Prelude #6 - Sundown Parity 4:1 - Redeux

Parity 4:1 2009/Seven years from !#@@$#@W$HATE#$@#WQFEAR#!#@!@ENTROPY$@#!!@!@!#!#$HISSHADOWKNOWS@!*#@#(%R!@$!#@!@

The calculations had to be checked and rechecked. If the SPANWEB transmissions were correct, and the Cross chronal scanner was right, then a massive tachyon burst had not only occurred, but had disrupted the time/space continuum for a nanosecond, actually puncturing each point at once.

With that sort of information, she felt obliged to run a comparison against the findings. Such things were not possible: Two points opening and closing at the same time could only mean one thing: At some point in the real future, a door had opened, and at some point at the real past, the door had opened again. Could it be possible that chronapthy was real? That time travel between two set points was a reality only a scant ten years in the future?

The idea that within her current lifetime that time travel wasn't just a possibility, but a reality was a bit flustering, especially since at some point in the future, she herself would be the one to perfect it. It was a myriad of ideas contained in a single thought: That outside of her knowledge, someone had perfected a device for time travel and had used it to escape the past.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, when a cup was set down next to her. At first, she did not notice, until the rich smell of chamomile and mint caught her attention, turning slightly, she looked up, and saw herself...older...but herself none the less.

'You'll go mad trying to figure out what just happened' the older self answered, 'And believe me, I nearly did'

'How...' She began, stopping slightly to take up the cup and take a quick sip, 'How is it you're here'

The older version smiled, 'It's rather simple at the endpoint to venture back, but this....this is different....someone has upset the balance a second time'

'A second time?' she asked. The idea of her older self standing here hadn't phased her...in fact, it was a comfort in many ways, a secret visitation that had begun a decade previously, guiding her to different paths.

'A second time...and I fear that it will affect everything'

'More than it already has?' she answered, 'I mean, can true time-travel be real, outside of us?'

'Cross was close' the older version stated, 'In fact, he's the one that breaks the idea of the-'

'Yes' The younger version said, 'I know what he did....and I know that he's more obsessed than ever'

'Yes...but that's not why I'm here now' the older version began 'At some point within the next ten years, someone will use Cross's Golden Snitch to go back to the point of the first anomaly'

'And?' the younger version asked

'Well...whomever that is, they'll attempt to change what's coming...and I fear hasten it'

'Seven years ago...' the younger version said, mulling over the words while looking into the cup, 'That would be about the time of...'

'Yes' the older version, 'It puts it right then....and I fear that if whomever is successful, a cascading effect will occur across the continuum.'

'Is that a bad thing, considering?'

'It isn't the proper course of action' The older version said, 'We of all people should understand that certain events are immutable'

'Yes...but all the mucking with the universe and paradoxes the last three decades would suggest it's a moot point' the younger version said, taking the cup and drinking deeply, 'Ginger mint?'

'It's an acquired taste....one you should start now since it's one of my favorites'

The younger one nodded, stirring the cup with the small spoon before replacing it to the saucer. 'Any idea as to who?'

'The devil' was all the woman said, 'And the devil is trying hard to change the past'

'The devil...Mr Mephisto? That TAROT girl? Which one?'

'The one who has the most to gain....and the most lose.' The older version said cryptically.

'That's helpful...but why then?'

'It was during the schism' the older version nodded, 'It was at the darkest hour for the Crusaders'

'You'll have to be more specific...although....I think I know what you mean'

'The time when the Crusaders lost'

The younger version, still fresh from the scars of that time only a decade ago, nodded quietly.

'That pain never leaves' the older version said, 'It will lessen, but it does not leave'

'Is what he's attempting a bad thing?' The younger one added, 'I mean, certainly, we're safer...but...'

'It's a bad thing when you realize that the hand to make the change isn't thinking' the older countered, 'And that if *he* gets the device...'

'Then we should do something' the younger answered.

'We already have...' the older said, donning a helmet, 'As I'm headed to you now...or have you forgotten'

The younger version stopped, considering a moment and sifting through a universe of memories until the events were recalled with clarity...but were uncharacteristically hazy..

'That time...is difficult to remember'

'Yes...' The older nodded, 'It's beginning...'

'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' the older Snow said, bringing up the digital holographic display, 'And hell is coming'

@#(*@$@&@#@!#BREAKTIMELINEERRORSHADOWECLIPSE#!#!@!@!@$)#(T^%&#$

There was supposed to be a flash of light…an exit in graceful silence from the older version of Snow White into the temporal fugue maintained in a perfect suspension, but nothing happened. Both Snow Whites looked at each other, trying to figure out what had happened. Suddenly, it was as if time had simply ceased for the two of them, and the momentary lapse in timelines had caught them both off-guard. For a moment, neither could react to the situation, it simply had never occurred to either of them.

‘There has been a break in the timeline’ The older Snow began, staring off with glowing azure eyes. Young Snow simply nodded, and for a long moment, said nothing as she attempted parity with her older counterpart. The transfer of information covered the span of seconds. Younger Snow looked about, confused and overwhelmed. The images and lifetimes of her older counterpart revealed a history that was still just a momentary glimpse. While it was 2009, it was at the same time 2014 and 2019. Snow feel the connection of a million digital voice screaming at her from the far away future, and she could feel the burning crimson waves washing over the continuum at the beginning and the end of time.

‘Someone has vastly changed the timeline’ Older Snow started, trying in that way that Younger Snow often exhibited in figuring out the problem. Older Snow began to breath harder, as if effort was being made to simply stand. Young Snow saw fatigue and worry play across her older face, and for a moment, she felt that same fear begin to creep into her thoughts. For a moment, Young Snow felt she should alert the Crusaders, to let them know what was going on…but Young Snow could not understand what was happening. Older Snow cried out in sudden shock and pain, falling to her knees as the Time Tyrant armor cracked and fell away. Red light issues from seemingly every pore, and Young Snow felt the forceful disconnection from the digital voices as the future was being wrenched away.

‘R-R-Remember’ Older Snow began, her face burning hot with red light, ‘R-R-Remember the D-D-Devou----‘

And like that, Older Snow burst into a million points of reddish light. Young Snow shielded her eyes, turning away as the shadow of her former self became etched into the floor of the Crusaders conference room. For a moment, there was nothing in Snow’s world but the red light, the terrible red light that wasn’t just light…it wasn’t just anything. The ancient code began to filter into her mind, and she remembered fragments, long since purposely forgotten playing across her casual memory. Snow cried out, feeling the awful crimson maw of the beast close around her, the terrible heat that bore down from a single purpose and single mind. In that moment, Snow relieved all of her failures, all of her frailty in terrible scarlet clarity. There was something more to the light as it forcibly tore into her very being, reducing Snow’s memories to the basic elements of angelic code. The memories of her new life quickly burned in the entropic stillness of *his* gaze.

Snow was Eclipsed.