Forging Ahead on Hopes

Roze stared into the crackling fire, letting the thoughts of her recent travels sink in. They had been on the road for nearly a month now, having just made a day’s travel away from Longheim. There were still many weeks before they would arrive in Clockenspiel, if they made it at all.

Her one hope sat across from the fire, the strange man from another world who had gone through the same path several times before. His words assured her that she would be great. That they would make it there.

However, Roze had her doubts. After all, Gideon was still trying. He had failed to change his destiny of disappearing with the countdown. It felt like a mindless mantra of ‘we’ll succeed next time’ when other times had failed.

But Roze knew that experience didn’t always equate to success right after. Fools would say things like ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, but Roze knew. Poisons linger. They complicate and produce different outcomes depending on person. No one cure always worked for them. And in the case of ‘time’, it behaved similarly. As such, she always felt a bit skeptical.

Skeptical about the journey. Her role. Gideon’s intentions. Her fate. How long this current peace would last.

She took her grievances and threw them into the fire, night after night, watching them burn and purify, so that she could start the next day anew.

“You know, a pretty girl like you shouldn’t be looking so down in the dumps. You’ve got many years ahead of you. If I wanted peace and quiet, I would’ve stayed holed up in my shop.”

The newly joined voice in their travels bellowed out his own grievance – how quiet and boring the crowd seemed currently. Ferdinand had caught up with them later in the day, after they had escaped from the city’s watch. With Rafaello at the helm, they wouldn’t be coming after them for a few days, enough to get a head start.

“Speaking of which, what did ya name your new weapon, Gideon? Every man has to give ‘em one. It’s part of the romance.”

“Magellan.” Gideon smiled as he said it.

“Pretty decisive. That must mean you have a reason for it.”

“There’s an explorer where I came from, an adventurer if you will. His goal was to sail around the entire world to prove that there was some kind of end. That we could keep going and going, and somehow make it back home eventually.”

Gideon drew a circle in the dirt with his sticks and tapped them to a rhythm. It echoed into the woods, silent except for the occasional stirring of its inhabitants.

“I burn through my remaining time, hoping that I’ll reach that end before it comes to that point. I’m sure he did the same, battling whatever unexpected things happening on his journey.”

“But we have a clear end to our journey, the path to Clockenspiel should not take us more than a month to arrive. Given that, we should have plenty of time to explore the ruins for some clue to your condition,” Roze said.

“That would be the case if it wasn’t guarded to keep the wrong people out,” Milipitas added.

Roze never thought about it before now, but Clockenspiel had been relatively untouched after its abandonment. That was to say, few bothered to raid the area, leaving the ruins to decay with age. Certainly, it housed some valuables from ancient times, but that likely also meant they were under protection.

“A hunter’s senses at work.” Gideon smiled. “An empty nest that no one dares to touch is a good sign that it is not truly empty. That’s why I’ve tried to recruit as many as possible, without creating too much of a scene. The key is to protect Roze long enough for her to acquire the lost power of Time.”

Roze questioned that part but never said anything. She was guided by Gideon’s previous cycles, merely acting as the official guide without there needing one. However, her moment would come when she stepped foot in those halls.

Historia Revelata.

It was a power that allowed her to see the past of objects possessing magic. Even if tomes were degraded from time, she could still read them if the magic housed in its creation had not faded. It was their best bet at finding the knowledge needed to reverse Gideon’s fate. And perhaps, it was the ticket to passing on the spells from her ancestors.

That ability made it such that almost any possessor of Time magic could rise from the ashes. For that reason, some modern practitioners of magic feared it returning to its former glory.

Roze had no such ambitions. She simply wanted to help a companion who believed in her and her potential. He had saved her once and felt indebted to return the favor. She hoped to meet the expectations that he had for her.

What if you show them how outclassed they are that they wouldn’t dare come for you again?

Gideon’s claims had sold her. It was a future bright and free from oppression, a temptation that with enough power, she would no longer worry about meeting an untimely end.

She knew that it was asking for too much, but every time she saw Gideon’s carefree expression, it seemed like such a thing was just within reach – a simple journey that he looked forward to, waiting to claim the prize at the end.

Well into the night after they went to sleep, Roze woke up. It was almost her turn to keep watch. She yawned and lumbered over to a Gideon who looked partially dozing while sitting. She pulled out her wand and tapped him on the nose.

“Boom.”

Gideon jumped at her innocent prank. He looked up at a giggling Roze with relief on his face.

“Haha, very funny.”

“I can’t help it. You’re so vulnerable when you’re not paying attention.”

“That’s what happens when a total nobody gets strange powers all of a sudden. Back in my old world there was nothing particularly remarkable about me. But here, there’s so much a single power can do.”

“Like sleeping on the job?”

“I’ll have you know that prior knowledge has told me that nothing happens at this point.”

“Prior knowledge that no one else can confirm.”

“Are you saying you don’t believe me?”

“Not at all.”

Gideon feigned distress. He comically collapsed while clutching his heart like he had been shot. But then, Roze giggled.

“Knowing what lies ahead makes you a very suspicious person. You have an idea what to do, what to say, in order to get those around you to fall in step with your goals. Anyone could see you as calculating as a result.”

Roze reached down and pulled up Gideon’s sleeve, his bare arm showing his remaining time. Eight months and counting.

“But when I see how much you do, even at the sake of meeting the end sooner, I can’t help but think you are trying your hardest. It’s lonely when you have a secret that can’t be told to anyone else. I get that. So even if you are hiding something, I’ll stand by your side. Even if it means questioning your every move.”

Roze reached down and plucked one of the drumsticks attached to Gideon’s belt. She looked at it for a moment before smiling.

“Magellan, huh? How many cycles ago did it take you to come up with that name?”

Gideon winced, having been caught in a lie.

“You know, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was the first thing I thought of because of his name. I had to go way back into my school life memories to recall the legend of Ferdinand Magellan, the great explorer, and somehow conjure a meaningful reason for naming it that.”

“This is why I hardly take anything you say at face value.”

“Keep on poking holes then. Challenging what is before you is the way to succeed. At least, that’s the mantra they always used to tell me back home. I can neither confirm nor deny its usefulness as I was too much of a newbie for it to matter.”

Roze rolled her eyes. Every so often, she would get hints of Gideon’s true character. He was a man of silly beliefs and strange interests, but they were somehow her favorite aspect of him.

“Say, Gideon.”

“Yeah?”

“Did the Great Explorer Magellan ever complete his goal?”

“He did,” Gideon said licking his lips for a pause, “but he didn’t live to see it. He died near the end of the journey, passing on his remaining ship to someone else who carried the torch and finished.”

Grabbing his other drumstick, he tapped the one that Roze held.

“I didn’t make a mistake naming them Magellan. It is my hope that we’ll meet our goal, even if I run out of time and disappear in the process. You will be great. I promise.”

Roze’s eyes locked with Gideon’s, and for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

And then, she grabbed both sticks and whacked him over the head with them.

“Ow, ow, why’d you do that?!”

“If you’re going to say things like that, then I have no choice but to stop you. Just wait, I’ll learn all the secrets and make it so that you have no choice but to suffer with your decisions. No going off and disappearing before that!”

“Okay, okay. I’m going to bed now.”

He took the sticks from her before lying on the grass. Soon enough, light snoring could be heard from him.

Roze looked up to the stars at that point, waiting for the sun to rise over the mountains. Her blood was still rushing after their talk. She could feel warmth in her cheeks in contrast to the chill of the night air.

Her gaze went back to Gideon, making her pucker up with a sour expression.

It seemed like he was no longer the only one worried about the remaining time he had.