Tales From The Kronos

The group arrived at Eida's workshop, the place was a mess, with puddles of oil everywhere. Silva was drawing in a corner, while the two others were watching the woman fix the car. Feeling the pressure of the two persons looking at her work, Eida shyly tried to start a conversation.

"So, why were you searching for me? Neige is the popular one usually."

"To be honest, we want to help you win the race tomorrow."

Eida was surprised by Snow's answer but continued working on the car like nothing happened.

"I'm going to lose, I know it. I'm not like Neige, he's the one that's good with cars... I'm only good at fixing them. There's no way a mechanic can win the finals of an important racing competition."

"You're at the finals? It must mean that you're really good!" Sepide was trying to raise the spirit of Eida, but the woman answered with a sigh.

"Neige got to the finals, but he got in an accident, and now he can't race. It's all on me now, and we could really use the money of the prize." She looked at her car and caressed her gently with a sad tone on her face "I can't even take care properly of her, I'm a sad excuse for a mechanic."

"But I never drove before!" Exclaimed Snow "And I still managed to win!"

"You won against a good racer, yeah, but it wasn't Kairo."

"Kairo..."

Hearing his friend's name brought back a lot of memories for Snow. He assumed it was one of his other selves, but the idea of seeing him again was pleasing to him.

"You heard of him too? He's really impressive. He came out of nowhere and won all the races he was in. No one even heard of him before." Eida stopped to grab a newspaper and threw it at Snow before continuing to work.

It was about Kairo and his achievements, but something was off.

He was missing an arm, the right one, just like the one Kairo had to cut to get away from the anomaly. But most importantly, he also had the same watch that they used to travel through dimensions. For Snow, it meant one thing, Kairo survived and made it to this world. But why? Why wouldn't he return to the ship? Why would he race and cause a problem in this world? It didn't make sense, but there wasn't much he could deduce without talking to him.

"Where is he now?" Snow asked with a firm voice.

"I don't know, I think he hangs out around the old church. I see him here sometimes when I go pray there, but he doesn't seem to like me because he always runs away when he sees me."

"Okay, I'll see you later then, I need to go see him. Are you coming Sepide?"

Sepide wasn't sure, she heard of Kairo, but she never actually met him. She decided that it was better if she didn't cause more problems, it seemed like a personal matter.

"No, I like seeing her work here."

"Okay, Silva, are you coming?"

Silva reacted to the sound of her name but had no idea about anything they talked about. Seeing her confused face, Snow continued.

"We found Kairo, our Kairo."

"Kairo? I thought he was dead!" She quickly put her drawing in her pocket and followed Snow. "Let's go!"

"Have fun, I'll finish fixing the car before tomorrow, don't worry about me."

Snow and Silva nodded at the mechanic and left toward the old church, where Kairo most likely was.

The old house of God was standing there despite all the time that had passed since its creation. Snow and Silva already passed in front of it during the race but didn't take a close look at it until now. It was different, yet similar to the church they lost Kairo in, bringing bad memories to the two friends. Snow took a deep breath and pushed the loud doors. Inside, there was barely a roof left, some glowing plants made it their home, and a man was standing in the middle. Hearing the sound, he turned around. They could recognize him among a thousand people, it was their friend, Kairo.

"Neige, Silva... So you're alive..."

Their old friend spoke softly, with an almost empty voice. Whatever happened during the time they were separated must have been tough for him. His clothes were thorned, the sleeve where his right arm should be was now empty, and a new man lay in his eyes. The symbol of the Kronos on his jacket was burnt, it was too precise to be a mistake and was probably made by Kairo himself.

Neige wanted to keep using his new nickname 'Snow' but he figured it wasn't really useful and would just make his old friend confused. Neige stepped toward Kairo with a mix of relief and fear, still not believing what he was seeing.

"Kairo, we were so worried. What happened?"

Neige's words echoed inside the church, but they weren't reaching Kairo, almost like he was in another world. He kept looking at the two of them in silence, and after a while finally decided to talk.

"Neige, do you believe in God?"

Silva and Neige both were taken aback by this answer. They just found their friend back, and he acted like nothing happened. But even though it was weird, Neige still decided to answer.

"I don't really know, I guess not."

The silence took place for a few minutes. The two friends started to get increasingly worried for their old friend. They tried approaching slowly, but Kairo's voice stopped them in their track.

"What if there is a God, and that he's deciding everything for us, that our actions don't mean anything? Would you keep going? Keep struggling in a world that would happen the exact same way without you?"

Neige knew that his friend always talked about philosophical matters, but they just found each other after a moment. They thought he was dead, but now that they see him they wonder if he's truly living, or if he fell into madness. But even despite that, Neige still kept talking to his former friend.

"Well if we weren't here, the worlds would change drastically, maybe even some would get destroyed. So if there is a God, we're going against his will."

The following silence was starting to annoy Neige and Silva alike, but Kairo didn't seem to mind it much, as he kept holding it for a while before asking something else.

"You think we can change Fate itself? I want to see what's behind this sky, behind this world, behind everything. I want to see the real world Neige, I want to paint the reality Silva, I want to find the truth. And if the only way to find the truth is to destroy this world made by God, then so be it. So, will you follow me?"

"Destroy this world?" Asked Silva "Why this one?"

"Not only this one, everything. All Neiges, all Silvas, all Kairos, all worlds, everything that exists within this creation! I know it now, there is someone above us, someone writing our destiny, and I will find him, ask him why, and observe his world. And I'm ready to sacrifice ourselves for this goal."

This time, it was Neige and Silva keeping this silence, they didn't know what to answer. Their friend became crazy, and it looked like nothing could stop him.

"Silva, I know you won't follow me."

"And you'd be right..."

"But Neige, I still hold hope. Together, we can see the true form of this world!"

Neige stayed silent for a while, making Silva and Kairo wait for his answer. Did Kairo truly think like that? That a God is ruling above them all? He didn't even seem mad, or sad, or anything. He just looked like he accepted his fate, and only wanted to see the truth he cared so much about.

"I'm sorry Kairo, but even if you think that the whole universe is created by a God, it doesn't change anything for me. He's not here to fix this world, we are. It's our own now, and we'll protect it with all of our will!"

Silva was happy that Neige didn't follow his crazy path, but Kairo was looking a bit disappointed. The man looked at the ground for a moment before suddenly smiling cheerily at the two friends.

"Neige, Silva, you're really great friends! But this nun was right, she knew you better than me Neige... I thought you would follow me." His smile dissipated, and he continued with a serious tone "From now on, we are enemies. I will fight to prove the worthlessness of this life in the fog, and you will fight to make this world your own and reclaim it from our creator."

Kairo was about to leave, but Neige quickly asked something before he left.

"This nun you talked about, you mean that it's the anomaly? Did you two talk together?"

"You seem to know a lot already, you progressed quickly. She was the one who taught me the condition of our world, about our creator. She really trusts you Neige, I suppose that now that I oppose you, she'll try to get rid of me too. I can feel that she's here in this world too."

"The anomaly is here?" Asked Silva, afraid that it would cause more problems.

"Yes, but I don't think she wants any harm to this world. She wouldn't dare put Neige in danger. I, on the other hand, won't hesitate to put all of our lives at risk."

"How do you know so much about the anomaly?"

Kairo stayed silent for a moment, thinking back on the past, before answering.

"She's not the danger you think she is. Tomorrow will be a race to determine the fate of this world, You should focus on that instead. May the best of us win, my old friends."