Chapter 210 Almost Gone

Ragnar lost control of his power, as his knees grew heavy and gravity gained power over him. Suddenly, he was no longer a ghost and stood right in front of the entity of his nightmares.

"It's a pity you know, time has no effect on existence, meaning the current me can't harm you, as I'm already trapped for a while. But don't worry, everything is going according to plan, even if Justice did use the keys on you, it won't change the end result, your death is already confirmed!" Trickster stated, like it was comforting Ragnar, ensuring him of his demise.

"Dad, who's that?" a young version of Alice asked, her voice filled with a sparkling curiosity. Upon her words filled with innocence Trickster smiled and directed his unending curiosity to Ragnar.

"What do you say Ragnar? Want to kill her? She's all yours, don't you want to avenge your friends? Kill the kid, she's to become a monster anyways, correct? Why don't you end her now, sure, it won't change what happened, as I made myself the convict, locking that time in place. But won't that quell your thirst for vengeance? Killing her now is so easy, she's just a harmless girl!" Trickster said, drenching its words in honey. Happy to feel the unending rage stirring inside Ragnar, he fought within himself, a battle for control; one that he was losing.

Ragnar grabbed his head in pain, his intrusive thoughts telling him to do it 'kill her, kill her, kill her….kill her' kept repeating in his head, time and existence Ragnar both raging, hoping to end her there and then.

The little girl starred at Ragnar, her hair turned crimson, as she observed Ragnar with curiosity. "Who are you, dad knows you, are you cool like dad?"

Hearing her young voice again, Ragnar looked up with bloodshot eyes and stared into her eyes. He looked like a primal beast, ready to rampage. His bloodlust was raging out of control, his black hair standing up, as reality wrapped around his rage. He was nothing compared to himself back then. He found comfort in Alice for the longest time, his rage and sorrow buried in her uplifting presence. But now, all left of the old Ragnar was a surface, the surface he used to distance himself from those close to him. Trickster knew this all to well and he also knew how easy someone like Ragnar could fall. Turn into the very thing they hated.

Ragnar's mouth opened, allowing full view if the inside, an endless pit with nothing but Nightwater. His teeth were merging, becoming two fangs. His tongue thinned and split into two sharp parts at the end; as he hissed. It was a silent, creepy his that echoed throughout time itself, disturbing all timelines, even those outside the era.

To their side Tricksters grin widened as he started clapping his thin hands together. "Marvelous' he muttered, as he observed with interest.

"Uncle, that's so cool, can you teach me that?" she asked, failing to feel fear and who could blame her, she called Trickster, the zenith of fear 'cool'.

Yet her innocence only worked to further anger Ragnar. 'How dare she, after all she's done, how dare she be excited, full of joy! She should be like me, empty, ruined, all alone, I'll make her alone!' he screamed inside, as he took his first step towards an irreversible decision.

His pupils diluted, turning into reptile eyes. His his grew more bone-shilling. His steps silently echoed through the house, as he grew closer to the girl. As for the girl in question, she seemed excited that he was getting closer.

When he was within arms reach Ragnar grabbed her by the throat and lifted her from the ground. His sharp fingers pierced her soft skin, drawing blood from her neck. She grew pale, as she started coughing and choking.

His dead eyes locked onto her eyes of worry, as she started to feel a hint of fear. She turned to her father, only to see it smile back at her, its smile full of malice. Its mouth so wide one would thing it was a door.

Just as she was about to die, someone suddenly appeared. With a crash, the kitchen was in shambles, from the smoke, Trickster white teeth gleamed with even more interest, as a developed red haired, beautiful women appeared from the smoke. She looked like an older version of Alice, yet more, robust in a way.

"There you are, all of those lesser beings you call friends are worried about you, Ragnar~" the women said, as she stretched, her chest bouncing from her act.

The room turned silent, but the silence was broken, as Alice coughs reverted throughout the complex. Her teary eyes were quickly noticed by Maja, as she smiled. "Oh Ragnar, I didn't know you loved me like this~ You know how much I hate family, so you went out of your way to kill my sister, I could kiss you!" she exclaimed and rushed to hug him, completely ignoring his whole, kill everything vibe that was oozing from him.

"Maja, dearest, why did you ruin daddy's fun, if he killed her he would turn over a new leaf and start massacring innocent left and right, the perfect vessel!" Trickster said, its voice cold, yet warm at the same time.

"You're not my father, I don't have a family! This one will die too, not today though, we have to leave!" Maja said and grabbed Ragnar, he tried to fight back but was humbled before he knew it.

"Maja, you're making this hard for me, you've killed so many of your siblings, even Justice had to punish you after my complaints. Can't you just be a good girl, like the rest, Alice is doing great right now and daddy loves her!" Trickster said, making Maja angry.

