followed by the beloved sight of their Empress. She was alive. And by the speckles of blood on her dress, their enemy didn't share that same fate. Jessamine's blue eyes of worry scanned Kaid's body before meeting his own eyes, seeing them widen with relief. She should hate him. He had hurt her, most of all, betrayed her, just as she had to him. Her lies did not deserve him nearly killing her in response. And she should just stand there and watch him suffer.

But she immediately ran to his side, taking over for Kassandra. Jessamine tucked in behind him, keeping him raised against her, her arms wrapping around him, feeling the surge of heat and inflammation on his skin. Kaid could feel the warmth of her shaky breath on his neck. He could smell the faintest aroma of her perfume. He could feel her fingers gently probing to find the source of his pain. Most of all, he felt the fearfulness of his fate begin to fade when in her arms.

"I'm here. I'm here for you," were her first whispered words, a mix of confidence but also worry. The last thing she could fathom would be to gain such an important second chance of life, but have to do so without him. She couldn't do this without him. He was her cornerstone, and the entirety of her structure would collapse without him holding it all together.

Her fingers pulled at the hem of his kaftan, revealing his mocha skin to be littered in dark spots of internal bleeding. Christine sobbed at the sight, Kassandra's face growing pale, and Jessamine froze in fear. She could feel the tears already prick her ocean eyes, but she knew the only thing she could do right now was be strong for him. It was the least he deserved. His eyes were lidded, glancing softly as he could watch the way Jessamine's sandy red hair shrouded his shoulder. He didn't glance at his wounds, so Jessamine tenderly pulled the kaftan back down, giving a reaffirming touch.

If she had to lie to him one last time, so be it.

"You're going to be alright, Cadize is on his way. Kaid, say something to me," she whispered the demand into his ear, as if she needed him to keep awake.

"I'm sorry..." he replied, his hand moving down his torso to overlap her own. His fingers laced with hers, feeling just how tight her hand bonded with his own. She gripped it with fear, which made him begin to accept this reality he feared. But this reality was so much better than that of his nightmare. If one had to die, he had to be glad it was him. Jessamine deserved nothing but another chance to be who she always wanted to be.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, you wonderful, beautiful man," Jessamine almost laughed, although it came out almost more like a choked sob, "You did the impossible. I won't let you pay the price for our mistakes, for my mistakes. You're going to be okay. You have to be okay. You're the very reason everything is okay."

"J-Jess...you have to promise me something," he whispered, feeling his throat tighten not from blood but from his own tears of sorrow.

"Anything. I will do anything for you," she answered immediately, the same way he had done for her countless times. She would promise him anything.

"Be the person you've always wanted to be. Be the person I fell in love with, that I still love. Embrace your powers, but also embrace the fact you can do so much without them too," he wheezed, feeling the comfort of her fingers tangling in his hair, and also her tears falling to his skin like the blessing of rain in a drought, "and whatever you do...don't stop playing piano. Compose those songs and stories you always wanted to. I'm forever grateful to have been your muse." Not just in music, but in life. Life was a symphony, a disjointed one at that, but sometimes all it took was the adjusting of time to make perfection.

She couldn't withhold the tears and shakiness in her foundation at those words. She couldn't be strong for him at that moment and Kaid knew that. He didn't need her to be. She had been strong for him this entire time, protecting him even amidst shadows, even if it meant lying. All of it was to protect him. She wasn't the only one who got a new life, a second chance. The pain in her chest couldn't have been comparable to his, that of a more physical nature. But Divines...to feel a pain like this with him in her arms, she knew that it meant the love was anything but ordinary. The love was real because so was this pain.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"I promise," she answered, nodding in belief, glancing up briefly at her friends around her who all held the same sorrow. She wouldn't have known them, as deeply as she did now, without Kaid. She wouldn't have gotten to know herself and her limits, know the depths of her character and demise. She had found the person to cling to, just enough to climb out of the trenches of life. And now she could finally see the sky, only for it all to feel like it was falling around her like comets of ruin. Everything was falling apart, and all of it was in her arms.

"You'll always be my muse, Kaid. Gods, how much I love to love you. How much I love you..." she sniffled, leaning close to kiss his neck, closing her eyes tightly to let the tears fall without hesitation.

Cadize came running over, fear in his eyes. The moment he had been flushed back to half an hour prior, knowing that there had been fighting and destruction, he knew what had happened. He knew he had given Kaid the tool, the elixir to do it all, but he hadn't expected him to undo it. Kaid had heeded his advice, but also his warning along with it. By now, Kaid's breathing was faltering, soft wheezes or whines escaping his lips with each shiver of pain. Cadize pulled the kaftan up to take a glance himself, but when he glanced back at Jessamine, she could see his own tears form behind the glint of his glasses.

Jessamine couldn't avoid her temptation, entering the doctor's mind, but he was already awaiting her trespass. All to remain quiet to those around them.

These wounds run deep, there is not one source to his pain but many. I can try my best, Empress. The best I can do for him if I fail is to numb his pain.

