Tales From The Kronos

The scorching sun shone on the members of the Kronos, the sand stretched to the horizon, and the only trace of civilization around was a wheel from a cart. But before doing anything else, Sepide immediately took out her phone and started to record her voice.

"We are now in the world 03031337. I can't see anything noteworthy aside from the sand. I'll call this place 'The lands of dehydration' because of my regret of not bringing any water bottles with me."

While Sepide made her report of the place, Neige looked around, trying to find anything that could help them. The man didn't see much but quickly noticed that the third member of the group was nowhere to be seen and immediately turned toward Sepide with visible worry.

"Sepide! Have you seen Silva?"

The girl looked around before continuing her report with the same empty voice.

"We are now only two, as one of our members disappeared, probably lost between time and space."

Shocked by the thoughtless behavior of her partner, Neige stared at her with disbelief. The man continued looking around but was clearly irritated by Sepide's behavior.

"Hey, never say that! She just... Has to be somewhere around here... If only there was a way to locate each other..."

Sepide wanted to tell her partner about the low probability of their friend being safe but knew this wouldn't help and only cause problems. Instead, she decided to look at a map they prepared before going in, and pointed towards a direction.

"The biggest town is there. Our objectives are to find a diary, make sure that Sheriff Coop keeps his position, and find Silva. All of our goals should lead toward this town. Don't you agree?"

It was clear that Sepide wasn't used to cheer people up. She tried to find the right tone and the right body language to be as reassuring as possible. Sadly for her, this didn't make Neige feel better about his friend, but even he knew they didn't have any other choice at the moment.

"...Let's go."

After a long way, the duo arrived in the town. The sun was setting and their body only yearned for something to quench their thirst. They decided it would be better to search for a bar where they could drink something. While they were on the way, they were met with a surprising sight on one of the sandy streets. Two men, facing each other, with their hands very close to the revolvers on their belt. The tension stayed for a while until one of them finally broke the silence with his deep voice.

"Give it up Coop, this town ain't big enough for the two of us. Me 'n this new sheriff will make this town stay above broad and clean of your dirty crimes."

After the first man gave his speech, the people around them started to clap and cheer for him, which clearly irritated the other man.

"Don't worry you mail-ordered cowboy, I'll reclaim my place from this Silv and show you who's the best sheriff aroun' there!"

The crowd booed the man during his speech. The two cowboys stared at each other intensely, ready to fire at any moment. Feeling that a shot could come at any moment, Neige quickly interrupted the fight by putting himself at the center, surprising the two men.

"Wait, let's talk about it before!"

The crowd and Coop were visibly unhappy with this sudden interruption, however, the other man almost seemed relieved and put his hand in the air.

"This tenderfoot cowboy's right. A bloodbath wouldn't solve anything."

Seeing that no one would die today, the people around scattered around and continued their lives as if nothing happened. When Coop saw his opponent lower his guard, he quickly took this opportunity to run away cowardly.

Neige was relieved that nothing bad happened. The cowboy that was dueling approached him in a friendly manner, saluting him with his right hand.

"Howdy friend. Thanks to you, we avoided the worst, so lemme invite you to take a drink."

Neige and Sepide almost forgot about their thirst, and wholeheartedly accepted the offer of the good man who took them to the closest bar. He was expecting them to drink some alcohol, but they instead asked for a glass of water, multiples actually, amusing the man.

"You must come from far away to be that thirsty. And not very well-prepared either. My name's Gol'dner, I'm no sheriff, but everyone calls me that around here."

"I'm Neige, and it's my fri... Sepide. I heard your conversation, this man was the previous sheriff?"

The man let out a sigh after the mention of the former sheriff. He looked at his glass of whiskey and took a large sip of it before answering with a deep voice.

"Coop... He was the previous sheriff of this town, but he was as loved as tuberculosis. He may look like a man, but inside he's crazy enough to eat the devil with horns on. Led by his greed and desire for power, he made this place as horrible as hell itself, as if the heat wasn't enough."

