While Miko was retraining himself, the trio of Hina, Ace, and Sora were standing face to face with someone they never thought they would meet under such circumstances.
“Yo.”
Aeon Dragna appeared in the secret base of Renacido.
“I was assigned with the task of making you three strong enough to walk side by side with my little cousin.”
“The Gremlin, Aeon Dragna.”
The three distances themselves and took a fighting stance. Aeon smirked.
“It seems you three have heard of me.”
He sat on a nearby sofa and crossed his legs while leaning back.
“Come on, relax. I’m here to help you out.”
“You’re the one who caused the whole conflict between Miko and Luka.”
“So? Thanks to me those two are closer than ever. Also, the three clans are finally united again through Miko. I did nothing wrong if you look at the results.”
The trio still glared at him. This caused him to sigh.
“Looks like I made more people hate me again. I wonder why it’s always like this despite everything I do is for the benefit of others?”
He mumbled.
“Well, whatever. I’ll just do what I was tasked to do as always.”
He snapped his fingers. A clock suddenly appeared under the trio’s feet.
“What?!”
Before they could escape, the hands of the clock halted and they became motionless.
“Now then….”
He stood up with a smile on his face.
“Let the training begin.”
Location unknown, Hina was alone frozen in place with a clock under her feet.
*Tick!*
The hands of the clock started moving again.
“!”
Hina was able to move again and the clock under her feet disappeared.
“Where am I?”
She looked around. She was standing on a cliff overlooking an endless canyon.
“Ace! Sora! Where are you?!”
She screamed while looking around.
“Where the hell am I?!”
“Calm down, your brothers are fine.”
Aeon appeared out of nowhere.
“Gremlin!”
She glared at Aeon with bloodshot eyes.
“Where are Ace and Sora?!”
“They’re here standing in that very same spot as you.”
“Then why can’t I see them?”
“That’s because they’re in a different timeline from you.”
“What?”
“They’re standing where you’re standing, but they’re doing it in a different timeline or rather a parallel world.”
Hina’s face was painted with confusion.
“It’ll make sense if I explain to you what my ability is.”
Aeon snapped his fingers and a floating clock appeared over his head.
“I have an Inborn Ability called Fool’s Time or that’s what my grandfather named it anyway. It isn’t as impressive as your Inborn abilities, but it does increase my aptitude for Time Magic, so I guess it’s amazing in its own right….Then again, Time Magic is extremely rare and manuals on how to train it are hard to come by. So if I wasn’t born into a powerhouse like the Dragna clan which can obtain these manuals, then my ability would be worthless…..Mhm, I’m pretty lucky aren’t I?”
Ignoring Aeon’s mumbling Hina started to understand the situation after hearing what type of magic he was using.
“You separated us by using the laws of time and space.”
“There you go.”
“What have you done?! Now we can’t interact with each other!”
“Calm down. I’m not almighty or all that powerful. There’s no way I can really put you in different timelines.”
Aeon looked around.
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“This space is my own creation. As long you’re in here, you’ll only exist on the timeline I wish for you to exist. But there’s a catch. I can only control the time of those weaker than myself. In other words, all you need to do to reunite is to surpass me.”
“Do you know how long that will take?! You’re the infamous Gremlin.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not the Aeon you know. I’m merely a copy of him when he was 19. This me had yet to gain international acclaim and was only a normal teen.”
Hina looked confused again. Even so, “Aeon” continued.
“All you need to do to leave this place is to surpass Gremlin when he was your age.”
******
*Bam!*
In the canyon inside Aeon’s world, explosions rang out nonstop. The sides of the canyon started crumbling under the force of the blast, creating dust clouds in the canyon.
“Whew~.”
Aeon was seen flying out of the dust cloud with a smile on his face.
“Get back here, you bastard!”
Sora flew out of the dust screaming at the top of his lungs. He quickly caught up to Aeon and thrust his palm forward.
“Resound!”
An invisible force rushed out of his palm and chased after Aeon, who simply pushed his palm forward like Sora.
*Bam!*
The two’s palms clashed and caused an explosive sound to ring out.
“Ugh?!”
Sora was blown back. He crashed into the side of the canyon so hard his body was embedded into it.
“Heads up!”
Sora looked up and saw Aeon’s foot aiming at his head.
*Bam!*
An invisible force rushed out of Sora’s body and allowed him to break free. He leaped out of the way and avoided Aeon’s foot.
“Good reflexes.”
Sora heard Aeon’s voice behind him and spun around only to get kicked under the chin. His brain was rattled. His consciousness started to fade. His body was being propelled back but Aeon grabbed his leg before he flew back too far. He slammed Sora into the canyon side and let him fall to the ground.
“Ugh…”
Sora groaned as he lay on the canyon floor.
“Hey, stop being stubborn already, and let me train you.”
Aeon landed on a nearby boulder and sat on it.
“I already know what you need to improve upon and what weaknesses you need to overcome. So what’s the problem?”
“I…I refuse to take advice from someone who separates me from my family.”
Sora struggled to his feet.
“As I said, I did it to motivate you all. I acknowledge the love you guys have for each other won’t lose to blood-related siblings. That’s why I knew if you have the goal of reuniting, you’ll do everything to achieve that goal and push past your limits.”
Sora popped up in front of Aeon throwing a punch. Aeon caught it with ease and then threw him over his head where he crashed into the other side of the canyon.
“But all three of you have done nothing but attack me recklessly.”
He stood up and faced Sora who was once again charging at him. Sora tapped his headphones.
“4th Tempo!”
