Time
Timeline: A few years after the conclusion of ToP
Note: () indicates change of POV to the listed character, if empty
then the following will be done in third person, a question mark
indicates a character who is either unknown yet to the reader or
should stay that way for now. <> Indicated time/place if necessary
******************************
Foreword
Well, she (*points at muse*) wasn't going to leave me alone unless I
did this, so here you are.
This one is going to be strictly Arche's point of view. I'll be
jumping around a lot and won't actually stay with one scene too long
since I really don't want to make this longer than I have to.
For all who are wondering, this is based on the original SNES version
and the DeJap translation patch.
Now, on with the show. I hope you like.
******************************
Time can do funny things to you, I tell you that. Time will make us
grow up, make us more mature and such things, they also say time can
mend all wounds... well, at least to a degree. Time affects a great
number of things. In fact, without time I doubt there would even be
life. Why? Simple enough. Without the passage of time would we even be
aware of ourselves, would we even be aware that we are alive. How
could we live without ever dying. Those two things rely on each other.
Like there is no light without shadow and vice versa.
Time also affects love... or at least they say that. Although...
theories and opinions are differing. For some time cannot touch true
love, for others time can change your feelings as it passes. Then
there is that saying that time does not matter to the heart. What I
think about that? Well, in my case, it probably is all of the above
combined.
I sighed heavily, annoyed at my wandering thoughts. I sounded
like a philosopher or something. Right. Could you imagine me spitting
out such nonsense in a permanent fashion? Thankfully those thoughts
were just a product out of boredom and well, personal interest. I had
studied the damn topic for almost the last hundred years. What do you
expect? And right now, I had nothing better to do when to sit around
here in the branches of the ancient tree and watching the young woman
at its base tending to it with loving attention. Well, fine. I had
better things to do actually when just watch but I guess I was just
too much of a coward to act.
Right Arche Klaine, the coward, who would have thought.
My lips formed another soundless sigh, my mind once again
beginning to wander...
******************************
<4253>
It's been twenty years now since Klarth had died. Didn't even make it
past sixty the fool. I didn't have any idea why that was, only a
lurking suspicion. I was pretty sure it had something to do with a
case of overwork. He had been working on something important - at
least to him - in his last years and seemed pretty determined to
finish it fast. What? I've got no idea. Other than the occasional
assistance in some minor quest for magical knowledge I wasn't that
much around.
Not that I detested his company all of a sudden. No, certainly
not. He and Miranda were always very nice and hospitable. It was nice
to spend some time with them but too much only reminded me of the rest
of our group we had left behind in the future. And I wasn't so good in
hiding the sadness that invoked as the old leech obviously could. Not
that he could fool me a second with his 'brave' attitude. He had been
missing Cless, Mint and Chester just as much as I did.
Most of the time after our return to this age I was spending
time my parents. While they were still not allowing half-elves into
the village, there were other ways of meeting with my mother,
especially thanks to the power-up Volt had given my broom. It was
still working, amazingly enough. That made traveling a whole lot
easier. It barely took me a day's trip to get from the Sylph's valley
to Ymir and back. Seeing mother again after so long, with just the
hazy memories of a child to begin with, had been a wonderful
experience. She was a really kind person.
A few years ago father died as well. It was such a sad thing.
Mother had even said that she might be able to get out of the village
to visit. While she had been aware of father's growing age, she said
it did not matter to her. She had known from the start that she would
outlive him. I really wanted to curse the elves for being so
narrow-minded. They took away the only few years those two could have
spent together. And for what? Because they were too stuck up to
explain to mankind the consequences of abusing magic.
Right now I was sitting in the small study of my house. I had
given up the cottage father and I shared at the valley and sold it to
someone from Euclid. Too many memories. With the money I had bought
myself a small house near Alvanista but most of my time was spent in
either the castle - I had become pretty good friends with Runeglom -
Thor or in Edward's old place. I knew they were going to make it into
a school soon and I was busy moving all the important, secret books
and notes over to my place.
Why I was doing that? Edward had left some notes of his theories
on time travel, both Klarth and I had worked on them for years. At
first it had been a welcome diversion from the mundane life, something
to occupy my mind other than my parents while I waited a century to
meet my friends again. To meet Chester again... Over time though, the
entire field had become rather intriguing and I had found some answers
to questions that had had been left unanswered for a long time.
