Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I slowly arise from my slumber, waking up bit by bit. Opening my eyes slowly, I realize that my head isn’t placed on a pillow as usual, but is instead really deep into a certain kirin’s cleavage. Her hands are on my head, preventing me from moving away. Her chest, admittedly not as good as a pillow, feels really comfortable. I bet a lot of people would actually be jealous of me.

Weirdly enough, the most jealous owl of them all isn’t jealous of me, because she’s just behind me, in the same bed. She’s clinging to me in her sleep, her right arm wrapped around my tummy, her head pressed against my back. It still feels quite weird to me, that we’re sharing this bed, the three of us, while all being lovers. It certainly feels blissful.

Too comfortable in their embrace to move, I start to reminisce about what led to this situation I wouldn’t have dared to dream about a mere week ago, processing all the happy memories one by one.

I managed to fix a hopeless future without both of them because of my own mistake, I managed to bring this entire timeline back in time with me. I risked it all, it was hard, but it sure was so worth it. When I regained consciousness, both Fauna and Mumei were next to me, dead worried.

I’m sure it was weird for them, I changed a lot in the few hundreds of years I spent alone, and being forced to see their death was an agonizing experience I will never forget for as long as I exist. I went back against my own origin to be able to get them back, how crazy is that ?

No more prideful Kronii, the one waking up before them hugged them with all her strength and cried warm tears of joy. We carried on like normal once I calmed down, going back to the Council’s house, going to sleep as if nothing happened and it was a normal day.

The day after that, I snatched both of them away to go on a date, though for them it was a normal outing at first. Having fun, bantering, laughing and above all else, flirting, we did it all. They were a little awkward with the flirting at first, after all, they knew I was the type to be jealous. In this timeline, Mumei already rejected me saying she couldn’t choose between me and Fauna, and I was greatly impacted by it, so how come I was flirting with both of them as if it was the most normal thing ?

Well, obviously, I know, but they didn’t. I managed to bring the subject and explain to them how I had changed and why I brought them here with me. I did so we could talk about us, about our relationship, about what we meant to each other.

Declaring my love to the both of them felt incredibly embarrassing. Declaring myself to Mumei the first time was nerve wracking as hell, but this time they were two, and in the future I came from, Fauna was the one who made the first step towards me.

They were both confused and red from my stuttering confession, and looked at each other awkwardly. That’s when I told them that I already knew about how they felt about each other and about me. I explained to them everything, from my mistakes to my fixing, mentioning their tragic outcome. It wasn’t easy to spell it all out, as it was a really painful part of my existence.

Midway through, Fauna started to pet my head from behind while Mumei leaned onto my shoulder. They weren’t saying a word, even when I stuttered, even when I paused to hold back my tears. They listened through it all, silent, hugging me once I was finished.

I love them both so much, and I managed to get the point across, to explain to them why it was so important to have the discussion we were having, so that the pain that version of themselves and I endured wasn’t in vain, so that I could honor the promise I made to them.

When we all agreed on our feelings for one another, we sat really close to each other in a triangle, and I leaned towards Fauna, kissing her deeply with my eyes closed. She was really meek, kissing back only a little, her face red as a beetroot. Mumei shrieked a bit while watching us, you could see the mix of excitement and stress in how she couldn’t stay in place, her eyes going from me to Fauna in a frenetic manner.

I leaned into her, and even though her first reflex was to lean back, she came and kissed me clumsily. I’m sure it was supposed to be a peck, but it felt more like a headbutt. Honestly, it did hurt bad, and I ended up dazed, laying on the ground to recover. Fauna was dead laughing while Mumei was confounding herself in excuses, I exploded into laughter once I realized what just happened.

Mumei started yelling at me to hide her self-consciousness away, Fauna kissed her to shut her up. It was us, we were awkward, dumb, unperfect despite being litteral gods, but we were in love, and it was fine to fail at anything as long as we could fix it, together.

The days after that, we slowly found our marks into how to behave towards each other as a couple of three. We went on dates in an amusement park, in cafes, in each other’s room, but without sleeping together. It was fine as long as we followed the only rule we put in place; always treat the two other lovers equally, so that no one feels left out.

And then, during dinner, Sana, seeing us being lovey dovey, asked how far we went with each other. That bomb like question that we did not see coming, kinda made us strategically flee to my room (in which a bigger bed was placed thanks to Sana’s kindness). We bantered and flirted away the embarrassment from that question, and at some point we just started to cuddle in bed, drifting away bit by bit.

I can feel Fauna’s breathing changing rhythm, she’s waking up. She stretches herself while moaning cutely, dare I say. I could pull back my head from her cleavage, but I choose to instead go and kiss her neck to make her realize I’m awake.

“That tickles, Kronii” she whispers, giggling softly.

“Did you sleep well, beautiful ?”

“Such sweet talk in the morning, you’ve been awake for a while now I’m sure.”

A rustle in my back signals to us that Mumei is waking up, probably because of us, despite our soft tone. Fauna helps me losen her embrace so that I can turn back and kiss her on the neck while Fauna kisses her on the cheek.

