Elle stumbled up to the girl and touched her face. Arthur had never seen him this shaken. Even when Vil, who was clearly one of his best friends, had died, Elle hadn’t lost his composure. But this time, his shock was very, very real. Celia put her hand on top of his and smiled.

  “What happened?” She asked.

  “You’re…not…”

  An arrow came and pierced through his skull. Elle fell to the ground, dead.

  Arthur groaned and checked his skill cooldown. It still had about fifty-eight seconds left. Celia, on the other hand, was not exactly used to the deaths like he had gotten, so she stood there with his blood splattered on her face. The girl had probably just been through one of the most traumatic experiences of her life.

  “Uncle…?”

  She looked at his body, gulped, and looked up at the watchtower with horrified eyes. The archer nocked another arrow on his bow and let it loose. Arthur brought his katana forward and snapped it in two before it could reach her. Shaken to the core, Celia stretched her hand forward and closed her eyes.

  “You’ve got a parasite?” Arthur asked.

  “No, she does not. She is a mere child. What do you mean?” Vil asked, knocking out one of the final guards and deflecting another arrow from the second watchtower.

  “But she just…”

  Skill Activation

  Dictation

  She let go and opened her eyes. The guard on the first watchtower turned, put another arrow on his bow, and shot at the guard on the second. As the arrow lodged itself into his stomach, he groaned and fell backwards and down the other side of the wall. Once this was done, the first guard threw the bow away and then jumped down the same way.

  “Whoa.” Arthur looked at her, “That was…brutal.”

  Celia ignored him and kneeled down, holding Elle’s head in her lap. Her hands, shaking, held the arrow and moved down to the blood pooling out of the wound. Vil, confirming that there were no other guards, put the sword back. All the other men who had come with her, four in total, just stood there and watched as tears began to fall down her cheek.

  “Uncle, no. Why…why now? I just…”

  Thinking that it was best not to worry her too much, Arthur got ready to use his skill, but there were still about twenty seconds left for the cooldown to run out. On top of that, the castle gates opened, and another wave of guards started to pour out. Compared to before, though, there were way too many of them this time around. About forty to fifty soldiers with better armor and weapons.

  “Pick him up, men. Celia, come on. I do not understand what is happening, but we must rely on you to tell us. Let us go!”

  “Uncle! No, don’t leave him alone!”

  “We are not. They’re picking him up, come on!”

  Arthur grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up. The four men then picked up Elle’s dead body and started to run with it. With Vil in the front, they escaped out of the main castle gates and into the town. The square was not that far away, and once they got to the crowded areas, they could probably find some way to disappear.

  “Let me go.” Celia pulled herself away from him and ran forward towards Vil.

  She told him something, and the knight took a sharp left. The men with the body on their shoulders followed, with the soldiers close behind them. Arthur noted that his cooldown had finally ended and slowed down to move behind them. Sword in hand to fight anyone who got too close, he closed his hands and put his hand forward.

  It was a pain to navigate purely based on noise, but other than a few run-ins with some unfortunate passerbys, he managed to get through the three seconds without any issues.

  Skill Activation

  Time Reversal

  The man’s body began to reverse.

  Unfortunately, it began to reverse exactly how the blast from back then had reversed. Elle’s dead body, flying through the air, slipped out of the hands of the horrified men and moved backwards. Arthur groaned and ran after it with his hand outstretched.

  It turned from street to street, hitting soldiers in the head and making them fall down out of shock and fear. Men, women, and children who had been watching the chase screamed and threw whatever they had at the man. A few tomatoes, potatoes, and eggs later, Elle’s flying dead body reached the gates of the castle once more. Just a few more feet, and he would be right where he died.

  “Where are you taking him? You monster!”

  Behind him, Celia was coming back with Vil following close after.

  “Vil, take her away!”

  Arthur shouted at him. The guards who had lost their composure were slowly coming back to their senses and getting ready to attack. Elle’s body fell to the ground, and he stood over it. A soldier rushed towards him, but he tried his best to handle the defence all by himself. It was just a few more seconds. If he faltered, then Elle would really be dead. Vil grabbed the screaming Celia and turned back, fighting a few soldiers on the way as he carried her away.

