Meeting with the Hero

"The one who wanted to see me is in there?" I asked Toranir

"Yeah. She showed up at the palace one day and demanded to see me. Something about how I had broken the timeline. She was a lot stronger than me and my knights which Lady Alice trained, so I met with her." He replied.

"So you let her stay?" I asked.

"When I told her the story of how you liberated the Elven Slaves, created the Blood Elves and the Drow, and helped build Zodiac, she wanted to meet with you. She says she won't leave until you got back. It's not a good look for a king to be ordered around by a trespasser you know..." He replied with a bit of sweat on his forehead.

I chuckled a bit and put my hand on his shoulder, flashing him a confident grin. "Sorry about that, but you don't have to worry. I'll see to it she gets what she wants from me here and leaves you alone. After this, I have something to discuss with you."

I was currently back in the country of Zodiac, outside a meeting room in the recently constructed royal palace. I wanted to make Toranir one of my Phantasmal Lords so I ended up stopping by before heading out. He was steadfastly loyal to me and was one of my best friends. He wrote a law into his nation's version of a constitution that allowed me the throne if it ever fell into the wrong hands, so he is the perfect ally to start building my faction.

Initially, when I got back, I wanted to relax for a few days first in my mansion, since it would probably be the last time I'd stay there before going to see him. Unfortunately, his wife arrived and personally asked for my presence a few minutes after my arrival. Imagine my shock when I found out that Chloe Albert (aka the Hero Chronoa) had arrived while I was away.

(A/N: I'm going to be calling Chloe, Chronoa when talking about her adult hero form. Due to the MC ruining the timeline, Chloe and Chronoa will become two different people and the time-travel cycle was broken. They can both exist at the same time now.)

Originally, the plan was that I was on going to look for her to team up against Veldora, but it seems she came to me. Probably because I messed up the timeline by helping create the country of Zodiac and starting the Spirit Revolution. I really wanted to see what she wanted to say to me, but I decided it was for the best to go as soon as possible.

Toranir nodded before opening the door to the meeting room. In the center was a girl with long silver-black hair. She stood upon our arrival and bowed slightly towards the king before freezing up while looking at me. She was tall and had a lean but fit build. Her face was obscured by a white mask with a red gemstone in the center of it. It was Shizue's famous Anti-Magic Mask. Despite the fact that it hid her face completely, including blocking her eyesight, I could tell she was staring at me with shock.

"H-hello Miss Chronoa. This is my friend and the founder of Zodiac I told you about, Shiki Zodiac." He said.

I looked at Tor with half-closed eyes and a sweatdrop on my face. "I told you I wasn't taking your sir-name Tor..." I said to him with a bit of exasperation in my voice.

"But we're brothers!" Tor argued a bit childishly. I stared at him again and he looked away while whistling before I sighed and turned towards Chronoa again.

"Greetings, Miss Chronoa," I said, knocking her out of her stupor.

She bowed a bit before speaking softly to me. "My apologies. It is good to meet you as well."

Tor looked at me before giving me a fit-bump, something of a bonding gesture I had popularized in Zodiac during the liberation war. "I've got king stuff to do, I'll talk with you at another time."

"Yeah, don't forget that I have something important to tell you after this," I said as he waved at me, leaving the room and shutting the doors.

I walked over to the couch and sat down. In front of me, and across from a small coffee table, Chronoa sat in an adjacent couch. I summoned an ice-cold pitcher of tea and some immaculate porcelain cups from my Dimensional Storage Ring and poured some for myself and her. "So, what brings you here young lady?" I asked.

"I wanted to know how you exist." She stated bluntly but with a soft and childish voice.

"I see. Well, it started out when my parents had copious amounts of se-"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" She hastily said. I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she was blushing hard.

"I know, I know... I arrived here from another world. Reincarnated here into the body of a dying boy in the eastern wastelands. From there, I met my first wife and began exploring and making a name for myself." I replied before sipping my tea.

Chronoa looked down at her lap before thinking to herself a bit. I could tell what she was thinking. She was probably wondering what happened to change her timeline so that I occurred. She was also wondering what she did to cause this butterfly effect. I smiled a bit after a sip of my tea.

"Don't feel too bad," I said. "Even the True Spirits of Space and Time didn't know where I came from."

"Wha- how is that possible? I've traveled back and forth in time numerous times, fought and met loads of different otherworlders, and never once has something like his happened!" She said. Considering she was normally calm and collected at all times, her outburst here was a bit of a shock to me.

"There is a first time for everything, so I have to ask. Why are you here?" I said with curiosity.

Chronoa looked at me for a moment not sure how to respond to that question. "Let me guess, you wanted to come to Dorei and liberate all the slaves? Maybe save a specific person?" I asked.

Chronoa was again shocked before she seemed to clam herself down, as her body seemed to relax and she let out a sigh. "Yeah, something like that. In all the other timelines, the princess to the Kingdom of Falmuth would have been kidnapped and was going to be sold off to the highest bidder. It was almost always a Demon Lord named ROOT who I would defeat and be proclaimed as a Hero."

"I see. So the fairy-tale of the hero rescuing the princess while defeating the evil dragon scenario then?" I asked.

"Something like that." She chuckled "After returning her, I'd get called to Ruberios and meet Luminous, who would- WAIT!" She yelled as she realized she slipped and almost revealed Luminous' identity as someone other than the diety.