I had reached a point now where I could hardly advance much
further and if, it was done in a much slower pace quickly inspiring
boredom. I had never been a very patient student, never imagined I
would do something remotely scholastic. Not that I viewed myself as a
scholar. I was still a practicing mage, and a damn good one I dared to
say without shame. However, I knew just as well as Klarth did that
time magic was a dangerous field and someone had to know about it to
meet the possibility of abuse. I wasn't going to teach that to anyone
or only to someone I trusted, yet as tightly involved in the change of
history as we had been I saw it as my responsibility to ensure that
the timeline would now continue smoothly.
I put the book I was currently reading aside, not able to
concentrate any further today. Especially on passages I had read over
a dozen times without coming any closer to a solution. Rubbing my eyes
from the strain of working for hours I stretched my tired limbs but
made no move to get out of the comfortable chair. This was getting
less and less satisfying and fulfilling. And it was still a good
thirty years before Cless and the rest were going to be born if I
calculated everything just right... which I was pretty sure I did or
my efforts would have been a total failure.
'Great, Arche. You are probably the biggest expert on the
element of time and you don't even know what to do with your own.' It
was getting really boring... and lonely. As a half breed friends -
real friends I mean - were a rare thing. I wasn't the only one with
that problem. Outside from others of my kin it was hard to find anyone
truly accepting you for what you were. Often you were met with either
distaste or fear on the one and overwhelming awe on the other. To find
someone honest who just wanted to be your friend for the person you
are inside... I was really missing Lia. If she hadn't been killed by
Demitel...
There was no use in worrying about such things. I had to find
something to occupy my time with and fast. Excessive boredom only led
to wandering, nostalgic thoughts and that was the last thing I wanted
right now.
******************************
<Present Time>
Time was really a hard concept to understand, to fully comprehend. I
doubt that it was even possible. Even I who had studied so much about
its lore, was not quite sure how it really worked. Our battle with
Dhaos had created so many disturbances, so many irregularities on the
timeline, one should think its effect much more far reaching. Not so
much for me or Klarth, for us the events about a century ago were the
present. There never had been another. But for the other three, for
Cless and Mint, their present should have been greatly altered. And
yet all that seemed changed - judged by the little I could tell only
having a small amount of information about their lives before
traveling back to our time - was the healthiness of the tree in
which's branches I was sitting right now. The bright flourish of Mana
was tangible to my senses, pure and strong. It was as if it had never
been weakened in the first place.
As for the lives of my friends though. The best explanation I
had been able to come up with all my time studying was that time had a
way of protecting itself from a devastating paradox that could have
ripped apart its very fabric. I never quite realized just what kind of
effect we had had on history, what could have happened if somehow
things hadn't been brought back to their proper path. In fact all that
really remained from the disturbance now was the eradication of Dhaos
from the timeline as well as the continuous existence of magic.
What I had seen unfolding before my eyes these last years had
been straining my resolve to not intervene. I cursed my innate
understanding of why things had to happen as they happened. Had I not
known, I would have had at least an excuse for intervening, for making
things better for Cless, Chester and Mint, to prevent all this
unnecessary bloodshed. Yet, I knew. I knew that doing so had the very
likely possibility of in the best case distorting the entire timeline
and in the worst ending reality as we knew it. Time was something not
to be tempered with. Not even for good reasons.
And so I stood by helplessly as Time sought to protect itself by
claiming the lives that needed to be claimed in order to justify my
friend's existence and involvement in its earlier alteration.
"So, it was you after all."
I almost fell down from my sitting place as the soft voice
reached me through the vast foliage of Martel. I had been so lost in
my thoughts I hadn't really paid attention to the girl underneath who
had by now finished with her tasks. She still stood in the shadow of
the tree's canopy and didn't exactly look up into my direction and yet
it was rather clear that I was discovered.
Well, I had planned on confronting her today anyway, had I not?
The separation had become unbearable as had keeping in that which had
grown in my heart throughout the last years. As much as it scared me,
I needed to get this off my chest, if only to lighten the weight for
myself. I wasn't sure what I expected really. From her, from me. And
that scared me even more... I couldn't turn back now though. I doubted
my conscience would agree with it.
