Remanente (English)

"(...) That's how my team and I managed to destroy a rebel base." Duman said, taking a bite of bread. The elevator they were in kept going down, even further than the last one.

It got to the point where everyone sat on the floor while eating and drinking whatever the others found in the dining room, passing the time listening to the stories Duman told.

The three youngsters sat opposite to Duman, while Melonie and Neil sat to his left and right, respectively. Although something strange had happened, Francis decided to invite himself to the group. Of course, no one questioned him, but it was somewhat awkward at first, though after Duman told the third story, it became more normal.

They could have continued like this, but by the time Duman finished telling his fifth story, they were no longer surrounded by the four metal walls of the elevator. Instead, they were still in the elevator descending, but this time there was a thick metal mesh separating them from a huge room, in which was a machine that took up a large portion of the room.

There were countless cables, some smaller than others, but all of them everywhere. On the floor, on the ceiling, on the walls, and even hanging in the air. All pointing to the same place: a large computer terminal along with other machines they couldn't even imagine what they were used for.

But, the most notable and striking thing in the entire room was a huge ring that occupied the entire width and length of the room with its radius, which had a small object in the center, but no one in the squadron could see what it was from where they were.

"What... What is this?" Olivia muttered, revealing what everyone was thinking and feeling.

Where had they gone? What was that? Was this the reason why, right now, there were two inhuman beings fighting above them?... Was this really their escape route?

"Hey... Hey! Look! There's someone down there!" exclaimed an agitated Anastir, pointing down. There, everyone could see a man with both hands on his hips, waiting for them right where the elevator stopped.

"Everyone! Grab a gun!" Francis shouted, moving with many people toward the corner where their weapons were.

*

Upon reaching the floor, the elevator doors opened, revealing a man with his arms open, dressed in an open white lab coat, revealing a red T-shirt underneath.

"Welcome, my dear guests! I've been waiting for you to arrive-" The man in the robe began with a smile, but was interrupted by Francis.

"Identify yourself!" he shouted, as he and the rest of the people pointing their guns at him.

The man stood still, slowly raising his arms, still smiling, but transforming it into a smirk.

"Well, this isn't what I expected." he said, raising an eyebrow, but still maintaining his energetic tone.

Francis was about to demand for him identify himself again, but at that moment Olivia's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Wait, isn't that... Malgek?"

"Who?" Louis asked, while Anastir mimicked Louis by raising an eyebrow as he looked at the man in the bathrobe and Olivia.

"Ah! I see someone still recognizes me. Tell me, have they put my inventions to good use up there? I haven't been able to left here in a long time because of this." Malgek asked, pointing to the enormous machine next to the hoop behind him.

They slowly lowered their defenses. Mainly because it didn't seem like the man was going to hurt them, but also because they were surprised. They were supposed to be facing one of, if not the, most brilliant mind! That mind that, out of nowhere, disappeared five years ago.

And Duman, concentrating while squinting his eyes, could see glimpses of that man's image. While he had a scruffy two-week beard and greasy, shoulder-length hair, there were still those emerald eyes that inspired his company's name, along with his signature silver hair. Was that really Malgek?

At this point, when everyone had already lowered their weapons, Francis stepped forward, ignoring Malgek's question, to ask the question everyone was waiting to ask.

"Sir, there are two very powerful people above us. Is there any other way out?" he asked, full of hope.

"Hmm..." Malgek murmured, one hand on his chin and his eyes closed. He seemed to be taking his time thinking, filling them all with hope. Although, of course, the world couldn't be so kind to them.

"I'm sorry, but the only way out is the way you just came from," he said after taking some time to think, lowering his head in regret.

"What?! Why wouldn't you have any other way out?!" a woman in the group screamed in despair. Malgek didn't respond, his gaze still glued to the ground. The place was slowly descending into chaos, the murmurs and panic growing louder.

