Work Text:
“Are you alright?”
Ike slowly opens his eyes, blinking as he tries to get used to the brightness. A concerned face welcomes him—a face of someone unfamiliar.
“Who are you?” Ike asks as he struggles to sit up. The young man gently supports his back and arranges pillows for him to lean on. From his seated position, Ike has a better view of the room.
He is in the Eveland mansion’s master bedroom, which was once occupied by his grandfather. When his grandfather passed away, Ike was given sole ownership of the mansion and as well the rest of the Eveland legacy. The sight is comfortably familiar, but somehow there are some things that are amiss...like things have changed while he was asleep.
“Who are you?” he asks again the man who is carefully tucking the blanket snugly around him. He hasn’t seen this man before, but he feels like someone who has been here for a while.
The young man looks up and gives him a smile and a nod. “I apologize for not answering. My name is Shu Yamino.”
Ike studies the person before him. Shu Yamino wears a long-sleeved shirt and dress pants, so he doesn’t seem to be a stranger to the manor. Violet eyes highlight his handsome face—and those eyes seem to look at Ike with concern and another emotion Ike cannot place. Despite the man’s good looks, Ike cannot remember if they have met before. Yet somehow, he seems so familiar both to the place and to Ike.
“Are you...the butler or the mansion’s caretaker?” Ike carefully asks as he looks at the man in confusion. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we have met before...”
For some reason, Shu looks down with a sad smile. Ike wonders why he looks so disheartened. But before he could ask, Shu’s smile is back on his face as he replies. “Yes, I am this mansion’s butler. I take care of your affairs, Master Ike Eveland.” He slightly bows. “You had an accident a few days ago and you have been unconscious all this time. It seems you have lost some of your memory.”
Ike opens his mouth in shock. Accident? Memory loss? What on earth happened to him? “Am I...” he started.
Shu raises his hands to appease Ike. “Nothing serious happened. You just collapsed in your office and had a fever for a few days. You are far from danger now.” He then turns to his side and drags a cart full of food towards the bed. “Please eat something to regain your strength.”
As Shu cheerily arranges a meal on a tray for serving, Ike remains lost in his thoughts. He doesn’t remember anything beyond the fact that he has inherited this mansion. Did he really lose a lot of his memory because of a fever? If so, why can’t he even remember that Shu is with him in the mansion? What other memories did he lose?
--
After a few days, Ike has been talking a lot with Shu, letting the butler guide him to understand the memories he lost. Shu explains that Ike has been staying in the mansion since it was announced to be his inheritance. He is a novelist, and he spends most of his time indoors to write his books. Once in a while, an editor comes in to collect the books he has written while other drafts are kept in his rather large library. Shu came to the manor to assist Ike with the chores as well as work-related tasks like communicating with his editor or organizing drafts. Aside from two other servants, they are the only ones in the mansion. Other than that, their lives are pretty much boring and routinely.
Ike eats some toast and sips the milk Shu has served him in his office. His sheaf of papers are blank and clean as they have been for days. He hasn’t written anything worthy of reading for the past ten days. Even though Shu says not to force himself and just focus on recovering, Ike can’t sit still. If his stories are their bread and butter, then he should work hard and churn out more, right? Yet no matter how much he tries to squeeze out ideas from his mind, nothing—not even a letter—ends up on his paper.
Sighing, he looks out of the large window of the office. It is located in a well-lit part of the mansion and has a nice view of the mountains nearby. The walls of the office are crammed with bookshelves, all full of books. A telescope stands near the large window opening to a balcony, while what looks like a large timepiece with gears rests in a corner. Ike doesn’t know how that instrument is used, but Shu said that he treasures it greatly.
“This won’t do...” Ike mutters as he stands up. He needs to write. Maybe he has some ideas written down in some of his previous notebooks. Motivated, he scans the bookshelves and takes out one book to read what he has written. He flips through it and walks towards a chair, passing by a mirror.
Ike suddenly whips his head to the side to stare at the mirror. He sees his surprised reflection looking back at him. That’s funny. He is sure he saw something flit at the corner of his vision right into the mirror. After studying the mirror for a while, he decides to forget it and settle on one of the armchairs instead to continue reading.
There is a knock on the door and Shu quietly walks in, giving Ike a slight bow as he approaches. “I’m just checking your condition.....Master.”