Hopping on my broom I descended the few feet downwards to ground
level. As I finally stood in the low grass of the clearing surrounding
the Yggdrasil, I glanced shyly at the other girl... woman. There was
nothing girlish about her except maybe that certain spark of
innocence, of purity that she had maintained despite recent events. I
had been dreading and looking forward to this. And consequently, I
felt rather awkward standing there, having been caught before I was
really ready. Then again, if she hadn't caught me, I probably would
have sat there all day without moving.
"Uh... Hi, Mint!" I greeted in an attempt of my normal
cheerfulness. "How long did you know I was here?"
Mint Adnade smiled serenely but I could see a little sparkle in
her eyes. "Oh, not too long."
Yeah, right. I should have known better than to use Martel as an
observation place. The young cleric and the Life Tree were already
connected on so many levels, sensing me up there shouldn't have been
much of a problem. "Yes, well," I fumbled for words, cursing my sudden
bout of shyness. 'Get a grip, girl. You are not usually this
closemouthed. Talk!'
"It's nice to see you again," Mint cut into my mental tirade and
rewarded me with a pleased smile that made me wobbly. 'Stupid
hormones.' Blue eyes turned confused though as the other girl
obviously realized something. "Um, why are you here? I mean, not that
I'm not happy to see you but... I thought you'd first want to go and
visit Chester."
Err, how to explain that one, how to explain... Oh sure, my
intention was still the same but um, not so direct and... Gah! Over
one hundred years in age difference and I couldn't get my mouth to
work. Why did this have to happen anyway? It would have been so easy
to do just what Mint had suggested. So easy... and dishonest. I
couldn't deny anymore what had started to grow in my heart, what had
started to change that I thought unchangeable. And now I was lost in
the unexpected. Which was why I was here after all, right?
******************************
<4299>
I wasn't sure why I was here again. Not really anyway. I had started
to visit my friends as they grew up as a way of passing the time.
Besides I had been curious, what Cless and Chester had been like when
they grew up. And in a way I was also driven by guilt. Yes, guilt.
Regardless of what Klarth as well as Edward in his notes had
explicitly warned me about, I felt guilty for standing by and just
watching all this when it would be so easy to do something.
I had been so startled that when I discovered the cause of why
apparently nothing had changed by Dhaos' removal from the timeline for
Cless and the others. Mostly because the alien mage wasn't exactly,
completely removed. He was still a part of history. Some things had
started to fall into place when I figured out that Dhaos, after he had
escaped from us in the past, had not fled to the distant future - as
we had all thought - but actually to the time where according to the
notes Cless and Mint had received their ancestors had sent him to the
first time around. At which point he was imprisoned by their parents
and Tornix D. Morrisson, just like he was supposed to.
We had thought that we had actually defeated Dhaos back at the
mausoleum but it seemed he had tricked us all and moved forward in
time once more instead. So the Dhaos that we battled three times had
to be one and the same... It made sense in a twisted way. Time was
protecting itself. Dhaos had to be imprisoned, in order for him to be
set free by events that eventually entangled Cless, Mint and Chester
into the situation, leading the first two to end up in our time. If
that didn't happen, they would have been to the past but at the same
time wouldn't... Which made for a quite nasty paradox.
I didn't claim to understand it all. But I knew logically that
there wasn't anything I could do. With my honed skills, I was pretty
sure I could have made sure that when Dhaos appeared in this time he
was not just simply sealed but destroyed. But who would have made him
flee forward in time then in the first place? No one. And so I stood
by, knowing that by allowing all that to transpire that would preserve
the timeline, I would condemn an entire village and countless other
lives, including my friend's parents to death.
Wouldn't you feel guilty?
I watched from the shadows as Merril Adnade finished tugging in
a peacefully sleeping, twelve year old Mint. For a time I just stood
there in the darkness of the room, waiting until I was sure that
neither mother or daughter were awake anymore. Then I carefully crept
forward until I was at the young girl's bed side, gazing at the
sleeping form of my soon-to-be friend. This ritual had started some
years ago. I knew that soon I couldn't do this anymore. Mint's powers
were growing and soon I wouldn't be able to conceal myself from her
properly. And it wouldn't do good for her to see me before she was
even supposed to be meeting me.
I should be watching Chester or maybe Cless anyway, I should...
