Fractures of Eternity

Ever had six minutes to decide something? Yes, it takes six minutes for the brain to begin to die after the heart stops beating, and with each second that passes, I have less time to think.

Rem rushed into the scene in a blinding fury, crashing into the barrier keeping them isolated from everything else and shattering it with brute force. Oswald also saw red as Zephier grew large enough to make people start running away from the site we found ourselves at. It wasn’t long until the two left me, rushing towards Loki’s body, as Thea was the only one who turned to me, knowing my life was about to go out too, yet her words were muffled as my body didn’t feel like it was mine anymore.

Alijah had gone behind Rem, leaving Luna with Leo, who was like a fish out of water, yet kept Luna’s head buried into his chest, ensuring she didn’t see what was happening. Tears were coming from the young pup’s eyes when Thea grabbed onto my shoulders, while Zoe covered her mouth, knowing we had failed. Caden was the only adult who had stayed with us, as Lola was in his arms, crying. A heartbeat later, Alistair’s head rolled, thanks to Rem, who didn’t care for any excuse he came up with.

All chaos was about to break loose, and I would die in less time than I had to act. Watching Loki’s body bleed onto the floor was making me sluggish as my thoughts muddled together incoherently. It seemed my nightmare was more than a simple dream. Before I could snap out, Oswald managed to reach Loki before picking him up in his arms and yelling for his brother, whose eyes were lifeless. It was only his broken cry that crashed me out of my state, prompting me to grab onto my brooch before ripping it off as my breathing hitched.

Why… Why did this happen? I thought… everything worked… It doesn’t matter. A world without either of you isn’t one worth saving.

I threw the brooch aside, triggering my body to erupt like a burning sun, blinding everything around me.

Yes… This world doesn’t deserve to exist as it is! Not if it kills those two!

Just like my mother said, the world turned on the prince who had killed his brother in a moment of madness, without a moment to think about why he had done it.

A moment of madness… That alone makes no sense. You’ve been hurting this entire time, yet why break now?! Why now?! There has to be a reason! This… You aren’t like this, Alistair!

Rewriting the past was a forbidden technique that normal mortals could only dream of doing, yet it had dire consequences, which was why powerful eternal witches never dared to dabble in it.

The world will end either way. At least this way it will be in my terms! I don’t want to die, and I don’t want to live in a world where neither of you is there! My friend and my lover… I….

Back when the prophecy was read, Alistair lived through it, yet Rem wasn’t present, as Vera was still alive when Edna made the pact.

Ah… I see this isn’t a god after Fenrir… No, it has to be… Hah… Why didn’t that cross my mind until now?

The warlock Jin wanted to make Rem suffer, but the reason they targeted the twins, too, was because of something else.

Emma died protecting Oswald, while… Hah… How foolish am I? There is a god who wants Loki gone.

In one instance, time froze, stopping everything and everyone around me as I fully exposed my authentic self to them.

That doesn’t matter anymore. We are screwed, no matter what happens.

With time halted for the entire world, I stepped through the wave of panicked people on my way to the arena, closing my heart, knowing the horror that awaited me was only momentary. Distortions appeared everywhere around us as my magic ensured the beginning of the end of this rotten world. Loki wasn’t entirely dead yet, even though his body didn’t have a pulse, but the moment his mind died, so would mine. Carrying Eli with me, I found my way to the ground floor as every step felt heavier than the last.

Shifting my gaze to my deceased lover, I couldn’t help but release a sigh as tears didn’t leave me. This wasn’t the time to break.

“Hey… how many times did I tell you to be careful with that heart of yours?” I said, knowing full well he probably couldn’t hear me, even though everyone around me was well aware of how time had stopped for them.

Unlike him and Alistair, who were soon to depart this world, everyone was conscious, even though time had stopped for them. The thing that tore through reality was the fact that memories were eternal, which meant even if I returned the clock, everyone would remember the last few moments, creating a break in this world. This was the first time I had ever used any time magic to this extent, and I had no way to know if I had halted the world from rotating, too. However, the magic flowing through me was immense as this body could barely contain it.

The skin in my right hand was beginning to peel, alerting me that my power was too much for this mortal body to handle for long durations.