“I’m fine. Just...having a writer’s block, maybe.” Ike gives Shu a small smile, who returns it gracefully. “I don’t know...what if my writing skills were already affected by accident?”
Shu kneels beside the armchair and takes Ike’s hand. He slowly massages his master’s fingers and palm. “As I said, you don’t have to force yourself, Master. It will come to you when it should.”
Ike stares at Shu, trying to decipher that cryptic reply. But Shu focuses on massaging Ike’s hands instead, making the novelist involuntarily relaxed. “Hmm...I guess I should wait until inspiration strikes me,” he mutters as he closes his eyes. “Thank you for helping me all the time, Shu.”
Shu’s answer sounds poignant and quiet. “It is my life duty to be with you.”
--
Two weeks after recuperating, Ike still stares at his empty papers. He has come up with a few ideas, but he cannot put them into words. Somehow, he’s losing his confidence as a novelist. He knows he must have been just tired from the illness, that’s why he cannot think properly, but it’s been this long and he still hasn’t written even a single sentence.
He drops his fountain pen and rests his head on the chair’s backrest. As he closes his eyes and relaxes, he hears the sound of the gears of the timepiece. They are finally turning. As the gears creaked in motion, Ike suddenly feels his heart beat faster and faster.
A sudden heat rushes through Ike’s body. He couldn’t understand what is going on, but his body sits up straight against his will. His hand unconsciously picks up his fountain pen and places itself over the paper.
And then, Ike begins to have a vision.
The vision tells him the story of a certain thief who has grown up from a life of poverty and unspeakable burden. The lack of family and a place to belong led him to desperation. He decided to pursue a life of crime to punish the corrupt and help the poor. But the emptiness and isolation has caused him to be stuck in limbo—without any desire to move forward with his life. Without any intervention, he will be kept in a loop of a life without purpose or future.
As Ike watches the vision, a power within him bursts forth and fills the room. As if in a trance, Ike’s mind starts to open up various paths before him. These are paths that the person in the vision can follow towards a new life. Unconsciously, Ike’s hand starts to move, writing in beautiful prose the story of the vision and what path he has chosen for the vision’s protagonist to walk through. He seamlessly writes the story of the young man and how he ends up in a new life in a new timeline.
As Ike writes, the gears in his large timepiece turn faster, a mist of magic being spun around them. It is as if the timelines are being woven together to help the vision’s protagonist pass through. With a final note wishing that the protagonist finds a family and a future in his new timeline, Ike wraps up the story and let his powers pour into the papers—now binding themselves into a neat book..
Suddenly, the vision ends and the time piece gears stop turning. As the powers dissipate, Ike feels like his life force is being drained out of him. He drops his fountain pen to the floor and slumps onto the table. He feels his consciousness fading away, but not before he hears the door click open.
“Ike...!”
Ike passes out.
--
“Who are you?” Ike asks as he puts on his glasses and blinks at him.
Shu can feel the misery bubbling up within him but he keeps it down. “I...I am your butler and your assistant. My name is Shu Yamino.”
Ike stares at him in confusion. He must be remembering only until the time when he inherited the mansion. “You were sick for a few days and were bedridden,” Shu lies. “The fever must have caused you to lose part of your memories as a result.”
Ike sits on the bed, looking lost and scared. Shu can only kneel beside the bed and hold Ike’s hand. “Please do not worry. I will be here to help you recuperate to your full health.”
Smiling, the novelist pats Shu’s hand with his other hand. “Thank you, Shu. I’m sorry I can’t remember anything.”
Shu presses his lips together and tries not to show the sadness on his face.
--
“I’m sorry I can’t write anything,” Ike says, smiling despite his worn-out expression. “For some reason the words just won’t come out no matter how much I try.”
“Please do not force yourself,” Shu says. He is heartbroken every time Ike apologizes for something out of his control. “Let us just focus on your recovery first.” Ike nods then thanks him for bringing the tea. With a small smile, Shu leaves the office.
The smile leaves his face as soon as he steps out of the office. He braces himself against one of the hallway tables and takes a deep breath. It has been a few days, so that means it’s coming soon.
The vision.
