Unfinished Stories

"Why are we doing this? And for that matter, what exactly are we doing?" Ice asked Tinaw.

"Part of the answer is why we need to talk to your other self. We are bound by a command much stronger than our will. Our forms dominate our function. That is true to all created beings. As much as we want to help you, we cannot."

"I have gleaned from my other self that you already deviated from your purpose once upon a time."

"Yes, we did. We will do it again if we can."

"Why can't you?"

"Because the world has its own master code. It rewrites its own rules in order to protect itself from destruction. We were able to do what we did because we were within a thread not affected by the rules."

"You speak of threads and my other self has shown me glimpses of it. What are they, really?"

"In reality, they are far more complex than anything you and I can imagine. In your eyes and mine, they appear as threads that run from a spool that has existed since the beginning of time. They run akin to a river towards a waterfall and onto a large lake and in that lake is a tapestry of the universe."

"Like a picture?"

"Yes, but it is far from finished. Our original function -still our function, is to guide these threads towards the river. We collect history. Stories that may or may not have been written. We carry within us the story not just of the victors but of the vanquished. The stories of triumphs as well as the failures."

"It sounds so simple but I have a feeling that it is deeper than that."

"It is, but our understanding of it is irrelevant. What I am telling you is a version that your or my kind can understand so that we can make use of it. Think of it as eating. While you see food as the objects you put on a plate, its essence are the unseen nutrients they carry. But you do not imagine yourself eating the nutrients. You will never be enticed to consume it."

"I still don't get it. If what we need are just the nutrients, it wouldn't matter for the food to appear as they do."

"I don't know either, but with our understanding of your kind, you do not look at the world in terms of its inherent importance to you. You need abstract things in order to move. You are very much like the gods in that aspect."

"Is that why Rai kept telling us to discover things on our own instead of just telling us what we need to know?"

"Yes. Simply knowing what to do will never motivate your kind. Once upon a time, you were one with the world. You moved with it. But over time, you changed. You invented reasons and more abstractions for the things you needed to do. You already knew that taking care of the environment is important but you added imagined purpose to it. You wanted other people to praise you for doing what is right. You added profit to your impetus. That is why the world is screaming at you. You simply don't listen anymore," Tinaw said sadly.

Ice stared at the diminutive man in front of her and suddenly realized how infinitely smaller she was.

She felt ashamed because what Tinaw said was true.

"I am listening now. I want to understand all of this. I want to do what is right."

"I know. That might have been the reason why you were 'chosen'. The voice of the world is strong in you."

"Alright, from what I understood so far, even if it is irrelevant…"

"Let me correct you there. I was just talking relevance in terms of their effect on reality but relevance from your perspective is important."

"Okay...so these things that you are telling me, they are still helping me in a way. Didn't you also say that you cannot do that?"

"Information that I know and that you will eventually discover may or may not help you. These already happened in the past. I am permitted this much to tell you because knowing it won't change the future."

"But isn't knowing the past allow us to change the future?"

"Sadly, your kind doesn't learn from the past."

"Are you seriously mocking me right now? Me and MY kind? So what are these words you tell me, simply for your entertainment?"

"Don't be upset. I am merely stating a fact. If you must know, this is already your third time doing this. Right up to this moment and up to when you go against the Shadows."

Ice was staggered by that.

"What do you mean the third time?"

"We have met in this manner and have talked about the exact same thing twice now, in the past."

"I have no recollection of it."

"Because we need the knowledge of the First to break past the loop. You have been caught in a time loop. The whole world is in the process of breaking down and being destroyed for the third time now. You and the Manlalakbay and us, apparently, have failed twice already."

"When...where is the loop?"

"The gates are connected to it. What we know is that the Kampilan gate triggered it. Real time still flows within the gates but outside is now tangled and knotted."

"Wait, this is hurting my head so much. Could you please simplify it for me?" pleaded Zone.

"That oversimplification is - would be your doom," Tinaw said cryptically.