Jessamine nodded, exhaling sharply but it whistled like a whimper in the cold air, her fingers that held his beginning to shake. Cadize laid his hands on Kaid's afflictions, starting at his lower stomach. Kaid's dazed pain seemed to slow, his quiet noises of pain fading, but his breathing still remained slow. When his soft brown eyes opened, he glanced up at Jessamine, seeing her only smile down at him. Her lips held this romantic assurance. Her eyes, however, spoke the truth, just as they always could. Jessamine could not hide anything with those beautiful eyes, the pages in which her story was written on.

"What's it like....on the other side?" he asked, closing his eyes once more, hoping to never open them so he could have her smile be the last thing he witnessed. He wanted it ingrained in his mind, branded into his soul like hot iron, her signature to forever be on him like permanent ink.

"Hm..." she still smiled, her hand falling from his hair to cup his cheek to find the perfect answer, "like home. Whatever, wherever, that is for you. That's what it feels like." And she wasn't lying. That's what it felt like, sailing an never ending ocean, despite the tears that had run down her face. It was oddly comforting when it happened. Yet not as comforting when she realized those waves and the breeze in her hair had turned in reverse.

"What a relief..." Kaid smiled, feeling his strength fading, the darkness finally beginning to take hold, "it won't feel any different from this."

From those words, everything fell silent. He couldn't hear sobs amidst smiles, feel the tether of her fingers in his. The pain was gone. There was an emptiness around him, but not that of loneliness, merely a void. And when his eyes opened, the same vaulted ceilings where there, infused with a dark hue of violet. He lurched up, finding his body to be in the same place it was, but those around him had vanished like they had turned into dust.

There was no wind, no cold, nothing. The feeling, or rather lack of, could frighten anyone. Yet it felt so familiar to Kaid. Whenever Kaid had gotten a grasp of time, it had felt like this, a temporary vacuum. Only this seemed a bit more permanent. The walls and halls were familiar, but also weren't. They were tainted in time, that violet, purplish hue overtaking the black columns or red carpets. He was able to stand up on his two feet, not feeling any strain or struggle in doing so.

This was the beginning of time. It was also the end of time. Kaid was pulled into a void where time existed but also didn't. The time here could pass like centuries but on the outside not last a glimmer of a second. It was the birthplace of his Oblivion. His control of time had been a window, and this was its living quarters, its universal domain. This was the place of his comfort through all the darkness, the safety net through all his dangers, and the foundation of his own existence.

Many viewed death as descending. When coffins were lowered into the ground or sunk at sea, they were gone. Their blood would seep into the earth to water the plants of the future. Yet, Kaid felt this to be more of an ascension, a path into a place he finally had entrance to, a power to possess that he always had but never had the guidance to show it. Somehow, it was over yet felt far from it.

"You're not supposed to be here...not yet," a surprised yet soft voice spoke into the vacuum, the first sound he had heard in the quietness of nothing. Kaid turned towards the direction of a familiar voice, only familiar to him now before that memory was stolen from him.

Farah Al-Yami stood before him, a bewildered yet proud smile on her lips.

And all Kaid could was laugh bittersweetly, finally smiling at the sight of his comfort. Despite all the comfort and love that seemed to radiate in that void upon the sight of his mother, Kaid knew one thing and one thing alone from her words.

It seemed far from over.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One Year Later

He clenched his muscles as two strong hands gripped his forearms so tightly he thought they'd squeeze all the blood from his arms in an implosion. The guards dragged him across the staggered and broken wooden floors of his old barn. The hay by now was dried out and rotten, the air as heavy as the day he had left this place. Cattle no longer roamed these pastures the same as flowers and produce refused to bloom in this soil. Tainted. This place was haunted worse than a graveyard in his soul.

"Unhand me!" he shouted, finally feeling them begin to do so as he was shoved forward. When his eyes shot up, the tension in his muscles froze before easing into wonder. And most of all: dread.

"At ease, he is no threat," Vrah commanded to his guards, nodding at them to dismiss themselves. Inside this haunted old barn were three: an Emperor, his son, and a stranger.

The man immediately fell to his knees, bowing at the sight. Bashir only laughed softly, his frailty noticeable in the scratch of his throat, but he looked just as strong as ever. Or at least how the statues or paintings in Lungor portrayed him as such.

"Rise, my boy. You do not bow before your ruler," Bashir smiled weakly.

"I...I don't understand, why did you bring me here? Why are you here?" he rose from his spot, refusing to glance around at his old home, "I'm merely a farmer-"

"You were a farmer, Paul Anderson. I don't see a farm here," Vrah interrupted him, "But we both know there's more to you than that, isn't there? And that Paul Anderson is a poor choice of an alias."

Paul took a step back, mostly just out of shock, "I don't know what you're talking about." Sweat dripped down his neck to his spine, the wetness from his scalp pooling that blonde hair and turning it shades of sandy brown.

"We know who you are, Alexander Kruzika, or rather, Alec. We've known for quite some time, so you can drop the act," Bashir explained, calmly, in control as always.

