Tbate | A clash between times | The beginning after the end

Chapter 30

Grey

Me and Caera were sitting under a tree that sat up top a mountain that looked up at Xyrus. I had been training my godstep so now I could travel about 8km with the only downside being it drained all my aether.

"So what did you want to talk about Grey?" Caera asked me as she looked up at Xyrus with her back up against the tree.

"I wanted to talk about returning to our time. I was planning to return once the attack on the academy is done. What do you think?" I asked as she turned her gaze to me.

"I agree, your past self is already really good with a sword and he's solid silver right now right? Your friends are what, solid yellow?" Caera asked to confirm.

"Yeah, since they've all been absorbing mana from the beast cores Sylvie and Regis bring back along with my aether has pushed them much farther than the past. We've also dealt with most of the corrupted mana beasts. They were a huge reason we lost so many people." I responded.

Caera didn't say anything as she seemed lost in thought. "As much as I want to return, I also don't want this time to end. It's nice here, everyone is full of kindness and they accepted me for who I am instead of what I am."

"At least the people you know of, I don't doubt if I left you alone with Clive for more than a minute only ashes would remain." I said imaging the interaction between the two.

"Oh! I remember him, he proposed to Tessia when she was moving into the VIP room. He got down on one knee and pulled out some flowers. I slapped him across the hallway, never saw him since." Caera laughed.

She then did something unexpected. She put her arms around one of mine and leaned her head on my shoulder. I was about to retort but I found that I couldn't. For some reason my body was refusing to deny her touch. I brought my hand up and started to rub her head again. "That feels nice Grey, thanks."

I kept quiet and thought about Tessia. What will happen in the future? I have already accepted her death. Will everything we went through here be like a fever dream? Will it have no effect and create a new timeline? Will I merge with Arthur? Will me and Caera simply become copies while our past selves live what was our lives?

"Worried about the future?" Caera asked after realizing my expression. "How did you know what I was thinking about?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"Don't know. For some reason I'm able to tell what you're thinking about." she admitted.

"Unless you know someone who can tell us about the future like one of those stereotypical fortune tellers like those that you can find in a novel, we're going to have a problem. Even if you do, can't they only offer information when it's important to the plot?" Caera asked as she hugged my arm tighter.

"I do and I'm sure that if our word was a book then what she did would infuriate the readers." I remarked, playing along with the joke. "What did she do?" Caera asked continuing our little skit. "She said the most cryptic things at the worst times."

"Do you want to go see her? She'll probably know what's going to happen when we return." I suggested. "Sure, but let's stay here for a while and watch the sunset." Caera said while pulling out some beef jerky. "I brought your favorite. I know how much you love beef jerky since it's all you ate in the relic tombs."

I chuckled, "Caera I ate beef jerky because it was easy to get a hold of and efficient."

"Oh... I just wanted to bring something that you liked. I'm sorry." Caera said, disappointed evident in her voice. I sighed and grabbed some out of her hand before eating it. "I never said I didn't like it, thanks Caera." Caera blushed, "Y-Yeah. Y-You're welcome."