1:4:4 Cyenzeit (Part 3)

“Okay then, lets get to business.” Allana kicked a chest open and withdrew a harness. “You left us these on your last visit. I reckon they’re for now.”
“Are you sure it was us? There are twenty-six of us running around.” Lore looked over the harness, confused.
“Sure as sure can be.” Luscillus took a second harness from the chest. “You, or at least you from the future, dropped these off and said they’d be useful for when you next visited.”
“What are they?” Char took one of the harnesses off of Luscillus who reached into the chest and retrieved another. “How many have you got?”
“Enough for every Lore and Char bar you two.” Allana jumped into the chest and sank into the harnesses. “They also gave us this massive chest too.”
“Did they… We say what they’re for?” Lore continued to inspect the device.
“I think there’s a note in here somewhere.” Allana dug through the pile. “There we are!” They crumpled the note up then threw it out of the chest before climbing out themselves.
Char bent down and unravelled the note. “Reaper harnesses. Affix to Lores and Chars then charge with Paragon energy. Don’t waste your energy, just charge The First and Charrlene. Allows for Reapers to discharge their energy without hurting themselves.” Char turned the note over. “Delivered on the Sixteenth of August. Doesn’t say what year though.”
“It was this year.” Luscillus had one arm in one of the harnesses. “Just trying it out.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Char looked to Lore. “Test run with these two?”
Lore nodded. “Come on then Allana. Who do you want to charge?”
“I’ll take Allana.” Char gave an unsettling smile.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Allana was starting to look skittish.
“She’s never done this before.” Lore tapped Char’s shoulder. “From my experience, you should be fine. When I made Potts my Reaper, all that really happened was that I could see everything they could see but that was about it.”
“Hang about. You’re the Paragons of Time…” Allana virtually teleported across the hall. They dragged Luscillus most of the way with them. Allana dropped to their knees. “We beg forgiveness.”
Lore scratched their head then looked over to Char. “What are you on?” Char picked up the dropped harness.
“Do you not realise what you are?” Allana stared at them in disbelief.
Lore and Char just shrugged. “Time said we were Paragons. Not much else really.”
“We’re pretty powerful too.” Char smirked. “Should have seen Undulia’s face when we tore a hole in her tank. She looked a bit like you to be honest.”
“Too right.” Allana stood slowly then started walking towards them.
“You two seem pretty underwhelmed about being basically gods.” Luscillus took Allana’s hand.
“It was terrifying the first few times and it still is. We can barely control it.” Lore started.
“But when it happens, its like we’ve always known what to do, always known we could do it.” Char continued.
Allana finished putting on their harness; Luscillus joined them in theirs. “How does this work then? What do we need to do?”
“Haven’t a clue.” Char laughed. “Our future selves aren’t the best at writing instructions.
“I assume I do the same as before but this time, I aim for the collector looking thing on the back.” Lore’s right eye was starting to glow. “Luscillus, turn around.” They tried to focus but for some reason, the light wouldn’t spread. They could feel the energy but harnessing it was another matter; they tried to think back to when they had made Potts their Reaper to little effect. They held their arm outstretched but still nothing. The repeated nothing was beginning to anger them. The light faded. Their mind was aflutter, thoughts darted everywhere; Cyenzeit, Allana and Luscillus, The Three Year Month, Their meeting with Crait, their mind was screaming. The past, present and future all at once. Char wrapped her arm around them, as gently as she could. Her warmth seemed to melt the stress away. Lore’s breathing deepened and with every exhalation, their mind seemed to declutter a little more until all that remained was the moment. Both eyes closed and all they could see or feel was Char right there and right then. A white spark in their missing eye grew into a mighty flame as it spread first across their face and then their entire body. A sphere of energy formed in their palm then fired at Luscillus’ back. It enveloped the panel on the back of the harness, spreading along the straps and then into Luscillus’ body.