The Eveland family is a clan of Pathfinders. They are powerful forces that can change the destinies of The Lost Ones—people who have lost their purpose in life and have been stuck in limbo. The Lost Ones who cannot find their paths will end up in a loop and live with pure desperation and emptiness with no sense of time or fate anymore. Lost Ones can feel so much desperation to the point that they can end up doing ungodly things or induce destruction. It is the duty of a Pathfinder to help them find their way to a life worth living. Through a vision, a Pathfinder can help someone find their way to a new beginning by bending and weaving timelines. The process has a lot of risks and can lead to a lot of danger, after all, it is going against the flow of Time and Fate. Its success is wholly dependent on the empathy of the Pathfinder and the determination of the Lost One.
Ike is one of the strongest Pathfinders of his family and is also the only surviving one. His great power has enabled him to lead a lot of Lost Ones to new paths and beginnings. However, his powers are too much for his body. Which is why he has come to ask help for the Yamino clan of sorcerers. He needs someone to stabilize him for when he uses his powers.
Shu Yamino, the only active sorcerer in their family, is sent to the Eveland manor to aid the young Pathfinder. At first, they didn’t get along quite well, being practitioners of different types of magic. But after witnessing Ike unleash his power and reverse the flow of time itself, Shu can only look at him with awe and respect. The Pathfinder’s power is akin to a large-scale spell that needs several magicians to cast, but here Ike is the only one wielding it without any care for his physical body.
From then on, Shu became Ike’s stabilizer and guide. He helps with making sure Ike’s powers are contained and that he doesn’t overdo things. He uses his own spells to capture traces of Ike’s powers and reel them back to their owner so that Ike doesn’t strain his body that much. Soon, Ike has become completely dependent on Shu’s sorcery to help him with his missions.
However, that doesn’t mean all his endeavors were successful. Some of the Lost Ones were deep in desperation and darkness that they cannot be saved. They haunt Ike—their vision of being stuck forever in the void with no possibility of finding their paths. It has come to a point when the burden of great power contained in his body and the guilt of not being able to save everyone despite his power proved to be too much for Ike.
Ike begins to black out whenever he uses his powers. After being unconscious for a few days, he wakes up but without memories of the past two years. He can only remember the time before he moved into the manor. He cannot remember accepting his family’s role as the Pathfinder. He cannot remember asking help from the Yamino clan.
He cannot remember Shu and the relationship that was blossoming between them for the past two years.
------------------------
As soon as he feels the force of the Pathfinder’s power, Shu runs towards the office. The waves of pure mystical energy are too strong for him to even try and open the door. He casts a couple of protective spells around him as he pushes his way in.
Ike is in a trance as usual, his hand moving super fast that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. He is writing down the vision, threads of his power weaving in between his fingers into the paper. The gears of the Time Loom in the room are turning rapidly, with the same threads of power being woven into each other. Ike is breaking timelines and weaving them together again.
Shu checks if the seals in the room are active and raises a hand to summon lightning. The lightning attracts the scattered energy to be reabsorbed into Ike’s body. Within a few minutes, the vision is over and Ike drops his pen, slumping backwards into his seat. The Time Loom stops turning and the pages Ike was writing on collect themselves and folds into a book before settling on the table.
Shu catches Ike before he slips out of his seat. He checks Ike’s vitals before settling him on the armchair. He needs to clean up a bit before carrying Ike to bed where he will be laying unconscious for the past few days.
As Shu uses his magic to organize the scattered things in the room, he passes by a mirror and finds himself staring at his reflection who smiled at him.
“It will be the same situation this time,” his reflection says, its green eyes glowing. “It has been for the past years.”
Shu stares back at his reflection. “I know. You don’t have to tell me, Hikarino.”
His reflection clicks its tongue. “Don’t be angry. You’re not the only one who feels miserable when he wakes up and doesn’t remember us.”
Shu winces at Hikarino’s words. “Don’t use ‘us’. It’s not like Ike knows of your presence.”
Hikarino is a manifestation of Shu’s sealed magic. His parents deemed it too dangerous to let Shu unleash all of his power as a sorcerer, so they sealed a part of him before it takes a toll on his body and mind. After all, controlling such strong force requires strong physique and mental capacity. Shu knows that very well after watching Ike control his own power for several years.
Hikarino used to be a silent force within him, immovable’ and dormant. However, Shu’s frustration at Ike’s state must have awakened him and made him sentient enough to speak into Shu’s mind.
“That is the least of your worries,” Hikarino says through the mirror. “Why don’t you look at the name of the book Ike just wrote.”
Shu looks at him quizzically before turning around to look at the table. He picks up the book and flips its cover open to read the title page.
