"But, even with all this coming out into the open, the troubles I've been through are still gonna happen again," Griff continued. "Not sure if it's all gonna repeat, but when it does…" he trailed off again.
"Griff, please, just tell us," Charlie implored.
"I'm stuck in a time loop," he replied in a soft tone, his expression shifting to both fear and disgust. "I've been repeating the same events over and over for…well, a long-ass time. It always restarts me back in February, a few weeks before you move back in."
"What?" Charlie asked, immediately alarmed. "How? A-and…why?"
"There's a place outside the reaches of time called Valhal, and it's run by a kid named Artio," Griff explained. "She's like the Lady of Time and Space, I guess? Something really fucked-up happened to kickstart all of this, and I've been trying…and trying…and trying to make things right, but—"
"—something always stops you," Ignis muttered. His pale face screwed up with an unreadable expression. "Are you being for real, right now? Everything that's going on, and you pull this?"
"Dude, you think I'm joking?" Ignis was silent. Lori tried to speak, but Griff spoke over her. "Ignis! Look around! What about the past few years has been normal to you? Soldiers, shadows, magic, and don't even get me started on your whole necklace bullshit."
"Necklace?" he reacted with surprise.
"It's not easy for me to get all this out," Griff continued. "I gave up trying to explain it to you guys twenty tries ago. Unfortunately," he sighed, "this is the last one. Last chance, right here. Something's out there, beyond our world, yet it's somehow able to reach across time and dig into whatever timeline is up. I've tried fighting it—with you guys, and with others—but nothing we've done has been enough."
"So, what does this…thing want?" Charlie asked, now both scared and infuriated.
"You, but dead," Griff answered. "We all remember the day those soldiers came, right? Well, I was one of them…and so was…" he trailed off again, looking briefly to Ignis before furrowing his brow and looking down. "In that group, I worked with a guy named Ghost, who was someone from my original timeline, 500 years after I originally failed." He gave a heavy, disgruntled sigh even though no one said anything. "I know it sounds stupid, and that it's confusing, but please…just bear with me, okay?
"Charlie's death was always inevitable and was always the start of something we could never stop. But it always happened the day she underwent the Initiation Trials, not when she was a kid…until, maybe, the last seven or eight times."
Charlie heard the sincerity, tiredness, and fear in her best friend's voice, and knew not to take his words lightly.
"We kept failing to stop her from dying, and whatever this force is moved its attempts back a few years. Eventually, I was pulled out of the loop and dumped back into my own timeline…five centuries after I'd first left. That's when I met Ghost, and we tried to devise a plan to finally make this shit stop. I was at my wit's end, and I knew I didn't have much time left. The only option we had—if we failed again to prevent Charlie from dying—was to bind her to Reiem using the Loire Tree as the tethering point. And you can see how that went.
"Only now, with all this shit crashing down around us, can I finally see some semblance of control again. I'm afraid of what's gonna happen next, because I just don't know anymore. It's mixing things up, throwing curveballs I have no way of seeing…or hitting. But I think we finally have enough power between us to kick its ass if it attempts to get in the way again."
"Why," Charlie tried to say, but her voice died in her throat. She clenched her fists and tried again. "Why does it want me dead? I'm just a Guardian, aren't I?"
"Yeah, you are," Griff replied. "And a damn good one. But…" He looked to Tal, and then Lori as if asking their permission. The pair looked to one another.
"Charlie, you're not Marianne's granddaughter," Lori said, finally breaking the silence. "You're not even an Elburn—you're a Jaeger. She had you stolen from your real family when you were little and brought here as some sacrificial pawn in her own messed-up plans of grandeur and revenge."
"Then, that's what those letters were," Charlie said quietly. "And the lamp? That man I saw was…?"
"Your father," Lori confirmed. "It's only right you know," she continued. "I didn't even know until he found out and contacted me."
"How did he find out?" Her head began to throb again. Green eyes…
Lori offered a small smile. "It seems someone was quite the talented artist back in the city. Made the front page with your first art show."
