Forum Thread

Twelve years have passed since the war between the Sinners and Guardians. Life as everyone knew it had resumed as peacefully as possible. Everything was finally over, and each conflict was resolved.

So what happened that turned the clock back?

That has yet to reveal itself.

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I'd like to say Mercy was the same as ever, but she had what you plebians call a glow up. She went from helicopter saint altruist mother to (still helicopter) baddie mother now that her home is mostly empty. Since her kids are gone most of the time, she takes the the moment to go back to the celestial garden to work in her domain. Keeping order of the stars is hard enough, and now she has to fulfill her mother's role since her passing twelve years ago. Though, she does still see her family, and they get together from time to time, she can't help but miss them dearly.

She's taken all the free time to do her own thing and find a hobby outside of the cottage which she's rarely ever at. As it turns out, she's a real speed seeker. Quite the adventurer, and her motorcycle makes it quite easy to travel and see the nation. She's even visited other countries, be it alone or with her family, showing them new things every time they come over.

Currently, she was riding rather casually along the main street of Algiers City. It was the city where Caspian's University was. She watched the flags of the school come into view as she hit a red light. She looked in her mirror behind her. "Still alive back there, Makoto?"

---

Makoto, despite existing for some period of time in this world, still was not good with any sort of modern vehicle. Which is odd because he can also fly that fast by himself.

“…I wish I wasn’t…” He said sarcastically, holding onto her.

---

She knew before she even hit the ground that she had gone through the wrong doorway. She crashed down to earth, landing on her shoulder badly. A painful crunch was enough to confirm her suspicion – this was definitely the wrong doorway. Absent was the soft sand in creamy shades of pink and yellow… here it was replaced by a hardwood floor. The air smelled not of salty sea air, but books and chemicals. Moon looked up at the sky, and the hole in the ceiling she had created. Just great.

This was not Skysaeia.

Moon closed her eyes, and carefully sat up. One of her arms was absolutely useless, and her shoulder felt like it was on fire. The strange world swam dizzyingly. Her mind struggled to process where she was. It was unheard of, two doors coming for one person. And the fact that the second door had known to disguise itself with Skysaeian markings… Moon suspected something strange was going on.

She forced her eyes open again. Mind over matter. She saw some sort of desk or lab table, and grabbed the tabletop with her good arm. She slowly hauled herself to her feet, nauseated. Her breathing was labored, the world was a blurry blend of color. Moon leaned her full weight on the desk, cradling her arm to her chest.

Think. She had her small Skysaeia bag, of course. She carried it with her everywhere. Inside was her astrolabe, sextant, and the jade statuette that Eve had given her. But other than that, Moon had absolutely nothing but the clothes on her back.

There was one final test. Moon extended her senses, reaching out into the aether of the mysterious world. Her magic had returned to her in full. In fact, her powers seemed to be tinged with something distinctively new, perhaps reacting to the strange new world. At least that was a relief.

Through the throbbing pain in her shoulder, she could feel the shape of the land around her – buildings and classrooms dotting some gentle hills. There was no salt water in the vicinity, a fact that annoyed her to no end. She appeared to be on some university campus.

But one thing was abundantly apparent: there was no return doorway in sight. Moon was trapped.

Today was shaping up to be a morbidly interesting day. She was stranded in a strange world, with a busted shoulder. Moon could feel her mind being dulled; the pain was clouding her judgment. The only thing she could be sure of was that she would never get lost.

---

“I will remain.”

A man with shoulder-length light brown hair, nearly white, quietly ordered the lecture notes in his hands, slipping them into a beige briefcase.

"Stare on, while endings unroll.”

He waved his hand, a notebook flying slowly towards him, from the corner of the Lecture Hall. It flips open to a bookmarked page, near the middle, as he picks up a pencil. He starts writing, as he walks, quietly, cleaning the classroom.

"In the end, everything fades away.”