"I already know about Luminous being a True Demon Lord, you can go on now," I said.

She seemed shocked before I heard her smirking to herself under her mask and sigh in defeat. "Yeah, well, Luminous would call for me and send me out against Veldora when he attacked Rune. Normally that would be in a few day's time from now, though I don't know if it will still happen... Anyways, I would seal him and then let myself sleep until a certain event in the future." She said, looking into the cup of lukewarm tea that she still hadn't taken a drink from.

'That makes sense. Originally, Luminous was so in love with Chloe that she would watch over her sleeping form several hours per day. Plus, the Hero would have known to wake up and save Shizue in the future from Leon... actually, why didn't she confront Leon anyway? They were childhood friends, so you'd think she would have stopped by to let him know she was fine... questions for later.' I thought.

"So you're saying that unless you accomplish these specific events, something bad will happen?" I ask feigning ignorance.

"Well no but...I actually don't know what will happen. All I know is something bad will occur in the future and I need these things to happen or else I will " She said softly.

I chuckle a bit, causing her to look at me weirdly (I assume). "Miss Chronoa, that's life. No one knows or should know, what will happen in the future. That's why we should live each and every day without leaving behind any regrets." I say making a little speech. "As the words of a wise old man once said. "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. So relax. Do what only you can do and live life at the moment."

[Master is a hypocrite and a plagiarist]

'Shut it you!' I think

Chronoa looks at me for a bit before chuckling to herself before slowly raising into a fit of laughter. She laughs for a minute before she calms down. She looks towards me before saying "Alright then Master Oogway" She says as she does that kung-fu bow thing with a fist in her palm before chuckling again.

My face brightens up as I am super embarrassed that she knew what movie I was referencing. I thought that her hundreds or even thousands of years of reliving the same events over and over would drain her of her memory of the original world and such an obscure reference, but I guess not.

Chronoa finished her little laughter fit after a moment before composing herself again. "Thanks, for that. It's been a long time since I was able to laugh. I was always so preoccupied with what I needed to do right in the future to keep the world from ending, but I guess I'll take your advice this time." She said as she moved her mask to the side revealing a beautiful face that seemed to contain the essence of a cute and quiet girl.

Chronoa sipped on some tea for a bit before holding out her tongue "bitter!"

"Oh here! I have some sugar!" I said.

...

The next few days went by smoothly. I returned to my mansion and let Chronoa stay there since Toranir would get mad at me if I didn't stop her from freeloading. I ended up summoning Ramiris, using a contract I had made with her before I left, and had her bless Toranir. I told him about his Phantasmal Lord seed and had him contract with some greater spirits to help with his awakening process.

It will probably still take a few years for him to actually sprout, but it's better to start sooner than later. I also sensed that Alex was pregnant and gave my congratulations to the king. The whole country celebrated that night and I almost ended up drunk again but Yue cut me off. She said she didn't want me fondling any more Luminous statues or waking up in Chronoa's or Ramiris' beds the next morning.

I guess after the last time with Elmisia, she decided I wasn't allowed to get drunk anymore.

The next day, after saying our goodbyes, we flew off to Ruberios on the flying carpet. Chronoa was very happy flying on it, saying it was a 'dream of hers'. The trip will only take two days, but we wasted a lot of time already. Chronoa would have already defeated Demon Lord ROOT by now in the original timeline and been summoned to Ruberios, so the fight against Veldora would happen soon.

I did give a heads up to Luminous that Veldora might rampage around in her capital soon when talking to her via communication's crystal, but I also stressed that this information could be wrong. Naturally, I know it is correct.

Why?

Because Veldora doesn't have any subordinates. All he does is fight and sleep lazily in Jura, he wouldn't care, or even know about Ramiris' recent awakening, so he wouldn't rampage anywhere else. Plus, if I remember correctly, he was trying to impress Luminous with his strength when he attacked and ended up getting sealed.

Unfortunately, since I messed with the timeline, I don't know what kind of consequences will occur. I figure that if Veldora is still sealed, then Rimuru will still respawn in his Cave when he is inevitably stabbed, but if not, there is a chance he will reincarnate as a Slime on Guy's continent or something due to both he and Velzard casually releasing their auras all over the place like Veldora.

That means if I want my perfect little administrator- I mean- Slime friend, to govern Jura for me, then I have to seal Veldora. It's not like I NEED him. On the flip-side, if I do this, then I gain Luminous' favor.

'Maybe I could grope the real thing' I think before I feel Yue jab my side.

"Ow!" I yelped.

"Hmmm! You were thinking about Aunt Luminous, weren't you?" She said with puffed-up cheeks and a red face. She was pouting and it was adorable, but I was too shocked to respond correctly.

"Wh-" I started my rebuke but was interrupted by Tomoe.

"Indeed. Young Master only makes that face when grouping Luminous statues, so he must be thinking about her." Tomoe commented as though pondering.

"Wai-" I tried to defend myself but was interrupted again by Mio.

"Husband's libido is too high... should he be castrated?" Mio thought out loud.

"OY! Don't say such scary things Mio!" I yelled but no one answered. looked towards Chronoa and Alice who were watching me with half-closed eyes.

""Pervert""

I felt like I took significant damage from somewhere and became depressed the rest of the flight.