“Hey.” she says with a tired morning voice, slowly opening her eyes.

“How does it feel being surrounded by two perfect beings in the morning ?” I ask, in a pretentious tone.

“Probably like she’s in heaven or something, but we wouldn’t let you die, Mumei.”

We break into laughter and start to cuddle before getting dressed up for breakfast.

I normally hate mornings, but if I can wake up next to those two cuties I’m sure I will warm up to them pretty soon. They return to their chamber to change out of their pajamas. We're not at that level in our relationship yet, but I’m sure it will come. We have all the time in the world after all.

When I go out of my room, I see a familiar rat standing in front of me, looking at me with a commanding gaze.

“IRyS and I need to talk to you.”

Ah yes, the consequences of my own actions. I figured they’d catch up to me at some point.

Chapter Text

I enter IRyS’ room with Bae, unable to speak a single word. It is actually the first time that I ever set foot into it now that I think about it. The nephilim is sitting on the bed, waiting for us with a serious gaze.

I can hear myself swallow nervously.

Am I in trouble ?

Bae sits next to IRyS and her tail wraps around her. If I wasn’t so stressed out, I would have teased her about it.

“You can sit in the chair Kronii.”

Bae still has her commanding tone. Their serious faces are seriously freaking me out.

I sit, silently, trying to make myself as small as possible while both of them stare at me dead in the eye.

I am still not over the truth about them. Bae is Chaos, yes. But figuring out that her concept is more important than space and time and that she’s the one who basically created the whole universe ? Slow down buddy.

And IRyS, nephilim of hope, turning out to be the Warden of Will ? Let’s forget the fact that she is supposed to be the second leader of the Council. She’s the only one powerful enough to face Bae. Their aura when they started to get serious made me feel like hiding away in a random point in the timeline praying they’d never find me again.

I’m literally sitting in front of the creators of the universe right now. Please tell me I won’t have to refer to them as “mothers” or something like that. Spare me from this cringe. I won’t be able to handle it.

They did technically create me but please no.

“Kronii.” IRyS starts, breaking the silence. “Did you tell anyone about our true identity ?”

I know they aren’t trying to intimidate me. If they did, I wouldn’t be able to look into their eyes. But still, my hands are sweaty, I want to look down, prostrate myself and beg for forgiveness.

Do you have to be that stern ?

Can you please be, I don’t know, a little bit warmer ?

“I didn’t say a thing.” I say, nearly stuttering out of stress. “I told Fauna and Mumei about the future I come from, and what I did to get back here. But I left you two out of the picture.”

“Good.”

Why is a single word from Bae so menacing ? Is it what it feels like to have parents about to scold you ? I suddenly pity every Myth member and all human beings.

“We wanted to be sure, and ask you one more thing.”

Mumei, Fauna, if I don’t come back, please know that I love both of you from the bottom of my heart.

“Yes ?”

“Can you please tell us how to make friends with everyone ?”

Is Bae joking ? Irys is fidgeting next to her, looking down, while Bae’s face looks dead serious.

“What ? You’re asking the idiot who literally shut herself in for centuries to help you out with that ?”

It feels easier to talk now because I can feel that they’re not fundamentally different. They’re more open about things that they wouldn’t show me before, like Bae’s predatory instincts for exemple. But that doesn’t mean they’re not dorks anymore.

“Bruh. You’re the only one with a similar experience. Most of them aren’t even aware of how timelines work. How do you think we’re going to explain to them that we’re, in truth, powerful enough to make you tremble in fear just by existing ?”

I try to find something to retort, but I don’t have anything. Yes, currently, I’m scared. Everyone in this one would be if they noticed how strong those two are.

However…

“Do they have to know though ? Like, up to now, Ame is the only one that I ever talked with regarding timeline stuff. Also it’s not like we’ll ever fight each other again, so there is no need for them to show your true powers.”

Bae takes her chin into her right hand, thinking. IRyS is leaning into her, Bae’s tail is coiling tighter around her. They’re probably as stressed as me right now.

I kind of get it, their secret did get out, and it affects our relationship dramatically. They’re afraid to lose us. And, if they think the same way that I did towards Mumei and Fauna after going back in time, they’re feeling guilty about lying.

“What about a double date with me, Mumei and Fauna ? Sure, you’ve probably seen us together in another timeline, but this isn’t about us, it’s about you. You have to get comfortable enough with us to be able to open yourselves.”

“I don’t know…”

Bae sounds so tense when saying that. IRyS notices that too and takes her in her arms.

I feel like a third wheel.

“Take your time to think about it. I think Council should be first since you know us way more than Myth, and then we can talk about the whole situation with Ame. After all, she explored timelines way more than I did, surely she’d understand you.”

A nod from IRyS is all the answer I get, so I get out of the room silently.

As soon as I’m out of the room, my inner self starts screaming. Freedom ! No more pressure on my shoulders ! Life is amazing ! My girlfriends are the prettiest in the world !

I get down quickly and catch everyone having breakfast. Fauna and Sana are the one cooking as usual, Gura and Amelia already ate and left, Kiara is trying to get Calli’s attention but she doesn’t look interested and Ina is drawing on her pancake with maple syrup.

