“I set the stage.” Arden replied. “Next iteration we should see the results. The paradox is prepped.”
“We’re out pretty far. I’d say we have about 20 minutes before Lodi shows up.”
“Hmm,” he looked at Vera coquettishly. “I wonder if there is anything fun the two of us could do together for that length of time.”
*****
Rivulets of sweat were running down the pair’s bodies when Lodi appeared. They breathed heavily, satisfied with the time they were able to make for themselves. The training session had gone over reasonably well, but Lodi’s appearance cut it short. Once again, their swords were unable to reach the berserk orange-tier, and they had died, resurrecting right where they began.
Just like every previous iteration, Arden and Vera appeared right in front of each other, sitting at the fire next to Volis and Kralis. But this time, there was a noticeable difference.
“It’s already working,” Arden said.
Arden and Vera glanced around the campsite. Everywhere they looked, it was desaturated. A lot of the world’s color was gone, as was life. Nothing moved. Volis didn’t shut his mouth. Kralis didn’t get rid of his disparaging look. The flames of the campfire didn’t rise.
“What did you do?” Vera asked again.
Sya and Kepler appeared here as well, both of them looking nervously around the safe zone at the locked appearances of everyone except for them. They weren’t really friendly with any of the other participants, save for Volis, Torvis, and Liva, but Sya and Kepler were still worried.
Arden summoned his Status again, and smiled.
Name: Arden
Starborn Tier: Red
Starborn Rank: Protostar
-
Progress to next rank: 14/1000
Constellation: RedShift
-
Rank: Paradox
-
Description: Hidden
Legacy: Arden
Innate Ability: The Blood of Billions
-
Description: Hidden
Protostar Ability: Devour
-
Description: Hidden
“Perfect,” Arden said.
“Arden, I don’t like this,” Vera said.
Sya looked at her brother. Rage clouded her face.
“What did you do?”
Arden met her eyes.
“I made a paradox myself.”
Before Sya could respond, Arden turned his eyes up into the sky. He wasn’t staring at the rocky ceiling, but towards something far beyond it. To a place Arden wouldn’t be able to reach out to. But with the new paradox, maybe whatever was beyond would reach out to him. Arden made a grand proclamation.
“Listen up, whatever you are. You reached out to me, and I answered. You wanted to see what I was capable of. You’re looking at it. You said you required more paradox energy. Take a look at me.”
Arden pointed to the counter beneath his current rank, where his Status showed that he had consumed 14 Celestials worth of biomass.
“One of the Celestials I devoured is still out there. It reset with the start of the newest iteration. Yet, I have undoubtedly devoured it. I am further along the path to a main sequence. You wanted more paradox energy? I provided. Now it's your turn to provide for us.”
Static filled Arden’s mind. The gold hidden deep within his red eyes started glowing brightly, and he was lifted several feet off the ground, as if he was a marionette. The grey hem of his cloak, his boots, and his hands twinkled like stars.
Vera, Sya, and Kepler didn’t hesitate to draw their weapons and trained them at Arden. They knew that this wasn’t Arden right now.
An easy smile fell on Arden’s face as he looked over each of the three girls. Without moving his mouth, he spoke, but what came out was not English, nor a foreign language. It would have barely been considered communication at all if the meaning of each of his words weren’t seared into the brain of the three girls.
“BINARY ECLIPSE // STUDENT = TANG // BLIGHT WALKER.”
“NICE.”
“OF.”
“YOU.”
“TO.”
“CALL.”
“REDSHIFT.”
The three remaining Starborn hesitated as Arden spoke, rattling off their Constellations, and seemingly thanking himself for being summoned. But the girls knew. This wasn’t Arden. This was the existence that was reaching out to Arden before.
Vera wondered what to do next. She didn’t believe for a second that this was Arden’s plan, to be used as a mouthpiece for a mysterious, unfathomably strong entity. But she also believed that currently, there was nothing they could do. They couldn’t even fight an orange-tier main sequence. How were they supposed to fight whatever this thing was?
The haze lifted from Vera’s mind and she spoke to it.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“What are you?”
The envoy responded, flooding her mind with more of its eldritch transmissions.
“I SEE YOUR // FEAR, ECLIPSE. YOUR WORRY.”
“YOU FEAR // LOSIN|G PEOPLE AGAIN.”
“YO|U WORRY THAT // YOU WILL LOS|E YOUR | REDSHIFT.”
Arden’s golden eyes swept over the other two people who were not frozen in place like the rest.
“YOUR FEA|RS ARE // MUCH T|HE SAME.”
“LO|SS // ANGUISH // DEA|TH.”
“YOU S|EE ME // B|UT DONT UNDER|STAND ME.
“HUMANS SAY {SEEING // IS BELIEVING.}”
“BUT // BELIEF \ DOES NOT = EQUAL / COMPREHENSION.”
“YOU INQUIRED INTO // MY IDENTITY.”
“I HA\VE NON|E”
“I HAVE // ON|LY PURP|OSE.”
“AN|D MY PURP|OSE IS BOUNDARY.”
“BOUNDARY // INTEGRITY // CAUSALITY.”
