Chương 18: Daniel Winters

Sara and Kyritus shared a cordial handshake at the door. Both were politicians at one point, so they did so effortlessly.

"Hi, I'm Kyritus. I hear you're the one who saved the king."

"I just found a flower."

"Well that flower saved my sister's life."

"Guess so." Sara knelt.

"And you are?"

"Tiber," Tiber said shyly. She doesn't remember me, she thought. Well, we did meet when she was nine. If things go good she might not remember me for a while.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Tiber blinked a few times, staring at her as if her words were strange.

"Say likewise," Kyritus said warmly.

"Likewise," Tiber said, and they moved on. Thank God Kyritus is becoming Kyritus, Sara thought when they stood on a float. Kyritus lifted Tiber to a roaring crowd and then waved at everyone warmly. The kingdom went all out, turning Tiber into a miracle baby who would usher in a reign of plenty. Kyrius himself looked like the politician he learned to be as he tugged on Tiber's hands to get her to pull her hands up, making her pump them in triumph. Every time she did, she cheered and would say, "Look, brother.

They're happy!"

"Yes they are," he'd say and avoid looking at Sara entirely. Whenever he did make eye contact with her, he'd wave and then look away: no recognition in his eyes. This is giving me trust issues, Sara thought, grinning within. He glanced at her with a I'm back, Baby, look. He'd give her a wink if she could. It was strange.

"If Tiber here shows us anything, it's that Emanasa exists," Reesta declared before the crowd, speaking through the amplification circle tattooed to her hand. Politicians often had them. So did generals. Sara felt naked without hers.

"You may ask, why would Emanasa heal a little girl directly, but not the king? That's simple: Emanasa has made it clear that a king's people, women like Margravine Reece, have a duty to bring miracles to their king and kingdom. But Emanasa is also declaring that she has the power to create miracles, and took part in this miracle, the miracle that is the Chosen heroes.

Not only has Margravine Reece already shown her value in supernatural divination, but our other Chosens have taken the mantle to liberate Corline from the orcan…" Corrigan whispered into her ear, and Sara suddenly got a bad premonition.

"My apology, Apiro. Within only a few years, we will have reclaimed twenty thousand miles of northern territory of this once great empire from the orcan savages, and it will all happen underneath the mantle of the King, King Trinov Escar!"

"Long live the king! Long live the king!" Sara wasn't chanting. She was staring into the crowd, but not seeing anyone. Their voices drowned out; their bodies blurred to muddled silhouettes. Kyritus saw her and forced himself to keep smiling and waving. He knew something was wrong. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Who shipped them to Apiro?" Sara screamed at Reesta within a back meeting room attached to the ballroom. It was a space meant for tea and civilization; plush couches and tables, a bar top for cups and ornaments. Now, it was a battleground.

"Okay, first off: you're welcome," Reesta replied sharply.

"I just pulled off a miracle in your honor. Second off, why are you asking me? I learned during the speech. Why? What's wrong with Apiro?"

"What's wrong? That's where—""The Brisken Cavern will be discovered in three years during the liberation of the westernlands," Daniel said, walking into the room. Sara's chest boiled with fury when he entered. Not because he was there, but because he had Kyritus with him.

"Where's Tiber?" Sara snarled.

"With Aelia," Daniel said relaxedly, sitting in one of the plush yellow chairs. Kyritus took his place by Sara, suddenly razor sharp and attentive as he stared at the man. Once a spectacled youth, Daniel had his hair cut into a tasteful crew cut and wore noblewear of the highest quality. She wouldn't go so far as to say that he was handsome, but he was dapper, a strict contrast to the man he was two months ago. He was the orchestrator of this divine comedy." You're welcome, by the way," Daniel said.

"For… bringing her back… from the dead." He said those words slowly and effectively.

"And at no cost!" he said brightly, motioning to Kyritus.

"Time travel is quite a paradox.

"Those that return to the past become anomalies, and to right these peculiarities, those around them cycle through timelines until they reach the alpha worldline. And thus, you two will age rather rapidly to return to your regular forms. Not that it matters, much. We stop aging at 25—""You're the one that did this?" Sara asked, stepping forward.

