The Ripple Effect

“Time is fickle.” Varkral slammed the book to the table. “Our universes are so very different yet share more than a few commonalities. That asteroid you found me on, that too was a mining colony in our universe… Well, it was until my accident destroyed it.”
“Was that when you broke the multiversal barrier then?” Varkral nodded.
“How far back do you want to go?” He flipped to the table of contents.
“Who’s the most influential person in history in your opinion?”
“Well, that would have to be Merlyn. The most powerful mage and revered ruler we’ve ever seen.”
“We’ll start there then.” Lore got comfortable. “It’s been a while since anyone told me a bedtime story.” They beamed at Char and Pwy’he. Stoney faces all round. “Tough crowd. Go on then.”
“Somewhere in the ninth century, King of England, King Arthur united the seven kingdoms under one ruler. At his side, Merlyn. Arthur ruled from then to his death, passing the throne not to his son but to Merlyn.” Varkral flicked through the next few pages. “Merlyn ruled from then to the early twentieth century when he dissolved the monarchy. In that time he unified the entire world under his rule and when he tried to step down, he was elected as the next leader anyway.”
“Are you sure it was the same guy? Seems kind of odd for a human to last more than a century, especially in those times.” Char looked around at a room full of insulted expressions. “What? It’s true.”
“Humans tend not to enjoy discussing their pending death.” Lore gave a half smile.
“Anyway, Merlyn found the secret to eternal life in the philosopher’s stone. Wringing the stone allowed him to produce an elixir that extended his life. By the end of his life, his campaign staff were forcing it down his throat.”
“Campaign staff, how long was he in power?”
“He died in two thousand and one. Managed to not only see man walk on the moon but the first human to visit an already inhabited planet.”
“All before the end of the twenty first century? Impressive.” Lore nodded. “But where did it go wrong?”
“Wrong? The United Earth Protectorate has never been stronger. Our reach extends even to this remote corner of the universe.”
“Your universe is in a decaying orbit. Something had to have caused it, a change in the timeline, anything?” Lore looked at the giant tome. “Something must have set this all off.”
The farmer leant in and whispered something into Varkral’s ear. He nodded and the veil was dropped.
“It’s about time.” His voice was no longer muffled but still maintained a dry rasp.
“Edge?” Lore removed a small, yellowed notebook. “Of course, your group were out here investigating the sudden increase in tensions.”
“Yeah, that was nearly seven years ago. Seven years we’ve been out here and in that time, only one Lore has been our way. And he doesn’t even remember his own name.”
“We’ve? Are the rest of your team here?” Lore flicked through to a checklist.
“As soon as Blindside found this Lore, we all came back together. It’s been rough.”
“Bit of a stretch but do you know what’s gone wrong here?”
“Outlier found it a few years ago.” Edge produced a scrappy folder. It looked out of place in its current surroundings.
“Where did you get that?” Varkral seemed almost scared of it. “What have I said about these artifacts?”
“It’s an excerpt of a collectors log. He talks of his plan to save Merlyn’s life to increase the value of his collection.”
“That paper is woven with the strongest of protection spells.” Varkral spoke from his reclined position, fearing the paper’s touch.
“Strong enough to protect it from changes to time?” Lore looked through the file. Within were a handful of diary entries and a photographic inventory. “Neil Armstrong’s helmet, Rebar from Chernobyl and… That can’t have been an easy get, A mark fifteen  thermonuclear bomb.” Lore looked for any other documentation. “So this collector stopped something from happening to Merlyn which led to magical supremacy.” On the reverse of the bomb’s photo a time stamp detailed the date from which it was taken.
“It seems that way.” Varkral closed his book, angered by the obvious lack of respect for his rules.
“So how do we fix it?” Edge was trying to disregard Varkral’s attitude.
 “We need more information.” Lore took a second look through the paperwork. “What do we know about this collector?”
Both Varkral and Edge shook their heads. “Not a lot. Aloe is chasing down another file but apart from that and this, we know virtually nothing.” Edge took back the folder. Varkral gave a deep exhale as one of the photos fell onto his lap.
“Well, if you’re going to insist on chasing this tall tale then I may as well share my expertise.” All eyes were on him. “The collector’s name is Chet. He’s long dead.” He returned the photo to Edge’s file. Edge remained frozen, his rage slowly thawing him.
“How long have you known this?” Edge dropped his hand to his belt and wrapped it around his pommel.
“I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt.” He lowered his collar. “He has a much larger collection than that suggests.”
“You got shot?” Char scoffed.
“Any weapon that is unaffected by magic is nothing to sniff at.” He massaged the dent in his flesh. “Fine, I’ll help you with this but we do it my way, I know him better than anyone and it’s my universe.” Lore nodded. “Recall the order.” With that, Edge left.
“The order?” Pwy’he couldn’t restrain themselves. “This really is a different universe. We’ve travelled to a fantasy novel.”
“Tax. If I let them stay here without paying rent, I get taxed to Hel and back but if their a part of a research group and this is our headquarters, no one gets taxed. We get paid to live here.” He scoffed. “Well, we’ll have some time till they get back. Aloe could never quite master The Breach rune so we better get started.” He cracked his knuckles, Lore twitched. “Let’s teach some magic.” Let it Go.