Ordinary

Apparently, using the rewind spell like this left me unconscious for a moment. I hadn’t expected it, but it was good to know. It still sucked though.

My vision cleared as I slowly came to. I found myself looking down the main road in town leading towards the arena. The buildings didn’t look any different; however, the temperature was much colder, even with the sun high above. I guess that means I did meet the King in the past. Now I just need to figure out a way to win.

But first, I needed to find a jacket. It was so frickin’ cold. Why was I even outside without something to cover up when the weather was this cold? Past me made some pretty stupid choices.

…huh. I couldn’t seem to move my head. Actually, I couldn’t move any part of my body. I tried wiggling my fingers, sucking in my stomach, kicking my legs, blinking – nothing worked. Did something go wrong with the spell? No, that couldn’t be it, right?

I took another look at my surroundings. Besides the heat slightly distorting my view, everything looked normal. The arena was directly in front of me. There were stalls above and below me. The street was to my left. Wait…am I lying down on the street? Why? Fear crept into my mind. I felt as though I was remembering something that should’ve stayed buried in the recesses of my mind.

“Oh? I didn’t expect you to be here.”

Those few words caused my entire body to tense and shiver even though I couldn’t move. I recognized that voice. That absolutely calm, terrifying voice.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I tried to deny it. I wanted to run away and escape back to the future. Anywhere was better than here. However, reality wasn’t kind. It kept me chained in place, forcing me to accept what was happening. My head turned against my own volition, looking straight at the monster straddling my body.

Its form was a black haze, roughly looking like a person. White eyes bored into my soul as if it knew everything about my past, present, and future. In one hand, it held an ordinary knife that could cut through anything, slightly discolored from my blood. In the other, a long, pink, tube-shaped thing dangled from its hand spurting out excrement. The other side was still connected to me, escaping through one of the giant holes littering the lower half of my body.

“This seems to be happening more and more. I wonder if it’s something to worry about,” it said thoughtfully while continuing to rip out my insides. Every word tortured my mind as I watched what I couldn’t feel. Calling this person – no, this thing – a monster was wrong, but there was no word that could describe what this thing was. There was only one thing I could think about in its presence.

I screamed, letting my mind lose itself in insanity.

“Now now. Quit being so annoying.”

“Glurg.” It stabbed my throat, causing blood to spout from my mouth, silencing my screams. My mind slowly faded away as it swiped its finger in the air.

===

There was only one thing I could think about in its presence.

I screamed, letting my mind lose itself in insanity.

“Seriously? I’ll keep going if you don’t stop screaming.”

“Glurg.” It stabbed my throat and ripped out my vocal chords, causing blood to spout from my mouth, silencing my screams. My mind slowly faded away as it swiped its finger in the air.

===

~~~

“There we are. Much better!”

I wasn’t sure how many times time had been rewound, but after an eternity, I realized screaming was pointless. It would just cause me more pain. There was absolutely nothing I could do except use the rewind spell to escape. The spell would only take me further into the past, but that was fine. Anywhere but here was fine. It didn’t matter if I had to start all the way from the beginning again. I just had to get out of here.

“Take me back [Rewind]!”

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

“Take me back [Rewind]!”

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

“Trying to escape using my techniques won’t work, you know? I can stop them just as easily.” I had no idea what it was trying to say. I was focused purely on using rewind.

“Take me back [Rewind]!”

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

“Take me back [Rewind]!”

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

“Take me–”

“<sigh>” Slit. My vision spun widely. Up became down. Left became right. I felt the urge to vomit, but nothing came out. I saw my body getting farther away as it swiped its finger to the side again.

===

“Listen to me when I’m talking. I’ll let you go back to your own time if you do.”

I remained in a daze. There was no point in resisting. If I listened, I would be rewarded. There was nothing else.

It stared directly at me, and for the first time, I saw a myriad of colors within the empty white void of its eyes.

“I’ll need you to relay a message to myself. You don’t need to remember it. I’m the one saying it, after all.

“There’s someone trying to find me. People call him the Professor, and he seems to be doing better than all the others so far. It’s not a concern, but you should be cautious like always.”

It swiped its finger in the opposite direction. My vision faded away.

“Goodbye,” it waved, using its hand to toy around with my heart.

===

The crowds cheered loudly as my consciousness returned. My senses came back to me as my heart beat slowed down. I was back in the arena; the King’s arm was in my hand. I sighed, almost collapsing onto the ground. I…escaped…

I was relieved for a single moment.

“Thanks for making my life easier. Now, it’s time to take back what’s mine.” The King twisted out of my grip before grabbing my arm back. After what I had gone through, I was too surprised to do anything. There was nothing I could do to stop him.

“Rewrite the past to remove my influence. Erase their memories to adjust that moment. Fix any conflicts that arise in the timeline. For I am the Fool, and this is my atonement.

“[Fool’s World].”

///

The arena was silent as the King stared at the sky. He replayed the message from himself again, raising his hand towards the sky, trying to grab ahold of his freedom.

“It’s not a concern, but you should be cautious like always.”

“You’re too late, like always,” he whispered, exactly as he did last time he gave himself a message. He would never escape his chains until his past was purged from history. That was the only way he could atone, regardless of whether he wanted to or not.

The King lowered his hand before turning around and walking towards the gate. He wasn’t supposed to be here anyway. The arena was completely empty, as there was no match today. Nobody wanted to fight the King, nor had the strength to. There was one gladiator who boasted about taking on the King, but he was beaten in his first match almost a season ago.

And so, the day went on as it usually did, with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.