But who was I kidding. I had spent more time watching Mint grow up
than the other two. At first, yes, at first I had watched all three of
them. Until I finally figured out that one little secret that changed
so very much. Had I been younger, I probably would have only seen the
advantage without the drawback, but age, maturity, didn't allow me
that anymore. And I had felt sad for my friend. In all the years, I
had never seen her complain about the lack of a father figure. She
never even asked...
Carefully, as not to disturb the sleeping blonde, I stroked over
her forehead. "Poor thing. You'll never know your real father." I had
known what it was like to grow up just with one parent, being told the
other was dead. That is why I had been so furious at first after
finding out Dad had lied to me. But at least, now I had Mom back. I
could at least claim to have known both of my parents. But fate would
never allow Mint the same.
I had been so shocked after I found out. I wasn't even sure he
knew, suspected maybe but...
After that discovery, I had been drawn back countless times
here, times I should have spent watching my actual love interest
Chester as I had planned too, and maybe sneak a peek or two at Cless
who I still had some lingering feelings for. But somewhere in between
now and then, things had changed. I had thought I would miss the idiot
more when I returned to my own time. I had thought I would long for
the day of our reunion the more time passed. Instead the feelings I
had thought so strong in the final stages of our battle with Dhaos had
diminished instead. And now... Yes, now...
A tear slid down my cheek but I didn't even realize it as it ran
down my cheek. How could that had happened? Had it been there all this
time and I just realized it now or had these feelings blossomed with
the decades spent alone? It wasn't just pity, or compassion. It was
much, much more... and it scared me. I was falling in love with my
best female friend without her actually knowing me yet. There was no
denying it. And I had no idea what to do now. I had never before given
the notion consideration before. However, hadn't that been because I
already knew, deep in my mind back then that Cless and Mint were
supposed to be together?
That's what I had thought, that's what everyone had thought. But
now, with the twisted, ironic truth that only I knew, things suddenly
looked different. And I had myself let remember, all those small
instance, the bonding that had instantly taken place between us even
though we were so vastly different in character. Mint had become such
a good friend and somehow, without me noticing, had wormed herself
deeper into my heart when I had even realized. Until now.
What should I do? I thought frantically, the realization
suddenly crystal-clear in my mind and heart. Before I could really
further think about it though, I noticed the younger version of the
object of my current dilemma stir. Blurrily she began to open her
eyes. Startled I made for a hasty retreat, hoping she hadn't seen me.
Well, considering that time itself didn't collapse afterwards she
obviously hadn't. Or if, it didn't have such a great effect as I had
feared it would.
I came back a couple of times though, much more wary now but
unable to resist. My heart had set both feet firmly on that path now
and as much as I tried, I couldn't turn back.
******************************
<Present Time>
Silence hang in the air once again. I shifted uncomfortably in a low
breeze ruffling my clothes. I usually was much more chipper. Flirting
never was a problem and still came to me like second nature even
though I had felt less of a need in all that time after returning to
my own time. It had felt not so right anymore now that I had
technically a boyfriend waiting for me in the future... However,
flirting and actually declaring someone your deepest feelings were two
totally different things. And Mint was so... innocent, so
pure-hearted, I wondered if she'd even understand while I was
stumbling over my words.
"Arche?" Mint began tentatively, breaking the silence.
I let impulses take charge. As I often did when I was
embarrassed about something. When I had thought I had fallen in love
with Chester I had been equally nervous and proceeded to cover that
nervousness by taking action, the direct way instead of the slow path.
I admit that for all my flirting and brash behavior in my youth,
things like this had always made me nervous. Stronger connections,
deeper feelings. I never quite knew how to deal with them and usually
handled them after the fight of flight principle.
Well, I chose to fight, seeing no possible escape. Mint was too
surprised to react as first. I had stepped forward, crossing the
distance between us and lifting her chin in one moment, completing the
maneuver in a flawless execution of the eventual goal. When seconds
had passed without any reaction at all from the thorough kiss,
awareness of just what I had done prodded at the edges of my
conscience and I knew that I had probably screwed this up royally.
That was when I felt Mint kissing back. I was so startled I
would have forgotten to breathe for a moment if that hadn't been such
an unnecessary issue at the time. I had to steady myself with my hands
on her hips from the sudden intensity as the other girl actually took
the initiative, her tongue brushing against my lips... In response
Mint's arms came up to wrap around my neck - I had gotten quite a bit
taller after a century - and I yielded to her probing efforts.