"But that hideous, hideous scar will be… gone," Daniel finished glibly, unconcerned by her provocation.

"Is there something that I can… help you with?"" Why?" Sara demanded.

"Why would I… do this?" Daniel asked.

"You're so… so very close to having everything you've ever wanted. And you're asking why? Take your lover. Is he not the same lover that you had?" Sara seethed.

"Is he?"

"Why, yes. I was in the middle of explaining that. See, I have a rather… extensive relationship with time travel. In fact, I might be reversing your incredible fuck ups at this very moment if I could. But you see, by bringing a second person back through time, that entity needs to be disposed of before time travel can resume. That's why I went through incredible lengths to send you back to… California. Where you weren't heavily eviscerated after eighteen years of unadulterated trauma.

But as it turns out, you're quite the… masochist." His eyes glided to Kyritus.

"Or romantic." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Sara almost grabbed the man and broke his limbs in one motion, but he was freely providing her with all the answers she was seeking.

"It doesn't matter why you're here," Daniel said.

"What matters is that you are here. And instead of keeping a low profile and playing things calmly, surgically… you kinda just… blasted your way out there, didn't you? I gave you way too much credit for being a queen. It seems that you hired diplomatic—""What do you want?"

"Like I said, to reverse your fuck ups. If you weren't so damn selfish with carving out your own desires, Jason would still be playing pocket pool over a fireball. Instead, he's leading an army with an immature mindset and tyrannical strength. You do understand the enormity of the problem your temper has brought us, correct?" Sara slowly sat down.

"Alright, I'm calm. My turn. Did you send Raul and Emma to their deaths?"

"It's amusing you didn't say Jason," Daniel mused.

"But no. Emma was given a special summons at the last moment. Unfortunately, Raul was cemented as the second in command. No Raul, meant no mission. I mean, you honestly didn't expect King Escar would let Jason go off alone, did you?"

"I expected them to go to Corline."

"And I need Jason broken and Mary out of the picture." Reesta looked between them, trying to figure out if she was supposed to be part of the conversation.

"No, stay," Daniel said.

"I hold the same blackmail over you that she does. So we"—he pointed from his chest to Sara's—"own you. And you'll be the one to paint this narrative. Jason'll survive, alone, and declare that Sara set him up. We'll need you to prevent that. Blame everything on his poor leadership and tyranny." Sara's eyes widened.

"See, we're on the same side," Daniel said.

"I flirted with killing you, but I've realized that we have similar visions of the future. And now that you're not…" He motioned to Kyritus.

"Grieving things you haven't lost, we can discuss. Like adults. Your situation. Hopefully."

"You made deals with Agronus," Sara said.

"Why the hell would I trust a word you say?" He was in Agronus's castle. He had to be, to create that array.

"I don't think you give proper respect to those who live in The Barrens, Sara," Daniel said.

"Every kingdom has painted the area as a lawless outpost of headed criminals, but how many have seen it? You should know better than anyone: what's required to make it past the crystal bramble. Or brave Skiimar in the summer? If you made it to The Barrens, it means that you're a class above." Sara listened attentively.

She had similar thoughts when she passed the crystal bramble, the thorny maze that existed on the bridge that separated Veridia (quite pointedly, the entire planet minus the demonlands) from Ansithiia, the demonlands.

"And to be honest, this obsession that humans have against demons is similar to what Nazis had against the Jews. Of course, Jews didn't eat humans or hang them up like turkeys during Thanksgiving. But then again, not every demon does that. We're just repulsed by it. But when you live in The Barrens, which is on the outer edge of Skiimar, you find that demons are often far more preferable than the degenerate swine that fight their way to Kori—"" Agronus," Sara repeated.

"Unless you've forgotten, I've met Agronus. I've seen his heinous crimes. I've heard him monologue about them ad nauseum. Then, I put a sword through his fucking heart. I know exactly who Agronus is. So… why did you work with him?" Daniel snorted.

