Tales From The Kronos

The ruins of a city were the sight that the three members of the Kronos were met with. Nature took back control of the buildings, leaving a strange atmosphere to the scenery. Neige was the first one to break the silence and talk to his two friends.

"Is there really someone alive here? It's hard to believe."

"I don't like this place much." Added Kairo "It feels like it could crumble in an instant."

"I feel like it's fine. Don't tell me you're scared of some spooky houses!" Silva smirked mockingly at Kairo, who seemed afraid of the scenery.

"It's not that Silva, it looks like it's been like that for a while. I'm not even sure the survivor is still sane."

While his two friends were discussing the state of this world, Neige looked around the grumbles to find anything useful. Once he realized his search was in vain, he returned to his friends.

"I don't think there are any dangers here. Polyetta didn't talk about anything either. I think it's fine if we split up."

The two others nodded their head and the three of them went in different directions, hoping to find the survivor they were searching for.

Silva walked around for a while, more preoccupied with the tin can she had been kicking away for an hour now. She couldn't find where it landed, she figured that she must have miscalculated where she kicked it but before she could search more, a soft voice right next to her spoke.

"Anata no mono desu ka?"

Silva couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. The owner of the voice handed her a broken tin can, probably the one she was playing with.

"Oh, thanks..."

The girl was at a loss upon hearing Silva's voice. She ran to search for something around and quickly came back. The girl talked in a language Silva couldn't understand, but this time a sort of machine was translating it.

"Who are you? I never saw you around."

"I'm Silva. I'm like... A police officer that travels through space!"

The machine translated her words into a language the girl could understand. She spoke in her native language with excitation, the machine translated but without the joy in the girl's voice.

"Space? That looks so cool, I wish I could travel in space!"

"I'm sure it's better than here. How long has it been like that?"

"A few months." The machine translated "Energy crisis, war. It all happened suddenly, but I knew I wasn't alone!"

Silva felt a bit uncomfortable about telling her the truth. No one was left in her world, she was the only survivor now.

"I'm Silva, what about you?"

"That's such a pretty name! I'm Emely!"

"I think yours is better. So Emely, do you want to come to space me?"

Silva made a bright smile to the little girl, who answered by smiling back at her. Even if she couldn't see it, she could feel the happiness of Emely.

"Hey Silva!" Neige stopped Silva who was visibly walking aimlessly in the hallways of the ship "Were you busy?"

"I was focusing."

"Oh, sorry... Emely wanted to show the new invention she did, you want to come?"

"Again? She's been here for a week at most, it's the third time. Is she trying to prove something?"

"I think she's just trying her best. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah, I heard the others talk about how useful she is... It's only been a week..."

Neige caressed Silva's head, trying his best to make her feel better.

"Everyone is busy with her because she's the next member, you're still useful don't worry."

"Am I..."

"Of course, don't you want to come?"

Silva thought for a moment before finally conceding to Neige. They both headed toward the main hall where everyone was waiting.

Emely had a gun in her hand. She waited until everyone was here to make her demonstration but wasn't expecting to see Silva, who seemed to stay alone lately. She remembered when they first met and always tried to impress since, it was the opportunity she was waiting for. Her words were in her native language but were quickly translated by a machine next to her.

"I have found a way to create bullets out of energy, we'll never need ammo anymore, only the light of a sun!"

Emely pointed her new invention toward a target on the wall, she tried to fire it but the firearm exploded in her hand all of a sudden. Her body was shaking as the remains of the gun fell to the ground. Everyone gathered around the crying girl, worried for her.

"Emely, are you hurt? You can always repair it."

Neige's words seemed to make her feel better but were followed by much harsher words.

"Maybe you're a failed engineer who should go back to school."

"Silva?! What are you saying?" Neige went toward Silva, who wasn't intimidated at all.

"I'm saying the truth, she shouldn't try to toy around with things she can't control."

Emely looked at the ground, devastated by the words of the girl she tried to impress all this time. She stood with her face full of tears and spoke without thinking.

"You're a stupid blind bat that can't draw to save its life!"

"Bats are already blind, dumbass. No need to say it twice!"

Neige took Silva away before she could say anything else. The rest of the ship gathered around Emely, trying their best to comfort her broken heart.

Two years passed since she joined the ship. She was working in her lab like usual but didn't have any inspiration. When it happens, she takes a list of things she needs to do. At first, it was a single page, but her work accumulated so much that she needed to keep a journal for it. She took a random request she had and landed on fixing Gwyn's computer. She remembered that the problem was that it overheated too quickly, there was a special caramel that always stayed cold in one of the worlds she saw. All she needed to do was check on the doctor's computer to make sure she didn't miss anything and then go directly into the world she needed.

She opened the door to Gwyn's office without even knocking and saw Silva inside. She knew about her mental health issues, even if they never talked about it together. Her empathy quickly was replaced by the wish to mess with her.

"Silva? What happened? Did you hurt yourself while painting? It must be really hard to throw paint at a canvas."

It's just how it was for her, she accepted that it would forever be like that from now on. They lived in a world where the only thing they shared anymore was hate with each other. But every time she said those words, something hurt inside of her.

Silva and the others went inside the world of unstable time. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't reach them. She stayed in her lab, praying that they would come back safely. Sadly for her, her prayers were answered by a power outrage. She tried taking one of her lamps but none of them worked. She was sure that the battery was full but it still didn't work. Emely got out of her lab, desperately trying to find someone else.

The darkness, the loneliness, the silence. Everything was pressuring on Emely. She was on the verge of tears until she saw a familiar face. It was Neige, standing in the hallways of the ship. She knew she could count on him but something was different about him.

"N-Neige?"

The man looked at her with an annoyed gaze. She knew something wasn't right with him and took a reasonable distance from him.

"You're one of his friends? I'm afraid that I'm not Neige, only an anomaly in this empty world."

"T-The anomaly? Like the one that Silva fought against?"

"Silva... I think it was one of them yes. I'm only borrowing your Neige for a moment, he'll probably wake up soon. If you don't want to get in trouble, just don't get on my way."

The anomaly left deeper in the ship. Emely couldn't hold on any longer, her legs gave up on her and she fell onto the ground. She lay down, alone, in the dark, only thinking about Silva, about the last thing they said to each other. One more insult in their life, an insult that didn't describe her feelings. She could only think of the bat she loved, hoping that she would come back from the world she was from.