002 Autumn

My world turned black. Cold enveloped my body, transporting it to an empty plane. The night sky was above yet for some reason I knew this wasn't Luna. Memories surged back instantly and my confusion was cleared. I was in the goddess realm. I've been here only twice before and each time I gained something incredible but why didn't my skill take me to the time of my choosing? Why am I here instead?

Suddenly as if to answer my question a mist appeared and started to take shape. Before long a small fairy about the size of my hand came to be.

Dressed in royal armor with a tiny sword at its waist, I couldn't help but smile at the outfit.

I started making my way towards the familiar deity when suddenly-

"You're a fool! You know that right? How can you be so stupid as to use that skill! It doesn't even have a proper description!"

"Autumn, nice to see you too." I chuckled

"You're an idiot, wasn't there anything else you could do?"

Well so much for greetings. If this is the tone of the conversation might as well follow suit.

"Tell me then oh great Fairy, what was I suppose to do? Present a well constructed argument as to why I shouldn't be betrayed? Maybe escape using my teleportation crystals despite being in a Anti-Teleportation zone!? I had 2 feet in the grave at that point. What other option did I have?!"

The anger that Autumn initially had towards me dissipated and instead I could see signs of hurt on her face. I immediately felt terrible for lashing out at her. After a pause she spoke.

"You sealed your soul, in exchange for reversing your personal flow of time. Do you know the consequences of this?"

I shook my head.

"All I know is that I can reverse time with that skill. That's the only description I was offered when I obtained that. I didn't know what else to do in that situation so I used it. I was expecting to reverse time to a few moments before they turned against me but why am I here and not back in Luna?"

Autumn let a long sigh.

"It will be easier to just update your skills menu with the full description than to explain it."

Looking at the top left corner of my vision a small rectangular tab was there with a red dot hovering over it. I willed it to open and information on the last used skill was displayed before my own vision.

[Flow of Dissonance] [Unique] [Rarity-???]

[Requirements- Formless Blade Equip Lvl Max++]

-You are the master of the chaos that is the flow of time. In exchange for temporarily sealing your soul, you are allowed to bring order to the river of time and reverse its flow once. If your soul is not recovered in the allotted time it is lost forever to the flow of chaos and your time shall cease.

I quickly looked up at Autumn with concern. As I was about to spout question after question she raised her hand and spoke.

"I as the Guardian of Luna am in control to an extent over what happens in this land. I knew your intention was to stop them just before they turned however, the result would have been the same. Your former allies have been planning your downfall for some time now. They had many contingencies in place but it required time to prepare it all. Honestly I thought you would clear the final floor before they did anything but I was wrong."

Guilt dance across Autumn's face while hurt raced across mine. If she knew why didn't she intervene sooner?

I never saw it coming. I was so focused on clearing that I failed to see the greed building up in them but, if I did could I have stopped it? I put up one of the most intense fights of my life but even I was starting to doubt that I could beat them towards the middle of the battle.

I looked back at Autumn. Guilt still loomed over her but what's done is done. She has helped me before in the past when she could so there is no reason to hold anything against her.

"Well I suppose you must have had a reason for doing what you did so what is it?"

At the difference in my tone of voice she perked up and offered an explanation.

"As you know players were brought here to Luna to liberate it from the evil that plagues its many floors. With the promise to gain riches and power upon returning home everyone accepted. I can only hold back the plague for so long. If there is no one to uproot it completely everything in this land will perish and I with it."

Realizing the meaning behind these words I started to think silently. All the players still inside Luna. All of my friends I made along the way, are they really doomed to die because of the greed of 3 others? If the evil isn't stopped then we all die. I could feel the anger surging back up from within me. If this is the case then all the more reason hunt the bastards down.

Turning back to Autumn, full of resolve I spoke up.

"If this is the predicament then what am I to do about it? You said they were prepared right? What do I have to do to take care of it all?"

"I am sending you back to the beginning. Start there and build new strength, destroy the three kings and rescue Luna."

"What do you mean the beginning? I'm pretty strong already maybe just a few months training in the upper levels and I can take them all out."

"The flow of time is different here in this plane than in Luna, five years have already gone by since your fight. By sealing your soul you have effectively sealed your abilities. You are going to have to go back to the beginning to gain what you lost and even more."

Shock hit me right in the face. Not only did I have to start over but I have to become even stronger than before? How am I going to-

A terrifying thought popped into my mind.

"Wait...If five years have passed then what about my soul?! I'll be dead when I return!"

"You have one year remaining Em."

"Damnit Autumn! Why do you always make everything difficult? I have to get my soul back and become stronger so that I can take down those bastards! On top of this I only have a year to prevent all our deaths! Why didn't you tell me all this sooner!"

With a smile she looked at me and lifted her hand towards me.

"Open your inventory when you arrive at the open plains, I put a surprise in there that should help you speed things up."

"Are you kidding! There better be ten surprises with all the work you're making me do."

Her laughter echoed as everything went blank again.