Tales From The Kronos

"It's raining, quite a lot. I can't see anything wrong with this world, but Emely told us that this world's time wasn't acting like normal. All there is are buildings everywhere, I think I'll call it, the Lands of Time."

After finishing her report, Sepide went back to her friends. They've been trying to contact the ship for a while now, but they couldn't manage for some reason. Silva gave up, and let out an exhausted sigh.

"So we need to find a crystal, and we have no idea what it looks like or where it is. It's great, I already love this place..."

"Let's just... search around for now." Answered Shiro shyly "If it's a crystal, it's probably something that people would know about."

"Wait." Sepide looked around, visibly confused "We already did that, and Neige was here a moment ago! Where is he?"

"Sepide, are you already losing your mind? Maybe for once Emely was right, this place is cursed." Silva touched her friend's face as if she tried to make sure it was really her.

"No, it's just... I don't know, let's just go." Sepide wasn't sure if it was a dream, maybe she just imagined everything. Without thinking, she walked away, followed by her friends.

Most people acted in a strange way, giving generic and short answers. It was almost like everyone was a robot here, which made communicating hard. They took a few hours exploring the streets before giving up. The group decided to take a break at a nearby cafe and tried to find a better way to accomplish their goal.

"I don't understand, every time we try to talk about anything remotely complex, they just say they-"

"Don't understand and leave." Sepide said, cutting Silva off "I swear it already happened, all of that."

Shiro and Silva both looked at each other, a bit worried for Sepide. She acted in a weird way, but at the same time, it looked like she was telling the truth.

"So... What's going to happen next?" Shiro asked shyly.

Sepide tried to remember, and suddenly stood up from her chair and waited in front of the door. Everyone looked at her wondering if she wasn't crazy. She stayed that way for a while, and the door finally opened, revealing a woman behind it, about to enter. It was the same one that Sepide saw last time, with her empty gaze and exhausted behavior.

"You're here again today. It's weird." The woman was about to leave, but Sepide grabbed her hand swiftly.

"The person that isn't affected by the rules of this world, it's you, right?"

The woman took a step back, visibly surprised. She seemed frightened, and far from tired.

"Who are you? Are you aware of the time loop too?"

Sepide slowly nodded her head. Her two friends stayed next to her in disbelief, trying to understand.

"I thought I was the only one. I think we have a lot to talk about, follow me, we'll talk at my home."

Silva and Shiro seemed still confused, but followed Sepide and the mysterious woman, for lack of a better trail to follow.

The woman brought them to an apartment. It was clean and ordered, everything was in its own place and seemed to follow a precise pattern. The group barely entered when the woman directly confronted them and lost her tired expression.

"I'm Katelyne, it's been 202 days since the loop started. And you?"

"202?" Silva said, surprised "You've been living the same day for that long?"

"It seems so." Replied the woman "The same day, again and again, is repeating. They just don't know, but the same day is happening again and again."

"So that's why I knew what was going to happen..." Sepide thought to herself "We're searching for a crystal, do you know where it might be?"

"A crystal? I've seen one, yes, but it's not really reachable."

"We really need it." Said Shiro "Where can we find it?"

"Calm down, you didn't tell me who you are. It's very weird that you came out of nowhere, I'd like an explanation too." The woman said, wary of them.

"I've been experiencing the same day as yesterday, but my friends don't have any memories of it. I'm the only one that does. We need the crystal for personal reasons, and I think it could get us out of the time loop."

Katelyne looked at Sepide with doubt in her eyes. She clearly wasn't going to believe them so easily.

"And in two days you already know that much, huh? It's kind of hard to believe."

"But we could make you go out of this loop with this crystal, I'm sure!" Said Sepide "We need your help."

"Get out of the loop? For what? My future doesn't have any meaning. Here at least, I can have fun forever."

"Have fun forever..." Sepide lost herself in her thoughts, those words echoing in her head. She didn't understand why, but she felt like in a way, she agreed with her.

"I don't have time for that." Shiro suddenly lost patience, and took his firearm in an attempt to intimidate her "I need to find Neige, so you better tell us where we find that crystal!"

Sepide was surprised by his behavior, but not as much as Silva. It was the first time that she saw him get emotional like that.

"Go ahead, I tried to die before, time will just loop again. And I'm not going to let you ruin it for me. We're going to stay in this loop, again and again, whether you like it or not." Katelyne stayed cold and calm, leaving the three friends at a loss.

"You're scared, right?"

Sepide's voice floated in the air. No one dared to speak, and instead, they looked at her slowly walking toward Katelyne.

"I'm scared too. I'm scared of the future, I didn't realize it until now. When I realized that I could lose my friend, I felt so... Fragile. I want to face that Future, I want to know if I can see my friend again, so please, tell us where we can find that crystal."

The woman stayed silent for a moment, looking at the rain from the window. It felt like an eternity passed before she finally answered.

"I'm not scared, I already lost what I wanted. Living the same day, again and again, it's just my life now." Katelyne looked at the group for a moment, as if she was trying to see something inside them "You want to live, is it just for your friend? He probably is important to you."

"Of course!" Replied Silva "We wouldn't risk our lives if he wasn't worth it."

"I wish I was still like you." The woman searched for something in her pocket and threw it at Sepide. It was a weird gemstone of a translucent violet, with the shape of a cross "I believe it's what you're searching for. I don't really know how you can do anything with it, and I tried. Maybe my fate is to stay here, and I welcome it."

"You had it since the beginning?" Asked Shiro, perplexed.

"Not really, a little girl gave it to me. She was weird and had a weird name, I don't really remember much. Apparently, it's the heart of the universe. I just think it's pretty, I doubt it's anything that important."

"The heart of the universe? This thing? Why did she give it to you?" Asked Sepide, still looking at the crystal

"Kids are weird. You're weird too, I don't know how you heard of it."

Sepide's watch emitted a sound. Surprised, the group gathered around her and noticed that the watch worked again.

"I don't know if it will help us find Neige, but at least, we can go home now." Sepide stood there, looking around the apartment "If we leave, this world will stay that way. Is there nothing we can do?"

"You think you can fix the world?" Asked Katelyne "I don't think it's your duty to fix everything. I'm starting to think that you may have lost your mind."

"We'll be alright, don't worry." Answered Sepide, confidently "It's our reason to exist."

"I see, at least you found your reason to exist. I suppose that our paths won't cross again, so good luck to find your friend."

Sepide nodded her head, and with her friends, left the apartment.

"So, are we ready to go back?" Asked Shiro.

"We should be, I just feel a bit guilty to leave this world like that."

Feeling Sepide's sadness, Silva put her hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm smile.

"We can come back here later, for now, we need to save Neige. Well if he let us save him..."

Sepide nodded her head. The group was ready to leave this strange world and head toward their friend. It would probably be dangerous, but they all knew it and still decided to keep going for their friend's sake.