Alarice – Chapter Two

“Did you say timelines?” Zephyra asked, her one good eye locked on me. It was amazing how intimidating her gaze could be for someone nearly a whole human shorter than my own frame.
 
“No, of course not. I said-” she cut me off. Everyone was cutting me off today.
 
“Don’t bother. I’ve been listening for a while. I saw this… Doppelganger and had to investigate.” she came across as calm, but I could see it in her expression that she was going through a lot of confusion right now. I don’t blame her, if she had just been listening to our conversation then the guise was over, and she wouldn’t be satisfied with just conjecture.
 
“… Alright. You caught me. Let’s have a talk in private.”
 
I hesitated to process my blunder for a moment, but this was not the first time I’d been caught in the act. That said, it was the first time Zephyra had been the one to do so and the first time I’d had Summer along for the ride. I gestured to an alleyway where we could be discreet, and all of us made our way down in single file. We came to a point where there was a curve in the alley and were completely out of sight before I turned on a heel and bowed, hand over my chest as if greeting a noble.
 
“Thank you for your discretion and your cooperation.” I said, lifting my gaze to meet hers once more as I righted my posture. “I will say that you are correct. I have come from another time to try and save this one.”
 
“And… This is June from the future to?” She asked, sizing the woman up with a pace around her. “What in Camulus’ name happens to her- To you?” At this, Summer smiled and ruffled the girls’ hair.
 
“Let’s leave my history out of this for now, okay? It’ll be easier to explain if we start at the beginning and I am a very late-stage player in this war.”
 
“War?” Zephyra pressed her temples, clearly fatigued already. Still, she wanted answers and she was the most durable woman I’d ever met, timeline unaffected. I knew she could handle what we would tell her but only if we said it correctly.
 
“To begin to understand why I am present in this time period, I must first explain what exactly happened to you back… Well, you were there.” I said, motioning to her eye. She nodded and stayed silent. “What I saved you from was not Arceia per say, but it is a being that seizes control of her body at specific times. This much is understood by you already. The thing is… The specific triggers for this seizure are all related to something that cannot be understood or spoken.”
 
“That sounds familiar, somehow.” she nodded. “Is this related to the things she is studying? Those…Abominations?”
 
“It is central to them, though the methods in which they are related are second-hand still. Even I don’t know the details entirely, but I do know this.” I opened my robe to reveal to her the firearm concealed at my hip, disguised as a small notebook in a square belt pouch. “In my time, weapons such as these are the only things that can penetrate them. They evolved to counter conventional weaponry due to direct war with them. Therefore, I cannot elaborate further on their nature – Doing so would accelerate the rate at which they resist us and cause them to become bolder, faster.”
 
Summer nodded along, and seemed to close her eyes for a moment, arms crossed in what I imagine was reminiscent contemplation. Zephyra noticed this and sized her up again, this time I noticed a pink flush to her cheeks as she was doing so.
 
“June really grows up to be a looker.” she commented, snapping Summer out of her daze with a dismissive laugh.
 
“W-well, thanks and all, but-” I cut her off.
 
“Back on topic, these Abominations in my time are not wild beasts… They are helmed by a mastermind. What we understand about their biology is limited even in the distant future, but what we do know is the share a common wavelength of magic in their minds – each one is biologically the same regardless of size, shape or power. Knowing this, we can determine that the mastermind behind them is likely a queen of some sort – And the Abominations like a hive of wasps.”
 
“Hivemind… And the inability to recall them unless you can directly see them…” Zephyra was putting it together in front of me, that brilliant detective instinct of hers that would cultivate in positive trending futures showing at the forefront. “If we use what you say, the random assault on farmland outside Magnum makes no sense. They operate in service to a queen, so what purpose does a queen have in attacking one unmentionable farm?”
 
“Exactly.” I nodded along. “The attack on the farm was bait, specifically to lure someone there. But that’s not all. Summer?”
 
Summer was rocking back and forth on her heels, seemingly eager to share her side of the story. I could tell she was genuinely happy to be here seeing her friends again. It was overwriting the seriousness of the conversation by quite a lot.
 