Mumei comes to hug me as soon as I’m down the stairs.

“Kroniiiiiiiiiiii !” She says with teary eyes.

“What is it, Mumei ?”

“Fauna doesn’t want me to hug her while she’s cooking ! She’s being mean !”

I laugh while looking at Fauna’s direction and she looks back at me, a bit red.

“Are you sure you only hugged her ?” I ask with a dubious tone.

“Well…”

Mumei starting to avoid my gaze tells a lot more than her answering. I pat her head while laughing.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to tease her plenty once she’s finished. She just doesn’t want you to get accidentally hurt.”

She pouts and buries her face in my neck. What an adorable though a bit needy owl.

“Where were you, Kronii ? You took a long while before getting down. I was getting bored.”

Now it’s my time to avoid her gaze, I can’t really talk to her about the whole situation with Bae and IRyS.

“I was just… Busy with something.”

“What kind of something ?”

“Something. Come, Fauna finished cooking.”

She grumbles as I break out of the embrace and take her hand. Out of spite, she goes onto Fauna’s lap and gives me the cold shoulder.

You’ll need to repay me for covering your ass, Bae.

“Come on Mumei, I’m sure she’s just embarrassed about something.”

“Me !? How dare you.”

“See ? Totally just a tsundere.”

I sigh and look away. Mumei starts to laugh. I can’t win against those two, better drop it for now. I surprise myself by not being annoyed, but instead smiling. I really am too soft with those two, ain’t I ?

Starting to eat, I notice Sana is smiling at me. I know what she’s thinking, and I don’t like it. I already got two people ready to tease me to no end, I don’t need a third one.

“You’re getting along well, Meimei, Faufau, Kronini.”

“I mean duh, we always got along well.” I answer, faking annoyance.

“I thought it would take another century for you all to start dating, I’m just happy for you.”

I try to answer something because I can feel myself blushing, but only fail and stutter. Looking on my right, I see I’m not the only one blushing.

We’re a trio of useless lesbians alright.

“I would like to be able to breathe a little, Kiara.”

Calli’s annoyed voice attracts everyone’s attention in the room. She notices it, stands up and goes away, leaving Kiara alone, disheartened.

I don’t want to think about those two right now. I have too many things I still need to take care of.

Is it okay to let two friends make mistakes they’ll regret when you know what the outcome is going to be ? Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know. I’m the warden of Time, not the warden of relationships.

I exchange a glance with the other girls, one of us needs to go and cheer her up. Ina naturally goes to her first, and the sight kind of sends a chill over my spine. Calli never mentioned who ended up going out with Kiara.

Was it one of the myth members ?

I let out a long sigh and look away. I’m going to finish this breakfast and go on a date with my girlfriends.

I will deal with love drama later.

Chapter Text

Kronii goes out of the room, and suddenly everything is back to normal for us; Bae and I, nothing else in the world.

Do we need more ?
I wonder…

Her head is resting on my shoulders as she’s wrapped between my arms. I am gently stroking her hair, trying to make the tension in her body go away.

She is stressed out.

My poor sweetheart…

“Are you okay Bae ?”

“Mmmmh. I’m tired.”

Being tired mentally with everything we have to think about is more than understandable.

I lay off on the bed and gently pull her in. She silently and slowly falls on me, nuzzling against me. I embrace her with my arms, caressing both her hair and her back to help her relax.

Her peaceful breath running through my neck, my thoughts start to drift off on our current situation.

I know, my love.
It’s hard to know what we should do.

It’s already a miracle that we’re together, that we’re not one of a kind. We are the only being in the entire universe with access to our memories in all different timelines. We know the different pasts, presents and possible futures. We know so many versions of each person in this house, it doesn’t feel real.

Kronii is a good exemple.
I’ve seen her in a relationship with Mumei, Fauna, Sana, Calli, Ame…
In this timeline, some of these relationships would be impossible to imagine, and yet…

From our perspective, it’s like watching a series or a cartoon, it doesn’t feel real. Each version of them that is in front of us, it is unique, yes.

But isn’t it just another one ?

It sounds so cold when I say it like that…

I want to have something genuine with the people from this timeline. This Kronii is special. She saw our true selves ! Something that has happened for the first time ever since this universe was created ! That is an incredible feat in itself !

But what to do from there ?

How much will it change the futures of this world we witnessed ?

It is hard to say.
No, impossible to say.

I can feel my consciousness drift off. We should get up and get breakfast soon, Sana must have finished cooking already.

I just want to enjoy Bae’s warmth a little bit more.

Just five more minutes…

Bae’s stressed out.

My eyes slowly open to check on her. She’s tearing up, silently muttering words with her lips.

“It’s okay, Bae.” I say, pressing her body against mine, her head in my cleavage.

“I’m right here, everything is going to be okay. You’re just having a nightmare right now.”

I can tell she’s half awake now.

She buries herself in my chest without a sound, and starts clinging to my pajamas.

“I got you. Just fall back asleep, I’ll protect you.”

To the sound of my voice, her grip weakens. She’s relaxing, and so am I.