His speed had an explosive increase which made his figure almost impossible to track with the naked eye. He popped up in front of Aeon with his wrists placed together with his palms open.
“Sonar Cannon!”
*BAM!*
An overwhelming force was fired at Aeon’s face which caused the boulder he was standing on to reduce to dust.
“Like I said…”
Sora’s face was suddenly grabbed. Aeon remained unharmed after Sora’s attack.
“Stop attacking and listen!”
Aeon lifted Sora by his face and slammed his head into the ground so hard that the earth burst open.
“……”
Sora’s body laid out on the ground with his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
“Stubborn brats.”
******
In a different timeline, Aeon sighed and looked down on Ace who was laid out on the ground.
“The three of them are too stubborn. If they just listened then they wouldn’t have to suffer like this.”
“O-Of course, we aren’t going to listen…You idiot!”
Ace started struggling to his feet with blood flowing from the various wounds on his body.
“First. you put our friend through a terrible experience and then played it off by saying that the results were good, so the means aren’t important.”
He fell down every time he tried to stand up but still kept trying.
“Then you kidnapped us when we didn’t listen to you and brought us to this place, where we can’t interact with each other.”
After trying so many times he finally stood up straight, with blood flowing down his face. He gritted his teeth a shouted.
“Who the hell would listen to someone who views people as nothing more than toys to do your bidding?!”
He pointed at Aeon.
“Who the hell do you think you are, you son of a bitch?! People aren’t your playthings! We’re humans just like you, so treat us that way!”
“……”
Aeon looked at Ace in silence as he collapsed and fell back to the ground.
*******
“…….”
“What’s wrong?.... Aren’t you going to attack?”
Hina asked while covered in injuries and breathing heavily. She had just attacked Aeon and got a clean hit for once but it didn’t take him down, so she expected a harsh retaliation but it never came.
“No, it’s just something one of your brothers said in a different timeline while fighting another me….It got me thinking.”
“Let me guess, they scold you for your behavior.”
“That’s right. He said people have feelings too and that they’re human like me and whatnot. I already knew this. It’s because I’m human I know how to manipulate other humans to do as I please. It’s because they have feelings that I can take advantage of them. Everything he said is common knowledge.”
“If so, then why are you thinking so much about it?”
“I wonder….”
(This guy….There’s something off about him….)
Hina thought to herself.
“I guess it’s time to change tactics.”
Aeon sat down on the ground which caught Hina off guard.
“Attack me all you want to release your pent-up frustrations.”
“Say what?”
“You’re angry at me, right? I’m giving you a chance to vent. Maybe after that, we can come to an understanding.”
“…….”
Hina didn’t know how to respond. It was true she wanted to kick his ass, but beating him without him retaliating at all doesn’t sound right.
“What’s wrong?”
“….As I thought, you’re weird. Why else would you propose such a thing?”
“I simply wish to come to an understanding so that we can begin our training. Is that weird?”
“Your goal isn’t but your methods are.”
“Really? They seem the most efficient if you look at it from a logical point of view.”
“Ah, I get it now. I think I’m beginning to understand how your mind works.”
“I doubt that. Even if you do, that doesn’t mean you understand the present me, the Gremlin’s mind.”
“Aren’t you the same person?”
Aeon shook his head.
“I’m Aeon Dragna at age 19. The Aeon Dragna you know is Aeon at age 40. A person can change in one day so imagine 20 years. So trying to understand me is futile.”
Hina sat down as well.
“I don’t think so. While it’s true that people change with time, their core will always remain the same. So understanding you will allow me to take the first step in understanding the Gremlin.”
“Wait a minute. When did this turn into a session to understand me? I’m the one trying to train you all here.”
“How do you expect me to accept training from someone I know nothing about?”
Hina pointed at him.
“If you want us to accept you we must first get to know you!”
*******
“Looks like 19-year-old me is having trouble.”
In the real world, Aeon was in the royal palace watching himself interact with the trio.
“Ah, teenage Aeon. At that age you were a very awkward person.”
Behind him stood Alec, who was also watching what was going on.
“Doesn’t it make you cringe watching your old self?”
“On the contrary. Watching my old self makes me understand how much I’ve changed and helped me gain a new appreciation for growth.”
Aeon answered.
“At this age, I was still trying to understand humanity through my father. I thought that his way was the correct way and tried to be like him, but I failed to realize that I was trying to understand someone that doesn’t follow logic and ended up unable to understand humans on a spiritual level. I only felt alienated from them.”
“And it’s different now?”
“Nope. But I’ve learned to take pleasure in my alienation.”
Aeon laughed.
“Besides, you’re the one I feel sorry for, Mr. Millennium Genius. Always in the spotlight, carrying the hopes and dreams of his peers, being seen as the leader of his generation. I’m glad I don’t have to experience such pressure.”
Alec smiled in response and continued to listen to Aeon.
“I was never called a genius or a prodigy and everyone naturally didn’t expect anything good from me because of who my father was. I was free of all pressure and expectations. Because of that, I’m free to fail as much as I want and free to become anything I want.”
“I know, I’m jealous of your freedom.”
That was Alec’s only response.
(But you know, Aeon. If there’s one thing I’m not jealous of is that eerie feeling you give off. That sensation where it feels like you might stray from the path of sanity and never return.)
“Hm? What is it?”
Aeon asked after Alec placed his hand on his head.
“Nothing, I just felt like doing it.”
“Is that so?”
Aeon continued to watch his past interact with and attempt to train the trio.
“Now then, let’s see how this will turn out.”