He glanced down at his phone. He quickly typed a message, the neutral expression on his face not shifting in the slightest. “Guess I’d better tell Iteral.” He let out a sigh, sending the message.
[The Professor-> Won’t be coming back to the apartment today. I’m going to visit Mona.]

"Under the sands of time, everything falls away.”

He lets go of his pencil, the pencil moving on its’ own, scratching out perfect letters on the parchment, as he pulled his navy-blue swallowtail trench coat around him. He glanced in the mirror. He frowned, turning fully towards the mirror. He waved the notebook away, higher into the sky. He adjusted his tie slightly, straightening it.

"But, I will remain.”

He nodded to himself in the mirror. He wore the coat like a cloak, not bothering to put his arms through the holes, simply buttoning the very top button to keep it around him. He glanced out the window. A beautiful day. Like always.

“Until the end.”

Crunch.

He glanced behind him. And there Moon was, on the floor. He looked up quickly at the ceiling. Oh look. He had a new skylight. Neato.

"...I'm sorry, but who are you?"

---

"That will be all for today's class!"

A voice rang throughout the lecture hall of Luna Nova. Most students are already packing up things though, that's just how it goes. Can't blame them from wanting to go outside, right? Hell, what was she saying... the short-haired brunette was already packing her things up as she said that sentence. She was no better than her students... and that was alright. In fact, she went a little extra. After looking outside to see the weather, she takes out her wand and casts a spell. "Metamorphie Weisstyss." In a puff of smoke, she changed from her professional witch uniform into a simple white shirt and pants, before waving them all goodbye. And of course, the teacher's pet puts it on top: "Goodbye Mrs Lucenox!" Her voice shrilled through the hall like scraping on a blackboard.

Yep. Somehow... someway...

Iteral became a teacher at Luna Nova.

...

Through the hallways, into the Leylines, back out on the streets, the apartment wasn't too far away. Her phone got reception again and after flipping it open to see the messages, she responds to Kendo. Send her my regards. Enjoy the spotlight for me, will you? With that, and a few miscellaneous messages on the way, she closed her phone and went on her way... her favorite: the long way to her apartment.

---

She squinted at the voice, clutching her shoulder. A man stared back at her. He must be the professor of this class. Well... crap. He looked surprisingly unbothered, though... maybe this wouldn't all go to pieces.

"Who are you, who am I. It's all relative, isn't it? A more pertinent question would be where am I? Or why am I? Or even how am I?" Moon stared up at the hole in the ceiling again. That had been her, hadn't it?

The words were oozing together in her mind, tumbling out of her mouth thoughtlessly. Moon wasn't quite sure what she was saying, only that it made sense in a kind of vague way. Her limbs felt heavy, and her brain was moving at about two miles an hour. And the pain. It lanced through her shoulder with a vengeance.

"I'm rambling, aren't I? I'm Moon. I guess... I'm here now."

---

"Don't be like that, sweetie." She didn't have a helmet on, so her hair was tied into a tight bun to keep it from relentlessly slapping Makoto in the face. "Besides, I'm taking you out to eat, don't be so sour! You'll love the place!"

---

"...oh, dear."

His reaction was mild. His expression hadn't shifted at all, his hands folded neatly behind his back.

"Is it time for the next multiversal calamity already?"

He walked towards her, quietly. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Brace yourself. This might hurt a tiny bit."

A tiny bti was an understatement. Instantly all her bones started to crack in half, then reform together, with excrutiatingly turtlesque speed.

---

“I can be sour if I want to” He huffed, because hes just a little guy. Who’se gonna say hes not allowed to be sour. Not her thats for sure. But she was taking him to eat, so he wasn’t that upset actually

---

She watched the red light turn green and sped off, dodging incoming traffic. She couldn't possibly be following the road laws here, but she never hurt anyone or got into an accident. Her magic aura trailed behind her like a cloud, so powerful it was almost visible. Before they knew it, they were already at the place. "I love hibachi grills." She was almost drooling. So hungry.

---

Pain. Unimaginable pain. The professor was trying to kill her.

