In Time

-Thirty Three-

-In Limbo-

The weeds stopped rustling in the wind. The wine bottles strewn all over the ground froze still in their positions, not making a single clank. Two bodies laid crumpled on the ground; one bruised and broken from multiple fight wounds while fresh blood oozed out from an abdomen wound in the other, a dagger still lodged deep within it. Time had stopped along the deserted alley.

Out of nowhere, several specks of blinding lights circled around like fireflies. They then conjugated to form a larger mass, as though the lights had sentient minds of their own. The mass grew larger and larger, until it became a portal with a gateway. Two towering ladies stepped out, one clad in a white gown while the other in a contrasting black gown.

Tailing behind them was a pair of children; a little girl and a little boy, the expressions on their faces wise beyond their years. The girl was clad in a white dress, her hair done up into an elegant bun, finished off with a headband with leaves. The boy had a black cloak on, almost obscuring his entire face behind the hood.

"Fate, why have you summoned us here?" the pair of children spoke, their voices completely in sync with each other.

Fate flashed a sideway glare at Thyme, who had her arms tied behind her with some sort of glowing golden rope, a scowl apparent on her face. "Life and Death, please look at what my dear sister had done. A Time Keeper's responsibility is to protect time itself from being hijacked by outsiders, from being manipulated and thrown out of whack. But look, instead she'd broken the rules and abused her power. All in the name of Alex, in the name of love," Fate announced airily, her voice casual and devoid of any emotion.

Thyme turned to the two bodies strewn on the ground. She smiled. "They'll both be dead in no time. Life and Death, give me back my Alex. One life in exchange for the other."

The children opened their mouths to speak, two voices coning out in perfect unison. "No Thyme, we cannot allow this. Life and Death are only inevitable. There is a time for everything, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to be born and a time to die. You should know better, being a Time Keeper yourself. Alex's time was up long ago. And look at the misery you have inflicted on this pair of humans."

Thyme let out a feral scream, her face dyeing an unusual red from the exertion. She crumpled her white gown hard in her clenched fist. She bit her lip, trying to make sense of her racing mind. Those two were just mere humans and their lives shouldn't mean anything to a deity like herself. Those lives were simply a fleeting moment to her; they weren't permanent. All humans were destined to die anyway, it was simply a matter of time.

"No!! Alex isn't dead!! The both of you can stop thinking about separating the both of us!! We are in love! We don't deserve this!" Thyme yelled, her chest heaving in and out.

But the children looked even calmer. "There is a time for everything. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing."

"Life, Death," Fate interrupted, "what should we do with the two humans now? At this rate, the both of them are going to die, and that would upset the Balance," a frown evident on her face.

"You MONSTERS! Just because you don't understand what's love doesn't give the three of you the right to separate Alex and I!!!" Thyme struggled to break free from the glowing rope, her hair becoming dishevelled, but to no avail.

Fate turned to face the screaming lady. "Of course I understand my dearest sister. I fell in love a man too, with his soulful violin playing."

Thyme let out a hysterical laugh. "Well-played sister, seems like you're weren't a Goody-Two-Shoes you made yourself to be all the time either!"

Fate continued. "I did readings of his fate; palmistry, crystal ball, tarot cards, I exhausted all my options. I knew that he wasn't long for this world. I learnt what pain was. I loved him, even though he never knew. And I let him go, because that's what you do when you love someone. But what pained me most wasn't that day. It's you twirling the fate of his son around your finger, trapping him and the girl in endless time loops!"

Thyme cackled. "Wow, what a coincidence! So Xavier's the offspring of your love! I guess we're really sisters after all! We can't even steer clear of each other in the human realm! Dearest sister, we are one and the same! We both made the mistake of getting attached to these useless humans!"

Life and Death rebutted, "But Fate always kept her job of keeping the Balance above all else. She didn't abuse her powers to exchange someone else's life for Thomas'. Like what you're doing for Alex! And this is why you ought to be punished Thyme! And that's where the two of you are different."

Thyme laughed manically, but tears had started falling from her eyes. "It's my fault then! My fault all along! But it hurts so much, living for an eternity when your loved one is already dead," the tall figure in white crumpled to the ground.

Her jaw chattered and her eyes reddened. "I tried to be normal again after Alex passed away, I really tried. But immortality is a curse. Even after a thousand human years I still think about Alex and long for him as much as the day I lost him. Do you know how painful it is to live through pain for eternity? Punish me however you want, I don't care anymore! I'm such a failure, I claim to control time itself yet I'm held captive to time, destined to suffer for eternity!"

"Thyme, we still need you," Life and Death spoke in unison. "Bring the boy back in time again. The girl should already know what to do, seeing that she had already lived through thousands of timelines with every feasible outcome. We can then fix things from there. For you, we'll raise your case to the High Court. They'll decide what to do with you."

Thyme sniggered, rubbing the tears off of her face. "Might as well. Anyway, there's no point in me being a deity anymore."

Without hesitation, she chanted an inaudible spell and shot out a silvery liquid that engulfed itself around the broken body. It swirled faster and faster as it decreased in volume. It kept getting smaller until it couldn't be seen anymore. The boy was gone.

"My job is done. I'll resign as Time Keeper."

A/N: This chapter was difficult to write admittedly ._. Hope it explained a few things about the time-travel going on. Feel free to leave your comments if you have spotted any loopholes/have any questions :)

And here's a meme for you :) From Thyme's dialogue