In my dreams, I can feel something through our connection. Sounds of her fighting against something.

No, against someone.

I have spent a lot of time watching her before descending. But sometimes, I was simply asleep, dreaming. Is she having a nightmare about a time I never saw ?

The fighting sound stopped. The only thing I can hear right now is the monotonous sound of linking slowly dripping to the ground, drop by drop. Is it blood, is it tears ? I can’t tell.

I can hear Bae is suffering right now. She’s moaning in pain.

I want to reach out.

I want to help her.

But I know deep down this isn’t real.

A knock on the door wakes me up.

“Hey sleepyheads ! I wanted to let you sleep but it’s already 2 pm. I cooked you something so you should come down !”

Bae moans in disagreement, it seems she’s a bit too comfortable clinging to me to move.

“We’re on our way !” I answer, trying to wake my rat up as I can.

She is still clinging to me. That’s adorable, yes. But that makes it really hard to move from the bed.

We’re in our pajamas, so it’s okay for us to go down like this. I mean, not like she can complain in her current state.

I get away from her slowly but surely and get out of the bed.

“IRyS… wait…”

Her arms are reaching out for me, I kneel down and put both of her hands on my shoulders.

“Cling to me, sleepyhead. I’ll get you down and we’ll eat something.”

“But… I’m so comfy in the blanket…”

“We won’t be able to eat afterwards, we already slept a lot more than we should’ve yknow ?”

She crosses her arms around my neck, I stand up and grab her legs. She’s like a koala clinging to me.

Being a goddess does have its perks, you can lift your girlfriend’s weight without breaking a sweat. You can technically stand up not endure a lot of sleep but somehow sleep for two nights in a row like we actually did. We could even skip breakfast and we wouldn’t feel it !

But the thing is, it is comforting to taste human pleasures.

Sure, we don’t need them, but nice food is nice, a good night of sleep is good and so are the humans’ ways of showing love.

Bringing your loved one in front of a breakfast (you cooked normally but in my case, that Sana cooked) is seen as something good by humans. I’m bringing her down and not bringing the food in the bed, I know, but she’d be annoyed at bread crumbs on her bed if I did that.

Gotta know your Bae.

Sana is waiting for us with cooked eggs, smokey bacon, grilled tomato and mushrooms. She’s smiling as I sit down and put my little rat on a chair, waiting patiently for her to let go of me, kissing her to convince her.

“You’ve been clingier than ever these days. Did something good happen ?” Sana asks in a playful tone.

We’re not trying to hide it, but I know for a fact that she’s a really good observer. She knows something’s up.

“Well, we finally got honest, I guess.” I say, serving both Bae and I in food.

“It sure is a welcome change, I’ve never seen Baebae get so spoiled !”

And she sure was right.

Before this, Bae would always put up a strong front, even with me. No matter how hurt she was, she wouldn’t say a thing. She’d just take it in the face without shedding a tear.

This week, I’ve seen so many things from her I never saw before. She expresses her love, expresses her worries, somewhat expresses her sadness… She doesn’t let too much of that show yet, but I’m sure time will come.

Maybe I’ll know what this dream was about.

“Let’s say a heart to heart was what we needed.” I answer to Sana, a genuine smile on my face.

“Kroninii, Faufau and Meimei took a page from the same book ! They were so cute this morning. You seriously missed some pretty cute interactions by oversleeping.”

“But it was so cozyyyyyy.” Bae grumbles between two bites.

“We’ll catch up with that trio later. They’re on the same page as us as you said, gonna be sweet for a while.”

“It’s nice seeing all of you so happy. I just wish I could say the same about Kiara and Calli...”

“Well, I’ll beat the shiitake out of them if they ruin our lovely house ! Need hope in there, not despair and fights.”

So what happened in most other timelines is beginning here too huh.

I know how this ends, but should I act on it ?

I think about it for a few seconds, and reach a conclusion. We’re already messing this timeline up by planning to tell the truth about us to other people, why not try to make them happy at the same time ?

Technically, we know them even better than they know themselves since we know alternate versions of them. It is hard for us to not mistake memories from one timeline to another, yes, but that’s a detail.

A really simple, small, insignificant detail.

“I’ll let you take care of Bae, Sana. I’m gonna go check up on Calli real quick !” I say as I finished my breakfast and Bae still didn’t eat half.

“Sure, I’ll take care of Baebae. Good luck with Calli !”

I get up, but Bae is clinging to my pajama shirt. She is puffing out her lips, asking for a goodbye kiss huh ?

“Catch you later, cutie.” I whisper, kissing her tenderly before going back to the room to change clothes.

It’s time to have a chat singer to singer with my favorite rapper.

Chapter Text

When did I start to go wrong ?

That’s a question Kiara could probably answer for me, even though I’m the one running away from her.

How pathetic.

I get back into my room quietly after causing a scene. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they all hated me now, I honestly deserve it.

I feel like punching the wall right now.

“Life is good.” I say out loud, repeating it to myself several times to try and calm down.