And then it stopped.

Moon stood, testing out her shoulder. It felt good as new.

She stared at him, now extremely suspicious. He had magic, powerful magic, the likes of which Moon had never seen. But he had helped her.

"Thank you." She blinked, her thoughts catching up to her. "What do you mean, next multiversal calamity?"

---

Connor had thought he was in the Detroit Police Department. Apparently not, as he had found himself randomly placed on a street in an entirely different city. His LED flashed red as he cycled through his memories, eventually finding nothing. Which was odd. Every minute on the minute he uploaded his memory to Cyberlife, but now he learned he had no connection to the tech company.

He scanned the street, noting that he was next to some sort of school. A college, perhaps. This obviously wasn't Detroit. What was the only reasonable explanation? The writer is obviously dumb and couldn't come up with anything else. That's the reasoning.

---

“Can you go any faster? My guts havent been properly rearranged yet.” He didnt have guts. He just complained, fixing up his hair (it got fluffy from speed)

---

"...exactly that. Come along. I know a great Hibachi Grill. You must be hungry, yeah?"

He walked past her briskly, the tail of his trench coat flapping behind him.

"We can talk along the way."

They were on the streets now, and the professor was doing a couple things at once. He seemed to be writing some scientific paper and doing taxes, as he walked and talked.

"You coming here implies that this world, which is a sort of... Multiversal Nexus, I suppose, has opened up its dimensional pathways once more."

---

Iteral went past a store, sending Kendo a simple message. "Need anything from the shop?" She sent, going to the apartment to check for herself if they needed anything. Checking the main fridge first... then to her own fridge in her room. Going through it, she hits her shoulder against the desk and hears a thing shatter. Looking at it, it was one of her old clocks.

She did leave most of her clockwork behind but, not wanting to let the past go unnoticed, she took the most elegant clocks with her. Thankfully, only the front had a crack, that was easy to fix. And, a little absent-mindedly, she puts the clock into her purse alongside with essentials and leaves the apartment again, with headphones on and a walkman strapped to her waist.

Mona... it's been a long time. She did think of asking Kendo if she could tag along... no, no, that would be rude.

---

"Faster? Of course I can go faster." She revved the engine like she was about to take off at the speed of light. Just to scare him. She turned the bike off and nabbed the key, helping him off and walking inside. They say by the window to watch people pass. "We'll take two teas, please." She already ordered for them and looked back at Makoto. "How is Teyvat? Is it as problematic as ever?"

---

She followed him like a small shadow, trying her best to be invisible. With one final glance at the new skylight, she exited the building, finding herself on a bustling street.

"You coming here implies that this world, which is a sort of... Multiversal Nexus, I suppose, has opened up its dimensional pathways once more."

"Professor, you're speaking words that I don't really understand. Where is here, and who are you? And why? There are a lot of questions I have that begin with why. And how." Her mental clarity had returned, but that didn't mean she was any less confused.

---

"...you can just call Professor. That's all I am, these days."

He walked through the streets. He glanced down at his phone, quickly typing out a text.

[Professor-> No.]

"As for why and how..."

He glanced back at her.

"Little girl, I'm a man who's lived for over six hundred thousand years, and I have no idea how this world works."

A hibachi grill place. He came here often. It reminded him of home.

"I've been researching this universe for the past 12 years, and all I can tell you is... Magic, I guess."

---

"Wow. You have been... incredibly helpful." Moon had already figured out most of that herself. "Six hundred thousand years... wow. That's a while. Are you immortal? Or omnipotent?"

Her eyes were in constant motion, trying to see everything at once. The contours of the strange world were natural enough, but she was wary of the strange magic that flowed from everything. And the professor was leading her to where he said he was. Her location sense could at least tell her that.

---

"Immortal and nigh-unkillable."

He pushed open the doors of the hibachi grill place. He loved coming to this place. And then he noticed Mona and Makoto. He immediatly exited.

"Okay, nevermind, not this place."

---