A Much Longer Past
"You need to find someone to adopt me when I reset myself." "What are you talking about, sir? No one understands you!" "You know exactly what I mean. I've seen the future firsthand, and I'm a part of it. I mustn't die until I find that future." "But sir, your family. How could you...h-how could you abandon your kids?!" "They'll think I'm dead. Hold the funeral with an empty coffin. Make sure that it's believed I'm dead." Timler was beginning to stir in real life. I had changed our positions and had him resting his head on my lap while I leaned against a tree. I've never seen him this peaceful in all the weeks I've watched over him. At seven years old, he also looked much cuter in a brotherly sense. "Oh, Timler. If only you knew what it was like to have to actually start over every time you wanted a continue." My past was a rather complex one filled with many lives and many memories. It shocks me that my mind can handle it when it all came rushing back inside of Timler's head. I hugged him closer, afraid that I would lose myself if I lost him. Not having a real brother was fun, so my eleven-year-old brain imprinted on him, naming him my blood brother. Without the blood, of course. We had to keep moving, though. Who knows if any of the other "contestants" are actually friendly? I wonder if this is being filmed... "Timler, buddy, you gotta wake up." I slowly progressed his age to sixteen as he came to, and I quickly went to eleven. As his complaining moans turned into groaning stretches, he realized what had happened and snapped awake. "You were in my head. I remember everything." he immediately said. "Yes, I was. I hope you'll forgive for not asking permission first." I said plainly. He stared at me with a confused expression on his face for a good bit before tears appeared in his eyes. He started sniffling and collapsed into my arms. "Forgive you?! I'll thank you instead!" he cried out, "I've forgotten what it's like to feel, and now I remember! I've never felt so alive!" "You're welcome?" I said with an interrogative tone. I've never seen anyone so happy to have someone rummaging through their head. "How's the ol' sanity holding up, then?" "I'm so much better, thanks to you." Timler said, sitting up to look me in the eyes. He was beaming, and had the widest, most sincere grin of joy I've ever seen on a person. I, for once, felt like I did something right. Maybe I won't regret associating myself with him. Just then, a deal I had made a few days ago came through, and a portal opened above us to cough up a backpack of things I needed. Sometimes a contract with a VoidWorker can really pay off. "Where did that come from?" Timler asked with relative
calmness. "A VoidWorker. Having extra insurance in case of a dangerous situation is always nice." I explained. "But they're a myth!" he insisted. It was even funnier that his voice was very not fitting for a sixteen-years-old bear. There was an energy his vocal patterns that I've never heard in an anthro before. "Mommy, you're back! Did you bring home food?" "No, Honey, I'm sorry. Mommy's trying, I promise. Oh, please don't cry Sweetie. We'll be alright, just you wait and see." "I'm just so hungry, Mommy." I snapped out of the flashback. I can't even remember which lifetime that was from, but I remembered it being very unpleasant. I was apparently crying, and Timler was concerned. "You alright, man?" he asked. "Not exactly, but it's nothing. What's in the past is exactly that. One couldn't change it." I said. "I think you've forgotten who you're talking to, little guy." I let the nickname slide, looking down at my feet. "Allow me to rephrase, one shouldn't change it. Everything I've experienced makes me who I am. As much pain as I've had to go through, I wouldn't change the past for fear of not liking who I would've been." I went to look back at him, but he wasn't there. I turned around to see him muttering to himself. "Timler..." I said with a warning tone. "What?" he asked innocently. He immediately defended his time freeze when he saw my glare, "I was checking the surrounding area. The druid twins are headed this way. You're welcome." "Fine, let's get moving." I conceded. We began walking. I began to pay attention to our surroundings and noticed a really tall tree that was almost twice as tall as every other tree in this arena. I made a mental note that this might be an amazing rendezvous point. I mentioned this to Timler as two figures dropped from the tree in front of us. I watched as the cryomancer panther and the umbrakinetic husky stood before us. They didn't look threatening, but you never know. The panther spoke first. "Timler Chronor, is it? You must be the key to our conundrum." he said. "And you're...Friz, was it?" I asked. "Friz Nightly, yes." he confirmed. "You're Regir Chronol? I'm Ghastillo Nightshade. You can call me Ghast." the husky greeted, smiling. They seemed unusally trustworthy. What did they know? "So who's the leader in your little group? Cuz it looka like Regir's pulling the strings here." Friz said with a chuckle. "I'm older than I look." I blurted. Happy brithday, me. Two thousand and seventy years old, but I'm eleven in body
and mind. I feel empty, and these two seemed as though they could fill that void. I needed to make sure they were mentally stable, however. "So I take it you don't actually want to kill us?" I assumed. The husky's face turned serious, "It is of utmost importance that no one in this arena dies." "Why is that?" Timler asked. Friz sniffed, "You're a time traveller, yeah? Ever heard of the Prophecy of the Treasonous Ten?" "It seems like I should, doesn't it?" Timler asked. "I'm sorry, but my mind's been broken for as long as I can remember, which is roughly two thousand years of living crammed into the last week and a half." "Let me guess." Ghastillo said, "You feel guilty if someone dies and you feel like you could have saved them." "Close." Timler replied ominously, "Truth be told, I'm pretty sure I still don't care about the lives I saved. I think I was doing it to restore my humanity, but to no avail. It's all fuzzy, however. I was just recently given a rushed mental regression therapy session. I'm still trying to clear my head, honestly. You should have seen me before I went through that. "I didn't care about anyone. I tried saving lives because I thought it was productive. I thought I would feel something, but nothing happened. I let people die. I let...oh, God!" Timler collapsed onto his knees in front of Friz. "I'm so sorry, Friz! I let him die. No, I failed to save him. He was only eleven!" "Uh, dude? You're kinda freaking me out man." Friz said. "I don't deserve to live! The only time I felt anything was when mymind shattered trying to save your brother, Friz." Timler confessed. "I beg for your forgiveness! I only had one goal that day, and I failed. I spent like half a millenium trying to save him! I've never watched someone die so many times..." "Stop it, Timler." Friz was saying, but the time travelling bear kept speaking. "I tried everything! I stretched my powers so far that I began hear ringing in my ears! I ultimately left him in a sense that left him alive long enough for you to say good bye..." "I SAID SHUT UP!!!" Friz screamed, picking up Timler and slamming him into the tall tree. Ice crawled from his paws onto the bear's arms and worked their way slowly toward his heart. "Go ahead, do what you want. I'll accept whatever punishment you think fits me best. I failed you." Timler said. Friz, however, just sat there. "Well? Kill me already!" "I...I..." Friz was tearing up and had trouble speaking. "I didn't even get to say Happy Birthday..." His eyes were closed as tears streamed from them. "Wallace!" he cried, crashing into Timler's chest. "I miss him so much!" "His
death was unpreventable, Friz." Timler tried to console Friz, but his social skills were lacking. "The best I could do was let you say that you loved him." "I did. Trust me, I did." Friz sniffled. "I miss him so much." Just then, a figure comes crashing through the underbrush carrying a teddy bear. Friz turns and is immediately awestruck. "W-Wallace?" he asked...