Unlike Jenkins, whose will was as steadfast as his resistance to illusions was strong, the handso young man from Black Town's distant past offered no defense. He was utterly captivated by the "Lady of the Lake."
Jenkins had asked for his address earlier, so finding the house was simple. As he slipped through the window, he found the young man in the kitchen, honing a large knife on a whetstone. The look on his face was one of eager anticipation, much like Jenkins's cat, Chocolate, when he knew what was for dinner.
The young man spun around at the sound of footsteps, knife in hand. Since Jenkins was wearing his own face, he wasn't recognized as the stranger from their brief encounter in the woods.
"Have you no remorse?"
Jenkins questioned.
"Remorse for what? Wait, who are you? How did you get into my house?"
"You poor soul. Do you truly know what you are doing?"
Jenkins advanced a step, and the youth instinctively backed away. It was only then that he noticed the clothes Jenkins had purposefully put on: a robe of pure black velvet with a cross woven in silver thread over the chest. Peeking through the collar was the unmistakable white, stiff band of a priest's collar.
"You're a priest?"
"I am here to save you."
Jenkins took another step, then swiftly grasped the young man's right wrist and gently pried the knife from his fingers.
"Do you rember what happened by the lake?"
"That elven maiden..."
The young man murmured, his expression clouded with confusion.
Jenkins raised his right hand and pressed his index finger to the center of the youth's forehead. As with his attempt to open the door in the acorn's story, he t resistance. This ti, however, the source of the Cursed Item's power wasn't present. And compared to the acorn, the "Lady of the Lake" was clearly weaker. With a simple touch, the enchantnt shattered.
"Oh, God, what was I doing?"
The truth crashed down on the young man, and he collapsed to the floor in terror. He reached for the hem of Jenkins's trousers, but Jenkins instinctively sidestepped his grasp.
"What do I do? Oh, Father, what do I do?"
"Only you can save yourself."
Jenkins said, keeping his voice steady.
"How do I save myself?"
"It's quite simple. And I will give you the guidance you need."
A serene smile touched Jenkins's lips. He had never been a mber of the clergy, but the proper attire and his natural bearing made him look, in that mont, every bit the part of a true priest.
"I will deal with what you saw in the lake. Tonight. But my help does not co without a price. You must do sothing for . It is a simple task, but a long one. So long, in fact, that your family will need to carry it on..."
That night, Jenkins returned to the lakeside, a waterskin in hand. It was filled with tomato juice, a costly purchase since the town didn't grow tomatoes. But then again, it wasn't his money, so he wasn't exactly at a loss.
The mont Jenkins set foot on the grassy bank again, a stream of bubbles broke the surface of the pitch-black lake. The elven maiden erged, gliding out of the water. This ti, she stood upon its surface as she approached the shore, not subrged as she had been that afternoon.
"My love, have you brought the antidote I need?"
"Yes, the blood is right here."
He sloshed the waterskin of tomato juice.
"Co over and get it. I'm a bit afraid of water—can't swim, just like my pet."
As he spoke, he edged a bit closer to the water, though he still maintained a safe distance. The Lady of the Lake's gentle smile never wavered. In the darkness of the forest, her body emitted a faint white luminescence that illuminated her surroundings.
She stepped onto the grass, her feet bare. Jenkins nodded.
"That's right," he encouraged. "Co on, it's right here."
He could already picture it: the mont the maiden drew near, he would draw his sword and take her head from her shoulders.
A sudden, powerful gust of wind swept by. Jenkins's eyes tracked a leaf as it drifted down over the lake behind the maiden. But as the gust passed, the leaf froze in mid-air. Jenkins scanned his surroundings. Everything had stopped.
He'd experienced this before. Soone had clearly paused ti. But it was different from that anticlimactic doomsday-thed Mysterious Realm, where the realm's master had frozen him completely. This ti, he felt a sluggishness in his body and thoughts, but it wasn't debilitating.
Squinting, he turned. Standing behind him was a man dressed in a black formal suit, complete with a black top hat and black leather shoes. He carried a black briefcase.
It was impossible to make out his face, which radiated a brilliant white light. Even with his monocle, Jenkins couldn't pierce the glare to see what lay behind it. This was no human, nor any ordinary species. The instant Jenkins laid eyes on the figure, he could almost see the great river of ti, connecting past and future, flowing behind it.
"It is an honor to et you, future God of Lies. Allow to introduce myself. I am a Ti Paradoxer, in service to my Lord, the 'Closed Loop.' By the designation system of your proper ti, I am B-12-1-9999."
The strange man removed his hat and gave Jenkins a deep, sweeping bow.
Jenkins had read about this bizarre species in the church archives back in Nolan. They were one of the few races capable of leaping freely through the river of ti, tasked with maintaining the tiline's stability and integrity. Though their thods were often brutal and unscrupulous, the Orthodox Churches generally considered them beneficial to the world. Church mbers were instructed to offer them any possible assistance.
"Maintaining temporal stability... I should have guessed. So, what are you here for? To punish ?"
"You jest, my lord. A god's freedom to traverse the river of ti is absolute. I rely wish to inform you that it would be best not to destroy this creature just yet... It is, of course, only a suggestion."
The Ti Paradoxer gestured toward the frozen "Lady of the Lake." She was suspended in mid-stride, her bare left foot still hovering above the ground.
"Why? There must be a reason. If I eliminate it now, will it cause so kind of temporal anomaly?"
"Not at all. But history still has a use for it. While it's true that if you were to make it vanish now, the tiline's stability would eventually find a replacent, it is... inadvisable. I an no disrespect, my lord, but you are not yet a complete god, fully detached from the material world. Your interference in this ti can, to so degree, affect your own. Only a few truly critical events have any impact—your two previous interferences, for instance, created not the slightest ripple in the river. The ripples from killing this creature, however, could be... substantially larger."
the self-proclaid Ti Paradoxer explained.
Reviews
All reviews (0)