It was hard for the girls to glean meaning from the words themselves, but, like Arden had said before, they were able to feel the intent as the transmissions were burned into their brains. They understood what this thing, BOUNDARY, meant. Sya spoke, trying to confirm.
“You…maintain the integrity of causality. Whenever the timeline is at risk, you intervene.”
“I A|CT AS // THE B|OUND|ARY BETWEEN // WOR|LDLINES.”
“QUARA|NTINE DANGER|OUS ELEMENTS // AS CO|RRECTIVE MEASURE.”
“R|EMOVE FROM // WOR|LDLINE.”
“LET WO|RLD HEAL // AS QUARA|NTINE WITHERS IN COSMIC // WAST|E.”
Kepler looked at her Status. Just like Arden’s, Vera’s, and Sya’s, she had an alert on it that read Paradox in progress. That seemed incredibly dangerous to the integrity of causality. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
“A-are we the dangerous elements?”
“DEC|LINATI|ON.”
“SELF CONT|AINED // PARADOXES WITHIN S|TANDARD // ACCEPTABLE DEVIATION.”
“YO|U ARE NOT W|ITHIN QUARA|NTINE.”
“TARGET = BOUNDARY // ACAUSAL PARASITE.”
They collectively heaved a sigh of relief. Arden was right about BOUNDARY not seeing them as enemies, even if they were paradoxical. Apparently, a personal paradox didn’t have enough energy to disrupt reality. But something on the scale of this “Acausal Parasite” was enough for the BOUNDARY to intervene.
“What is this acausal parasite?” Vera asked.
“YO|U KNOW // IT BY A DIF|FERENT DESIGNATION.”
“DARK MATTER // BEETLE.”
“THREATENS| THE FABRIC OF // CAUSA|LITY NOW.”
“PAR|T OF A QUARANTIN|ED WORLDLINE // EONS AGO.”
“BETW|EEN REALITIES // INTR|ODUC|ED TO {DARK MATTER.}”
“IDENTITY CHANGED.”
“{DARK MATTER} DOE|S NOT E|XIST.”
“MAT|TER WHICH // DOES NOT EXIST OPERATES // ON RULES |THAT DO // NOT EXIST.”
Sya gasped. She recognized the words. She read them out before, the night before they were locked in a time loop.
“You were the one that left us the picture and the information about the beetle.”
“AFFIR|MATIO|N.”
“ACAUSAL // PARASITE ALR|E|ADY HERE.”
“D|OSSIER WAS A // WAR|NING.”
“PARA|DOX RESONANCE.”
“PARADOXES // CHAI|N TOGETHER THR|OUGH // CAUSALITY.”
“NEVER // JUST ONE.”
“BUT ONE CAN // STOP ANO|THER IF USED // COR|RECTLY.”
“But how does this beetle being a paradox like us threaten reality?” Vera asked. “You said it yourself. Personal paradoxes are with standard acceptable deviations. What makes the bug different?”
Arden- the envoy did not speak for a moment. The starlight illuminating his appendages softly floated to the ground in the frozen world.
“HUMANS AND E|VERYTHING // IN THIS DIM|ENSION VIEW // TIME LINE|ARLY.”
“AS BOU|NDARY // IN CHARGE OF MAIN|TAINING // WORLDLY INTEGRITY // I SEE DIFF|ERENT.”
“I LOOK DOWN // ON TIME.”
“VIE|W IT // FRO|M THE TOP // DOWN.”
“SEE PAST // PRE|SENT AND FUTURE SI|MULTANEOUSLY.
“EV|ERY // PAST PRESENT // AND FU|TURE.”
“HOW I AM // ABLE TO PROTECT // THE WORLDLINES.”
“Y-you’re fourth dimensional…” Kepler realized, trembling in awe. “Time is your fourth dimension.”
“BY HUMAN S|TANDARDS // AFFIRMATION.
“ACAUS|AL PARASITE HARVE|STED PART // OF ME DURING // QUARANTINE.
“USED CON|NECTION // TO {DARK MATTER.}
“TEMPORARILY // PULLED ME TO // THIRD DIMENSION.”
“BECA|ME PARTIALLY // FOURTH DIMENS|IONAL AS // WELL.”
“REQUIR|ES MORE // PARADOX ENERGY T|O ASCEND.
“SEEKS AR|CHON OF // EVOLUTION.
“WITH // THE REDSHIFT PARA|DOX ENERGY // WILL ASCEND.”
“Holy shit,” Sya said, running her hand through her hair.
This was way bigger than any of them expected. With the unique properties of dark matter, the beetle was able to pull a fourth dimensional being into the third dimension, rendering BOUNDARY vulnerable. The dark matter beetle consumed a part of BOUNDARY, making itself part fourth dimensional.
And now it was gunning for Arden to harvest his paradox energy to fully become one. That was why it always came for them.
But there was an issue with that.
“But Arden’s already been killed several times,” Vera pointed out. “If it was trying to take his power, wouldn't it just do the same thing to him that it did to you? Why bother with the time loop?”
An entertained smile played across the envoy's lips. But the eyes looked almost sad.
“TRUE TH|AT // TIME IS THE // FOU|RTH DIMENSION.”