  Then, right as the katana flew out of his hand, Elle rose once more, and the arrow flew backwards. As soon as it was out of range, Arthur turned the ability off and pushed Elle to the ground once more. The arrow, now resuming its previous momentum, flew right back to where they had been. Thankfully, the only person standing there was the soldier who had decided to attack them.

  The arrow hit him in the right arm. As he screamed and grabbed the wound, Arthur kicked him in the leg and made him fall on his face. Then, pulling himself and Elle up, he took a deep breath to look at the now-revived man.

  “What just happened?”

  “You came back from the dead.”

  “Right, alright. Makes sense. Where is Celia? Why is she a fucking teenager?”

  “I don’t know. But…guards…”

  Arthur pointed towards the guards who were moving into the town square to chase after Celia and Vil. Together, both of them started to chase after them once more. Without a word, they ran at full speed to keep up.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The guards turned left at the square, back to where Celia had originally been leading them.

  Once they got close, Elle started pushing past the guards as the streets got smaller and smaller. Crushed together, the men looked at each other without even realizing who the other person was. Once they realized that the guards did not even realize who they were, the same plan entered their heads.

  “Let me pass, let me pass. Come on, move on. I need to go!” Elle spoke in a calm voice, pushing past the armoured guards.

  “Yes, I am with him. Please, just a quick pass-through.”

  “Let them go. Hey! Let them pass first. What sort of protector of the peace are you?” One of the guards raised his sword and ordered the men at the very front.

  Now that their honour had been called into question, the soldiers started to move apart. Holding their breaths and trying to ignore all the sharp edges of the armour that were hurting them, both Elle and Arthur moved out of the congested group of soldiers and finally got out.

  “Hey, thanks, man.”

  Elle gave them a quick wave and slowly started to jog forward.

  “No worries, beloved citizen. It is only our dut-…It is the villain! It is the coward criminal from the future. We have been tricked!”

  The guard, infuriated, pushed against each other with even more roughness. Falling prey to their own incompetence and strength, they all tumbled over and fell to the floor on top of each other. The one at the very bottom of the pile screamed in anger and threw his sword at their feet.

  Since it was close enough to hurt them, Arthur switched skills and used it.

  Skill Activation

  Object Reversal

  The guards at the very top systematically started to get down one by one and stretch their arms before they continued after the criminals. Right then, the sword reappeared in the hands of the one at the very bottom. Unfortunately, as the objects ignored the rules of space when they moved back, the sword lodged itself into the ankles of three soldiers who were standing in its path.

  Screaming once more, the now-wounded guards pushed against each other and fell down once more, creating a second pile of soldiers.

  “Right!”

  Elle pulled Arthur towards another turn and kept running. Vil and Celia were almost in sight now. The two were running deeper and deeper into the city, followed by the four confused men who looked back and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Together, they eventually reached a house where the knight and the girl disappeared.

  Arthur and Elle stopped, wondering where they were. Right then, a small basket beside their legs slid away, and a hand popped out. It grabbed Arthur’s ankle and pulled him downwards. Scared, he yelped and held Elle’s hand in return. As the hand pulled harder once more, Arthur fell to the floor and into the hole under the basket. Elle followed, but not before he hit his chin on the stone floor.

  _____________

  “You monster!” Celia, sitting on the floor in her hideout, held Elle’s head on her lap, “He is dead, and you were playing around with his body!?”

  “No, he is…” Arthur tried to explain things, sitting right beside her, slightly leaning in to make sure Elle’s chin was fine.

  “Shut up! I don’t even know who you are, and you dare to come between us? Who is he, Uncle Vil?”

  “Oh, that is another Arthur Cross. Good man, if I may say so myself. His name is Sy.”

  Celia frothed at the mouth, looking at him, “If Uncle Vil likes you, then…”

  “Yeah, good. Now that we trust each other, just hear me out. Elle is just-”

  “Then you must be a special sort of villain.” She declared, “He never likes anyone. He hates everyone in the entire multiverse except himself. What sort of black magic and crafts have you been using?”