I need something to get my mind off things more effective than that. It’s still the morning, and I hate that. I can’t go to a club and drown myself in music way too loud with low tier booze that doesn’t even get me drunk.

A reaper can’t get drunk.

I open the closet and look for the only solution at times like these. It’s hidden under the way too many hoodies I own, in an old wooden box that I ought to change at some point.

A cigar.

It’s funny to me in a way. Humans always strive to use things that shorten their already short lifespan, and I can consume all of them without feeling their effects. I can drink alcohol for the taste without any fear, and smoke cigars without damaging my lungs.

I pull one and go onto the balcony. The city doesn’t look any different from usual.

People are busy.
Cars are noisy.
Souls are wandering.

I’ll need to reap them later.

“Kiara, could you-”

I stop myself in my own sentence. I’m so used to having her by my side, I’m asking her to light up my cigar even when I’m the one who chased her away.

I’m about to scream at my own stupidity.

I go back into my room and search for my lighter.

Well, “lighter”.

For the phoenix’s feather I hold from Kiara. She said that way she’ll always kind of be with me when I need to light something. “What a good friend you are.” I answered her, not understanding the pain in her eyes at the time.

Whatever.

After finally managing to retrieve that feather, I go on the balcony again and light my cigar up. The nostalgic smell of burnt tobacco fills my nose as I inhale the smoke strongly.

This tastes as terrible as it used to.

I have known Kiara for so long, I can’t even tell in which era we met. She just appeared one day, we’d discuss a bit before I reap her soul and she would go back into the cycle of life.

At first, she couldn’t hold a human form, she didn’t need to. A magnificent phoenix flying in the sky was sure a sight to behold, and humans were too insignificant to go down to their level.

But as humanity grew, so did Kiara’s interest for them. She managed to blend in, she lived hundreds of different lives at their side, dying and birthing again and again and again. She just wanted to see them smile.

I didn’t care at the time.

What could human bring to me ? They’re just souls that I’ll need to reap later. Each one of them is insignificant, perishable, forgettable.

Yet, they strived and grew. They started to live older and older, to be so numerous that we needed more and more reapers to be able to get the job done.

It’s only in the XXth century, after the two world wars that brought all of us reapers to our knees, that Kiara reached out to me for a different reason. She saw how exhausted I was, and decided I should take a break.

Death-Sensei agreed, how many thousands of years did I spend working tirelessly ? I can’t even count.

For a few decades, we had parties together. We drank, had fun with so many interesting humans that I never knew could exist. I started to get into their music, into what they were expressing, I started to become “someone”.

Kiara made me stop being a reaper among many. Even my name was given by her, because she thought my voice was prettier than the Calliope all her friends were fawning over. Even this stupid act of smoking a cigar even though I dislike the taste is because of her.

Had to make it obvious for the assholes taking us for lost ladies that I wasn’t one to be messed with. A symbol of status like that ought to make them shut the fuck up.

But now, Kiara has feelings for me.

Now, her contact, so natural before, is becoming more and more uncomfortable and unwanted.

I’m breaking her heart, bit by bit, because I don’t manage to tell her how I feel.

Because I don’t manage to tell her she’s just a dear friend to me.

I love her.

I really do.

But my love and her love are different.

Reapers can’t love and that’s final.

It’s already impressive that I managed to get so many wonderful friends to begin with. Though, once again, it’s because Kiara wanted to meet new people and brought me along.

I inhale strongly again, finishing a good third of the cigar in one go. The burning sensation in my throat makes me feel the pain I longed for, the pain that I deserve to feel for being such a bad friend to the one who made my workaholic life so wonderful.

The pain I deserve for being such a pain in the ass for all my friends.

Sometimes, I wonder… Would it be better if I just wasn’t there at all ?

Kiara would fall in love with someone and be happy. She’s such a wonderful person, I’m surprised none of the others fell for her yet. There would be no void in the group because they nearly all got a girlfriend or people to confide themselves to.

Really, good riddance.

“I didn’t know you were the smoking type, Calli.”

A nephilim I know all too well flies from down the house, lands and sits on my balcony’s barrier with much grace and elegance. She keeps her crystal wings out, probably to balance herself since she could fall back and hurt herself quite badly from the fall. I only manage to show her a tired smile.

“You’re lucky everybody in the neighborhood knows who we are. Most humans still freak out when they notice our true nature, yknow IRyS ?”

“Oh come oooooon. They worship weirdos just cause they got money and my existence is weirding them out ?”

“Y'know humans, my dawg. Always chivalrous about defending their kind, not caring about how hideous they can be.”

“Your mood is that bad huh.”

“Touche.”

I can’t say I am in a mood to talk with anyone right now, but IRyS got something about her that kind of calms me down. Gotta keep Hope with me I guess, to not get swallowed by my own thoughts.

“You sleep in a lot with Bae these days. Finally married again ?” I say with a smile.

Their shenanigans are weird to me, but they have fun. How harmful can it be to tease the leader of the five goddesses making our world work out after all ?

Surprisingly to me, not harmful at all if your name is IRyS.

“I think we’re not divorcing this time.”

The smile on her face when she says that is genuine. I don’t know what happened last week, but they sure are closer than ever. Good for them.

