Is To Know Yourself

✧ ✦ ✧

“You’re… me?” I repeated. “Like hell, you are!”

He might have been wearing my face, but I refused to believe that the man before us was actually the same person. However, Shion didn’t seem to refute his claim, which made me wonder.

“Well, to put it more accurately, you’re me. Since I’m the original “Ren”, after all.” The man put his hands on his hips, leaning forward tauntingly. “Technicalities will be technicalities…”

The original… as in, Ren I!? But I thought all the other variants before me were killed and their worlds destroyed?

“Impossible…”

“Does it bother you that much, imposter? Well, it should!! You ought to be floored by the cosmic accident that is your existence!” The other Ren put his hand over his heart. “But if it had not been for me and Shion there, this universe would not suffer you, or the other variants. So perhaps we are to blame after all...”

Despite looking and sounding exactly like me, he sure didn’t speak in the same manner. In fact, I couldn't picture myself being this much of a chuunibyo, even back in middle school when I was the biggest nerd around.

I looked back at Shion who avoided eye contact with either of us, a conflicted look written plain on her face.

“As a gesture of my magnanimity, however, I shall allow you to keep using the name “Ren”, even in my presence. I go by a much different title now, anyhow.”

“You’ll allow me..?” I narrowed my gaze. “That’s a joke, and not a funny one either.”

“Alpha…” Shion finally muttered, anger replacing the fear. “Why are you here!?”

“Do I not have the right to be here, or is it perhaps inconvenient for you somehow??” Alpha shifted his gaze back to me, and something clicked in his brain as he began to laugh manically. “Wait, don’t tell me, that look on both your faces says it all! You really haven’t told him anything yet, eh Shion?? About the nature of our past relationship, all the destruction we caused together. How comical.”

“And whose fault was it that everything happened the way it did!?” Shion snapped back. “All those lives, everyone we cared about… gone in an instant, because of your lust for power! How do you sleep at night!?”

“Curled up like a kitten, my dear!” Alpha poked fun at Shion, laughing some more. “Place blame however you like, you left them behind, same as I did. You and the other Time Keepers, like your master and that precious brother of yours before you.”

Shion winced.

“Abandoning the world when it no longer satisfies your purposes, and moving onto the next reality, watching instead of intervening in the midst of tragedy. Cowards, the lot of you! It’s no wonder you lost your blessing—”

“—You’re the coward here, buddy!” I retorted, earning a glare from the man who clearly didn’t like to be interrupted. His gaze alone was enough to make my heart stop beating. “Killing a kid in broad daylight, and then trying to pin the whole thing on me… Shion is right, you should be ashamed of yourself, you prick.”

“Ahhh, I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about!” He shrugged widely, wearing a coy grin. “Sure, I planned to do something vaguely along those lines to set the stage for what comes next, buuuut since you’ve gone and undone all my careful preparation, it appears to be a wash.”

“Play dumb all you like, but it doesn’t change anything.” I spat, cracking my knuckles. ”If you don’t get out of here now, I’ll have to kick your ass. I won’t say it a second time.”

“Oh, how scary! In that case, I really do have no choice…” In a singsong voice, he summoned the Ashen Fang, but before I could prepare myself for a fight…

“…but to do as you say and surrender.” He flipped the dagger in my direction as it clattered along the ground, stopping in front of my foot. “Honestly, there’s the article I took. Take it back already, and go. You two bore me to tears.”

There’s no way, right? Just like that?

I shot a distrusting look at the conniving bastard, bowing his head in defeat. I knew something was up, obviously, but still I slowly bent down to pick up the dagger. To give myself something, anything, to protect myself and Shion from harm. Meanwhile, I kept my gaze fixed on him as best I could.

“Ren-kun, don’t—!”

However, the moment my concentration broke, I glanced back at Shion…

“Sike.”

“—!”

Alpha suddenly shot forward, hitting me with a mean backhand. The force behind it exceeded that of a blow a mere human would be capable of dishing out. It sent me rolling across the pavement like I had been pushed out of a truck bed at full speed on the highway.

“Ren-kun!!”

Beaten and bloodied, I heard Shion’s cries through my ringing ears. I had several cracked bones throughout my body, including a dislocated shoulder, but miraculously my wounds began to heal themselves—pretty painfully—after a few moments of writhing on the ground.

“You… bastard…” I spit a mouthful of blood and saliva to the side. I gripped the Ashen Fang tightly, which I had collected off the ground before he tossed me aside.