Neige and Sepide looked at each other before she whispered in the ear of her partner

"We need to make Coop the sheriff again, it's part of the mission."

Neige nodded with hesitation. He saw how people reacted, they seemed happy to see Coop away but it was too soon for him to come to any conclusion, he needed to know more.

"And why he's no longer the sheriff?"

The serious tone of the cowboy quickly shifted to a smile, it was as if the simple fact of remembering what happened made him happy.

"I was nothing but a traveler, arresting criminals to gain his bread. But then, my life shifted when I met her. Silv, such an enigma, she already knew so much about me, even though we never met. She was no criminal, quite the opposite. She wanted to be the new sheriff of this town, she would be the brain, I would be the gun, and together we would be justice."

"Silv..." Neige thought about this name. It was very possible that this Silv was another version of his friend, Silva. But it only made her disappearance stranger, was it just a coincidence?

"Yeah, a name as strange as its owner. I'm no blind man, I know she has her own agenda, but the town's more peaceful now. Most folks here are happy with her as the head of the place, and as long as I get food and justice, I'm a fulfilled man." The cowboys then looked at them and asked them with a strong voice.

"And you, you're not from aroun' here, I can see that. What brings you tenderfoots here?"

"We're searching for a friend, short red hair, likes to paint even though she's blind, pretty short too."

Gol'dner was pretty surprised by Neige's description and let out a laugh before looking at him in the eyes "It's totally what Silv looks like, you're friends with her?"

Neige was now sure of it, this Silv was his friend's other self. He knew that meeting the self of another world could bring problems to the balance of this world so it was urgent to find Silva before she met her other self. But what was even more surprising was that their leader didn't say anything, usually, she would avoid this problem by not sending them to a world where there was one of their other selves. Neige stayed in his thoughts until Gol'dner finished the rest of his glass and slammed the glass on the counter before leaving some gold coins.

"Take your time around here, I hope you find your friend. If you need any help, you can come to me. As the right arm of justice, it's my duty to help." The man stood up and left the bar, leaving Sepide and Neige alone.

"We should find this Silv and make her retire from her position, we can find the diary later." Proposed Sepide. Neige shook his head, clearly not on the same wavelength.

"We need to find the diary first. And besides, they seem more happy like that, we can deal with it later."

"I do not understand, is this diary so important?"

"I can't tell you, it's important, that's all you need to know." Sepide was confused about the words of her partner but silently accepted. He had more experience after all, he probably knew better.

They both finished their last glass of water and were ready to leave, but a person sat next to them, a person they knew very well.

"Silva?" Neige exclaimed after seeing his friend who he thought lost, sitting right next to him. He couldn't help but feel overjoyed to see her, but also worried for some reason.

"In flesh and bone. I was worried when I didn't find you two, but I knew we'd find each other eventually."

"We have a lot to share with you." Said Sepide in her usual cold voice, which kinda irritated Neige. The friend that they lost was right here, and the only thing she was talking about was their mission. But before Neige could argue, Silva continued to talk.

"The night is almost here, I can feel it, we should search for a place to rest."

"But we have no currency from this world, how could we pay for a place to sleep." Asked Sepide, to which Neige answered by showing some gold coins with a smile on his face.

"This cowboy may be a great guy, but he's easy to steal."

"Did you steal from this man? You should give it back Neige, it's dangerous." Reprimanded Sepide with judging eyes. She was quite disappointed that Neige would steal like that, but Silva wasn't feeling the same.

"It's just his thing, he just likes stealing for the fun of it. You should be careful with your valuables around him." Silva hit Neige's back with a cheerful laugh, to which he answered with a smile.

"It's also very practical. We don't have time to work to earn this money."

Sepide felt confused by their reaction, the fate of the world is at play, and they aren't taking it seriously. She still decided to trust them but was almost disappointed by their lack of seriousness.

The moon was high in the sky and the place started to get colder. Sepide really wondered if they would manage to find the diary and fix everything without consequences.