The Never Ending Tails

Time has always been a mystery for the human race. It has always been this omnipotent rhythm that haunted the species since its inception. Humans have the ability to feel the passing of time, they are conscious on how this flow affect their lives, but what they are unable to accomplish is to control the effects it has on them.

All humans are weak against the tremendous influence of time, even the ones who were granted access to its source. In some of the multiple timelines that Earth has gone through, nine individuals were able to reach the very source of time: The symphony. Their lives changed forever after this unique contact as it seemed that their aging was frozen. They lived more than any people who roamed this planet and were cursed by the knowledge of a terrible happening coming in an unknown time. They had complicated lives, some of them more than others.

Those extraordinary people called themselves the Time Watch. Each member was granted a number according to the order they joined the group. They were aware that the end of Time was close and that they needed to stop it. So they decided to take different paths. Almost all of them went their own way, started their own new lives.

Almost; two members decided to stick together instead of going apart. Those two were Number 6 and Number 7. They used various names, but the ones that sticked with them the most were Katara Leys for Number 7 and Liviano Iskatel for Number 6. The two of them were very close as they joined the organization at very close periods.

They lived together freely for a few centuries, not really caring about the upcoming apocalypse. They knew that they would resolve that problem in due time and they had faith in the unpredictable nature of time as they truly believed that nothing was set for good and that time could be rewritten as a last resort.

They traveled the world living many different lives across the globe, always together, and for them, every moment was as good as the previous one, maybe even better. They never finished the first talk they started on their first encounter; they never run out of things to tell each other. They were feeling bliss at every moment of their very long lives.

But time always made everything complicated; time always made things fall apart. Around the first years of the 17th century, the two partners got in touch with the others for a major reunion.

The gathering had for goal to discuss what was discovered during the huge amount of time that they spent on their own. Nothing really concluding was found that day, but things were never the same again.

Liviano happened to stumble upon some strange things concerning Number 9. The last member was always staying in the shadows and never felt like being part of the group. He experimented with dangerous things in the past such as the void in an attempt to stop the crisis according to him.

What Liviano discovered was more disturbing; 9 was studying the silence, the very absence of time. He was up to something. Liviano went through 9′s notes and saw with horror what he was planning.

9 wanted to destroy the symphony making time collapse and bringing back the silence. He also discovered that to access the realm of the symphony again, he had to retrieve 6 specific hourglasses that were spread around the world in different timelines. Liviano couldn’t talk with the others about his discovery as he was aware that 9 was way more powerful than all of them united, and that risking him discovering that his plan was brought to light would only lead to a bloodshed.

Liviano though about Katara, he felt fear for the first time in his long life. He couldn’t afford to lose her, and he couldn’t afford to risk her life. He understood that he had to do something he wouldn’t be proud of, something that would damage his relationship with his beloved forever; he had to fade away and retrieve the hourglasses before 9, and he had to do it alone.

Liviano couldn’t say good bye to Katara, he waited until she was asleep to sit by her bed side. He gently stroked her hair, and sat there in silence admiring how peaceful she seemed to be while sleeping. He was glad that she was speared the knowledge he recently acquired. He was ready to make things right before she even notice, and that night, putting a last kiss on her forehead, he left never to be seen again.

Katara was devastated by the loss of her lifelong partner, of her closest friend. She left the others, roaming aimlessly for years. Never once did the memory of Liviano left her. She searched for him for so long that she wasn’t sure he ever existed at times, thinking that he was the product of her imagination. She became more and more knowledgeable about time, and developed many skills that eventually led her to consider something that she always feared to do.

She knew that Liviano was alive somewhere. But maybe the problem wasn’t where, but when. Facing her fear of losing all temporal stability, Katara started a very long journey across the many possible timelines of the multiverse with no other purpose than finding her beloved. For thousands of years, she visited countless versions of Earth in countless places and periods, but she never got to Liviano; all she could get were hints of his presence, until that one time.

Katara found herself in one of the timelines during what was there the 21st century. For once, she found something more concrete than all her previous discoveries. It was a rumor people were spreading, an urban legend in The Neo Empire of Japan. A man called the Hakurai, the white thunder.

The legend said that this Hakurai was a white haired man that was haunting Neo Tokyo for centuries, he was said to have many powers and wielding a silver sword. The legend also said that when he wasn’t fighting against the order of the last hour, he was haunting the Silver tower, which was a monument in the center of Neo Tokyo dating from the 15th century.

Katara felt that this man they were talking about might be Liviano, so she went to the tower at night, investigating it. Katara met the Hakurai, and her world fell apart.

The man that appeared in the tower was exactly similar to Liviano, but as soon as she saw him, she knew that it wasn’t him.

“You are not the person I seek…” She said.

She was about to leave when the Hakurai finally spoke. Even his voice was uncannily similar to Liviano’s.

“I can understand that I am not this person you were looking for, but I can’t stop this feeling that we were made to meet at this very moment,” He started. “I might not be him, but I can clearly see that you are the same as I am, you have been to the symphony as well and in a way, we are all linked, just coming from different versions of the same world.”

She stopped as he was saying those worlds and turned around. She looked straight into his eyes for a moment trying to understand how this man could know all of that. She briefly saw Liviano in him, but not the one she knew; it was as if he was a different version of the same person. ‘How could it be?’ She thought.

“I am sorry, I have to go… I need to find him,” She hardly managed to say.

“He seems to mean a lot to you. And you seemed to have searched for him for so long. You two were lucky to have each other; I never had anyone like that. I lived more than most people ever lived on this planet and I still never met someone for whom I’d do anything.”

Katara turned toward the exit; tears flowing on her cheeks as she was walking away. He was so much like him, and yet it wasn’t him.

“You don’t have to leave… You know, you have searched long enough, and maybe you should start living again for a while. If this person is anything like me, he should still be waiting for you after you took some rest…” The Hakurai said with a bit of hesitation

“How could I live without him? What am I supposed to do? Completely erase him from my memories?” Katara screamed as she was still facing away the Hakurai.

“You couldn’t, he will always be a part of your history, and he will always be around in your mind, but having to spend eternity searching doesn’t seem to be the best thing you can do with the gift you have been given.” He said calmly.

“What should I do then?” Katara asked as she turned to face the white haired man.

“Live! And do what you were meant to do. Create the opportunity for others to live as well. Time is heading toward its end, and we are too few who can actually do something to remain inactive.” He said looking at Katara as if he tried to reach her inner core.

“I see that the same problems are present everywhere. So what is this then an invitation?” She said laughing a bit with tears still rolling on her pretty face.

“Yes. I would like you to help us… to help me.” He said keeping his gaze focused on her eyes.

“I can’t stay here forever you know…” She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“I know, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make every second you are around as important as it really is. Time is a blessing Katara,” He started. “Especially the time shared with people who can make a difference. Let’s live this time you are around as best as we can, and even though the end will come, every moment before it would be the best one ever.”