“Such resilience, not an unwelcome development, but that really should have killed you instantly.” Alpha forced a smile as I pulled myself to my feet. “I suppose your passive healing ability has awakened, but you’re far less shaken than I would have expected given your circumstances”

“Maybe I’m just used to fighting for my life against assholes like you.”

Doesn’t make it hurt any less though.

I’ve had dozens of scraps where it looked like it was all-but-won for the other guy before I had a second wind and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. As long as I wasn’t knocked out cold, I would always think victory was within my reach.

”Oh, is that really the case, or are you expecting some kind of safety net to pull you back from the brink?” Alpha tapped his chin. “In fact, I might know just why you’re acting so boldly…”

Alpha looked at Shion with a sly grin after coming to his own conclusions.

“He believes, deep down, that you can simply bail him out with your little time magic hijinks. But that’s not the case, is it, Shion?” The man laughed heartily. “Go ahead and tell him the truth, I’ll wait.”

Admittedly, I did lean towards the idea that if the worst came to pass, Shion could keep resetting the clock to keep me from kicking the bucket. But maybe that was a bit idealistic of me, with no proof supporting that unyielding belief in her. What works once might not work a second time and so on and so forth. As if to confirm my fears, Shion looked at me apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Ren-kun, he’s right…” Shion began. “I’m working through a bit of a cap on my time manipulation abilities until my master returns, so we’ll have to survive this on our own somehow.”

“Well, that’s less than ideal, but I get it.”

“Again, sorry. I never said this would be easy though.”

“You didn’t say much of anything, come to think of it.”

“Now, now..”

I guess I’m on borrowed time anyways, so I can’t afford to complain too much, but what the hell do we do now?

““What to do now”, is it? I wonder the same.” Alpha sighed. “Killing you now will not be so easily managed with your healing abilities, unless, of course… I can blow you both away entirely with my next attack!”

Alpha got in a stance with the back of his gloved hand stretched toward the heavens, and the other over his face like a mask, his red eyes shining between his fingers. The air around us became heavy and the lanterns lining the street began to flicker.

“You think you have what it takes to be Shion’s meat shield, imposter?“ Alpha challenged me. ”I think you’ll find being with her brings nothing but deep pain and misfortune, take it from me who‘s traveled alongside her. I’d be doing you a mercy in killing you here.”

“Let’s get one thing straight, pal, I’m not anyone’s meat shield.” I retorted, getting in a fighting stance. ”But I’ll decide for myself who to follow, and I’m not gonna roll over when a bastard like you pretends to know what’s best for me, even if you are wearing my face.”

“Then I trust you’ll have no qualms over what comes next…” A trail of white and black flame escaped the corners of each of his eyes as he let out a breath of steam from his nostrils. The air around him continued to ripple. He shouted in a dark voice. “Light and dark stance: Alpha!”

I didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

“He’s charging up one of his strongest combo attacks. In fact, I’d say he’s already done.” Shion observed calmly. “A single hit will do just as he says, and we’ll be as ashes in the wind, with nothing left of you or I.”

Right out of the gate, are you serious right now!?

“Remember when I told you I had a plan, Ren-kun?”

“Yeah, you’re not about to tell me that was all bullshit now, are you?”

“Hmph. Again, what do you take me for?”

“Shion, I'll ask you once more with this boy as a witness, give me what I seek or the variant dies!” I had no idea what he was referring to, but when he didn’t receive a reply, Alpha growled and punched the air in front of himself. “Then be decimated by the all-consuming fires of the dragon, SHIROKURODORA!”

A spectre of two massive Chinese dragons, one black and one white, shot forth from the man‘s fist with a primal roar. Surging past Shion, it obliterated everything in its path leading to me, leaving scorched earth in its wake.

I could hear the drums again in the back of my head, the same ones that signaled my impending doom. I had grown accustomed to the feeling of facing down death, but rather than give up, I still maintained my fighting stance like usual in the face of something much stronger than I was. The blinding light got closer to swallowing me up, body and soul, but suddenly…

“Richter scale: seven-point-zero! Earth wall!”

A huge wall of Earth appeared before me, blocking the dragon spectres at the point of impact, and I was yanked away from the line of fire by the collar by a much bigger gentleman.

“Zero!?” I exclaimed, still being held by the scruff of my neck.

“Yo, Partner!” Zero beamed. “Looks like I made it back just in time.”