“Council became tamer than it used to be. Even Kronii shows her affection towards Fauna and Mumei now. Never thought I’d see three of my friends in a closed relationship, and yet here we are.”

“She worked really hard for it, you know ? Getting over her own pride and fears wasn’t easy. She could have failed in thousands of ways, but still managed to get what she wanted.”

She marks a pause and looks me in the eyes. Her mismatched gaze pulls me in as her irises feel like they’re glowing.

“Isn’t that inspiring ?”

“I guess.”

I have the really annoying impression that she is trying to tell me something regarding my situation with Kiara.

The flame of anger within me is getting lit again just at this simple thought.

Oh IRyS. I hope you’re not gonna make that mistake.

“I just feel that, since Bae and I had such a complicated relationship until now. Not knowing what we were and how close we were, not showing any of our weaknesses to each other… It feels nice to see Kronii finally show her weaknesses to someone.”

“Yeah. Kronii definitely needed that.” I answer dryly.

I mean it.

She’s someone I hold dear and even if I haven’t known her for more than a decade, I know how she bottles up things and ends up snapping at people because of it.

We’re more alike than I like to admit.

But again, I get the feeling that my dear nephilim wants to meddle in my life. I dislike that. Wait no, scratch that, I hate it.

I spent my life getting help from Kiara to make friends. Do you really think I still suck enough for me to need a relationship counselor ? Come on Iwys, please spare me that.

Please.

“One day, you’ll be honest with your own feelings about Kiara.” She says, smiling at me

And now she said it.

“Listen here. IRyS.” I can feel the heat in my body rising as I pronounce those words.
“If you came here to fuck with me about Kiara, you can get the fuck out of my balcony right here, right now.”

I felt it coming. I knew she was going to say something about it. Talking as if she knew what I was feeling for Kiara.

Reapers.
Can’t.
Fucking.
Love.

She opens her mouth again, trying to find something to retort, something to tell me that she is right and I’m actually lying to myself when I’m just being lucid about who I am. But thankfully, she stays silent.

I close my eyes and inhale strongly on my cigar, finishing the rest of it in one go. Desperately trying to use the pain to distract me from my anger.

As I exhale upwards, I open my eyes and look at the nephilim; her face looks dejected as she’s looking down, avoiding my gaze.

I suddenly feel the weight of my body triple as my guts start to hurt; I did it again. I snapped without thinking at someone I hold dear. I’m going to end up alone if I continue like this.

Maybe I should just accept it.

But I need to make IRyS feel better before that.

“Listen, IRyS.” I start with a meek tone.
“I’m sorry for blowing up at you, but please. The situation with Kiara is tense because I don’t want to hurt her. I’m aware of her feelings but I can’t return them, that’s the situation.”

“Yeah…”

She looks so sad.
I feel so bad.

“Hey dawg, it’s okay, really. I know you meant no harm, I’m really sorry.”

She raises her head in my direction, a pain in her eyes that I can’t really describe. It’s not guilt, it’s not regret, it’s not pity… It’s a form of sadness I can’t identify.

We just look at each other for a good minute before she lets out a long sigh and puts up her usual smile on her face again. You know it doesn’t work if you show me your sadness beforehand, right ?

“I’ll leave you alone for now, Calli. I already took away your little alone time. I’ll get out of your hair, okay ?”

She starts to let herself fall from my balcony backwards, but I catch her hand instinctively. I can’t let the discussion end like this and just get eaten by regrets for the rest of the day.

I need to say something.

Anything.

But no words manage to come out.

“Wanting to hold my hand that much ?” IRyS teases, much to my dismay.

She’s good at faking being okay, that dumbass.

“Wanna do karaoke with me later today ? You can invite Bae as well, I’ll see if some others want to go.”

“I’ll see if my little baby rat is up to it. She’s been tired today, can’t promise you !”

“That’s fine. See you later, have fun cuddling your wife !”

I let her hand go and she flies away.

This sucks, but hey, it sucks less than if I tried nothing. As opposed to what I did with Kiara earlier, I at least managed to show her company is dear to me.

I should invite Kiara as well to try and make her understand that as long as she’s not clingy physically, I will always appreciate her company.

Yeah, I should do that.

***

Fauna, Mumei and I are having a lot of fun goofing around at a cafe I’ve been meaning to bring Mumei too.

They teach latte art ! How amazing is that ?

What a perfect girlfriend I am, bringing my lovely owl somewhere she can have fun. Fauna and I, despite only watching, are definitely having fun since the monstrosities Mumei creates make funny faces appear on the teacher.

Hilarious.

“That humanoid faced spider is… impressive… miss…” They say, looking terrorized while Mumei is just smiling, proud of herself.

It’s so hard to not break into laughter I’ve been crying for the past twenty minutes. Fauna’s quiet voice comes in handy in these situations, since she just hides her face in my neck to laugh her heart out.

My phone vibrates once.

I don’t really care at the moment, I’m having way too much fun looking at the face they’re making while she recreates her “cute friend” that has razor-like teeths.

My phone vibrates a second time.

