Tales From The Kronos

"Gwyn, are you sure you want to come? It's dangerous."

Neige looked at their new member with concern. It was the first time she would actually go on a mission and weren't sure about how this world would be.

"You said someone's still alive there, right? I have medical training, I can be useful."

Neige hesitated a bit before looking over at his friend and leader, waiting for her answer.

"I mean... In other missions we did you stayed on the ship, maybe it's safer that way for you."

"Polyetta, please. Just this once."

The two friends conceded at Gwyn's tenacity. The doctor couldn't hide her smile right away and quickly tried to remove any trace of excitation on her face.

Once they were ready, they headed toward the destroyed world with the sole survivor.

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The group ended up in a dimly lit room. It looked like it was the reception room of a hotel of some kind. The paintings on the wall as well as the fancy red carpet on the floor were in a sad state, barely resembling their former self. But the most surprising sight was the main entrance behind them. The glass doors revealed a city behind it, entirely flooded underwater.

"Looks like we don't have many choices, we need to go up."

Gwyn and Polyetta both agreed and followed Neige toward the upper floors.

As the group progressed in the rubble of this former fancy building. The windows continued to show the submerged sight of the city. Gwyn stopped for a moment, fascinated by the scenery.

"This world did end because of a great flood... How could someone survive?"

"It's true that it seems unlikely anyone did. This world had been in this state for a month now." The leader approached the window, staring at the scene in front of her "We need to continue, there's no time to waste."

Her two members agreed and climbed the stairs, getting to the upper floors of this tall building.

The three friends made their way to the roof. The water reached their ankles, the rain was pouring violently and the wind blowing harshly. A man stood amidst this chaos, staring at the moon. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone and turned toward the group with surprise.

"W-Who are you? I've never seen you before!"

"We should go inside first." Neige handed his hand to the man, trying desperately to keep his balance. The stranger doubted and took a step back instead, getting farther away from them.

"Does it really matter? Can't you see that this is the end?"

"It's only the end once you give up."

Despite Neige's words, the man hesitated. Seeing that it was leading to nowhere, Neige forcefully took the man's hand and headed safely inside.

The group stared at the man, taking their time to calm down from what happened. Gwyn soon checked the man's body to search for any injuries. While she was doing so, Neige took a notebook out of his pocket and asked questions to the man.

"So, what's your name?"

"I'm... Kairo. Who are you all? You look like you're homeless."

"Excuse us, we're a bit too busy to take care of our clothes!"

Neige tried to note in his notebook but quickly realized that the water from the rain ruined everything. Polyetta approached the man and sat next to him.

"I'm Polyetta. I'm the leader of a group called the Kronos, we explore different worlds and fix the balance of the universe."

"Other... Worlds?" The man named Kairo looked at the ground in shock. The group figured it wouldn't be easy to convince him but were surprised by his reaction "If it's true... Then I can still be useful. I can find the reason for my existence... It's not over yet!"

"Calm down." Gwyn said while ensuring his well-being "We'll need to bring you to the ship first, we'll explain everything there."

The group prepared everything to get back to their headquarters. Kairo had trouble believing in other worlds but saw it as a new opportunity to prove himself.

"Even if it will cost me my life, I'll be useful..."

Silva, Sepide, and Neige were standing in the rain, facing their former member. Neige pointed his dagger at his former friend, asking one last time in hope,

"Kairo, will you surrender?"

"Of course not."

Kairo took his firearm in hand and pointed it at Silva who answered by doing the same.

"Silva! I'm sure you understand me! We were told all our lives to fit the mold that doesn't fit us! Our parents never cared about us, only about the things that we could bring!"

"How... Do you know about my past?"

"We are without a family! Eternal loners that can't reach peace in this imperfect world!"

Silva stayed silent for a few seconds before gripping tightly her firearm and staring at her friend with determination.

"You're wrong! I have a family! Even if we don't share the same blood, our souls share the same hue of color!"

"So you would rather keep on living in this universe than meet our creator?"

"Our creator can go screw itself! I'm going to make this world mine and keep on living!"

Before Kairo could answer, Silva shot precisely despite the distracting rain and managed to disarm him. Seeing the opportunity, Neige approached his old friend, only stopping once Kairo took out his laser shortsword.

"I took my own arm with it, I can take a life! You better not come any closer."