  “Oh…”

  Celia took her short sword out and pointed it at him. Arthur raised his hands and stepped back on his knees. Vil, instead of being of any help, just laughed and watched as he broke the grapes the other four men had brought and ate them. The girl kept bringing the edge closer and closer until the teacher started to worry that this might be the end for him.

  Right then, Elle shook and immediately touched his chin. Rubbing it, he groaned and pushed himself up.

  “Uncle…?”

  “Oh, hey.” He nodded, “Alright, you have a lot of explaining to-”

  Celia turned and put the sword to Elle’s neck this time. As he screamed and put his hands forward to stop it, she herself paused and looked back at Arthur.

  “And now you use your vile tricks to make me see the dead come back to life? Does your black magic have no end, you monster?”

  “Vil, just, come on. Can you help Elle out, at least?”

  “Oh no, this is far too much entertainment. You, perhaps, I shall protect. Elle deserves it all, I say.”

  “He deserves it?” Celia raised her sword towards him, “What do you mean? You too, Uncle Vil? Your friend is dead! A…a different version of you is dead! He was a good, good man. What do you mean, he deserved it?”

  Vil sighed and took his sword out. Right as she stood up and got ready to strike, he put his blade closer to her hand and rotated it just once. The short sword flew out of Celia’s hand and landed elsewhere in the room. Relieved, Arthur calmed down and pulled Elle away as they stood up too.

  “Alright, child. We’ll start first. And then, you can get to explaining your side of the story.”

  _____________

  “I’m sorry, Uncle Sy. I was out of control.” Celia bowed down in the chair she was sitting on. They had all been given one. The four men were sitting on the floor behind their own leader.

  “No, it’s ok. You saw him get hit and thought he died. It is only normal.”

  “But does that mean I also have something like that?” She asked, “The Module you mentioned. The one that brought him back. I have something like that too. A Time Module.”

  “You do?” Elle asked, “I mean, of course you do. You were five years old one month ago, and now you’re, what, seventeen?”

  “Nineteen.” She clarified with pride.

  Elle waved her comment off, “Still five to me. Go on. How’d you get that thing? Someone made you eat a parasite?”

  She shook her head. Then, after a pause, she nodded.

  “Which one is it, Celia? Did they or did they not?”

  “I…am not sure. I don’t remember a lot of things. In fact, my memories only go back to about a month ago. I just remember being nineteen forever.”

  “Bullshit. What about Mousmous? Where’s he? Has he gone insane?”

  “Mousmous?” She asked.

  Vil glared at Elle and shook his head, “He means our friend, King Gikanamous. Where is he? Why is he attacking us all of a sudden?”

  “Gikanamous is dead.”

  Everyone went quiet. But only for a second. Elle immediately followed it up with a question.

  “Who killed him? Who’s the ruler now?”

  “The person we are fighting against right now!” Celia stood up and gestured at the four men behind her, “This is my resistance against our corrupt, vile king. We are planning on taking him down.”

  “With…four people?” Arthur asked.

  “Well, Uncle Sy, it’s in progress. We’re still…in the process of building the rebellion, alright? It is surprisingly difficult.”

  “Understandable. I have crushed many a rebellion which rose against Helonia myself. Most of them were defeated in their stages of infancy, when they had only ten or fifteen people.”

  “Ten or fifteen? Are you serious? I’ve got five, including myself.”

  “Yes, it is a dire process. You will probably fail if you keep at this pace.” Vil shook his head in shame, as if he couldn’t believe she had ashamed him with such a poor attempt at a rebellion.

  “Alright, whatever.” Elle stood and walked to Celia once she sat back down, kneeling before her. He took her hand and asked like someone would ask a little child, “Who killed him, Celia? Who’s this fucker we’re gonna kill in return?”

  “The king.” She gulped, “Our horrible, cruel, monster of a king. That father-killing, traitor lizard, Arthur Cross.”