I still ignore it, but I think I’m reaching my breaking point. How is seeing someone hating their job so entertaining ?

My phone vibrates a third time.

“I think you should pick it up, Kronii. It might be important”

“I guess I should, I just hope the house didn’t get flooded again, or burned, or whatever Gura provoked while annoying someone in the house.”

“Why do you always jump to those conclusions ? It may just be an invitation to something fun !”

I look at the phone, staring for several seconds at the picture I have as my wallpaper.

It’s us three, in the park we had a picnic in, where I confessed and I got accepted. It’s the pic of them kissing me at the same time while I’m blushing as red as Calli’s eyes. I love those two dorks too much.

I unlock the phone. It’s IRyS, what does she want ?

I read the message and yell loud enough for the whole shop to hear.

“SHE DID WHAT !!?”

Chapter Text

“Come to Watson’s office, now.”

That is the only message I received from Kronii after telling her how poorly my discussion went with Calli. And frankly, I am scared of what is waiting for me beyond this door. I just tried to help a friend realize the emotions she harbored in so many timelines and even expressed later on in this one, surely I don’t deserve any bad treatment for that ?

I ring the bell and enter the office. In the waiting room, three people I know all too well are staring at me. Gura is on my left, her tail wagging idly while she looks like she is going to laugh at me at any moment, visibly amused by the situation. Fauna and Mumei are on my right, the owl comfortably sitting across nature’s lap. Both of them have a compassionate gaze that I cannot explain.

How deep in trouble am I ?

“Hey…?” I say meekly, raising my hand in a small wave.

“Hey IRyS ! I don’t know what you did, chief, but Kronster’s face was a spectacle to look at when I arrived.” Gura teases, amusement in her voice.

“Is it that bad ?”

“Oh boy. You know how Kronii is when she's, like, super mad ? That’s the kind of horror show I love to watch !”

“You’re scaring her a bit too much, Gura.” Interjects Fauna. “Kronii isn’t that pissed. Let’s just say you’re gonna get an earful of it, nothing Gura didn’t survive when she burned the house down.”

“Hey ! Kiara is the one who overreacted with her fire !”

“After you splashed her with enough water to fill a bathhouse ?”

“I still remember Kronii’s face coming home to it. She was soooo pissed.” adds Mumei, giggling.

“You’re telling me I somehow did something as bad as Gura’s pranks ?” I ask, well aware of the answer.

“It wasn’t even my fault !” yells Gura, indignant. “But yeah, it was nice knowing you IRyS, rest in peace soldier.”

I can feel the knot in my stomach becoming tighter as I sigh. I may be the embodiment of Will, but right now, I feel like a child waiting for an adult to slap my fingers after doing something bad. Like I know I messed up with Calli, given how upset she got at me, but is it really worse than not doing anything ? Are we really going to look at her growing more and more distant from us until she doesn’t come anymore ?

I want this timeline to be the perfect home for Bae, somewhere she can be vulnerable with not just me, but everyone else in Council and Myth. I don’t want to waste the chance at a more normal life Kronii gave us.

My daydreaming is interrupted by Ame opening the door, making us enter the main room.

“Okay so, what I am going to say to you is not to be shared with anyone else, right ? I’m just letting you all know because you all, except Gura but I’d feel bad excluding her, deserve to know.”

Kronii is currently sitting at Ame’s desk, her elbows placed on it, her hands put together. Her voice is tense, her face is dead serious, the air in the room is so thick that no one dares to interrupt her, even Gura after her name was mentioned.

“First of all, so that Gura and Ame can understand what I’m getting at, I will explain what I have explained to Mumei and Fauna and that IRyS already knows. I am not exactly the Kronii you all knew from a week ago. If you feel like I have changed, it is because I have.

I came back from the future.”

Kronii marks a pause after that sentence, to let that sink in. Ame’s face doesn’t look surprised, but Gura is already showing signs of confusion.

“In the future, I isolated myself for centuries in my domain, leaving the Earth to die as Nature and Civilization destroyed each other. The only reason I could come back and try to make things right is because of the future you of that timeline, Ame.

She somehow managed to make the Watch reach me after her own death, giving me a way to come back in the past. A chance to live through the most important moments of my life again, and make things right.”

The tenderness in her eyes show as she says those sentences, looking at both her girlfriends fondly. It’s really nice seeing them like this. It’s not the first time I see them being sweet together, but it’s the first time in all timelines that Kronii actually takes time to explain what is going on with time stuff.

Their bond has never been stronger.

“Which leads me to the second part of the explanation needed for all but Ame; how does time actually work ?

I’m going to try and dumb it down enough so even Gura can understand.”

“Hey !”

Gura’s interjection makes everyone in the room chuckle, softening the heavy air of the room. Kronii is grinning, visibly proud of her little jab, as she gets up and starts to show a drawing on the board.

Well, it is a pretty weird entanglement of lines supposed to look like a tree I guess, but more like a theoretical tree than the ones Fauna can grow.

“This, ladies, is the Tree of possibilities.