Shu Yamino.
“You’ve been stuck in limbo before you even know it, Lost One,” Hikarino said. It sounded like he was making a joke, but his tone is grim. “Either that or Ike is unconsciously helping you move on.”
Shu slams the book shut and throws it on the table. It may be true that he has been living in desperation these past years, but he has a purpose. And he hasn’t given up on that purpose. “Who the heck decides whether one is lost or not?” he coldly says. “I do not accept that destiny.”
Hikarino watches Shu from the mirror as the sorcerer gently lifts Ike from the chair and leaves the office.
---
Shu gently lays Ike down on the bed. He is brushing the hair from Ike’s face when he notices the dried trails of tears running down the novelist’s face.
“Was it too hard for you to see? My vision?” he whispers. He wonders what Ike saw in the vision. Did he see Shu despairing for him? Did he see himself losing control of his own demons? Either way, Shu feels his heart slowly breaking as he thinks of the pain Ike went through that he had to shed tears.
He doesn’t know what else he could do aside from wait for Ike to recover on his own. He has asked various people for help—from birds that sing magical songs to witches that brew potions to psychics than can give a glimpse of the future—none of them has made Ike’s memory return.
There are other ways, Shu is aware. But he doesn’t know if he is alright with taking such risks that could harm the world they live in.
Shu clasps Ike’s hand in his. Is he alright with repeating this cycle over and over every time Ike uses his powers? Is he alright living with Ike, pretending he is there as a butler so he doesn’t make him uncomfortable, and forgetting everything that has happened to them in the past?
Is he willing to let go of the memories, too? The memory of Ike gasping in surprise when Shu confessed his feelings to him. The memory of them dancing in the balcony as they listened to the music playing in the nearby town festival. The memory of Ike leaning on his shoulder as he slowly falls asleep. The memory of their first kiss.
Shu closes his eyes and steadies his breathing. He is in no place to make a decision after all. All he can do is wait and hope for the best...
He stops his thoughts as Ike’s eyelashes flutter. At the same time, the fingers in the hand Shu holds flinch and grip his hand more tightly.
“Ike?” Shu asks, unsure of what’s happening. This hasn’t happened before. Usually, Ike would stay asleep without moving for days.
As Ike opens his eyes, tears stream down his face anew. Shu watches with concern as Ike raises his other hand to hold onto the sleeve of Shu’s shirt. “Please...” Ike whispers amidst his tears. “Please don’t leave me behind, Shu...”
Shu swallows back his own tears and holds Ike close, cradling the novelist’s body as he rests his head on a shoulder. Slowly, Ike’s eyes close and he is once more fallen into deep slumber.
Eyes glistening, Shu lays Ike back on the bed and snugly covers him with a blanket. Then, he stands up and walks towards a mirror where Hikarino waits for him.
“It will be painful.” Green eyes study him from beyond the mirror.
“It’s worth the risk. If I cannot give Ike solace in this time, I can just jump with him to another time and let him live as he wants.” Shu looks at the mirror. “I need to free you.”
Hikarino crosses his arms over his chest. “You might end up breaking this world.”
“I know.”
Sighing, Hikarino leans against the side of the mirror. “Do you really know? You are planning to destroy this timeline so Ike can cross into another one—one wherein he isn’t a Pathfinder. Do you really understand what is at stake here?”
Shu shakes his head. “I’m not planning on destroying the timeline. I just need to be able to control the Time Loom so I can cross timelines and bring Ike with me.” His purple eyes gleam. “The gods dare make Ike suffer because of things he couldn’t control and then consider me a Lost One? I now feel like I’ve been born with powers in order to challenge such a dismal fate.”
“So you are now going to use sheer force to save Ike,” Hikarino says. You know that there is a high chance he will not remember you in the new timeline. You might not even meet each other.”
Shu raises a hand as he meets Hikarino’s gaze. He flexes his fingers and feels something click within him. “It’s alright,” he says. “I’ve finally made my decision. If I will be able to bend time and destiny to my will, I can easily find the path back to him.” He smiled at the mirror where Hikarino’s reflection disappears. Instead, he sees his own reflection, bathed in an aura of both violet and green.
“As I said,” Shu whispers as he looks back at Ike’s sleeping form. “It is my life duty to be with you.”
In Ike’s office, the book on the table is engulfed in green flames as the Time Loom is entangled in a magical web of violet lightning.
-- END --