"Hey! There's still... There's still a chance they won't get in here! Right?!" Anastir tried to reason, turning to Neil, hoping he'd agree, but he just looked resigned, accepting his fate. On the other hand, the people who heard him began to convince themselves that this might be the case, feeling hope again. But Malgek was responsible for crushing it once more.

"I regrettably doubt it. If they're as powerful as you say, they're most likely after this" he said solemnly, pointing at the object suspended in the middle of the enormous hoop.

"Ugh! What's 'that' even?!" Louis shouted in frustration, a sentiment echoed by many. Malgek turned around to face the metal ring and wires with open arms.

"This... is my greatest and most ambitious work. The invention with which I defy fate." he said excitedly, almost lunatically, before turning just enough so that Duman could see his face and Malgek could see him. "This is a time machine."

"...What-?" Duman tried to speak, amidst the deafening silence created by what the genie had said. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish, as an equally deafening clang was heard coming from the surface, and everyone knew what it meant. The battle was over, but no one was confident enough to believe that Maistir had emerged victorious.

"Well, it seems my end is near." Malgek said, with surprising lightness considering he was talking about his death. The genius simply went to sit in a chair near the computer terminal.

In contrast, Duman's improvised squad finally showed its joints as a result of improvisation.

People were starting to panic, shouting at each other or even hitting each other, the calmer ones just prayed to any god that the person approaching them was Miss Maistir.

Louis stood deathly still, staring at the elevator they'd arrived in. Olivia was crying uncontrollably in Melonie's arms, pleading that she didn't want to die. Anastir was devastated knowing he was going to die, but he accepted it with resignation, deciding to sit on one of the enormous cables nearby.

Neil was in a similar state to Anastir, but he took it with more bitterness and even anger every time he saw the three youngsters. He no longer had anything, no one was waiting for him, the war had taken everything from him, but not them. They still had their whole lives ahead of them, but it seemed that even that would be taken by the war. So Neil stayed by Duman's side, who was in a similar situation to him, although Duman also covered his ears so as not to hear the chaos caused by the rest. It made him uncomfortable to see how they displayed such brutality and anger against each other; it reminded him of worse times.

Melonie did her best to comfort Olivia, but it was difficult knowing she would die too. Her mind gave 150% to find a way out. Thoughts ranged from playing dead to surrendering as a prisoner of war, but while her mind was working, she turned to Malgek, to that 'time machine'... to Francis.

"Hey!" Melonie whispered, gently nudging Duman. "Look!"

Duman and Neil turned to where Melonie pointed, finding Francis slowly approaching Malgek.

"What?... Do you think...?" Duman asked, not wanting to finish his thought.

"...I don't know, but we should get closer." Melonie said, dragging Olivia.

Neil quickly went to Anastir, who had lain down on the cables.

That left Duman to go after Louis, who still hadn't moved a hair.

Just as Duman was about to place his hand on Louis's shoulder, the elevator started to rise, meaning that whoever was up there had already reached the middle floor.

Everyone began to panic more and more, ultimately deciding to set up an ambush in case it was Garam, under the logic that he was probably badly injured after the battle. Duman had to admit that they were probably right, but it was still a decision born of desperation. They might not have known it, but he did. The difference between a normal person and a Blessed was greater than people realize, even more so a Blessed of Garam's magnitude.

So, Duman was finally able to reach Louis and tell him what they planned to do, before almost dragging him towards the group slowly so as not to attract the attention of the others.

"...Sir." Louis spoke as they moved.

"Yeah?"

"...You...do you really think we can escape?"

Duman began to slow down for a few moments before speeding up again.

"Of course! In fact, there's a chance we could even avoid this war." He said, with an optimism he didn't really feel, but that wasn't important, that wasn't what Louis needed.

"What do you think? Ready to be a hero?" he asked, turning slightly so he could see Louis, who was looking at him with teary eyes and his mouth slightly open. Duman worried, thinking he couldn't convince Louis, but after a few moments, Louis gave him a beautiful, hopeful smile.

"Yes! If it's you, I'm sure we'll be fine."