Alec's eyes darkened slightly, humming a bit in reply. He always knew perhaps one day he would be caught. For a while, he thought he had gotten away from it all. He had forgotten his life in Vitross, escaped it all for a small farm at the edges of Lungor and had lived in peace for merely a decade. That was all before the incident, the annihilation and destruction of his life. A moment he could never forgive.

"How long? How long has my mirage been noticed?" Alec asked, straightening his posture like any royal figure should in the presence of others. There could no longer be a humble farmer in the presence of a man who was once destined to be his enemy. Yet he had hid in his lands for so long, thinking he went undetected.

"There were a few suspicions in our court for a few years, a few tax collectors who felt a bit of familiarity with you. Very rare to see a bit of blonde wild hair in these parts. But it was only finalized a year ago when your actions solidified it all. And those actions have gathered our attention," Vrah answered, smiling softly, as if there was a bit of a bittersweet notion in meeting a potential, future, brother-in-law.

Alec nodded, scoffing slightly as if he should've known. The second his life had ended, when everything was taken from him, he knew he had acted recklessly. And reckless acts always gathered rather unwanted attention. Yet, they weren't here to punish him, to leverage him as they would have years ago upon finding his existence in their kingdom. No. They wanted something.

"What do you want?" he asked, politely, knowing there was no room here for malice. Even after all the inner fighting between them and his family, Alec held no ill will towards them. If anything, he was grateful even if they had their suspicions of him, they hadn't intervened. Not until now.

"A job offer-"

"And if I refuse?" Alec questioned, knowing it was nearly impossible to refuse an Emperor, even if Alec held no loyalty to him. He held loyalty to Vitross, or rather, he used to. He didn't know what kind of loyalty he had for the person who sat on that throne presently.

"We don't believe it is an offer you will refuse. However, if you choose to do so, we will act like we never spoke, like we never knew you existed," Vrah spoke with confidence.

Alec hesitated for a moment, knowing that they fervently believed it was an offer so tempting that he couldn't resist. They must know what he wants, or rather, who he wants. Yet, it was impossible. The world had changed so much since that day. Not just for Alec but for others as well. It always felt like the Continent was never the same, that the air was different, water tasted tainted, or even the flatness of the earth was tilted. But, Alec nodded, waiting to hear their proposition.

"We know you've been hunting down the remaining Caladin convicts, we know you can trace their Oblivions. While we never asked you to do that, we are grateful for your service to this empire. We will compensate you for your duty, regardless of your choice today. We offer you funds, staffing, intelligence, weapons...whatever you need to hunt the remaining fugitives down."

"That seems far too much resources and power to give to a tracker..."

"But you're not just a tracker, are you? Every convict you haven't killed, merely returned to Lungor guards or left unconscious in the streets...all of them no longer have Oblivion," Bashir smiled, the mastermind behind this plot, "we know you can not only sense Oblivion, track it...but you have the power to remove it. And we want you to remove one man's Oblivion, permanently, forever."

"Who?"

"Kaid Al-Yami."

"Impossible, he's-"

"He's not," Vrah interrupted, much to Alec's surprise, "while he was presumed dead, we now learn he has been in a comatose state for quite some time. And we now learn the possible location he might be, thanks to your sister. If he remains in such a state, it should be easy to remove his powers, should he ever wake up."

Kaid Al-Yami, the man who destroyed Alec's life, the man who took everything from him. Alec had given up all hope of vengeance, instead taking it out on the pitiless criminals Kaid had released from Caladin, all the rapists, murderers, and terrorists alike. Each kill or stealing of their Oblivion did not satisfy him. But this...oh this news was a growing hunger, and only Kaid's death would satiate him.

"And my sister...she is not aware of this?" Alec asked. Kaid had become her Guardian, for whatever reason Alec didn't quite understand. Jessamine had never been fond of foreigners, let alone trusting people to be so close. But clearly, Kaid meant a lot to Bashir, which meant his devious sister had somehow used this man as leverage. And while there were rumors Kaid had done all of this to save her life, Jessamine was not the type to blindly give herself to someone. Perhaps she gave Kaid a clean slate, but nothing more.

"She isn't, and it remains to be left as such," Bashir explained, "She remains useful to us, just as we remain useful to her. Should you reappear in her life, I don't think it will cause any permanent issues. Perhaps only temporary, given she still has a bit of fire inside her."

"Your sister...she is dear to me. I promise, we will not hurt her, no matter what," Vrah promised, a softness in his voice, one Alec was all too familiar with his boyhood friends of the past, all the ones who held the biggest crush on his younger sister. Alec ignored the emotions of the man in front of him, his eyes gazing back at Bashir.

"And you need him, alive?"

"Yes. Alive. Remove his Oblivion, and he will no longer be a problem, for anyone."

The faintest Kruzika smirk appeared on his chapped lips. While he did not fathom the idea of ever seeing his sister again, not knowing what his heart may feel, this certainly was an offer he could not refuse. Alec would not rest until this mission was complete. He relished in the idea of Kaid begging for him to not remove his powers, willing to give anything for them, just like most men and women in the past had. They were nothing without their powers. Kaid Al-Yami would be nothing without his powers.

Alec would make Kaid regret the day he had changed the world, the day he had ruined it.

"When do I start?"