“We are one.” Luscillus spoke but the words came also from Lore’s mouth too.

From their eyes, Lore could see; in that moment, they could hear everything Luscillus was thinking. Suddenly, Lore had opinions on what Allana was wearing and a sense of pride at how far their cooking skills had progressed. It was an already disorienting experience but Lucillus didn’t seem to want to make it any easier as they had started spinning, watching as the energy trailed off of their hand and wrapped around them almost like a dancer’s ribbon.
“Please stop.” Lore asked politely, holding their hand out to emphasise their point. “I can see everything you can and it’s making me dizzy.”
“Sorry.” Luscillus bowed their head. “This is incredible though. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I feel so alive! My heart feels as though its going to burst from my chest, I’ve not felt like this since the war!” Their smile seemed to know no bounds as it leapt from their face to Lore’s.
Char looked at them and couldn’t help but join them in their smile. “You ready Allana?”
They shook their head. “Ready as I’ll ever be I suppose.”
Char held up her hand, expecting a ball to form and energy to flow but it didn’t come. “Lore, how did you do it?”
Lore’s eyes flickered blue as they answered. “Think back to how you did it last time.” They returned to white as soon as their sentence ended.
Char took a deep breath in and remembered the feeling she felt on Illia, how she felt watching it back when she showed Potts and what she had done to show Potts in the first place. Her mind focussed entirely on the past, the light came. Golden energy flowed throughout her, concentrating in her awaiting hand and her eyes. Once a cohesive ball had formed, she threw it at Allana’s back and then, they two became one. As the ball struck them and the light spread over Allana’s back, Char saw more than she bargained for; Allana’s entire history played back for her. Centuries of hiding, fighting, exploration and research filled Char’s mind in a matter of seconds. It was as if she were there beside them the whole time. Every memory Allana had ever made streamed directly into her mind; even some events that they could never remember were included. From birth to their present, Char saw all.
After a moment of disorientation, Char saw the present. “Hmm. I was expecting more.” She sounded deflated. “I was hoping I’d get to see what I look like from your point of view.” She pointed at Allana who realised that they were only a hair taller than Lore.
“Trust me, you’re lucky.” Lore shook their head. “Seeing the world through multiple people’s eyes sounds fun on paper but it’s really rather bothersome.”
“Still, sounds fun.” She smiled. “I wonder what would happen if we became the Paragon while we’re like this?”
Char held out a hand to Lore. Apprehensively, Lore took it. The both of them were condensed into energy. Starting from the body part furthest away from the point of contact, they began to disintegrate. The energy winding in like a spring, snapping to a point in the middle. Once they were nothing but floating hands and their energies were completely intermingled, The Paragon started to form. Lore’s hand parted from the two with Char’s being absorbed into their new creation; from that hand, an arm sprang. Then a torso and then the rest. Now fully formed, they fell to the floor. The Paragon had taken Lore’s physical form but the light it expelled was closer to that of Char. A pale golden light wreathed around them which grew paler as it circled their chest. It stabilised after a couple of passes at an almost sandy tone. Allana and Lucillus’ memories and thoughts flooded their collective mind; their viewpoints filled their sight.
“Okay, I take it back, I don’t think I like this.” Char was shouting in their mind. “Sorry.”
“I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to get worse.” Lore looked at the harnesses. “I wonder.” They closed their eyes and the world vanished.
“Did you tell them to close their eyes too?” Char tried to look around but their eyes wouldn’t open for her. “Why can’t I see?”
“Sorry. I wanted to test something.” Their eyes opened again but they only saw what they saw. It was as if they had never linked to Allana and Luscillus. “You should have control over what we can see.”
Char looked around, blinked a few times then continued looking. “How did you do that?”
“I think it has something to do with where the energy is in our body. Our eyes were seeing the present now, they’re seeing the past but only just.” Lore’s facade of confidence nearly convinced Char.
“You don’t know how you did that do you?” Char sounded smug.