*

"Sir," Francis spoke, drawing Malgek's attention.

"Hm? Oh, it's you. What do you want?" he asked, strangely expectant at first, but quickly losing all interest when he saw who it was.

"...Do you know who's coming down the elevator?"

"Yep. It's Garam." He replied lightly, popping the 'p'.

"What? How are you so sure?" Francis asked, surprised by the confidence with which he said it.

"There's no way that's Mai, in fact I'm surprised she lasted this long. I'm sure it must be some kind of record, although it might be because once you're in this position time slows down..." Malgek seemed to have completely dissociated, not even looking at Francis until he faked a cough to remind him that he was there.

"Hm? Oh, right. Anyway, I'm sure you approached me for this, right?" He said, pointing behind him, where the huge ring was standing, almost dizzying huge from where they were.

"...Yes. I wanted to know if it's finished." He asked determinedly.

"Hmm... Well, yes, it's finished, although it only has one use and can only carry one person. Which might be a problem for you, don't you think?" He questioned, resting his head on his hand as he smiled.

Francis was confused. Why would that be a problem? But, looking closely, Malgek wasn't looking at him, but behind him.

Turning around, he saw Melonie and her group, looking at him with caution and despair at what they'd heard from Malgek. What were they supposed to do now? No matter what they did, only one would live while the others would be left to their own luck.

"Can only one person really come back?" Melonie asked desperately, while Anastir returned to his state of resignation and Olivia hugged Melonie again, although she didn't cry this time, there was nothing to cry about, she had already accepted his death and all she was looking for was a little company.

"Unless you all want to fuse all your souls, yes, only one can return. Although even if you all fuse your souls and travel to the past, they will most likely be eliminated, since in the past there was no fusion of your souls..." Malgek replied, being ignored by everyone the moment he began to ramble.

So, with their hopes dashed once again, they returned to the same question: What now? The three youngsters showed no desire to go back in time, probably because it meant leaving the others behind. The three "adults," aged 25-27, were lost: one with the moral conflict the situation warranted, another not wanting to return, and the remaining one completely lost all hope.

Although there was still one person left, Francis. But before he could speak, someone else interrupted him.

"But that's all we need, right?" Louis said, a smile on his face that showed no concern for the current situation. "All we need is for the person we send back in time to stop the war. We need a hero."

That... was quite logical, actually. Although it placed a crushing responsibility on the person traveling, as it wasn't just a matter of saving a few people, it was potentially tens of millions of lives. No one was confident enough to shoulder such a responsibility, but, reading the mood of the others, Francis stepped forward.

"I think I should be the one to go back." he said with blinding confidence, causing the three young adults to almost agree, but Louis intervened again.

"I disagree, I think Mr. Regen should be the one to return." He spoke, causing Duman to quickly turn in his direction in a panic. Why him? What was the reason Louis thought he was the right person to return? The answer to those questions was painfully obvious to Duman, it was his fault. He was the one who painted himself so heroic in front of them, he was the one who put a cover on his family's situation.

It was obvious that Louis and the other two would believe all those stories, but the rest surely knew at least a partial truth, right?

'They'll be against it, they must be against it. They know I'm the Broken Echo of the Regen family. I'm not the one for this. Francis will come back and fix everything. This war won't happend. We'll all be safe.' Duman tried to rationalize it in his head, remembering the painful nickname the media gave him after he was expelled from the academy. Sadly, there were people who disagreed.

"I... I think Louis is right. It would be ideal if it were Mr. Regen who returned." Anastir said, breaking from his resigned state to speak with elegant confidence, causing Olivia to stop hugging Melonie.

"Me too! I trust Duman. I know he'll save as many people as humanly possible." She declared forcefully, though both Louis and Anastir looked at her with annoyance.

"Hey! What did we tell you about your manners?" Anastir said with a hand on his forehead.

"Phew! You never seem to learn, do you?" Louis said, wrapping his arm around Olivia's neck and ruffling her hair.