At the roots is the Start of times, where the original Kronii resided. It’s the foundation of the tree. Then we have the timeline number one, Wattropolis. It is the trunk of the tree, where all Amelia Watson can come and go to fulfill their mission.

Each branch of the tree is a timeline, and each time someone powerful makes a choice or someone uses time powers strong enough to modify it, it splits into at least two timelines; one for each outcome possible.

The more time advances, the more the branches grow and the more they get away from the Start of times. The more they split, the further away they diverge from the timeline one, and the more they grow away from the trunk.

I may be the Warden of Time, but my powers are only absolute within my territory, within my branch so to speak. I can’t invade another branch or come back in the past after a split has occurred. Even if I did go to the past, I would only force a new split and create a new timeline.”

“Erm, Kronii ?” Gura raises her hand meekly. “I don’t get a single thing of what you’re saying right now.”

Kronii sighs before continuing.

“The idea is that I can’t do shit without the Watch Ame has. All the powers to travel freely from one timeline to another are sealed within it. And even then, mortals like Ame don’t have the energy to actually go against the flow of time so they can’t go to the past.

And even if I were to use the Watch, I am not supposed to be able to reset the timeline like I did. I should have created a new one, living my old one to die along with the versions of you that had a tragic future because of my mistakes.”

“How come you managed to come back from the future then ?”

A devilish smile appears on the Warden’s face at that question.

“Well, I killed my original self and used her energy to reverse the flow of time for a few centuries, making me come back at the exact right time.”

“That’s so cool ! You didn’t tell us you did that !” Mumei shrieks excitedly, bouncing on Fauna’s lap, much to her amusement.

“Well, I’m telling you now, Mumei.” Kronii says with love once again in her voice.

It wasn’t so bad, was it ? I got a nice lesson about time stuff from Kronii, complete and understandable. She was too busy being lesbian to actually yell at me, and Gura being there made me able to have an easier explanation without even having to ask !

“Now, let me ask you all a simple question. After all I’ve been through to make things right between me and all of you, especially you two, Fauna and Mumei, would it be okay to temper with someone else’s love relationship because I know how it would be in the future ?”

Her gaze turns to me, deadly cold and judging, as the tension in the room suddenly rises again. The silence following it feels heavy. The knot in my stomach reappears with way more intensity than earlier, flashes of Calli’s hurt face when I talked with her make me drown in guilt along with it.

Nevermind, this situation is terrible.

“I mean, wouldn’t it be better for everyone to be happy ?” Fauna starts, “I have a feeling you’re talking about Kiara and Calli, given how their relationship has been degrading lately. Wouldn’t it be better to help them fix the issues of their relationship so that they can become closer than ever ?”

The Keeper’s soft voice echoes throughout the room followed by another heavy pause from the Warden. The sapphire of her eyes doesn’t feel like ice anymore; it now feels like a slow river filled by melancholy and sorrows.

“And what if I tell you Kiara had a lover in the future that wasn’t Calli, that she found happiness with someone else. Are we the one that should choose who deserves to be with Kiara ?”

With that sentence, the realization falls on me. Who was Kiara’s girlfriend in that timeline again ?

I exist across all the timelines, I have seen so many different relationships between the members of Myth and Council grow, the only stable relationship ever was mine with Bae.

I’ve seen Kiara date Calli, Ina, Ame, Gura, Kronii, Fauna, Mumei, Sana, Reine, Ollie, even Pekora or Korone. I have seen all those women fall in love with different people on each timeline, with happy endings at times, sad endings at other times.

I come from the future, I have seen branches grow way further than they are now. It is not because in most timelines, Kiara falls in love with Calli and dates her that it should be the obvious choice.

I’m the Warden of Will, not the Warden of Love.

I shouldn’t have any words to say in all of this.

It feels like everyone in the room is pending at Kronii’s lips, not even breathing. The lack of noise is deafening.

“I can’t explain why, but IRyS still has memories from the future. I was upset at her interfering and acting like this was her choice to make. But I can tell she understands why I called her here.”

All their faces turn at me, and I can’t help but look down.

“I get it, Kronii. I’m sorry, I should have known better.

Ina does deserve to be happy.”

Chapter Text

Hello lovely readers.

I know I am not the most regular writer, but I have been more than irregular on this fic, and for a good reason; I don't like what I'm doing with it.

I am more of an action/adventure writer, I really struggle with slice of life settings. I thought giving it a really psychological spin would make it worth but the thing is, it spiraled out of my control. More and more things to tell, not enough povs, writing everything at first person... It made it incredibly hard for me to find ways to show which pov it was, it all just became a blurry of depressive povs looking like each other, at least in my eyes.

I am not satisfied with what I am doing, so I will stop doing it, and reboot it.

I will leave the current chapters on until I find the energy to reboot this fic, because I am currently tied with Happily Everafter and As I watch your eyes, two fics that are way more angsty and action focused (with the psychological approach of relationships that, I hope, you know me for).

I want to finish Timeless mistakes, that is an objective that hasn't changed, so I will get back to this fic. The "when" part is hard to tell, but I'm sure you'll receive a notification when I will archive other chapters and add the new ones.

Thanks again for reading, see you soon I hope