Land of Discord Chapter 13: True Reset

Story by seraphor12 on SoFurry

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#15 of Land of Discord


"I see...then for you it will all over when you kill me," I said. "I won't run away from my past, and I have no rights to blame my company. I might had given in, except that you have threatened my daughter. It may be a time loop, but I cannot let you get your way on me when you have killed my daughter 500 times."

"She has your blood, and she is a pure race, just like the both of us," said the woman. "She must die for what you have done."

"The sins of the father cannot be blamed to the children." Yes, that is right. I had that same upbringing, which is why I cannot let this woman kill anyone I care about. Not because of the eternal suffering, but because of my own failure as a good father to Liz.

"Do not deny the fact that your company massacred the whole village just for your entertainment!" exclaimed the dragon woman. "It is all your fault that I am suffering like this! You have robbed me from my father and mother! If there is anything I can do to make you feel guilty is to kill your daughter as see for yourself how painful it is to lose..."

Now she has done it. I instinctively use my concentrated magical beam that pierced her leg. She roared and shoot me, but she misses. I move closer to her, now that she is incapacitated.

She just laughs at my face and spits on me. "So it is true then. This is your true face. A cold-hearted monster that..."

"If you say that you will kill my daughter one more time and reset it just because of your vendetta, I will become the same monster who shoot your father in the face for killing my friend in cold blood."

"He is threatened by your presence!"

"Yes, and I am also the one who obliterated the whole base your father is in, because why, you ask? Because I can become a monster, just like you now. You may have denied it, but you are enjoying the spectacle. We are the only ones who is aware of the loop, and you are enjoying it."

"Who is the monster between us, hmm? The one who rid someone of their precious childhood, or the one who has an incompetent daughter who can do nothing but be with a boyfriend who is also weak?"

Then I give her the only answer that make her scared, and turning the tables over.

"At least your parents only die once."

That is one heartless remark that make her realize that she has become the same monster that I had become. She is stunned, unable to talk, looking like me as if I am a serial killer going to lunge at her and stab her in the heart.

"H-how could you? How could you say that?! You heartless bastard!"

"Like I said. I may be heartless, but that torture only lasts for one time. You subjecting me to this same torture many times is far worse that what I have done to you."

"Stop it! I don't care! Segara of Dornthal, you cannot deny your past!"

"Yes, and I cannot redeem myself. But you still had your choice, and you pick the wrong one. The Azberans may be a race of traitors, but the children are not, yet you have chosen the dark path yourself."

There is a silence between us, before I said, "The children were not killed. That is the reason why you are still alive."

I know this line of reason will not work for her. Yes, I act like a heartless son of a bitch just to make her own self-conscience take over and let me go. But to be honest, I am traumatized by Liz's many deaths. I wish I can forget anything about it and let myself be the victim of her time loop ability. But...I know that this Azberan woman has put herself into a dark path because of my company's action.

But I cannot forgive her father for what he had done to Danny. It is wrong to me to blame her, because it will contradict the thing I said before. Yes, she is not the guilty party 30 years ago, but she is for causing Liz's deaths. This dilemma is the one that shapes me throughout the years I am missing from my daughter's life. Am I the good father my daughter has seen through her Discord ability, or am I just an honest cold-hearted monster with so many secrets?

Let's get back to business, shall we?

"Now, what are you going to do? There are many Azberans, survivors of that war, scattered throughout the world. You know what happened to Razber now, right?"

As I expected, she cannot reply to me. The realization that she has become the one who she hates the most starts to overwhelm her. I don't intend to kill her or wound her profusely. I know the part I pierced her would not make her bleed to death, but is enough to cause immense pain that she will be stunned. That is the trick I got from my CO. To be honest, he is even more fucked up than I do.

"So...I don't mind being a monster once, but I cannot bear to become a monster more than I should be. I have killed so many people, and I know I am beyond redemption. But, I know you have not fallen into my level. Just imagine this time loop only happens once, so that..."

"But whatever you do, you cannot deny the fact that you are aware of this time loop," said the woman while standing up. I try to stop her, but she pushes me away. She then puts the gun to her temple.

"Wait!"

"True Reset is a very dangerous ability in which you lose a day in advance if I cancel it. Which means you will lose precious time, and you cannot get to your destination in time. The only way to get out of this loop and force a reset is to kill me."

"Is there any other way?"

The dragon woman smiled. "I know that we cannot return to our normal lives anymore, but Segara of Dornthal, you still have comrades and a daughter to care. A beautiful daughter at best. I...my race may have survived the genocide but...I have already dead when I chose the path of vengeance."

"You cannot kill yourself! You are still around the same age as my daughter. You still have a choice!"

"I don't, but this is not goodbye. True Reset, like its name, can reset everything, as if nothing happened. The assassin I paid was only been paid this morning, before I started the loop. I never met her before. The bomb in this hangar will just arrive after 1 PM, and I will be the one confirming it. Airport regulation will check if suspicious, unregistered item is not confirmed. They will know it is a bomb, and you will have a slight delay."

"Even if you undo everything you have done, you cannot..."

"I know all of this because I may have done it before in my life," said the woman, now started to shed tear. "After activating True Reset, the memories of my recent two years will be reset, and...I will not remember you or your comrades again."

But then how does she remember her childhood? My past? If she has done this before, how can she remember?

"How can you still remember my face?"

She smiles again. "Oh, and one more thing. Zenido Moghes does not make his base in Ebony Devil Rocks. It is his supply depot."

What? But before I can ask her, she has shot her head, and everything around me starts to crumble. A bright light comes out from her and starts to engulf me. I am forced to close my eyes. Right at that point, I lose consciousness.

Then I wake up, still the same start of the day, on my bed. Everything happens like before...or should I say like it was 10 years ago, at the first loop. It is as if those 10 years of loop never happens, except that, due to my shield, I am the only one who remembers.

Yes...everything seems normal now. 12 hours of normal, plane-waiting, time. I encounter Liza again and looks at her. Overwhelming guilt and need to apologize takes me and I hug her. She is, of course, surprised.

"Dad?"

"Don't worry...I will never let you die. You have my words," I said to her. Hal, of course, is confused, and might have been thinking that I don't trust him. I simply turn to him and smile.

At 7 we check into the plane to Samali. With that piece of information, I think we need to start gathering information again. Just as I want to tell the check-in counter where is my preferred seat is, I am stunned.

I see the same dragon Azberian Mythar waiting for the plane too, apparently going to another walled city. She does not look like the one I encounter, and yet, it is as if she has become a completely different person. I am returned to reality when the clerk talks to me. I quickly give the seat preference and approaches her after getting out of queue.

"Uh...do I know you?" said the dragon woman, confused as to why I approach her.

"Oh, I...uh.... I must have mistaken you to someone I know. You both have the same eye color..."

"I see." She smiled to me. "Well, I can say that she is a beautiful woman. Oh, I think my plane is departing. It's nice to meet you, purple scales."

"And you too, scarlet one."

I know that she has forgotten me, through and through. Apparently her previous life had been in peace with me, that she knows that her quest of vengeance turns her into something she hates. She is now a completely different person with the same face and appearance.

"Who is that woman, dad?" said Liz from behind me.

"And old acquaintance. A very old acquaintance."

"You're lying to me, aren't you? At least that woman does not know you...or chose to forget."

I smiled to her and said, "Whatever you say. You are the lawyer."

I turn my back from her. That confirmation from Liz is enough. I may not know her name, but she has now changed for the best...or at least that I know that we are not going to be stuck in a time loop hell again.

Right now, our top priority is to find Moghes's true hideout, and end this madness.