Thief of Time

“…A toddler?” Claud glanced at Lily. “They adopted a toddler?”

He rubbed his head. Beth, the little toddler that was attached to Dia like a second limb, wasn’t a normal toddler either. She was apparently the core of that sovereignty-ending Distortion that Dia’s brother had perished to avert. It was a good thing that the whole ordeal ended with only her brother’s sacrifice, which was probably one of the best results possible, but…

From Schwarz’s message, it seemed that she was taking it very personally.

“I wonder what little Beth looks like,” Lily murmured, taking a sip of tea. Breakfast was nearly over, but the two of them had woken up to a bout of good news — no one had died, and that incredible Distortion that had apparently covered the whole of Licencia had been destroyed.

“Very adorable, probably. Maybe we should try for a kid too?” Claud asked. “…Well, it’s dangerous for us, so I don’t really think we should try for a child, though.”

Claud let out a small sigh. With the entire world as his enemy, even if they didn’t quite know it, there was no place for a child in their lives. Besides, if he couldn’t even protect Lily, Claud knew that he had no right to bring a little life into this world.

“We’ll have to settle for Beth,” Lily agreed. “Still, if Dia’s taking this badly…does she run the risk of Distorting?”

“By all accounts, being the Salvation Star helps massively against such a thing,” Claud replied. “Our more immediate goal is to figure out how a Distortion occurs, rather than anything else.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. The Hollow God mentioned that he was the “second” Claud to have visited him. There was at least one more iteration of him that had succeeded in passing the Third Tutorial…in a sense. However, this whole time thing had him thinking.

Did his current existence mean that his predecessor failed in their own way? Or was the future…well, uncertain? It was hard to wrap his head around the whole thing.

Time was a confusing concept, if nothing else. Did he exist because his predecessor failed to save Lily from the machinations of destiny? Or rather, did this timeline exist because his predecessor did something?

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.

“I’m just trying to unravel this ball of time in my head,” Claud replied. “You know all that fuss about the Hollow God and how there was a Claud before me, right? I’m wondering if my existence means he failed to protect you.”

Lily thought for a few seconds, and then bobbed her head slowly. She made a few sounds as she swayed back and forth, before the distant look in her eyes vanished.

“Hmm.”

“Did you get something?” Claud asked.

“Well, in a sense, it’s how we perceive time, I suppose.” Lily frowned. “What exactly is the nature of time for us? Those separate Clauds, your predecessors…what are they, exactly? What are the realities they live in? That should be the main reason behind our confusion.”

Claud thought through her words for a moment, and then felt his head throb a few times. It was not a pleasant sensation, especially when he was already crippled by the hollowed lifeforce within him. The past week or so had been a constant struggle to truly live, when faced with the withering lifeforce that was contained in his body.

However, thinking was part of life; it would not do to let Lily do all the explaining for him.

“You’re saying that what we perceive as time might not be true?” Claud asked, after racking his head.

Lily nodded. “Are those separate realities…different books in a series? Think of a series with fifteen books, like the one I’ve been reading. If we apply your situation to them, we can look at those books as each reality as experienced by the various Clauds.”

She paused for a moment. “Here’s the thing, though. Are these books meant to be read one after another? Or are they actually retellings of the same story?”

Claud tried to parse the analogy that she had drawn out. His mind, which was a bit too sluggish to properly generate the images, was not quite up for the task.

“Let me do the visualisation instead.” Lily winked. “There!”

Fifteen books appeared in front of her. “So, do we read these books one by one, or modifications of the previous one?”

The books first formed a horizontal line, and then as a single stack. The visual difference was clear; the first visualisation seemed to form something like a progression of sorts, while the second was…harder to describe.

“Still, what’s the difference?”

“The first one would mean that there is a loop in time, right?” Lily replied. “Every time I die” —Claud didn’t like how casually she treated that question— “you find a way to do something and then rewind time. The problem lies in where the you who reversed time went, because this means that there should be a bunch of yous running around right now. I ask you — is that the case?”

“Doesn’t quite seem like it, but I can’t tell either,” Claud replied. “After all, the Hollow God doesn’t really exist in our reality.”

Lily mulled over his words thoughtfully. “We’ll keep that in view first. However, this means that there is no Claud that’s following you until you fail and rewind time somehow.”

“Makes sense.”

“The second possibility is that of retelling a story.” Lily paused. “These books…assume that they are all written by the Claud of the previous volume.”

“Huh?”

“…It’s a hard concept, I suppose. But the various you-s, in this case, are simply authors of the next…uh, volume. In a sense.” Lily pointed at the topmost book. “In line with my analogy, I’d say that the Claud of this volume grows strong enough to step out of his book and affect the next one. And so on. However, since the edits and changes the next Clauds create are based off their current book, the differences widen more and more.”

Claud bobbed his head. “So it’s possible that there are events that never occurred at all a few iterations ago? Mhm. Well, that would account for why the Hollow God didn’t know anything about these Distortions, if it was the first Claud he saw that made them.”

“Or he just wasn’t paying attention to the world around him.”

“…Back to square one.” Claud sighed. “Still, we don’t know the nature of reality and time, so it’s really hard to say.”

“We don’t, but we are in the presence of a lot of beings who do,” Lily replied, rubbing her hands. “What do you think?”

“Wait, are we really going to ask them about this?” Claud asked. “Is that safe?”

“Probably…I’ll do the planning, so just sit back and let me do this!”

“…That’s for the best, I suppose.” Claud rubbed his throbbing head. “Anyway, with the Trial of Aeons over, there shouldn’t be anything important for me to take care of right now. Still, if only I knew what the Claud before me experienced…I’m a bit frightened.”

“Why?”

“So far, I’ve had some guidance, but the Hollow God doesn’t know what’s going to follow after I clear the Third Tutorial.” Claud rubbed his head. “Considering that the world seems to be out to get you…”

Lily looked at him once, and then smiled. “Thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me for?” Claud asked.

“Well, you could easily distance yourself from me, right?” Lily looked up at the ceiling. “After all, I’m the one who’s going to die.”

Claud gazed at her intently, and then shook his head. “Don’t be silly. Besides, it’s possible that you’re only suffering from this fate because of me, right? I’m the O-thing, after all. I’m actually wondering if I should put some distance between you and—”

Lily put a finger to his lips before he could finish his sentence. “No.”

“…Figured.” Claud let out a sigh. “But I’m still wondering if my selfishness is putting you at risk.”

“Well, there’s the possibility that you won’t be in close enough proximity to protect me,” Lily replied. “Or that I won’t accept it and turn into a Distortion, or be killed trying to close the distance.”

“I did think of that too.” Claud rubbed his head. “Anyway, I really could do with some guidance.”

“It’s been some time, but I think you forgot about something. Do you still remember a certain letter and a book?”

Claud thought for a while, and then blinked. “The one that Nero gave to me? Yeah, it’s still on my body. He — or the Black God — said to have it on me at all times, so I’ve basically stuffed it with my last-resort skillsticks.”

He pulled out a small packet, and then opened it carefully. “It’s here. There’s the letter, which mentions something about a token, and the book that’s…”

His words faltered.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think the book just changed.”