I had honestly not expected this. I had not thought the often so
naive seeming girl capable of this kind of reaction. Frankly, I had
been expecting all kinds of reaction, from rejection over disappoint
to incomprehension. Mint had the kind of innocent and pure worldview
that would make her often not understand bad things. Not that I
thought love between two of the same gender was a bad thing. Not at
all. In fact, elves were rather open-minded in that regard as I had
learned. But humans, humans were another matter. They tended to go
around, pointing fingers at what didn't fit into their view of things.
Things like that, Mint usually didn't understand, which I actually
envied her for. She looked at the world more from the eyes of a child
that saw than that of an adult that had closed their eyes, exchanging
simplicity for complexity which they tended to call maturity.
I really didn't expect that reaction and for awhile roles had
been reversed and I could only response, blissfully swept away in an
unexpected tidal wave of emotions.
We pulled apart gasping after a long time, at least it seemed
like a long time. I had not even dared to hope this could happen. But
it had and that left me staring at the beautiful face just inches away
from mine.
Mint wasn't all that innocent now, was she?
"My angel," the blonde cleric whispered, more to her self than
to anyone in particular but since we were so close I picked it up.
"What?" I asked confused. Still not quite comprehending what
just transpired.
Mint grinned softly. "When I grew up, I used to dream of someone
visiting me at night. A kind, protective spirit. Mother told me it had
to be a guardian angel watching over me." I blushed, realizing that I
had apparently not been all that secretive as I had hoped. "That was
you, wasn't it?" Mint asked.
I saw no real need in denying it anymore. I was allowed to after
all. From now on, the timeline would take its own path and there was
nothing I had to watch out for. Of course, that still didn't quite
justify my earlier liberation at peeking into my friends' lives.
"Well, I..." I began flustered, my mind not yet working right. "That
is..."
"I always used to wonder what the angel looked like," Mint
mused, cupping my face with one hand gently and keeping her eyes
locked on my own for a long while. "Now I know." I continued to stare
at her in wonder, amazed at how... how simple, how naturally she was
handling the situation. Wasn't she the least bit freaked. What was
about her and Cless. She didn't know yet after all what I had
learned... Mint giggled at my partial blank expression and to my
renewed surprise placed another, this time fluttering light kiss on my
lips. "I used to have a crush on that angel too."
I blinked, not expecting this at all. Had I with my at first
unintended visits unconsciously cleared a path for what I only later
learned my heart longed for? How ironic was that? There I had spent so
many times lamenting over the unfairness of knowing so much about time
and not being able to do anything to make things better. And now... I
wasn't sure how to take this.
"Mint, I... I don't know what to say, really... What about..."
"Cless?" she asked, anticipating the question.
I nodded.
"You know, don't you. About him being my half-brother."
My carefully constructed image of Mint, the gentle girl with
such refreshing innocent and a touch of naivety began to crumble away
more and more. "What? How?" was the only thing that came out of my
mouth. It had been such a shock when I learned that Cless' father had
been responsible for Merril Adnade's pregnancy. Before today, I hadn't
been sure how I was supposed to tell them that. They had been so close
and all of us were certain they'd be married someday in the future.
"A week ago actually. Cless and I were looking through his...
our father's house... or what is left of it, and found some old stuff,
including an old diary. We drew our own conclusions," Mint admitted
seriously and surprisingly composed. I would have expected more...
well, I don't know. But I had thought she would take such news harder.
After all it pretty much shattered the possibility between her and
Cless... unless they didn't care about it... But that didn't make much
sense either. Why should Mint have kissed me back then... which I was
still having a hard time believing by the way.
I had to have looked rather incredulous too, as these thoughts
went through my head. Mint separated, much to my displeasure, and went
over to Martel where she sat down in the grass, leaning with the back
against the trunk. Holding out one hand, her intentions were rather
clear even without the worlds. "Come on, Arche. Sit down here."