"Don't play with me, I know you're just acting like this because I hate it, we're nothing more than tools and entertainment to you!" Maja screamed and left the place. Leaving a grinning Trickster behind, as the world started to fracture. Maja shivered in fear, as the image of Tricksters shining, infinite teeth resurfaced in her mind. Her hands started to shack, as she was thrown back to her childhood. "Never again, who needs family, I'm better by myself!" she whispered, quickly running away. Ragnar had made that place a beacon and thousands of powerhouses were currently breaking into it, ready to kill whatever caused it.

"Why did you have to hiss of all things, weird bastard!" she muttered, annoyed. She would have to take the whole way back to their timeline, something that would take some energy. 'How did he even end up here?' she thought, staring back at her childhood home.

Time passed and Ragnar was thrown back into his realm, as Maja went back to relaxing, not having any plans to help in the war.

Some hours later Ragnar woke up again, completely enraged. He had been stopped from killing her, how could someone rob him of that right. So what if it didn't change anything, he had every right to kill her, she was his to kill!

Ragnar ravaged inside his realm, letting his power run wild, nothing like it was before, back then, unbeknownst to him, he was being corrupted. It drastically increased his powers, at the price of his sanity, and it was still exerting its price upon his being.

Soon enough his tantrum came to an end, as he realized what he had almost done. Losing his humanity over anger was not something he was willing to do, he would see this to an end, but killing a child, who held none of the crimes of her future self, it was not right. Especially if it didn't change anything. This voice of reason had been unheard by him a while back, but now it burst through the dam he had built, flooding his mind with slight guilt.

"Look at you all back to normal, it's enough to make an old man cry!" Maja said from the side. Finally noticing the girl, Ragnar jumped back and took a fighting stance. He still remembered the rage he felt when she stopped him, it was fresh in his head, telling him to kill her. She was just like her sister, a child of Trickster. She was a monster, just like her sister, they even look alike.

"My, my, I like the dominant type, but those beast-like eyes, with a primal urge of destruction is to much, are you trying to make me wet?" she jokingly said, feeling no fear for Ragnar and for good reason, she was the second strongest child of Trickster, with a casual whim, she could kill everyone here.

"Don't give me that, why did you stop me and how did you find me?" Ragnar asked, he might have calmed down, but he was still a ticking time-bomb.

"Well, one, I didn't mean to stop you, if you killed her, I wouldn't care. But the thing is, I kind of saved your life, no matter what cheat you had, what powers you think you have to make you confident, you would die, simple as that. You hissed loud enough to annoy powerful entities from different eras, there was even this evil, monstrous creature moving towards us. It had a lotus body, with a humanoid black form, with a buffalo head, made out of scales. It scared the shit out of me. Especially that pissed of expression it had, thankfully they attacked the image left behind by Trickster and not us, or we would be dead now!" she said, sighing in relief, just for being alive.

Ragnar looked at her and grunted in annoyance. "Fine, I admit it, it's my fault this time around, happy?" he said with great pain, like his thin glass like pride shattered to bits.

"That's good, I'll be going back to sleep now, tell me when your done becoming seventh dimensional!" Maja said and left, leaving Ragnar's realm entirely. Most likely tired from his stuck up behavior.

As for Ragnar he meditated to quell his rage even further and hope to find some answerers. He entered his consciousness and talked to the two other versions of himself.

"The frick was that about, why doe the two of you lose control that much, heck you even screwed me up, I almost killed an innocent child, damnit!" Ragnar yelled at the two, who seemed nonchalant about his anger.

"She deserved it, death is to light of a punishment!" Time Ragnar said, "I agree!" Existence Ragnar added.

"Did I ask for your opinion? You don't do reckless things like that, we might die, or worse, go down a bad path we can't steer away from!" Ragnar argued and the two were forced to see it from his perspective.

"Fine, but when we find the real one, she dies. No stupid emotions attached." Time Ragnar said.

"Only if none of our friends are hurt in the process, revenge isn't worth losses!" Ragnar said, having gained clarity from the last encounter with everything that was evil. Each time he saw that thing, he understood it more. What it was, just pure evil wasn't true. It was everything considered negative, like fear, anger, cowardliness and such.

"Sure thing." Existence Ragnar said and left.

"So, Time me, can I enter that river again, you know, at such depth?" Ragnar asked, curious.

"No, most likely never, this was a once in a lifetime, too bad!"

Ragnar sighed and said. "Indeed, I really feel like most things will be answered there, despite the inherent danger. But alas, it's not to be!"

After the short conversation with himself, he left his realm and rejoined the war, despite feeling more shit than he did before.