THE MOMENT
Crystal woke to the sound of a ticking clock and she was immediately on edge without knowing why. It was difficult to know anything that point with the pounding headache; but, she felt like she was comfortable and on her back.
"It's an emergency...," the thought tried to take hold in her mind; but, the dull ache seemed to make her entire process of thinking slow and slippery. She was doing something, she was in a hurry to get somewhere. She opened her eyes to a blurry, bright room and tried to sit up. She realized she was on a bed and threw her legs off of it to stumble to her feet as her vision cleared. The first thing she noticed was a large, black grandfather clock as the ticking sound. Then, she looked over the rest of the room.
"Get back in bed," Crystal's eyes landed on the young girl by the door just as she gave the command.
"Okay...," Crystal nodded and sat down on the bed again, though, she kept her feet flat on the floor.
"What happened?" Crystal asked. The girl kept her attention on Crystal, but remained quiet. The lack of communication only left her with her thoughts and she tried to remember where she was before. "... I need help...," she said aloud. That much felt true even if she couldn't wrap her mind around it. A vague notion in the back of her mind encouraged her to trust her feelings more than her mind; and, that was easy enough to do right now. All she had was feelings with no idea of how she ended up in that situation.
"I need help!" she said it again, louder. And, she stood up. The girl genuinely looked surprised, and almost took a step back.
"Sit down," the girl said.
"Okay...," Crystal did as she was told.
"Why do I need help?" Crystal asked herself aloud as she tried to work through her feelings.
"Because you jumped in front of a dragon's Noxious Breath," a new voice spoke up with a laugh, and Crystal was glad to see someone else there. A girl about her age with a silver ponytail and a translucent purple visor over her orange eyes.
"Your timing couldn't have been worse," she continued to smile as she approached Crystal. "Hi, My name's Eury, what's yours?" she asked.
"Crystal," she replied as they shook hands. "What happened?" she asked for more details. At least Eury seemed open to the conversation. And, something about the handshake felt familiar in a way Crystal couldn't quite wrangle. Her mind was still rejecting the idea of holding a single thought.
"Don't know exactly," Eury shrugged. "I was out fighting a dragon a few days ago. It was about to breathe on me. Just as it did, you appeared from out of nowhere. It hit you point blank... honestly, it's kind of amazing you're alive. We did what we could to heal your body with magic; but, your mental agility might take a little longer to recover."
"I don't have time...," Crystal decided. She wished she knew what she needed help for. Eury's explanation did give her some flashes of memory; but, she felt like she needed help before she encountered the dragon. "I need to be better now!" she uttered her frustration. Eury giggled and shook her head.
"Sorry," she shrugged. "You're welcome to stay until your mind clears; but, we don't know any time magic to speed it up for you." Then, all at once, the fog lifted.
"EURY! YES YOU DO!" Crystal jumped to her feet. "YOU'RE A MUERTE!"
"Huh?" The teenage girl leaned back cautiously."I'm... dead?"
"NO!" Crystal yelled. But, she was smart enough to notice Eury pull back. She didn't have her full memory back yet; but, she had a lot more now. She ran blindly into the dragon because she was panicking. But, that wouldn't get her the help she needed. "SORRY!" she yelled the apology and shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I remembered what I needed and YOU can help me. OH! Watch, I know how you'll believe me!" Crystal looked past Eury to the girl still standing by the door.
"Royalty, right? Can you come over here so I can tell you a secret? I want to show Eury something." The girl looked at Eury, and she nodded. Royalty came into the room and Crystal got closer to whisper in her ear. Eury couldn't hear it, but, she was amused by the confused expression Royalty gave.
"Eury, what's your favorite number?" Crystal asked.
"14!" Eury answered before she could even process the question. Royalty's mouth hung open, and she nodded at Eury.
"What just happened?" Eury asked.
"I proved that you can help me. You're Unique Soul #14, La Muerte. I think you don't know what that means right now, but I do! You can stop time, and you can TRAVERSE! Help me get to another world. This reality isn't the way things are supposed to be! I need to fix it!"
"I came from another world...," Eury nodded. "I can stop time?" she asked.
"That's not the important part right now!" Crystal said. She managed to only raise her voice without yelling.
"But, I can? How?" Eury asked.
"I don't know!" Crystal shrugged. "I'm a Corazon, not a Muerte!" Crystal remembered herself and tried to make it as clear to her heart as possible. I WANT YOU TO HELP ME!"
"Stop yelling," Royalty said.
"NO! THIS IS IMPORTANT!" Crystal regretted it immediately. She felt like a heel as soon as Royalty's feelings were visibly hurt. She hadn't made a full recovery yet; but enough to know that she loved children in general. And, she felt like Royalty was as familiar to her as Eury. They might've been good friends.
"HEY!" Eury raised her voice too. "STOP." And, she did. Everything did, including the ticking clock. It bothered her to see Royalty get yelled and and she decided if she could stop time, now would be the best opportunity.
"Hello?" She noticed the stillness immediately and waved her hand in front of Crystal's face. "Royalty?" She turned and the girl was frozen in time too. "I... really can stop time....," it was worth saying out loud.
"No. I did that," A new, low voice spoke up in a pleasant monotone. Eury turned toward the sound and noticed the black grandfather clock. As soon as she set eyes on it, it disintegrated into a stream of black particles. The stream flowed constantly in the shape of an infinity sign as the swarm hovered closer to Eury.
"I am the god of time," it said. "This one has slipped out of the time stream and needs to be returned." Eury didn't know what to believe; but, she was going to need more than that. She made an effort to step in front of Crystal.
"Hold on, I don't know you. I can't just let you take her without getting her side."
"Wait." the swarm said. It hovered in constant motion while Eury waited patiently. After a lengthy, unknown amount of time, it spoke again. "I have permission," it said. Eury giggled. From her point of view, it felt like he took a chunk of time just to make up that simple lie.
"From who?" she asked.
"Chroma," the swarm answered. Along with the answer, the particles took the shape of a chrome dragon; the exact one that Eury had already met. The one that warned her bout Jack.
"Oh... okay...," Eury nodded. She stepped aside, but, not before placing an apologetic hand on Crystal's shoulder. "I trust her, I'm sorry. Good luck." Though, as she made contact, a strange, unclear idea popped into her mind as if it was shoved in from nowhere. But, she blinked before she could process it. When she opened her eyes again Crystal and the time god were gone, and Royalty hugged her in confusion. But, the single thought she had when she touched Crystal persisted in her mind. It shined brighter than any of her own thoughts and she had to voice it aloud just to try and make sense of it.
"Find Monday."