1:5:7 Descent (Part 4)
By Lore
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Working under Crait’s watchful eye gave what should have been the easy part of the mission an unwanted sense of tension.
“Did I ever tell you how much I hate having sand in my shoes?” Lore had already emptied their shoes twice and lamented their future after seeing how far they had yet to travel.
Char just laughed. “I wonder how many of the other Chars are getting the same complaint right now?”
Lore chuckled. “If I’m anything to go off, I’d say they’ve probably already heard it twice.”
“Right then… How do I get this working?” Char set down the Tether.
“Just push the button.” Lore knelt down and pushed the activation button at the centre of the device. It sprung into action, constructing itself efficiently without any further effort from them. The button became the crowning jewel at the tip of the Tether tower; it started to pulse red.
“Now what?” Char looked around at the other Lore-Char pairs.
“We wait.” Lore shrugged. “When that light stops flashing and goes green, it means that all of the Tethers are ready and it’s time to begin.”
“Are you sure you’re ready? It’s okay if you aren’t yet but… I don’t think we’ve got long to get there…” She smiled nervously.
Lore grabbed her hand gently. “As long as I’ve got you, I reckon I’ll be okay.”
“Aww.” Charrlene appeared out of nowhere. “At least if this doesn’t work I’ll die knowing they didn’t kill romance.” She pointed to The First. “We had our rocky start but, after a break, we’ve rekindled that spark.”
A red faced First made their way over. “Do you have to talk about our romantic life with them?”
“Don’t worry, if everything works as planned, we’ll know it anyway.” Char smirked. “When we bond with you, we become one being, one mind…” Char’s face dropped. “We’ve joined with one person before but how are we going to handle all fifty-two of us being together?”
“We’ll be alright. How bad could it be? We lose our access to the memories as soon as the bond is severed.” Lore rested their hand on Char’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring pat.
The First and Charrlene looked to one another then to Lore and Char. “We’ve lived though the cycle twenty-six times and that’s just us. Tree’s been around for twenty-three of those. We’re all older than we look.”
“Maybe that’s where I can help.” Time stepped into reality from seemingly no-where. “I am pleased to see you’ve gotten this far. Hopefully your actions today will offset my sibling’s anger but that’s neither here nor there.” Time shook its head.
“Siblings?” The four of them recoiled.
“We said we’d never interfere like this but… Well, it just wasn’t fair. Obviously my sister didn’t see it that way but the others said I was allowed one chance to ‘fix’ it.” Time gestured around it. “I just stretched the definition of one.”
“So why would they be mad?” The First asked.
“Because by bringing back Quatarr, I’m risking my sister’s rage. She hates it when people mess with her stuff and she’s… Vengeful to say the least.” Time looked over at Lore and Char; there was a mournful look on its face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… Anyway. Once they’re all your Reapers, I will streamline their memories into something a little easier for you to process and ignore. You’ll want to keep them this time.”
“We can do that?” Char looked at it, somewhere between amazement and confusion.
“Under certain circumstances, yes.” Time began. “And these will be certain circumstances.” Lore opened their mouth but closed it as Time continued. “You will only be able to remember your corresponding group’s memories. So Lore, you’ll get all of the Lore’s memories, and Char will get all of the Char’s memories.” It leant in to Char’s ear. “You’re probably getting the better end of the stick. And don’t you worry, you will remember them as if they happened to someone else, don’t want you feeling guilty for standing by and letting multiple genocides happen.” Its eyes widened at The First. “You’re lucky they were supposed to be undone. Sis would be pissed if she knew I’d cheated her out of even more.”
“Thanks…” By the time Lore had started their sentiment, Time was gone.
“Thank you.” The First smiled. “Without you we wouldn’t have made it this far. Without you, we’d likely be facing another go around so thanks.”
The light at the tip of their Tether blinked red one last time. It faded back a solid green. Lore was about to press the button when Char stopped their hand. The reason became clear immediately as three figures materialised before them.
“So… Is this it then?” Timm’Ottay looked up at the Tether. “I expected it to be bigger… Or to at least look a little more impressive if it’s to be our saviour.”
“I’m sure it’ll look plenty impressive.” Sharr’Renn smiled politely.
“We weren’t expecting you to meet us.” Lore looked nervously between the three of them. “But it is good to see you.”
“We’re just here to make sure our people are safe.” Silus nodded.
Lore took Char’s hand. “Well, we’re just about to begin. You might want to stand back a bit.” Lore raised their Breacher to their mouth. “Ah… Not a communicator.” The First took their communicator from their pocket and handed it to Lore. “Alright everyone, we’re about to begin. Hold your partner’s hand and relax. Things are going to get weird but you just need to relax and let us take over.” Lore returned the communicator then took Char’s hand again. “Good luck.”
Energy pooled around their interlocked fingers, twisting and writhing around their hands like a snake before being absorbed through Lore’s ring and into their conjoined body; the brightness only increased as the cycle continued. Once their hands had been fully engulfed, the light started to spread. It climbed their arms, infecting everything it touched with its light before it crossed their bodies. It hit their hearts at about the same time; both of their lights shone brighter than before and they spread faster than ever enveloping all that remained unclaimed in a matter of nanoseconds. Now, entirely comprised of light, they started to come together. The two of them melted into the orb of energy between them that had once been their hands and from that orb, a new being came forth. A perfect combination of the two of them, The Paragon of Time stood tall. Their appearance was new yet familiar and prompted both Silus and Timm’Ottay to kneel as they once had at the end of the Three Year Month; a perfectly androgynous blend of both Lore and Char however this time, without Time’s input.
“Now we begin.” The Paragon held out their hand and touched The First’s forehead. A single fingerprint was left behind. A fingerprint of light that took hold and started to convert them. Before they could blink, Charrlene was absorbed into them to form The First Reaper.
Although they couldn’t see it with their worldly eyes, they felt the dominoes fall as each Lore-Char pair became their Reaper. Unfortunately, those dominoes had been placed haphazardly between two time zones leading to a moment of discombobulation before things normalised. While the connection had been made with all twenty-five Reapers, The Paragon chose to wait while they all adjusted to their newfound power and connection before issuing any commands.
“We stand ready.” Twenty-six voices over the two time zones rang out in unison as they dropped to their knee.
The Paragon nodded. All rose; it was disorienting, the change in perspective as they stood, but the uniformity helped centre them. The Paragon charged their hand, sending all of their energy to it. The Reapers followed suit. They all made contact with their respective Tethers at the same time. All twenty-six lights shone with the same pale gold glow. A web of that light was formed above them as bolts of energy arced between the Tethers. Once they were all connected there was a pause. The Paragon charged their hand again; this time they drew their energy not just from themselves but their Reapers too. A tear in space opened above them, a Breach larger than any they’d ever seen before. Through it poured a trail of pale gold light. It trickled down into their fist along with the energy from the twelve Reapers beside them. They jabbed their fist into their Tether’s core sending the first line through the Breach. The other Tethers followed suit and soon, the planets began their journey.
A quake rippled across the surfaces of both Quatarrs as the Tethers drew them together. The Reapers slumped to the floor, spent and de-powered. Alignment.
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