“On my first day leaving home, Sir Mirroheart and I were attacked by a small group of the creatures. I don’t remember the attack, but it is documented. We defeated them with ease, but reflecting on that day, I should’ve likely died. I’d never fought a creature like that up to that point and the group had successfully pulled Sir Mirroheart away from me. Knowing what I know now about combat and especially what I know about fighting those things, it was-“
 
“A suicide run.” Zephyra said calmly. “Yeah… I think I see where this is going.” she took a hand to her head to cover the good eye she had, leaving us with just the blue marble to look into. At once I knew she had figured it out too.
 
“They’re not from this time either. But how-” I stopped her.
 
“The ones that June, Arceia and Lillian fought were disconnected from the hive, because I brought them here.”
 
I felt the driving force of a fist against my stomach and recoiled in kind. From this position I was at eye level with Zephyra, who was now much closer and twisting her fist into my stomach to drive in the pain.
 
“Y-yeah… I deserved that…” I coughed.
 
“I can guess your intentions were to prepare us for the monsters, but I still feel like someone should beat your ass for that.”
 
Summer didn’t react. She seemed to agree with Zephyra. Annoying kid at heart-
 
“You can claim your reparations when this is over, I won’t fight back.” I said through gasped breaths, trying to right myself. Zephyra removed her fist from my abdomen and smiled.
 
“I’ll hold you to it. Now tell me how many more of them are out there and how I can help us prepare more. I need to know everything. Right now.”
 
After I composed myself, I cleared my throat and continued.
 
“What we know is that the mastermind of these creatures, the one we’ve taken to calling Serpent Mother, is currently the same age as June. We’ve only lured her out of hiding once, when we…” I sighed. “When we consumed all of the divine power left in the pantheon to shatter reality and try to destroy her.”
 
Zephyra was silent for a moment, her expression finally showing hints of fear. If this were anyone else, they would have displayed this emotion to me at the word future, but she… So willing to believe me and so steadfast that it took this to shake her resolve.
 
“The… Entire pantheon?” She said. “Like, Jamie, Saoirse, Camulus, all of them? And it wasn’t enough?”
 
“Yes.” Summer spoke up. “The future we destroyed was mine. That’s why I’m here. I was one of the sole survivors of the Reality Breaker, along with Arceia. Allie pulled us into the Nexus before we could be consumed by the blast, but I’m afraid Magna Varia itself was completely destroyed.”
 
“Back to the matter of the mastermind… She’s here? Our age?” Zephyra shivered.
 
“Yes, and across all the timelines I’ve seen I was never able to confirm this until recently. But the person controlling these Abominations, she looks just like someone in June’s class.” I sat down on the ground, winded still from the impact, and sighed. “The issue is, I’m afraid that even knowing that we can’t make a move yet. She doesn’t seem to be the Serpent Mother yet, so it would be morally unjust to attack now. Plus, she’s just a teenager. She has no idea what power she holds yet.”
 
“I suppose I can’t persuade you otherwise. “Zephyra sighed and sat with me. Summer did the same. “I won’t say a word on three conditions. If you can’t grant me these three things, I am going straight to June and Arceia about this.”
 
“No. Not Arceia. No matter what your conditions are, itis far more dangerous to awaken her to this than it is for us to act on any of what you’ve learned.” I shot her a glare. There was nothing that could be more disastrous than that outcome.
 
“Condition one.” She continued, not missing a beat. “You’re going to take me to meet this future Arceia as well. I have more questions for her.”
 
“Granted. She is a resident of Magnum currently as well. Her name is Luria Vera. She owns an apothecary in the Market District.”
 
“Good. I’ll visit soon. Second condition; You’ll loop me in on what is coming next in your plan so I can help.”
 
“Granted. I can’t exactly say no at this point.” I laughed weakly, still in pain. “But you won’t like what’s coming next. We must let certain events happen and prevent others from happening. June is going to suffer. A lot. You can’t save her unless her life is at risk and even then, you can’t explain why. As for Arceia, she… Well, we need to find a way to subdue her in the near to immediate future.”
 
“I’ll be cautious. Now, finally…” she stood, and offered a hand to me. Summer hopped right up with all the energy of a rabbit on coffee and rubbed my head before I fully stood. I didn’t even have to think about what Zephyra would ask me next.
 
“Give me a name.” Zephyra demanded. I swallowed hard, afraid for the actions she may undergo if I did so but relented.
 
“Elodie.”