Whispers of Metal: The Forge of the One Mage

Cold sweat ran down Nora's forehead at Adrian's words. Guilt overtook her expression like a painting coming to life, babbling sounds of apology escaping her mouth as she tried to make amends for what was visibly her fault.

Adrian's voice cut through her trance of apologies and sobs, resonating in the air like discordant notes trying to find harmony, each voice overlapping and incomplete, just a tiny part of the whole that intertwined.

"Hey, you're strong, try to calm down," one of his many voices spoke as his hand gently patted her hair in a clear attempt to soothe her.

"This isn't your fault," a new tone of voice emerged from him, soft as ocean waves.

"We can figure this out," another voice, closer to his usual self than the illusion he now seemed.

Despite the pain evident in her expression and gaze, he gave her a small smile, trying to comfort her in this confusing and stressful situation.

"He's suffering and I'm doing nothing... I'm so useless I can't even help him," Nora thought to herself with a heavy heart, trying to calm down, not for her own sake but for his.

She waited until she was calm enough to speak again. With each word, her voice seemed more real yet still so distant from what it should truly be, an echo reverberating in reality like the wind.

"Now that you're calm, could you tell me what you know about this situation?" he asked, removing his hand from her head slowly.

"I-I don't know, everything's so confusing," I started insecurely, unsure of what to say, but continued to babble as he listened, reassuring her that everything would be okay no matter what had happened or would happen.

"I had returned from a mission with the girls, we were looking for something called the Time Crystal but the temple collapsed. We left before being buried in the sea..." I spoke with a trembling voice. "A-and I took one of those crystals, it looked harmless," I said, expecting some kind of reprimand but seeing only understanding on his face, feeling relieved that I wouldn't be judged by him, I continued, "I got home and the girls started arguing," my voice faltered, overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

"I quickly went to look for dad, for the concert, b-but there was a trailer crashed into the car wash..." I continued recounting what had happened, so absorbed in myself that I didn't realize I was no longer near the car wash but in a field of red flowers and dark grass, sitting on what seemed to be a rock picnic table with Adrian in front of me.

My mind didn't entertain the impossibility of what had just happened; I looked back and the landscape blurred like one image superimposed over another, blending together until I couldn't tell which was real. Ignoring the clear rupture of reality, I continued more calmly because of the look Adrian gave me, one of resignation to what I was clearly doing, as if this wasn't what he wanted to happen.

"I just thought of it as something hypothetical, what if I could stop it?" I said before pausing as he served me a cup of tea? I don't know, but the moment seemed to stretch infinitely as the liquid flowed into the cup like a brew of infinite colors and aromas.

"That's what I thought, just as a fleeting thought and then..." time seemed to resume but my voice was stuck, I didn't want to remember what had just happened.

Adrian looked at me—or so I thought, his face at this point was nothing more than a splash of dark blood beginning to catch fire, his mouth stretched in the air to speak, and for the first time today it was his true voice that answered me.

"There's no need to fear what has been or what will be, because only now truly matters," he spoke as he handed me the teacup with a smile even though there wasn't a face to look at.

Although the words came from his lips, his voice, like an echo resonating in all directions and none at once, seemed to give them a weight that carved into reality, blurring the line between the real and the unreal in this place so much that everything could be considered "real."

I swallowed hard at the weight of his voice for some reason but as if it were an order, I stopped being afraid.

I looked at the liquid in the cup, swirling like a whirlpool of impossible colors, seeming to change with every passing thought. In my mind, I said "To hell with it" and took a sip; strangely, it didn't taste like something I could define—it wasn't sweet, it wasn't simple, no, it was none of those; its taste was nostalgia itself turned into tea. A mother's embrace, the smell of rain while holding hot chocolate, the taste of ice cream in summer, and more euphemisms for the same.

Time blurred again as I took another sip of tea in what seemed like eternity. I spoke again to follow the clear question in Adrian's "eyes."

"...and suddenly I was in the past. I arrived moments before the trailer crashed but I was so stunned by what had just happened that I didn't even act until the trailer crashed," I said, taking another sip of the drink to calm myself.

His voice barely an audible whisper said "I see" as his hand stroked his chin in a clear gesture of reflection.

Although he only spoke a few words, the way he did it made it clear to me that he knew more than he was saying. But I wasn't here to uncover a friend's secrets so I continued.

"With a whirlwind of doubts in my mind, I decided to go back in time once more... But just as I was about to warn the girl at the car wash, a version of me, covered in blood and with a vacant stare, grabbed me. She covered my mouth before I could say a word and, with tears in her eyes, pleaded with me: 'You have to let everything stay the same.' and then everything becomes confusing his face passed to absolute fear to disappear from existence in a red stain" as I spoke, Adrian's face went through different expressions from concern to subtle traces of fear and finally relief. It took him a few moments before he spoke but I wasn't prepared for what he would say.

"I know how to fix this," he said, as naturally as he would talk about the weather.

"What?! Is this for real?" were the only words that came out of my mouth before Adrian started to explain a plan that at first seemed simple but became a tremendous rabbit hole the more he explained it.