"Ouch! Let me go, brute! Duman gave me permission to call him that! Right?!" She desperately asked Duman, trying to get him to agree with her and get Louis to let her go. Unfortunately, no matter how much they lightened the mood for Melonie or Neil, Duman remained tense, refusing to listen to her reasoning.

"No... No, no... No! You don't understand! My stories aren't-" He said, raising his voice to them for the first time, though thankfully someone else cut him off before he could finish.

"I agree too!" Neil spoke in what was almost a shout to cover up what Duman was about to say.

"...What? No. But why? You know about..." Duman said in a whisper.

"I think he'd be the right one to return, since he's part of the Regen family. Plus... he doesn't seem like a Regen at heart." Neil explained his reasons, giving Duman a small smile at the end that the latter didn't understand.

Melonie, for her part, didn't know what to do. Of course, it wasn't feasible to send any of the young people back in time, since they would be too young to do anything. She was just a peasant who left her village because it was boring and joined the militia before the war started. And she didn't know much about Neil, but from what she could gather, he was just an ordinary boy living in an ordinary town in the Drakard kingdom, before the war devastated his town, and he was among the only ones to survive.

That only left Francis, about whom she didn't know much, but if he'd risen to a high rank in the military, he surely knew how to handle pressure. Besides, he'd probably already been high-ranking before the war started, so there was a chance he could do something from his position. Although she didn't know who she was trying to fool, if he were to have the authority to intervene in this war, then he wouldn't be fighting it.

On the other side is Duman, about whom she also didn't know much. All she knew was that, after the incident at the world's most important academy, in which he was involved, the press began calling him The Broken Echo, branding him as a gold mine that collapsed. She also couldn't help but recall the detail that he was expelled due to "mental complications" that, according to what the media had reported, were caused by the death of a classmate.

Neither candidate was very appealing, though she had to admit Francis seemed like a better choice since he didin't seem to be in a complicated situation and was probably better prepared for everything that might happen... but, deep inside her, a voice screamed at her to choose Duman. She didn't know what it was specifically. It was similar to how she felt about young ones, a downing desire to protect them, but there was something else there. It was something like... hope.

It was strange to feel like that from someone like Duman, who was the focus of the world for much of his life because of his family, a family that seemed twisted to its core. There were many stories about his family, ranging from ancient ones like the war and massacre against the Drakard millennia ago, to more recent ones like Duman's mother, who had been unfaithful to his father and abandoned them.

They were truly a family filled with darkness, but watching Duman, who lied for children he didn't know, telling fantastical stories that entertained both young and old, she couldn't help but think that Duman was different, that he was a light. From her point of view, Duman was someone who showed that the brightest light could be born from darkness, and perhaps that was all she was looking for, and she found it in him. A light to guide them to a better future.

"...I'm convinced that Duman is the one who must return." She said with conviction, filling Duman's face with despair.

"Well! It seems democracy has spoken. Come on, Duman, it's time to go back in time." chimed in an excited Malek, who set to work preparing the machine.

"What?! No! I refuse! I don't want to go back-!" Unfortunately, Duman couldn't continue his denial, as Francis silenced him with a punch to the chin that also sent him to sleep.

At that moment everyone tensed, thinking that Francis would try to force things so that he would be the one to return, even Malgek stopped typing on the terminal and instead looked at him deadly serious.

"Haaah, don't worry. As much as I dislike it, I understand what democracy is. I just wanted to get this over with, since it looks like we don't have much time left." Francis sighed, leaving Duman beside Malgek and pointing to the elevator that began to descend into the large room, accompanied by a dirty, blond man missing his right arm.

"Come on, grab whatever you can use as a weapon and let's buy them some more time. Who knows, maybe we'll manage to kill him." Francis said with a bit of resigned mockery as he walked over to where the rest of the people had created a barricade.

They quickly began to follow Francis, full of determination, but Louis stopped momentarily, turning around to look at Duman one last time.

"See you later, hero." he said, with a hopeful smile.

