Tales From The Kronos

The white ceiling of the med bay was the only thing Neige was staring at for a while now. Gwyn said she would return soon but there were no signs of her returning. The ghosts of his past were still haunting him after all these years, a past he couldn't escape. He could only remember parts of what happened, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do more. Polyetta told him that she erased some of his memories but if it was true he wouldn't remember anything at all. Something happened, something he couldn't recall.

"I hate doing nothing."

Feeling that nothing good would come out of staying here, Neige decided to leave the room to go for a walk, it's not like Gwyn would notice anyway. His hand reached for the door, opening it softly. He tried to not make any sound to sneak out discreetly but was instead met with a loud sound outside. The alarms of the ship were going haywire and the hallway was painted by its red lights. Neige spaced out for a moment before realizing what was happening, those alarms rarely went off before. It could just be a false alert but his worry for his friends took over. With his firearm in hand, he hurried toward the main hall of the ship.

Silva was facing Kairo in a duel, each one having their gun aimed at the other. When Neige arrived the two noticed him but stayed focused on each other.

"Kairo?" Exclaimed Neige with surprise "What are you doing here?"

"Changing the world. I'm sorry Neige, but I do what I must. Where is Emely?"

"Kairo, you don't have to do any of that."

"If you were me, you'd do the same."

Neige took his firearm and aimed at his former friend, his hands were still shaking, allowing Kairo to get the first shot. In a split second, Silva jumped on Kairo to stop him. The loud noise of the firearm echoed before drowning in the alarms. The body of his friend fell in front of him. The falling Silva froze Neige as if he had already seen this scene before. It already happened before with Yada, he was sure of it. Even Kairo seemed a bit shocked but quickly took his composure back before aiming at Neige.

"Where is Emely?" Kairo asked coldly.

Neige couldn't answer and barely could hear. His whole focus was on Silva's body on the ground. A voice interrupted the scene, begging for it to end.

"I'm here! Stop it Kairo!"

Kairo looked and saw Emely in tears. Without hesitation, he took the girl with his arm and started inputting something on his watch.

"Don't worry Neige, it will be over soon."

Kairo and Emely disappeared together to somewhere unknown. Neige was powerless, unable to even move. Gwyn and the leader arrived, immediately noticing Silva's body on the floor.

"Neige, you were supposed to stay in the room!"

Gwyn scolded Neige before hurrying to her wounded friend and performing the basic first aid.

"Will... She be alright?" Neige asked with an empty tone.

"Usually, I'd be worried. But she managed to build herself a bit, she'll be alright. If she had less blood and fat, maybe it would have been different."

The doctor took Silva in her arms and prepared herself to leave but went to Neige for a short moment.

"Neige, I know you won't listen to anything I'll say to you. Just be careful, alright?"

"I will."

Gwyn left two friends alone, Polyetta went toward Neige who immediately explained the situation.

"Kairo took Emely somewhere."

"But where?"

Neige stayed silent to the question, not knowing the answer. A voice from farther in the hallway answered, a voice they didn't want to hear.

"I know where he is." Silv arrived, followed by Sepide to her side "It looks like he was faster than me."

"What are you doing here?" The leader looked at her, her hand ready to pick the sword on her belt.

"For the same reason as Kairo, we're not too fond of your new system that locates your watches. Ever heard of privacy?"

"Where's Kairo?"

"Wow, calm down Neige. I'll tell you if you remove the system that tracks me."

"We can't do that." The leader said with worry in her eyes "Only Emely knows how it works."

"Guess I'll need to talk with this Emely then, come on! Let's go on an adventure together."

"Are you kidding me?" Neige said without any amount of patience "I'm not trusting you one bit."

"Your hate for me is stronger than your wish to save Emely?"

Neige stayed silent at her question, already knowing the answer. Silv clapped with excitation and continued with a smile.

"Glad we're on the same page. It's basically like I was Silva! I'll say weird stuff sometimes, don't worry. You won't even notice she's gone."

"I think we should trust her." Sepide answered, also feeling visibly bad "I don't want anyone to get in trouble..."

"You're right, let's hurry up, what's the world?"

"Here we go! 25101996, The Deadly Lands!"

"The Deadly Lands..." The leader answered with concern "Be careful Sepide and Neige."

"And not me?" Silv asked, completely ignored.

"We'll bring Emely back, we promise."

Once everyone was ready, they left the ship, determined to get Emely back from Kairo.

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A long desert stretched to the horizon, the scorching sun was lighting them with its rays, and the only thing in sight was a pyramid, standing proudly in the middle.

"I hate hot weather..." Complained Neige.

"Is it why you're asexual? Because you're not into hot people?" Silv joked, completely ignored by the rest of the group "Come on, I was trying to act like Silva!"

"Why did he come here? Is it a trap?" Sepide looked at Silv, with distrust in her eyes "Or it's a trap from you?"

"No, I think he was stressed and didn't know where to go. It's probably random numbers."

"He's probably in that pyramid." Answered Neige "He didn't have the time to go much farther."

The group entered the pyramid, hoping to quickly find their friend.

The inside of the pyramid was colder than the outside. The hallways were covered with a language that even Neige couldn't decipher, leaving a strange mood in these empty hallways. The group made their way toward the deepest parts of the tomb, noticing items that weren't supposed to be there.

"Isn't it one of Emely's hair clips?" Sepide's question was answered by a nod from Neige.

"She really is here, Silv didn't lie."

"Of course, I'm always trustworthy!"

The three adventurers continued in the pyramid, Silv and Sepide went in one of the hallways but Neige stopped his friend, prompting Silv to stop as well.

"There's a trap."

"Really? I can't see anything... Get it? Because I'm blind!"

"Shut up SIlv. The ground is dusty, no one passed there."

"Oh, so Kairo didn't pass here."

"Yes." Neige answered to his friend "There has to be another way somewhere."

"And how do we find it smartass?"

"Let me think for a moment." Neige said while looking around the room.

The two girls stared at him trying to solve this mystery, doing absolutely nothing.

"Silv, aren't you all-knowing or something?"

"I don't know the answer to the puzzle if it's what you're asking."

Neige let out a sigh, focusing back on the room they were in. Sepide paid close attention to Silv, making sure she wouldn't betray them at any moment. In doing so, she noticed that Silv didn't have any weapon on her, only a few paintbrushes and a sketchbook.

"You don't have a gun?" Sepide asked her, not expecting an answer.

"The paintbrush is stronger than the firearm."

"Oh really?" Sepide took her gun in her hand to examine it. Silv moved away, almost yelling at her.

"No! That was a joke! Don't kill me!"

"Do you ever shut up?" Neige scolded Silv, still searching around the room "I think I know where is the way."

"You do?" Sepide looked around the room, trying to find what Neige saw.

"One of the stones doesn't have as much dust on it, we should be able to press it."

Neige pushed the stone, revealing a door toward a deeper place underground.

"How did Kairo find that?" Silv asked with curiosity "He can't even understand what I tell him!"

"Emely is pretty good with puzzles like that, she probably was the one solving them."

"So, that means that Emely is helping Kairo?" Sepide thought for a moment, not understanding what it implied "Is Emely betraying us too."

"I don't think so, I think she's either trying to understand Kairo or threatened by him. One thing is for sure, Kairo knows that we would come or else he wouldn't try to hide."

The temporary team stepped on the sandy stairs, hoping to soon find the young engineer.