"W ork with him? I turned him into a living battery, Sara. I used him." Sara laughed and rolled her neck.

"Like you're trying to use me?"

"No. I want to work with you. As I said, we have similar visions of the future."

"Which is?"

"A peaceful world where we both have a fresh start. Because I'll be honest with you Sara, I did not like how things played out last time. I had a crush on Emma, and Jason got her killed. Then I got married and Jason tore the kingdom apart. I fled to Hikan and he oppressed it. And then I had a child… and she died in a famine he caused…" Daniel shook his head solemnly, yet emptily. That's the only way that she could describe it. It was as if his words were completely hollow, shells of what they once were.

She didn't take him for a liar. She took him for someone who had meddled with time travel for so long he had lost the meaning and value in human life. It felt eerie.

"And so, I wished to die. Of course, few people have the constitution for suicide, so I sought challenges that were sure to kill me. Of course, attacking things as a bookworm is… in fact… suicide. So, I climbed the Gorinia Mountain range and lived. Fought through the Eastal Jungle. Ripped my Achilles in the Joga. But I just kept living. Humans, are tenacious fucking creatures. And so there was only one place that I was sure would kill me."

"Skimmar."

"Yeah. During summer? Suicide. So I braved the Bramble and ended up in Korigian. Expected to die there, but… Turns out, when people fight through hell to live somewhere, they're not eager to die. So the fights are rare and the people are lonely. And that's… where I met my master."

"Time travel."

"Correct. A grand taboo… Well, it kinda gave me this hope. But it's super ironic. The amount of power it requires to turn back time a week boggles the imagination. So, I just, lived loop after loop after fucking goddamn fucking loop, Sara, and got nowhere. If you do it right, you can be a literal prophet and make the world a product of your own design."

"That sounds fucking awful," Sara declared. It did. She had gone through one loop, and it had thus far been terrible.

"Oh, it is. And that's what I realized. The beauty of life is in mistakes. And thus, I developed this gnawing idea: this mind worm. A concept: the Grand Reset. To take things back to the start and live one, glorious go. Live a life where the king lived, Roslain didn't get assassinated, there was no war, and all would prosper. It was going well. Then you—being you—fucked it up. Now, Jason's twice the threat Agronus ever was, and my ability to undo your fuck up is null and void.

Considering my chances of killing you are very little and I wouldn't ruin my world further by killing your family… here we are." Roslain was King Trinov's daughter. In Sara's last life, she was assassinated after the king died, creating a proper pretext for Corrigan—puppeteering Trinov's bastard son Halter—to go to war—and drag the Chosens into it. Sara understood the significance, but Kyritus didn't.

"That… has to be…" Kyritus said, pausing.

"The longest fucking monologue I've ever heard."

"And quite evil," Sara added.

"Very," Daniel said cheerily. He probably meant it, too.

"Question is… Will you work with me? Because I can just teleport to… anywhere, really. Change my appearance. I'm quite competent. At least at subterfuge." Sara nodded a few times listlessly.

"You know, I would say yes to you, but you made one big fucking mistake." Daniel's face hardened.

"And that is?"

"You let Raul go with Jason."

"Oh, yes. Your fling." He turned away.

"Don't tell me you're gonna save Jason to protect someone who didn't even survive The Reckoning."

"Fling?" Kyritus asked.

"Pre us."

"Got it."

"Great communication," Daniel said.

"Touching. So… are you going to save him? Because I swear, Sara. If you ruin a perfectly great chance to destabilize Jason to the point of putting him down like a rabid dog to save Raul Martinez, I might change my mind about how I work with you."

"I'm saving Raul."

"Okay." Daniel stood.

"But just know, I broke the cavern's seal. Jason'll live because he's a fleeing coward with enough strength to scrape by. But if you go there? And try to win? Well, I guess I'll need Jason to power my next reset." He pulled up his sleeve and revealed hundreds of tattoos of arrays that he had tattooed on them. He tapped one twice, juggled some zinconia crystals, and his body lit up. The room flashed white, and when Sara unshaded her eyes, Daniel was gone.