Kairo had a slight satisfied smile on his face but Neige felt that something was weird about it. It was almost like Silva's words made him happy. Before Neige could inquire further, his former friend pointed his weapon at Sepide and wiped the smile off his face.

"Sepide! I heard your story, you weren't born the same as us. How does it feel to have been created for a single role? Don't you want to face the creator of this universe and prove your existence?"

Sepide took her firearm in hand with hesitation. Not wanting to hurt him but not letting him have a chance to hurt Neige either.

"I am more than what I was created for. I may not know what I want to do but my hesitation is proof that I am not limited to my goal!"

"How can you reach happiness if you don't know what you want? I could help you meet our creator!"

"I have no interest in that being, only in myself and the people I care for! I will keep on living and prove my legitimacy in this world!"

After Sepide said those words, Neige could see a faint smile on his friend's face once more. Kairo took a sudden step forward, forcing Sepide to shoot to disarm Kairo, dropping his weapon to the ground. His dagger in hand, Neige managed to get close to his old friend. Kairo took his own dagger to face Neige. The two men had their weapons on each other's throats, a movement away from the other's death.

"Kairo, you're under arrest for-"

"Neige, don't you want to save everyone?" Neige's eyes widened, taken aback by Kairo's words "If you met our creator, if you took its place... Everything would be different."

"I wish I could... I wish that I could prevent blood from spilling. That I could prevent the pain from everyone's past. That I could guarantee a better future. I wish, but..."

"But?"

Neige swallowed his saliva, feeling the cold blade against the skin of his neck.

"I can't prevent Silva's past, I can't provide a safe future for Sepide... I couldn't save Shiro... I can't save you..."

"Neige, you could change everything. You can still save everyone. You just have to follow me and together, we'll change the world. In an instant, we could destroy everything and build anew! We could finally meet our creator and understand the meaning of our lives!"

"I'm going to change the world, in my own way. I don't need to know the meaning of my life, I'll keep on living for my friends. I won't be able to change everything, but I'll do my best for that."

"So you refuse my proposal? You won't rebuild this world and stay in this imperfect universe?"

"This imperfect universe is my home. It may not be perfect but it's where all of my friends are."

Kairo put his dagger on the ground, a satisfied smile fully appearing on his face.

"So you know what you're fighting for now. I envy you."

The man stepped back and looked at the moon with nostalgia.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to travel. I listened to a nursery rhyme as a child, it was about a boy going to the moon and meeting new friends there. He would then go to Mars and meet new people and continue like that for every planet. I wanted to be that kid, seeing what was on the other side of the universe. The song doesn't have an end but I think it should have one."

Kairo turned toward Neige. Silva and Sepide went next to him to listen to his words full of sorrow.

"The boy should go to the moon and stay with his friends. If you keep chasing an eternal goal, then you'll never be able to rest. Sadly, that song doesn't have an end... And neither do I."

Kairo took his friend's hand holding the dagger and pointed the blade of the dagger to his chest. The two girls seemed shocked but Neige seemed to know it would happen.

"Neige, it's time to end this once and for all. If you don't, I will continue going from planet to planet, never satisfied with my life. You can't save everyone, but you can sacrifice a life to save many others."

"You... Really won't change back to how you were before?"

"I was always like that... Unable to enjoy the most precious thing of all."

Neige knew what he had to do and yet, couldn't resort to do it. His hand shook despite his best effort to stay calm only calming when Silva's hand laid on his.

"You don't have to do it alone, your friends are here!"

Silva smiled at Neige while Sepide put her hand on theirs too, trying to sound reassuring as well.

"He was your friend, right? It's normal that you're scared but I'm here for you."

Neige took a deep breath and gripped his dagger tightly before pushing the blade onto Kairo's chest. A strand of blood came out of his smiling mouth as Neige pulled his dagger back out, the blade covered with the red liquid.

"You really made great friends Neige. You did better than I ever could... I'm proud of you... Of you all."

Kairo looked at the moon one last time. He squinted his eyes, trying to see something that only he could see.

"Opal?.. You have such a warm smile..."

With his last breath exiting his body, the man fell to the ground, his blood mixing in the water of the rain. The three friends stayed silent, looking at their former friend's body on the ground. No one wanted to say anything, letting the sound of the heavy rain fill this world.