44 Return of the spirit of Fate

He has never felt this kind of comfort before, back in his own time, as we all know that he was introverted. Except for the few friends he knows, which is Andy, Ruther and Fuse, there was no one else he could talk to.

His family, as stated before, he has none. Without the knowledge of who his relatives are, he lived alone in seclusion. Isolated himself from other people, worried that they might not like him.

Chance came across many troubles and problems, yet he has no one to tell it to. Even to Ruther and the others.

All alone, no one patted his back, caressed and embraced him like what was currently happening now.

As Alec continued to bring him to an embrace, Chance's body felt good, and it was light. He would never have thought that he could feel comfort from someone else other than the comfort he feels from his bed and pillows.

"Alec," he called out and raised his head to his face and the knight looked down at the prince that was on his chest, "Thank you." 

Alec could not utter a word and he just stared down at his face. His face had an obvious sad look, but there was gladness. A very sincere look was on his face as he said his appreciation for comfort.

"There is no need to be grateful, caring for you is my duty. I will do everything I could do for you," he said and took a step back to bend down on one knee with a slight bow of his head. "Until my death."

Chance was thankful for what he said, but he froze in the last words that Alec said. "Until death..." he muttered while gazing down at the ground. 

Then a thought came to his mind. It snapped back to him that he was living right now in the past. If he would put his mind into his present time back in 2024, 

All of them are already dead.

That was a sad reality that he needs to keep in mind. Try not to get attached too much or else it will hurt a lot when he goes back in his time.

Not moving from where he was, he stared at the knight that was in front of him. Alec Valorian, his personal knight. No, he was not his knight, but the knight of the real Charles. Now that he remembered that he was just reliving the past, it filled his head with both curiosity and anxiety.

'How will he die?'

'When will he die?'

He could feel the sweat rolling down his forehead. Then he had an idea. 'Will I be able to stop his destined death?'

But that idea of his was not supposed to come to mind.

Chance covered his eyes as there was a light behind the Valorian knight. The light was just hovering in front of him. As he peeked to see it, his eyes slightly widened. "F-fate!"

He covered his mouth when he called the spirit aloud and glanced at Alec. It would look suspicious to call someone who he cannot see. Looking at the knight, he noticed that he was not moving. 

"It appears that I have arrived just in time before you think of something you cannot do." the voice of the spirit stated.

It was a surprising chance to see the spirit, but his brows furrowed and looked at Fate seriously, "Where have you been all this time?!"

"I had matters I needed to tend to, forgive me if I was not around. You will get used to it soon." Fate reasoned, but Chance was not satisfied with the answer that the spirit gave him.

The spirit went forward and approached him, "That does not matter, most importantly, why did you think of that?" 

Chance did not know how to respond to the spirit's question and looked away, "You are not supposed to go through my mind." he said.

"I did not. Your thoughts are very obvious as I know you well." 

He raised his head and looked at Fate, "What do you mean you know me well? You are not always around and we only met in my room." Chance said and looked at the light in confusion.

Fate did not answer and circled around on top of his head until the bottom. "I just came by to remind you of what you came here for. Keep in mind of what is the right thing to do and what is wrong." the spirit said with a hint of warning in its tone.

Chance kept his gaze at his feet and clenched his fist in secret, "Wrong..?" he thought.

"You are helping me, but I am also helping you. I would like it if you abide by my rules or both of us would not be able to reach our goal." the spirit reminded him.

But do they have the same goal? It confused Chance. First, he came here to relive the life of King Charles, but what was really his goal? Was his goal only to know how King Charles lives his life? Was his goal to know who the lover was?

Was his goal to wait until he dies?

"What if...what if we do not have the same goals?" Chance muttered under his breath that left the spirit in worry of his plans.

"And by that you mean?"

"You want to retell history, but what if I want to change it?"

Silence grew between them. It was a question that the spirit would never want to hear. Something it had feared would come.

Despite the stop of time, the ground shook hard and all the things in the surrounding, even Alec, moved and fell on the ground. 

"Do you know what you are saying?" the Fate asked.

"I mean every word." the researcher answered.

The buildings started to quake and were getting destroyed little by little as the slabs fell down to the ground, "What if I could stop their deaths?"

Everything was disappearing, slowly turning into ashes as it was blown away by the wind. The whole place was shaking but Chance stood still, looking at the spirit of Fate. 

"Stop it, Howard."

"What if I could change it, Fate? What if I could make it happen?"

As their surroundings turned into ashes, it was starting to become white but Chance ignored it and looked at the light.

"Chance Howard! Stop it!"

"What if I changed their history? What if I change his story?"

On that one line, the background was wiped out. A bright light grew bigger which made Chance unable to see for a short while. It was similar to an explosion and it was bright, at the moment he opened his eyes, it was only the two of them.

Only he and Fate were left in a pure white surroundings, face to face to each other. With Fate taking the form of human, but still light.

They were in the middle of time.

"You want to break my rule?" Fate asked and stood still but Chance did not answer.

"Are you aware of the consequences?" said Fate again.

Fate raised his hands and showed him a glimpse of the world in his real time. Even if he did not enjoy much of his life because of loneliness and even though he has just recently met up with his online friends, lots of things will change with a wrong move.

"Do you want this all to end? For your attachment? For pity?"

"Then what, I should just watch them all die? Let the tragedy repeat?" Chance exclaimed with frustration of having no capability to do what he wants to save them.

"The tragedy that you are referring to is what you came to find out about. How will you know if you change it?" the spirit asked.

Chance was starting to get weak, now that he started wondering about future events, he could not stay still and was anxious. "I-I can't do this anymore, just let me go back to my time. I can't do it afterall. I can't relive the king's life."

Fate was silent but then it took a step forward, "You cannot go back anymore. From the moment you made a deal with me, you are now tied in history." it stated.

Chance dazed at the spirit and Fate extended its hand forward, releasing a floating red thread. "Since the moment you woke up in the king's body,"

"You are now trapped in his story."

The thread circled around Fate's body as it waits for Chance to take its hand, "Now, it is up to you, to retell that tragedy."

Does that mean there was really nothing he could do? 'Right, even if I change it, they would still die someday. Because this is a different period.' he thought.

He took a deep breath and looked straight at Fate then gazed down on its hand.

He took the spirit's hand and the thread extended, also circled around Chance, connecting the two figures to each other in an infinite tie.

"Now, Chance Howard, relive the king's history and fill the pages of an untold story."