"By that point, he'd been searching for you for seventeen years," Tal added. "Never gave up hope that he'd find you again."
"He knows you're capable of fulfilling the duties of a Guardian," Lori went on. "I believe he's kept his distance because this is the best course of action for us all. He was afraid that, if he'd shown up, you wouldn't want to continue, and he'd have to seek out another to take your place. The only people capable we know of are the Ocroti, deep in the Aetherwood."
"Yeah, I went to see them a few timelines ago," Griff said. He motioned to Lori. "No one's heard anything this time about them since their Matron was killed sixteen years ago."
Charlie watched as Lori's eyes levelled on Griff, everything in her body language screaming for him to shut his mouth. He eyed her skeptically for a moment before glancing to Ignis, then back to Charlie.
"Whatever it is, we have to stop it," Charlie finally stated into the newfound silence. "I'm still alive, and with everything… With everything out in the open, we can prepare ourselves, right? But if this thing can reach through time like you've said, then we can't let ourselves get hung up on stupid stuff anymore." At this, she turned a significant look to Griff.
"Elburn or Jaeger. It doesn't matter," Lori said with a nod.
Charlie sounded her agreement. She then paused, and let out a quiet breath, and shifted the subject. "Griff, do you know what happened to Reiem?"
"Back in the temple?" he asked, and Charlie nodded.
"During the battle," Charlie said, and paused, swallowing. "I saw him die, and then that light came. I passed out, and now he's not here…"
"I said he's fine," Ignis answered, and everyone was surprised at hearing his voice. "He just…doesn't want to talk to anyone right now. Got a lot on his mind." Charlie considered his words for a long while, and everything that had been brought to the fore, and finally nodded her head sadly.
"I don't know what to make of it all," she hummed. "It's a big punch in the gut, for sure. And it's not like I didn't have my suspicions, but I'm not giving up. I've come so far, and I can't let this drag me down."
"Fuck yeah," Griff chuckled.
With her head reeling, splitting, Charlie ran out of words and receded back from the conversation as the others moved in. Her smile faded, and she fell into her thoughts.
"So, why does this being or whatever it is want Charlie dead so bad?" Ignis asked.
"To break the seal on the mines," Tal replied. "At least, it seems that way."
"Marianne was a Guardian," Ignis reminded him with a hint of derision. "She was supposed to prevent that, wasn't she?"
"We all thought that," Lori answered him. "Seems she wasn't the one to start going down the wrong path, though."
"Then who started it?"
"If my history's right, it was Lucien Elburn—Marianne's great-great-grandfather. He started dealing with a group called Carthis who, in turn, worked with the Strica to overturn the defenses set up by the goddess."
"The Crowned One," Tal hummed. "No one's heard anything about them in two thousand years. Right around the time of Moonfall?"
Lori and Griff both nodded.
Ignis noticeably paled and his words crumbled into near-silence. "What do they want? Strica's problem is with the Ocroti, isn't it?"
"Uh, yes and no," Griff hesitantly offered. He grumbled afterwards, "Dammit, Ren, you're better at explaining this part than me."
"Who's Ren?"
<
br /> "Charlie's brother."
"And he can do this time loop stuff, too?"
Griff made a face. "Kinda sorta? He's kept his memories, at least, but only the last nine or ten times or so."
"Kiddo, you okay over there?" Lori asked suddenly, and Charlie glanced up.
"Yeah. I have a brother named Ren, Carthis and Strica are teeming up to get into the mines, and all we have to do is keep an eye on the thing in the mines, and make sure its allies don't get to it," Charlie said, and the others were a bit surprised that she had heard every word despite her mental distance from the situation.
"More or less," Griff replied. Charlie nodded. "Just gotta make sure you live through the Guardian Trials, first."
"And for that," she replied slowly, "we need Reiem, right?"
"Yep."
