Amelia Watson and Phantom of the Timelines

Chapter 11: The Fragile Memories

"Kiara! Is Calli gonna be alright!?"

I asked Kiara who was leading us to the shrine.

"I hope she is. ..."

Kiara replied but there was uncertainty in her voice.

"... but the grim reapers couldn't die to begin with. They only just..."

Kiara stopped before changing the topic.

"....let's not think about that now, okay! All we have to focus on now is getting you to the shrine, Amelia-chan."

I just nodded to answer Kiara even though I wondered what she was gonna say in the first place.

After getting separated from Calli by the forest, me, Kiara, and Gura kept moving forward as Calli told us too. Without realizing it, we were in front of the shrine entrance.

"So...*pant*...*pant*...this is it, the shrine."

Gura breathed heavily as she spoke.

"Yes...*pant*...are you, girls, alright?"

Kiara turned to check on us while shifting her breathing rhythm.

If a warrior like her gasped for air, no wonder why an ordinary girl, like me and Gura, would be affected by this run so much. My body was burning itself.

"We...*pant*...*pant*...*pant*...alright. Just...tired."

I found it difficult to answer Kiara's question due to the fatigue, on the other hand, Gura just gave up and was lying on the ground.

Kiara looked at us with a worrying face before she scanned the surroundings.

"I don't see any shadows here, so I guess we can take a short break. It will be bad if you girls faint before getting to the rune but we can not break for too long. Three minutes is the maximum!"

Kiara said as she swung her sword and it disappeared into thin air.

"That's...*pant*...sound...*pant*...good to me."

Gura replied with a discontinuing breath.

"I will go check the area. You two stay right here, okay!"

Kiara spoke before she started to patrol the area around us.

She checked all of the bushes and trees. Luckily, she didn't find any threats.

After finishing her patrol, Kiara joined us in a resting gang. She sat down and picked up a necklace with a silver skull hanging on it.

"Is it from Calli?"

I asked Kiara who was lost in her thoughts while looking at her jewelry.

"Yes...she gave it to me some time ago when I was reborn."

Kiara's answered.

"Reborn?"

I was puzzled by Kiara's words.

Kiara stayed in silence for a second before deciding to answer my question.

"Yes! ...The mythical being like me and Calli, we couldn't die to begin with. We were gifted with eternal life but unfortunately, our memories weren't."

I stayed in silence after hearing Kiara's answer. It was because now I knew the answer for that unclear answer of her.

The grim reapers couldn't die to begin with. They only just...forget all of their memories as soon as they resurrect.

I filled in the blank in my mind.

I couldn't imagine how sad Kiara would be if anything happened to Calli. Judging from their interaction alone, they must be the besties to each other, like me and Gura. If Gura would resurrect but cames back with no memories about me, it would be heartbroken for me.

Just imagine that alone made me want to cry.

"Kiara..."

I reached my hand out to comfort her as Calli did to me, but the forest won't let me.

The sky started to turn dark again and the trees were shaking left and right.

We stood up quickly and tried to run to the shrine, but we couldn't.

A violet magic crest appeared in front of us and blocked us away from the shrine entrance.

We turned back as we felt a deadly aura from behind.

Right there, there was one shadow, standing there menacingly.

At first, I wasn't able to identify its shape but when I did, I was in total fear.

The shape of a girl with tentacles behind her back that was painted in dark violet.

I knew instantly who was the menacing enemy which stood right in front of us.

"The Ancient One..."

I called its name. The name of the monster that haunted me in my nightmare.

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