A bit uncertainly I followed the request and settled against the
massive trunk of the old yet vital tree. Again a period of silence
elapsed that made me quite uneasy and I was rather glad than Mint
decided to pick up where she had left off, answering that which I had
been wondering about. "Even before that though, Cless and I... Well,
we realized that what we felt for each other was a bit different from
lover's love." Mint winked. "Not that Cless still wasn't a cutie."
I laughed, reliving some tension. "That's true."
We shared a knowing smile, this time in blissful silence. I was
once more reminded how much I missed this. Those moments between us,
when we had managed to slip away from the men. Mint was easy to get
along with. She was rather uncomplicated and had an open ear for
everyone's concerns. Sitting here now also made more clear to me that
maybe those feelings hadn't just simply started to form after our
departure. The seed, the seed had been planted earlier. I just never
recognized it.
I hesitated to do or say anything, not quite certain if what
just happened had just been a spur of the moment thing. Maybe she had
just been carried away by the moment or didn't want to deliberately
hurt me or something. I really had no idea. There wasn't a need for me
to act though. Once again Mint took the initiative and I could only
watch with a mixture of fondness and confusion as the younger girl
rested her head against my shoulder, looking rather comfortable and
without a care in the world.
"Mint?" I asked quietly as the blonde made no move to further
explain herself.
"Hmm?" was the reply, blue eyes looking up at me with...
affection.
"Aren't you, um, freaked? Confused a little? I just..." I
trailed off, finding the entire situation more and more bizarre.
Mint seemed genuinely puzzled for a moment. Then her eyes lit up
in realization though, her features softened into a warm smile and she
nestled her head back against my shoulder. "Nah. I always wanted to be
with my angel. Besides, it feels right. And Mother always told me that
I should trust my feelings."
See, simple and uncomplicated. I could only stare in amazement
at the human woman rested comfortably against me, her eyes
half-closed, marveling at the strange twists time had played on our
lives. I had felt so guilty previously when I had watched the events
that eventually led them to meeting Klarth and my past self. It had
taken EVERY OUNCE of self-discipline that I possessed not to fry the
bastard who had killed Mint's mother under Dhaos' control. This was so
weird. So unreal. So... so...
'Ah, what the hell! She didn't freak, she kissed you back! What
else do you want, Arche?'
Closing my eyes I leaned my own head back against the ancient
wood and slipped an arm around the younger woman's shoulders, letting
my hand play with some blond strands. "If you say so. I always thought
your mother was a wise woman."
It was true. What was I complaining? Unexpected or not... Had I
not wanted this? Nearly a century spent alone, with only a few outside
contacts, I basked in the closeness shared between Mint and I now. And
I think I knew now that it was true after all. Love grew over time.
Sometimes you didn't realize, sometimes you would spent your life not
seeing it for what it really was. But I knew now. And Mint was
correct. It felt right. Simple as that. I smiled at the irony. A
century older, nearly two decades spent struggling to come to terms
with all that I learned, including my feelings. And in the end, it
turned out to be that easy, that simple.
"I love you," I mumbled, feeling at home for the first time in a
long while. Right where I belonged. There wasn't a reply but I didn't
need one. Not really anyway.
THE END
No, really. ^_^
Now, don't look at me. I know this was... um, don't even know what it
was. Frankly the story started out as a lemon idea, warped into
something more and then I began some weeks ago, it rested a little
while in my hard drive and then I took it up again... It didn't quite
turn out the way I expected to be honest.
I realize Mint was a little... off? Arche I pretty much explained. You
know after hundred years and all that.
The problem with RPGs, especially such old one's is that there is a
much left open about the characters, much left to interpret as we
author's find suitable. It's not really that I choose to make Mint
this way, the story developed more a life of its own at that point and
so did the characters. I liked it enough, so I let it work out. Not
exactly what I had planned but... oh well. There might be a sequel.
MIGHT. With big, capital letters. I have something in mind but that
all depends on free time etc., etc.
So bear with me, if the characters seem a little off. I take full
responsibility for the idea of making Cless and Mint siblings. It is
possible. We never got to know anything about Mint's father as far as
I know, so I could slip in the possibility here.
That's all from me. Feedback, as always, is appreciated, welcomed and
hungrily awaited. Good, bad, it's all the same as long as you try to
stay constructive and don't cross a personal line.
There are too few Mint/Arche fics (actually there is barely any).
Write more! Take this as the initiative.
Ja ne, yours
Matthias
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