Charlie looked back to Ignis who, strangely, seemed like he'd been mentally sucker punched as well. His face was pale, and he almost seemed to be trembling. Inhaling deeply, Griff let out a long sigh.
"What I suggest we do from here on out is go into the mines and make our way down to the site. There's ore we need," he said with a pointed look to Ignis. "And gemstones that can be used for their magical potential."
Lori lifted her gaze. "Is that even safe? Have you made it down in the other times? What about the shadows?"
"Oh yeah, totally safe," he reaffirmed with a cocky grin. "Me, Charlie, and Reiem were a kick-ass team in the other times. Maybe even someone else can join us, too? But, anyways, the thing that's not safe is what's sleeping inside the tomb at the bottom. As long as Charlie stays alive," he added in a lower, slower tone, "everything will go just fine. I think. I mean, the whole 'binding' thing that day already kinda proved itself to work. Sucks that Reiem had to be the one to test it, though…"
Charlie shifted uncomfortably. "Does it have to be…right now?"
"Nah. None of us are ready. Probably take a few days. Collect your headspace again, yeah?"
Charlie nodded. "And we need Reiem to recover from…whatever he's going through. Is it at least safe to go see him?"
She aimed this question not at Griff, but at Ignis.
"Charlie," he said quietly, almost miserably, but she kept her gaze firm on him. He was still pale, and as he flicked his gaze to everyone in the room, he shook his head. "Yeah, sure. Do what you want."
‡ † ‡
Charlie stepped outside after what seemed to be an eternity of questions, answers, and even more questions. She managed to keep herself from crying like she so desperately wanted, and then did what could have been the hardest thing she had ever done: Plan for a day that had killed in every other iteration of the timeline.
Moving through the fruit-laden trees, she felt her footsteps weighed down, and exhaustion creep over her. She was more tired than she imagined she could be. All the stress and guilt and sheer amount of information had taken an incredible toll on her.
The guardian-to-be stepped on to the bridge after what seemed to be an eternity of walking. She managed to prop herself against the sidewall before her knees gave out on her. She stared into the flowing waters, and imagined all the stress and anger and frustration falling away from her and into those waters, carried away by the currents and flushed out to sea. She glanced up to the horizon, and wondered what her brother was like, and if they even had anything in common. It was a random thought in her jumbled mind, one final thought as she felt the emotions she'd tried to flush away take over her, finally being allowed release after being held in for so long.
III
The days following were difficult for everyone. Tempers flared, walls rose up, and the silence between them all grew.
Despite her initial glow of enthusiasm, Charlie's disposition quickly mirrored the stormy atmosphere, and she barely spoke anymore. More than once, Ignis tried to speak to her, but Griff prevented him doing so which served to only ignite further hostility between them. The overall mood of the whole group had soured greatly: Charlie was depressed, Ignis was furious with both Griff and his own mom, Reiem—despite dealing with his own personal issues—tried to carry on with his duties while adapting to this new situation, and Griff didn't know what to do, except help Reiem in whatever the immortal would need. Which was mostly information. Ignis refused to stay in his own home—every time he laid eyes on Lori it just angered him more.
So, they all stayed at the orchard, silently helping Charlie with gathering the sacks of apples and carting them up to the shipping bin. It took several days for a strange sort of normalcy to settle over them. It was tense, but for Charlie's sake, the guys attempted to remain civil.
The fact Charlie still pushed to continue in her studies didn't do much to lift anyone's spirits. An almost tangible gloom settled into the silent home, broken only by the turning of pages and scribbling of notes.
"So…" Griff timidly attempted having a normal conversation. "It's almost time to pick a new Trusted."
"Indeed. Judging from events thus far, I'm assuming that was your role in previous timelines?"
"Yeah…"
Reiem hummed. "Then we had best prepare the ceremony. I shall speak with Tal and Lori later this evening."
"What about the sword? Ruby still needs gold for it, and that shit's down in the frozen floors."
"The mines are a perfect place to test combat mettle."