***

Duman woke up excited, sitting up quickly, looking from one side to the other, hoping to see Neil helping Melonie with her wound or Olivia watching in amusement as Anastir and Louis competed over anything.

Instead, what he found was the interior of a luxuriously padded car, separated from the driver by a black wall containing a touchscreen and a mesh through which the driver could be slightly seen.

"Sir? Are you okay?" the driver said in a worried voice.

It was all too much for Duman. Not only did he return to the past, but he was now burdened with the memories of everyone he left behind and the weight of his new responsibility to prevent a war.

Duman didn't answer the driver's question, letting tears fall from his eyes as he silently hyperventilated. For his part, the driver, whose name Duman remembered as Damian, remained silent, knowing his master was crying, but unsure of what to do.

*

After a few hours, Duman had grown tired of crying, so he asked himself more important questions, like where was he? Or, more importantly, when was he?

He started scratching his arms as he looked out the window, a habit he had when he was nervous, but he quickly stop.

"Ouch." He groaned silently as his arm felt strangely sensitive and he even felt a part of it being ripped off.

Lifting his sleeve, he could see small dark circles on his arms, along with the occasional scar from a large cut. A few wounds that hadn't fully healed were bleeding from scratching his arms, but that didn't matter to Duman, as he was able to work out what year it was, which became extremely accurate the moment Damian spoke.

"Look, sir, we're almost there." He said, trying to cheer Duman up.

Looking out the car window, Duman could see in the distance a kingdom-like place within the already enormous city they were in. It was surrounded by a wall about 20 meters high, revealing what looked like a huge and classically beautiful building.

That was where they were headed. The future of all civilizations, born from an attempt at peace and harmony among the five races that inhabited the Earth. The Academy for Aspiring Blessed Ones 'Beacon of Concord'.

With that, Duman knew where and when he was. Right now, he was on his way to take the registration test, the one he'd taken ten years ago.

***

Going back (or into the future?), in that bunker there were only Garam, Malgek and more than a dozen bodies left.

Garam, still with his monotonous face, approached Malgek while behind him he found the huge ring, now destroyed like each and every one of the cables in that room, and without the object that was suspended in the center.

Standing in front of Malgek, who was still sitting with a satisfied smile, he couldn't help but frown as he looked at him.

"...I was late."

"You are indeed late." Malgek stated.

"...I was ordered to reclaim the Authority and kill you, but before that, I'm curious. Why didn't you use the machine yourself?" Garam asked, his face the same dull expression.

"...Hmm, good question. You see, we've actually done that before, but it always ended up being the same, no matter what we did before or after traveling. So we decided to approach this from a different perspective. If all we see is failure, then we'll just add chaos to the mix and cross our fingers that the coin lands our way."

"...Lies. You never leave anything to chance. There has to be something more."

"Wow, easy there, dog. I'm just telling you the truth. The only thing we had to do with was who we sent back in time. After all, there's no point in sending someone back in time if it doesn't make a big difference." Malgek replied, smiling slyly. "Now go ahead, dog. Follow your masters' wishes and kill me." He finished, lifting his head to expose his neck.

Garam stared at him, wondering what he should do. He knew he had to kill him, not only because of the danger he represented but because of everything he'd done... but he was already tired of it all.

"... No."

"Hm?"

"I said I won't kill you." He said before turning around.

"...Ha... Haha... HAHAHAHA...!" Malgek laughed at the unpredictability of what happened. It was truly something he had never seen before.

But Garam was tired. There was no point in killing him anymore, just as there was no point in him continuing to participate in the war.

Everyone had died in vain... but maybe, just maybe, from now on no one would have to die. It would be a long road, one in which he would try to help everyone in an attempt to help himself.

Maybe it was the wrong way to deal with everything on his mind, maybe not. None of that mattered, because for the second time in his life, he was the one who made the choice.

And, in the first step of his journey, he first had to give a worthy end to his true and only friend, Maistir.

Thus, Garam carried Maistir's body back to the village from which she came, burying her amidst the ruins.