“Maybe there’s something in the book.” Allana walked across the hall, through the door, down the corridor and into the first room on the right. “Here we are, The Book of Time.” They shouted, not knowing if the others could hear them before running back to the main hall. “One of the four interplanetary texts. Four books spread across four planets. Blank but said to be readable to The Paragons.” They handed over the book to The Paragon.
“Thank you.” The Paragon took the book. They opened it to the first page and found two thirds of a contents page. “Helpful.” They started to flick through the text. “While three work as one, controls can be complex. Initially, they who’s face the Paragon wears has control. Consent between the three can change this.”
“Consent? Shall we try?” Char asked.
“What should we do?” Lore looked at their body. “Take control of the left hand. It’s yours.”
Lore watched as The Paragon’s left hand morphed from their own to Char’s. They felt their control of the appendage vanish as Char took over.
“Hmm. I have control over the arm but you have the hand. That’s a bit confusing.” Lore waved their arm as Char waggled her fingers.
“Is there anything else in the book?” Char pointed to it in their other hand.
“Should consensus not be achievable or otherwise be ill fitting, the beings may use their energy to extend their power’s reach.” Char closed The Paragon’s eyes. When they opened, Allana’s and Luscillus’ viewpoints were now visible once again but there was something different. Lore could disconnect themselves from their own eyes and exist within The Paragon’s head. Before them, three points of view, behind them, something new.
“I’ve put eyes in the back of your head.” Char giggled. “You’ve got control of the front, I’ll cover our rear. If it’s as easy as manifesting eyes.”
Lore had regained control over both of The Paragon’s hands. Even though they weren’t actively looking through her eyes, they had some awareness of what she was looking at.
Lore split The Paragon and recalled their Reaper’s orb. “This is going to be interesting.” They felt the rush of energy as their power returned to them. “I’m not sure I’m going to enjoy fifty-two viewpoints.”
“I could be your eyes?” Char pulled her orb back to her. “At least you get a cool ability.”
“You had access to all of my memories.” Allana protested. “And Luscillus’ when you merged.”
Luscillus threw off their harness. “That was rough. You’d better keep quiet about what you saw.”
“They can’t remember it.” Allana gestured for to hand back the book. “Memories shared may only remain as long as The Reaper’s bond is intact; once individuality is returned, their memories become their own again.”
“Useful…” Char feigned a yawn. She stopped mid performance as she came to a realisation. “What if I made one of the Lores my Reaper. We could work out what they’re planning?”
“And how exactly do you think you’d remember?” Allana waved the book at her.
Char folded her arms and just stared at them. She tossed her orb at Allana. “Allana’s first memory of you Lore was when you met in Silus’ office. They thought you were rather short for a human and altogether a little underwhelming. Their opinion changed over the three year month but they still thought you were too short.” Char recalled her orb. “Did you get all of that?”
“You’re not wrong.” Lore shrugged.
“Point made.” Allana looked to be ready to attack but they could see Luscillus out of the corner of their eye suppressing their laughter and they couldn’t help but laugh too.
Lore reached into their bag and withdrew the ring from the Rexian mines. “That book wouldn’t happen to have mentioned a ring or anything?” They tossed the ring vaguely at Allana, missing but succeeding in getting the ring into Luscillus’ hands.
“Nice ring.” They slid it down their finger. “Bit big mind you.” They threw it to the intended recipient.
Allana gave the ring a look over then flicked to the back of the book. They looked through a few pages before shutting it. “Nothing in here about it. Haven’t got a clue.” They walked over the room and handed Lore the ring back. “You should probably take this too. It’s yours anyway.” Allana gently rested the book in Lore’s hand. “Take care of it.”
“We will. Thank you.” Lore smiled. They returned the ring to their bag but held the book in their hands as they turned to leave.
“After all this is over, we should go out for a drink or something.” Luscillus waved them goodbye.
“I’d like that.” Char held the door open.