4. Watchers.

The scene in the bathroom was eerily still and unnaturally calm but it shouldn't be. It felt and looked like the void has been fused with the room without fail but all that was none of the boy's current concern as he turned to the cracked mirror waiting.

He couldn't care for the voice that directly rang in his mind, nor for the incomprehensible language that was neither Ymir, D'serk, English, French, German, or any other known language but he could understand as clearly as crystal because he has experienced enough to not believe in Supreme beings and their weirdness.

A few seconds after that existentialist speech, the boy watched on as the mirror turned blackest black with white silhouettes of a pair of eyes and a mouth in it. The mouth and eyes smiled with otherworldly elegance and he?... she?... whatever, them spoke.

"Sigurd Völsunga. This might be our first meeting but not the first we've seen each other and I must say the feeling has been a rollercoaster. I am... ... hmmm, sorry for that but you can just call us Watchers, simple right? "

The white mouth silhouette was moving with nothing entering his ears but the same couldn't be said for his mind. The voice sounded non-binary but the expression and tone tipped to the male gender. Sigurd believed %&@#$ was male but his cognition couldn't sort that out. Sigurd knew nothing about the whole telepathic thing so he spoke with his mouth.

"...Watchers... "us"... More with the power to end worlds" murmured Sigurd to himself before addressing the elephant in the mirror.

"You're responsible for this monumental change in this planet's existence as I'm aware of... What am I to you?! What can I do for you!? "

The being was still as if the response wasn't expected.

"Why are you silent? huh. You could have just destroyed the planet and be done with it. And if you wanted to play, just kill and massacre... I'm sure the population would increase in no time and you can repeat the process"

"Now that's awfully barbaric of a thing to say. We are not here to destroy your world by any means, the Supreme Rule of Causality forbids Higher-thought Beings like us from such savagery. No, we're here as part of a group C experiment assigned by Mentor.

Basically, we are to record the evolution of a species after a Catalytic event and pick what we view as the best result"

"...I get evolution but the Catalytic event is new to me" He took a few steps back to lean against the wall as there were no stools and the WC was not aligned with the mirror.

"Hmmm... Aha! I've got an example you will understand. As we were trying to grasp your world's history personally through time, there was a certain period where it was believed that a particular hound-like animal's genitals could boost sexuality and it was hunted for it.

We refer to that as a Catalytic event and the result was the animal became semiaquatic to survive. And that was mostly the only circumstance of it happening; many worlds like yours had species with High-thought causing the event to species without."

"So what... You folks decided to induce a Catalytic event on intelligent beings? Were the results more favorable?".

Sigurd asked not with curiosity or interest but with unknown, complex sentiment born from the cursed knowledge of the estimated years humanity had wrestled with Varmints with beyond trillions died.

"...We've approved of the best results, yes. You, humans, were unpredictable many times across the Eras thus--"

"Wait. I don't see the connection. Why was I reincarnated and then regressed? Was the former a side experiment to observe how a person from a relatively peaceful science-oriented era will adapt to a warring mystic era?"

Sigurd interrupted when he realized he almost lost sight of why he confronted the being in the first place.

"No, but that's a promising idea worthy of record, I appreciate it." said %&@#$ causing Sigurd to gnash his teeth in frustration.

"Now. You were regressed because you were the most entertaining among those we chose to reincarnate into different Epochs. Sure, there were those that made huge contributions in the era that they were in but not one as entertaining as you.

You were chaotic in both thought and action but great luck was on your side to survive

So we are giving you a second chance to use the knowledge of the future as your weapon, one which none before you had... "

"I don't want it, double it and give it to the next person"

".... ...."

"This shouldn't have come as a shock. CAN'T YOU SEE I'M IN NEED OF ETERNAL SLEEP!! I tried my best and failed, LET-ME-SLEEP!!"

He said without hesitation or further thinking.

"... ...You don't mean it. Are you sure you can rest knowing you failed to avenge Mom?"

"She's Mom to me, not you!! " shouted Sigurd with a fit of unusual anger in his eyes and voice.

"Haa~ my apologies"

This calmed the fire in Sigurd even though he knew that expression wasn't one of sincere apology but he knew better.

"...whatever. She would have forgiven me if I had the chance to meet her again... well... not anymore"

"... Really? How about the others then? Can you sleep for eternity knowing what you did... or did not do for Ophelia? How you failed to protect your wife and the bonds formed?"

"... ...N-n... That doesn't matter, the past is in the Past. This... all this, is just another branch timeline you've brought me to, mine can't be reversed"

"So you will live this life if I told you this is your original timeline with the same people? "

This noticeably surprised Sigurd for some seconds before he calmed himself and started contemplating for minutes.

"Why didn't you send me back to when I was five? I could have done more from there, rather than still being in school"

"I know what you truly want at that timeline but this was random. Even our powers have limitations"

"There isn't anything you can do?..."

"... Madam"

"....Well then, the next time I die, do not under any circumstance mess with my soul. This will be my last life."

"Fufufu~ No need to worry, some of us are getting homesick anyways. Now let's about the rewards you and the planet will--"

"No need. If I'm doing this, it's because I have my own goal below saving the world. And let me say this, You can play and scheme for all I care but don't ever pretend to be on my side or any mortal for that matter.

I should be angry at you for the deaths unprecedented in the history of my race but my mind can't even begin to imagine the scope of the world to take the burden of the life within it. I'm Human, after all"

%&@#$ chuckled and prepared to leave but not before telling him that the others are cheering him on with great expectations, now that he has an advantage over many currently.

.....

On the moon.

@#$%& looked at %&@#$ with an unpleasant gaze and asked.

"...What's the point? "

"Hm? "

"The point! What's the point of all this? He has the knowledge, experience, and growth far beyond the current time. Won't killing Krul be a breeze when he has over a century to overpower it? "

"Fufufu. Who said anything about centuries? We can heal and wake Krul whenever we want to make it more exciting. And if he's smart as he's been, then he would have already guessed it. Let's just watch and make adjustments as we do so"

....

Hey come check out Discord with me https://discord.gg/7c9u6hTQFp