Roommate Wanted. No Betrayers.

Chapter 17

She stood in the courtyard of the forgotten shrine, its once verdant greenery now long since withered away, only remaining in existence due to divine intervention.

She stood on the sun-bleached bones of the planet her friends had been born to administer, ravaged long ago by disaster after disaster.

Disasters she'd failed to prevent.

Disasters she now knew that they were never meant to stop.

The cruel irony of her existence had been laid out plain in front of her.

The story of all time was an open book and she was not it's hero..

Her place was not to direct the flow of time. just to protect it.

Her place was just to protect it.

No matter how she felt about it.

No matter how it hurt her.

Nobody could say she'd done a good job.

Nobody was left to doubt her.

Except for one person.

Except for her.

And she disagreed.

And she was going to do something about it.

The big no go of time travel is, doing time travel. She knew this. She felt it in her bones, in her very existence. It was a rule she was quite literally born to maintain.

But then again. She had always been capable of it. The gods had put a gun in her hand, pointed it at the target and said don't shoot.

It was as easy as just squeezing the trigger.

She relaxed, put all the doubt, all the warnings, everything out of her mind.

She focused on one time, one place, one person and pulled the trigger.

And then, as though nothing had happened at all, she was there.

She stood in the exact same spot, and yet it was so different.

The pavement beneath her was solid, clean and new. The sky, aside from just being there, was a beautiful clear blue, fringed on all edges by the lush greens and pinks of springtime trees. The air smelt of cut grass and possibility, and right in front of her, walking up the path was a stranger she knew better than anybody else in the world.

The stranger's eyes met hers and it took everything she had to not burst into tears then and there.

"Oh, hello." The stranger said, tilting her head to the side a little, her arms dangling awkwardly at her sides. "Sorry, I don't seem to quite know who or where I am. Can you help me?"

"Hmm, sure." She smiled, stepped towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Your name is Nanashi Mumei and you're home."

"Okay." Mumei nodded. "And who are you?"

"Hmm..." Kronii smiled, already preparing for her next jump. "I think I'll leave that to you to figure out."

Kronii didn't hear her answer. Already propelling herself further back in time, quick brief jumps less likely to do anything to truly alter time.

A much shorter jump this time but still notably different. The path beneath her now was but a dirt track, the shrine's outer facade cruder, the trees more wild, more verdant, the friendly face no less confused though.

"Kronii?!" The soft voice of Ceres Fauna stirred her heart. "When did you get here?"

"Hey Fauna." She smiled.

"Wait..." Fauna squinted at her. "You're... From the future aren't you?"

"That obvious huh?"

"Kronii. I've known you longer than anyone." Fauna laughed. "I could tell just from the look in your eyes."

Kronii opened her arms, an invitation for a hug Fauna was only too eager to accept. "It's good to see you, Fauna."

"Yeah, you're definitely not my Kronii."

"I'll always be your Kronii." Kronii smiled, and then she was gone again.

There was no time to even take in the scenery this time. As soon as Kronii had arrived a pair of arms were already around her squeezing her tight.

"Kronini!!" The arms' owner squealed. "Hiii!"

"Hey Sana." Kronii laughed. "This is quite the welcome."

"Well you barely visit anymore!" Sana said not letting her grip slip for even a moment. "So I gotta get all the affection in now because I don't know when I'll see you again."

Kronii's smile faded a little. "Yeah... I'm sorry, I just..."

Sana relaxed her grip just enough that the two girls could face each other. "Kronii, it's okay. I understand. Mumei meant the world to you and you needed time and space to grieve."

"Thank you, Sana." Kronii said, placing a now loose hand on her friend's head, causing her to beam with happiness. "I'll see you again soon, I promise."

Kronii stirred awake. The dream she'd just had stuck in her head, vivid and clear, which was impressive considering that the night prior was a blur and she was so hungover it felt like her brain was trying to smash it's way out of her head.

She dared to turn her head to check her surroundings. To her left, Mumei. To her right, Fauna. Both snoozing softly as the morning light trickled in through the windows.

Kronii smiled and, as slowly and gently as she could, exited the bed, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she did.

She wore a crumpled button down shirt and sported two love bites on either side of her neck that told her basically all she needed to about last night.

Slipping on a hoodie and a pair of jeans, she exited the room, trundled downstairs to the kitchen, filled 9 solo cups with water, grabbed a packet of paracetamol and, after taking two and downing one of the cups, placed the rest on a tray and returned upstairs, leaving two cups and a pack of paracetamol in her room and the rest in her office where her friends were sprawled out across the futons.

All the while though her mind was elsewhere.

Scenes from her dreams played over and over in her head. Except the more she thought about them the less they felt like dreams and the more they felt like memories.

Dumbly she raised her hand and imitated the motion from her dream.

Time moved normally.

She sighed. Grabbed a scarf. Put on her shoes, opened the front door and left.

She'd never walked to the shrine before, but she found it almost immediately, where, waiting for her was a girl and a cup of coffee.

"I figured you'd be here." Kronii said, accepting the proffered drink.

"Normally I hate to be predictable." Bae smiled. "But I'll make an exception just this once."