Charlie remained at her desk, while Ignis sat at the dining table apart from the rest. Neither said a word or acknowledged those who did.
"You sure you're up for that?"
"The wounds have mended. And Charlotte is still aiming to become Guardian, right?" He asked that with a small smile, though his tone gradually withered.
With a grimace, Ignis got up and walked towards Griff.
"What's wrong with you?" he grumbled.
"Huh?" Griff slowly turned to face him, as if he didn't understand the question.
"How can you just act like everything's normal? Would it kill you to even pretend that you care about her?"
Griff sprung to his feet, towering over his friend.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Iggy." His sarcastic tone trembled with fury. "I can only do so much! What else do you want me to do? Beg? Plead? Pull a miracle out of my ass?"
Ignis grabbed him by his shirt.
"Maybe when you're not busy hiding shit, you can look around and give a damn about someone worse off than you," he said, referring to Charlie.
"Let go of me," Griff hissed through clenched teeth.
"How's the story end, huh? You'd rather keep it to yourself than tell us? We're all alive right now, Griff! So the least you could do is let us know what to watch out for instead of standing by each time it happens, dammit!"
"I…can't! I told you already: Shit keeps changing, and I don't… Dude, look; I want it to end on a good note, okay!? You think I don't!?"
"You don't act like it! So you saved Charlie when she was a kid, and for what!?"
"Back off, Ignis!" Charlie intervened.
"You think you're her friend," he said in a lower tone. "But you're nothing but a coward."
"Shut your face!" Griff snarled and grabbed the smaller man by his hoodie. Charlie tried to mediate but Ignis shoved her aside.
"I get it, alright!?" Griff yelled, pushing at him with a little too much force. Ignis stumbled backwards, falling down onto the floor. He glared up, blue eyes blazing with fury. "I get it!"
"Then do something! Pull your head out of your ass and…and fucking do something!"
Charlie, in fresh tears yet again, stormed away from the pair. Griff moved like he was going to go after her, but Reiem suggested he leave her to cool down. Ignis pulled himself back to his feet and made a noise of disgust before stomping his way out of the house.
Huffing, Griff plopped down onto the couch. He knew this was going to happen. He'd tried to explain things, but they just couldn't understand. It was way too much, way too soon, and words could only get him so far.
He rubbed a trembling hand across his hair. Everything
was crashing down around him, as if mocking his repeated failures. So much blood on his own hands because he was a stupid fuck-up who couldn't keep things from going to hell every ten seconds. Everyone he loved most died over and over again right before his eyes, and he never knew who would go or when. Nothing was the same, each new iteration of events presenting him with some new fresh hell that would leave him mentally broken and unable to form bonds with those whom he cherished.
Grunting his frustration, he pushed himself from the couch and went out for some air.
‡ † ‡
Above the hushed whisper of the river, Charlie heard a voice. It sounded like it was coming from the old barn just up the river. And it was loud enough to hear clearly. Immediately, she knew who it was: Griff. He was quickly joined by the voice of another man—someone she didn't know. But what she did know was that her best friend's sunshine had gone, replaced by clouds darker than the ones inside her own head.
Pushed beyond her own miserable self-pity, she crossed the nearest bridge and quietly climbed the steps to the old barn. Her hand stopped right before the handle, and she listened.
"I don't know how much longer I can do this, Ren."
"Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have."
"I know it doesn't help any! But just once…just one fucking time…I'd like to know that what I'm doing means something. I mean, with everything me and Iggy did to make sure Charlie was bound by Loire… And now this Elder blood shit? It's way too early! I mean, I don't even know what to tell her about that shit!"
"The truth always works, you know."
"Oh. Sure. Yeah, like I can just waltz up to her and be all, 'Hey, Charlie! You know how you're the Jaeger's firstborn and all? I know that places a fuckton of responsibility on you—like waaaay more than you already have—but, uh, yeah you're also the vessel of dead goddess, so what do you want from the saloon for dinner?'"
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