“UNTR|UE THAT // BOUNDARY HAS CONTROL // OVER TIME.”
“SAME // APPLIES TO ACAUSAL // PARASITE.”
“You can't control the flow of time?” Vera asked. “Then how did we get caught in the quarantine?”
The envoy gestured grandly to the cave, and to everyone within it. It looked at everything with a hint of disdain in its eyes.
“THIS IS // NOT QUARA|NTINE.”
“QUARANTIN|E IS // QUIET // S|UBTLE.”
“NO ONE // KNO|WS WHEN // THE TIMELINE I|S // SENT TO THE VOID.”
“EVEN AT // THE EN|D WHEN // IT ALL ENDS.”
“NO FANFARE // SILENCE // NOTHING.”
“Then how are we stuck in time with you right now?”
“UNCONTR|OLLED EFFECT = MANIFESTATION.
“BOUND IN // TIME.”
“NOT // CONTRO|LLING IT.”
“ONE DOES // NOT CO|NTROL // THE RIVER| THEY // FLOAT ON.”
Vera looked at the glowing form of her lover, stardust still falling from his extremities.
“You seriously can't control time?”
The envoy shook his head.
“DEC|LINATION.”
“IMPOSSIB|LE TO // CON|TROL.”
“EVEN F|OR // BOUNDARY AND ACAUSAL // P|ARASITE.”
“PARASITE ST|UCK // IN LOOP // AS |YOU ARE.”
“VICTIM // AS YOU ARE.”
“Then how are we here?” Vera asked again, growing angry. “Time is impossible to control, yet somehow we are stuck in a loop.”
Sya felt the eyes of the cosmic being bore into her. There was no aura, but she trembled nonetheless. A smile spread across the envoy’s face.
“IMPOSSIBL|E FOR // BLIGHT WALKER // TO GAI|N POWER.”
“YET HE|RE ONE // STANDS.”
“PROFANE // GLORIOUS // PARADOXICAL.”
“I…I got my powers from an Archon,” Sya said. “She used my body and used her own power in it. That’s why I have power.”
The envoy shook its head, shaking off more stardust. A small pile of the golden dust began to pile up on the ground.
“DECLIN|ATION.”
“PAR|ADOX RESONANCE."
“PARADOX // CREA|TES MORE // PARA|DOX.”
“REDSHIFT |HARNESSED // PARADOX ENERGY| FROM // TRIAL.”
“REDSHIFT // EXCISED ARC|HON FROM // YOUR BODY WITH COAL|ESCED // PARADOX.”
“REDSHIFT // MADE // YOU.”
The smile on the envoy's face widened, revealing his teeth. The girls could see a mysterious light shining from between its teeth.
“ONLY |ONE // THING CAN BEND ANYT|HING // TO ITS WILL.”
“ANYTHIN|G CAN // BE MADE // POSSIBLE WITH ITS DIVINITY.”
“INC|LUDING // THE FLOW O|F // TIME.”
“ONLY // PARADOX.”
“YOUR REDSHIFT // HAS DONE IT BEFORE.
“Do you mean the spark?” Vera asked.
The spark Vera referred to was the Satellite Arden was rewarded with at the end of his trial. It was a single use item that allowed the user to twist the threads of fate to grant a single wish. He planned to use it on Sya to either cure her or turn her into a Starborn. In the end, he had to use it to get Domah to accept a losing bet.
“AFFIRM|ATION.”
“SPARK // WAS COA|LESCED PARADOX // ENERGY.”
“WAS GOING TO // BE USED TO TU|RN HIM // TO STARBORN AT // THE END |OF // TRIAL.”
“BUT HE BEC|AME // STARBORN ON HIS OWN.
“CLAIME|D THE // SPARK.”
“SPARK // GRANTS // WISH.”
“SPARK // MADE OF // PARADOX.”
The envoy's shoulder shook as it began to laugh. No noise left its mouth, but it was undeniably laughing. Mirth painted the envoy's face. The girls shuddered seeing the face of the BOUNDARY-possessed Arden.
‘This is scarier than the doppelganger,’ Vera and Sya both thought.
“YOU DO // NOT // KNOW IT.”
“RED|SHIFT DOES // NOT KNOW // IT.
“IMPOSSIBLE TO // HARM A |FOURTH DIMENSIONAL // BEING FR|OM // THE THIRD.
“IMPOSSIBLE // FOR| A // THIRD DIMENSIONAL BEING // TO BECO|ME A FOURTH.”
“PARADOX CREATED.”
“PARADOX DEVOURED.”
The girls listened with bated breath to the transmissions. When the impossible was accomplished, that was a paradox. When the beetle pulled BOUNDARY into the third dimension, that was enough. A paradox was created. Paradox energy was created.
And Paradox energy was taken from the beetle by something with an equal status. An entity who was equally paradoxical, and whose whole gimmick was taking. Devouring.
“No,” Vera shook her head. “That can't be what happened!”
“IT IS AS // YOU SUSPECT.”
“NEITHER // BOUNDARY NOR // BEETLE CREATED // TIME LOOP.”
“IT // WAS // THE // REDSHIFT.”