Time Holders: The World of Balance

It hadn’t been long since the taste of death lingered in Aldrus’s mind.

He had been rather lucky; his body was now healthy and his memories partially hidden. He was doing as well as any teenager could.

Until that night, that is.

The night of his first vision, the one that changed it all.

It was late, and the only thing disrupting the silence in the room was the rustling of sheets beneath the squirming, feverish body of a black-haired boy.

Within his mind, a vivid, foreign scene unfolded...

***

...

In a long-forgotten past, there was once a cave; its shape was an absurdly perfect circle, as if it had been carved by neither nature nor man. It drew anyone who saw it toward itself, just like a child to their mother’s arms.

In front of it, standing atop the last remnants of greenery fading into gray, a breathtakingly beautiful young girl remained still.

Her long blonde hair swayed gently as the wind brushed through it; her snowy skin shivered under the pleasant warmth of the sun. Her thin white dress danced around like clean sheets, and she...

She was completely captivated, as if caught in a trance.

She shifted her gaze toward the cave, thinking she had seen something inside. Her eyes narrowed, trying to discern something in the darkness... but they only reflected a deep, red color.

Unable to see anything, she finally made up her mind, adjusted her dress, and stepped inside.

There, on the threshold between light and dark, the sun’s rays swiftly became weaker, as if reluctant to let its gift reach further.

Minutes went by, surrounded by silence. In the gloomy interior of the cave, the refreshing cold licked her back with each step, slowly draining the heat from her fingertips.

...Some would even think that the void itself was hungry.

As she explored, the only things beside her were the echoes of her footsteps biting into the stone and the constant melody of water droplets falling from above. The air tasted like the sea, filling her heart with memories and her lungs with salt.

After a while, she had completely lost track of time. Whatever she was searching for was now close; she could feel it.

Passing through the jagged edges of the never-ending maw, she eventually noticed something interesting.

In the middle of a somewhat wide area, right there on the ground, was a large puddle of pitch-black liquid.

Despite the fact that the girl couldn’t see much in the already shadowed cavern, it took no effort to realize that the liquid’s color was infinitely darker.

Not only that, its shape was also perfectly round, just like the entrance to the cavern itself. She didn’t know what it was, nor how it was made, but she was certain that it did not belong there. In fact, she wasn’t sure it belonged anywhere at all.

Once again, the feeling of attraction overwhelmed her completely—an intoxicating allure beckoning her closer. However, as she approached the black pool, that captivating spell suddenly faded, as if fleeing deeper into the cave.

Confused, she frowned and rushed after it, leaving the puddle behind.

She followed the trail the essence had left. Her rational thinking gradually deteriorated, slowly unraveling her mind.

Her steps, steady at first, didn’t take long to lose their rhythm. They felt heavy...

How strange, she thought. There wasn’t anything holding them back.

Her breath grew louder; her chest rose and fell faster, breaking its usual rhythm...

How unusual, she thought again. She wasn’t really tired.

Her pale fingers, robbed of the last remnants of warmth, were swiftly replaced by freezing numbness. She felt as if a swarm of ants were crawling uncontrollably inside them.

Her face grew damp, yet unable to glow. She wondered what was happening, but did not really know.

Loud...

A pounding sound could be heard, growing louder and louder.

Screeching, howling, whining, overwhelming. It came from no direction and from many; it seemed to stop just to keep going.

And then... silence.

It was gone, as abruptly as it had come.

A sharp wave of sickness surged from deep within her stomach, making her whole body shiver with nausea and cold. Her eyes blinked uncontrollably, as if desperately trying to focus on something else, but the only thing in front of her was the void.

No, that was not the only thing.

She didn’t notice it earlier due to the shock, but in front of her feet was a large puddle filled with the darkest of waters. Its shape—illogically round. Its contents—otherworldly.

Was it another one? Or had she been walking in circles? It wasn’t that uncommon for cavern systems to loop back on themselves.

Looking around in a panic, she realized the surroundings were exactly the same as before. Her eyes fixed on the puddle.

There was no doubt, it was the very same one.

However, the path ahead was now blocked by large fallen rocks and dirt.

How could that even be? There hadn’t been any sign of a landslide, and the only strange thing she could remember was the piercing sound from before. But such a noise couldn’t possibly come from sliding debris.

What is going on!?

At this point, it did not matter if it was the same puddle or not. It didn’t even matter if she could find what she was seeking. By then, her instincts had taken over.

Shaking off the strange feeling that had led her here, a weak groan escaped from her lips as she turned around in a hurry, preparing to leave.

She sprinted on her way back, feeling something was very, very wrong.

It only took a few minutes until her pupils shrank at the sight of light. The sun was now visible in all its glorious might, just above the distant walls of the castle.

Unfortunately, at that exact moment, her porcelain legs surrendered to the harrowing melody of the scream once again.

She stopped dead. Her relief was instantly eaten away by pure, primal terror.

She saw something inconceivable.

Like the last obstacle between freedom and the doll, lay a slender, naked figure with its back to her. It sat on the ground while tightly clutching its knees.

Dread.

The girl fell to the ground, shaking desperately. Her eyes welled up with tears. She felt sick, her throat pulsated, her vision blurred, and her legs kicked wildly like the tantrum of a child.

Her breath hitched and her toes curled back while her fragile body roughly dragged itself backward—ripping her dress apart and burning her ankles as they kissed the surface of ancient stone.

Marked with dirt, sweat, tears, and dust, her fairy-like appearance was no more.

The figure stood up in an instant and turned around. Its presence was dignified and repulsive, glorious and pitiful, mighty and pathetic. Its movements were erratic, faster than the eye could perceive, yet somehow impossibly slow.

It was beautiful, scary, disgusting, magnificent, horrific, perfect and flawed.

It took a step closer. She thought she heard it speak.

”s... his-... the–n... huh?”

Nothing but incoherent blabber came out of it. Either that, or she was already too far gone to listen properly. It looked at her for a second, and in the blink of an eye, it was nowhere to be seen.

The girl stayed still for a moment, then tried to stand up, but failed miserably and collapsed to the ground.

There, lying tangled in the mess of her own clothes, her sight began to darken while the cold touch of stone slowly turned wet, sticky, and warm.

The hotter it grew, the colder her body.

Weird... hurts... Her mind was foggy, words did not come out.

She struggled for some time, but by that point, her mind was truly gone.

She was brought to simpler times.

Times of chatter.

Times of laughter.

Times of love.

Ah... it’s that time again. Sorry, Mom. I’ll go right away.

She raised her fragile arms, gathered something invisible against her waist, and slowly pulled it all the way back to her chest.

She smiled. It was that time again. She closed her eyes.

Goodnight, Mommy.

It was the end of her consciousness; she let it soon be taken by the embrace of eternal sleep.

Meanwhile, outside...

Standing atop the last remnants of greenery fading into gray, a breathtakingly beautiful young girl remained still. Her long blonde hair swayed gently as the wind brushed through it, her snowy skin shivered under the pleasant warmth of the sun. Her thin white dress danced around like clean sheets, and she...

She was completely captivated, as if caught in a trance.

She shifted her gaze toward the cave, thinking she had seen something inside. Her eyes narrowed, trying to discern something in the darkness...

But they only reflected a deep, red color.

***

”Aagh!” Aldrus gasped, snapping his eyes open. His chest rose and fell slowly as he caught his breath. His body was hot, covered in sweat—the sheets around him soaking wet.

A dream...