At that moment, the dragons broke through the wall of Earth and continued crashing through the neighborhood behind us before disappearing. Zero set me down, and took his broadsword from his back. The thing was as massive as Shion had described, with a thin wooden hilt and a sizable crack along the steel flat of the sword.

“Gimme just a second.” Zero said. “Richter scale: Eight-point-zero! Aftershock!”

Zero slammed his sword on the pavement, and the ground began to shake violently.

“Of all the futile…” A bewildered Alpha looked at us with fury in his eyes before being swallowed up by a crack in the ground, falling deep into the crevasse and out of sight.

“Whew.” Shion heaved a sigh of relief, hunched over her knees. “I was beginning to wonder when you’d get back, you big fool, what took so long??”

“Well, I did like you said and hid nearby, and then that guy showed up like you predicted.” Zero scratched his chin. “I guess he really was waiting to get the two of you alone, but to think that he really is another Ren...”

“Naturally. Our foe wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to take us out in this early stage, but it was only one potential result I considered.” Shion nodded. “What else?”

“After that, I ran back to get my sword, and some help from the guild, since I had a bad feeling…”

Zero turned around, and Milton himself appeared along with several reinforcements from the Adventurer’s Guild. I recognized a few of them from Zero’s cheering gallery in the tavern, including old Iron Gut, and Milton’s trusted hand Gerard was present as well.

“I must say, Miss Shion, that was some splendid acting to play the part of the terrified damsel.” Milton chuckled, holding his gnarled magic staff. “Your master is often praised for his shrewdness in the face of hardship, but you don’t appear to fall too far from the tree in that regard.”

“Acting?” I whirled around, confused by what had just transpired. ”Uhh, come again?”

I hoped someone would start explaining, fast.

“To be honest, I was just as shaken as it appeared. But, even so, I wanted Alpha to think he had a leg up on us, to see what he was really after.” Shion explained. “It’s just as I feared, however. He was never all that interested in you, Ren-kun, in the first place. His actions said as much. The assassination plot was to get you off the board before your abilities were realized, so that he could get to me without interference. But since that failed, he panicked and appeared before us.”

“Panicked?? So does that mean the “Prince” is safe now?”

“This “Alpha” has no motive to go after the royal family any longer, I would presume, since he’s discovered you already have accelerated healing." Milton brought up a good point based on Shion’s hypothesis. “And not to mention, the would-be murder weapon is now safely in your possession, is it not?”

I studied the dagger in my hand that started all of this. I could hardly believe it was back in my possession after all the grief losing it caused me. I decided right then and there that it was time to invest in a sheath instead of tucking it in my belt again.

“But that doesn’t mean the “Prince” is free from danger, however. His family was the victim of several successful assassinations already, if you remember.” Shion said before whispering. “Until the moot is held to select the next ruler, Nouella won’t be truly safe from harm. Which is why ensuring its success is our next big task.”

“Right. So I’m wondering, if framing me was secondary in his schemes, what was Alpha really after?” I asked Shion.

“Something only I possess, which is to say…”

“The Akashic Records!” From a crack in the ground, Alpha burst into the air, flying well above us and sending chunks of rock scattering about. “That’s precisely what!”

We all tensed up, getting ready for a fight, but he seemed to back off a bit like he was ready to flee.

“I admit you’re clever, Shion, you always have been. But don’t think this is over. Far from it!” Alpha sneered. “While I haven’t my usual strength after crossing into this reality, for every moment I spend here, I collect mana and pawns to grow ever-stronger. In time, even the great Headmaster Argo will be no match for me.”

“So, you expect to escape here?” Milton flashed a sly grin.

“Yeah, you’re surrounded, pal.” Zero crossed his arms over the back of his neck. “I’m not a big fan of violence, and all, but since you hurt my friends I’ll have to go a little wild…”

“Such energy, it’s really quite commendable! But I simply wagered that you would be too busy dealing with that.”

An explosion and huge plume of red smoke appeared from a little further down the road in the direction of the Institute, followed by a sound-splitting roar that made us all cover our ears.

Seeing his opportunity to escape, Alpha cackled and disappeared into a dark void, leaving the rest of us in a momentary silence. It persisted for an uncomfortably long time, despite lasting a few seconds at most.

“Guys, I have a bad feeling about this…” Zero whispered.

“You think?” I replied with just a hint of sarcasm.

Thunderous steps approached us, breaking the quiet, before finally, a truly colossal beast appeared. Turtle-like—and bathed in hot magma and fire—it towered over even the tallest structures along the street.

“That’s—!” Shion’s eyes widened.

That’s going to be a big problem.