"Let's just pretend that I am really that dull and lay it down for me in a manner that I could also grasp," insisted Zone.

"There is a reason that we never explained things fully to you. Yet you are insistent. Why is it that your kind wanted everything mapped out for you? Maybe that is the reason you have always failed. We don't have all the answers nor the ones we have make more sense to us than to you. If you insist, for the third time, I will lay it down for you the best way I could. Please learn from it this time."

Zone shifted uncomfortably but turned a serious face to Tinaw.

The guardian sighed but resumed talking.

"As I have already told you, and this is not from me but from the cosmic library - the one that is lost; the universe is being spun on a cosmic spool and every realm has its own thread. These threads represent history or stories that form the universal tapestry. In one of those threads, a very foolish being caused an accident that reverberated even unto the thread holding the upper realms.

"As a temporary solution, the most powerful god of the upper realms offered his consciousness to hold the knotted threads until a permanent fix can be found.

"When the accident happened, there were eight individuals who momentarily merged with the golden thread - the realm of the Gods. These individuals now exist outside the influence of the accident and therefore can move freely between worlds. They also happen to belong to the last ever race to be created and therefore are more malleable.

"If you haven't guessed it yet, you belong to the eight. Within you are endless possibilities. You are the only race that were not assigned a permanent characteristic. While you are arguably the weakest, you possess the most potential. It is fortuitous that it was you who were linked to the golden thread.

"When the explosion which was caused by a tiny time loop happened, an isle where your race was slowly growing got caught in it. As a result, it vanished entirely from history but before it could go to the River, that's when we committed our gravest sin; we interfered. We pulled it out and hid it.

"That's where you come in. you have to find it and restore it before the time loop is fixed. If not, when the normal time resumes, history will have branched out in an entirely different direction than what was intended and could possibly erase this version of existence."

"You want us to find an entire island?" Zone and Ice exclaimed incredulously.

"No. We want you to find several islands. 7,100-ish, maybe around that figure."

"I wish I didn't ask. Now my head hurts more," complained Zone.

"There is a deadline to it all," added Tinaw.

"Not that I expected it to get easier the more we dig into it but did it have to be more complicated?"

"The God who offered his mind to be the holder of reality? In order to do so, he went into a deep sleep so that time would at least slow down."

"Let me guess, he is about to wake up?" ventured Zone.

"Yes, we call that synchronicity. When that happens, there is a small overlap between this realm and the realm of the gods."

"What does that even mean?"

"We don't know. There is a very big chance that whatever the state the world is in after the synchronicity has ended will become permanent. So that small moment of overlap is very important. We have to fix everything by then."

"So all we have to do is find the Lost Isles?"

"Uhm...that's one."

"There's more? Oh come one then! Pour it all, why don't you?"

"I did not cause this…"

"You have to excuse him, Tinaw. Zone is just afraid that we might not be equal to the task," apologized Ice.

"There are beings who aim to tip the balance in their favor."

"If you think about it, who wouldn't? I, for one, would want to live in a world where I'm not the weak one, said Zone empathically.

"Your view of justice might not be the same as theirs."

"Power is power, Tinaw. I understand that everyone wants to be in charge. I just wish the balance would be in my favor for once."

"You had this view on your last playthrough as well," lamented Tinaw.

"So? You would not understand the feeling of being inconsequential."

"Believe me, I do. I wish you found what needed to be found. That is one of your tasks. Before you can find the Isles, you need to find your true selves. That is a requirement that even the Gods cannot change."

"So let me get this straight. First we find ourselves, we fight the bad guys and we find the Isles and restore them?"

"Not necessarily in that order but yes, that pretty much sums it all."

"Sounds simple enough. Where do we find those?"

"The isles are within stories. Inside legends and myths. You have already met and have been defeated by the Shadows two times. As for yourselves, I don't know where to find them."

"The first two are in stories already written. Isn't that right, Tinaw? Why are our true selves harder to find?"

"...because they are within unfinished stories."