Hah… Edna, it seems your gamble to make my father a homunculus isn’t enough.

When I stopped everything, Rem was being held by Alijah, who was trying to stop her from cutting further into the beheaded prince, while beside them, Oswald was crying for Loki. Holding onto Eli, I brought the little lifeless snake up to my lips, as I readied myself for the chaos I was about to bring into this world.

I’ll show you all, the actual reason that we’re feared and hunted—something my sisters can’t even do anymore. Hah… Yama… will surely come for me, but a world like this…

Moments like this were the reasons the rift between our worlds appeared, yet those weren’t made by mortal hands, much like the ones being made today.

“Vivian, you are…” Edna’s voice rang in my ears.

Hah… I can’t think of a better end from a merciless goddess.

“Rewind,” I muttered, holding onto Eli before twirling once counterclockwise, making the entire world also turn back.

The moment the world began to go back to the moments before the tragedy, I was allowed to witness what happened in my beloved’s last moments. After grabbing onto his brother’s hand, Alistair’s eyes shifted from red to white before yanking his younger brother to him and ripping into him. The moment it was over, the older prince appeared stunned by what was in his hands, while his younger brother’s eyes soon grew cold as my name left his lips before falling before him limp.

In the blink of an eye, we were back to the moments before Loki had his heart ripped, yet that wasn’t good enough, as they were still too close. I allowed the spell to continue before the brothers were a decent space apart during their battle. Once, there were more fractures in our reality that began to appear as I could feel Rem trying to break out of my spell more than the others. Being a god of order, she was a hassle to pin down, especially since we were in a field of a fight and Fenrir controlled the flow of war itself.

Unlike all the others, Eli remained in my hands as his life soon returned.

“Vivi?” He mumbled as I let him go before he froze along with everyone else.

With both brothers successfully revived, I walked over to the frozen, sickly prince, as more cracks appeared in the surroundings, yet I ignored them, staring at the nineteen-year-old boy who was barely a man.

“The world may abandon you, but I won’t.” I smiled, reaching into my pouch and taking Oliver’s broken crystal out of it before tossing the bag aside as it froze the moment it was far from me. “A world that doesn’t want you should not exist, my first and only friend. If I may call you that, Ali.”

This gem was used to make that Lycan into a homunculus, which means, if Edna didn’t make it with my power, then…

Pressing the crystal into his chest, I was determined to see this through as long as he lived in the end.

Leonard… Your life was stolen, but I won’t allow your son to suffer the same fate. He isn’t alone, I promise you that.

“But… were we ever friends if you never knew me?” I breathed, prompting the gem to shimmer brightly.

Hah… I know, it’ll be easier on me if I kill you, yet I yearn to learn more about you. I want you to be happy, too! Even if… my life is over. At least you’ll…

A soft shine came from him and me, as I didn’t know what expression I held on to my face, though I could feel tears trail down my cheeks.

“Caring for you mortals is such a chore. I should really kill you to save myself some time to escape. There is still time, but…” I trailed off, allowing myself to feel everything until this point, as it quickly rained out of me like an inferno threatening to consume me. “Don’t face things alone anymore, Alistair. Because of you, and only because of you, I’ll give up my life as I live it now. So, you better not waste this chance, stupid prince, this goddess can’t give you another!”

When the dust settles, and Yama is done redoing the world as it is. Live a life of freedom, one I won’t have. Even if it’s a short one… You’ll be free of the chains that bind you to a cruel fate.

“I love you, Alistair. Thank you for being my friend, even if it was under a pretense. I had a lot of fun with you.” I professed, as there was nowhere for me to turn back to anymore.

Infusing the crystal with more of my magic ended in shattering, leaving the pieces frozen in time, the moment they scattered. In those moments, a chain reaction occurred, triggering a golden light to come from Alistair’s chest, which was my only opening, as I jabbed my left hand into the slight distortion, determined to remove whatever this rogue god had left in him. I had no idea what I was doing, yet something urged me forward, driven by my desire to ruin this being who held my friend’s life in his hands.

Even though my nerves were all over the place, an eerie calm washed over me when a bright blue shimmer came from behind me, where I had left the little troublesome snake.