Fragments of a Forgotten Past - Part 2

A few minutes later…

"Sigh, who would've thought it'd take me 30 minutes to finish such a minuscule task," Fred muttered as he wiped the nonexistent sweat on his forehead and grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator.

After inspecting the electric chair and the altar beneath it, along with the 80 in. monitor, leaving only the glass casing at the far end of the room. That needed to be examined to make sure the soul fragment of Noctis had not been damaged or tampered with.

'It only took you so long because you kept putting the task off, always telling yourself you will do it tomorrow. Now look at you rushing to get it done even though you could have done this a week before Rin even went on his field trip.' A mysterious voice telepathically to Fred.

"Oh, shut up, will you! Can't you see I am working as fast as I can woman?" Fred replied as he kissed his teeth.

'Ha-, the day you work is the day God returns, Fred… so please, don't make me laugh as even a poor man can suffer at the hands of the righteous if he is caught lying.'

"Now that's just rude as I don't see you anywhere helping me out."

'And why should I, when I have such a strong and hardworking husband to do it for me.' The mysterious voice giggled.

"Truly, this must be a lie as there's no way this was the lady I married," Fred muttered with a sigh as he shook his head and walked toward the glass casing.

'Sorry to burst your bubble, husband but it is so, get used to it as you are not going anywhere but down, Freddie boy!' Fred's wife, Olivia exclaimed as she laughed, nearly losing her balance as she hung from the ceiling like a bat.

"Well, fortunately, I don't have to," Fred replied with a chuckle as he could only manage how frustrated Olivia was after being caged within Rin's Soul Palace for an eon as he stood before the glass casing.

Which held the soul fragment of a Scourge, a Chaotic Entity that drifts between the fine line of Reality and Fantasy and is believed to hail from an ancient race of Demons. That was thought to have gone extinct, however, that wasn't the case as a descendant of theirs managed to survive, due to being sealed within the depths of purgatory. 

'Sigh, now Fred just what are doing?' Olivia asked as she watched her husband opening and closing his palms repeatedly like a kid, who was unsure if they should take a cookie or not out of the cookie jar.

"Not sure, but I feel this would make an amazing, early birthday present for old-time's sake," Fred said as he stroked his beard a few times, growing to like the idea the more he thought about it.

'Fred, didn't we already agree, we wouldn't be changing anything else as you should know firsthand the consequences of this idea if applied! Along with the drastic changes, it could have on everything from Rin's present situation to even the future of Liberia.' Olivia shouted with seriousness as she lost that playful attitude of hers from earlier.

"I know but sometimes, we got to take risks, and didn't we already confirm the soul fragment is too small to influence, or even cause any major changes to the plot?" Fred asked as his eyes began to glow with a feverish light.

'That may be true but still, this is the soul fragment of Noctis, we are talking about here! A man whose desires have no bounds and who is to say he has not tampered with the fragment, Fred?!' Olivia said, bringing back clarity to Fred's eyes as he realized he was rushing things a bit.

"…" Fred, 'She does have a point, but what's the worst that can happen?'

'Fred! Fred! Fred, you better not have~'

"Even if he did, Olivia, can't you step in and prevent it from corrupting Rin's consciousness? Before anything drastic occurs," asked Fred as he took out the soul fragment and watched as it altered between gray and black within the palm of his hand.

'Yes! B... B-But sigh so, you honestly feel this is the best course of action, Fred?' Olivia whispered before severing the telepathic link with Fred and going to sleep.

"Yes... so, if anything goes wrong could you, please step in and offer some assistance? Even if it means just restraining Rin for a few seconds, Olivia." Fred apologized as he knew Olivia could still hear him even though she had broken the link between them.

'Hmm, why do I even argue with you, if you are just going to do whatever you want? But if something truly does happen during the trial, I will see what I can do,' Olivia said with a sigh as she reconnected briefly before disconnecting once again and ignoring whatever Fred had to say afterward.

"Sigh, it seems I fucked up once again…" Fred muttered as he closed his eyes before walking toward the monitor to get everything situated. 

***

Simultaneously as that went on Olivia, could be seen sitting on her bed, lost in the timeless glow of stardust…

"Sigh, just when will this end, Leon? Haven't I suffered enough at the hands of Fate?" Olivia said to herself, a bit disheartened with how everything played out, as she closed her eyes and entered her Soul Palace.

Going directly to the top floor, where an antique bronze botanical frame mirror was located, which flickered weakly in the dark like a flashlight about to die as cobwebs and dust littered the room.

Sometime later…

"Sigh, no matter how magnificent or spectacular you might be, eventually, you'll be forgotten and cast…" Olivia muttered after taking a glance at the state of the room before her and shaking her head in disappointment and sadness.

'Damn, just how long has been since, I've been up here?' She thought as she snapped her fingers, producing a shockwave that got rid of the gloomy atmosphere and the darkness that masked this place's beauty.

Along with the artifacts that once amazed the world yet, now they were just fragments of their once glorious past and pieces of scrap metal.

"Hahaha! What am I even saying?" Olivia questioned herself with a chuckle as she rubbed her forehead, 'When we're technically in the same boat, my amigos.'

She thought as she dismissed such troublesome and sorrowful thoughts and began walking toward the back of the room. Where an antique bronze botanical frame mirror stood alone.

"Sorry for the intrusion, old friend but could you help me out this one last time?"

"Cough… and what may that be, master?" The artifact spirit of the mirror asked hoarsely as it strained its voice.

"Please don't call me that, Charlie as I am not worthy of such a title."

"Sigh, if you say so Master, but please do remember you were but a teen when this all occurred so, there's no need to say such things as we choose to take this route with you," Charlie claimed as he used a small amount of his qi to pat Olivia's head as the other artifacts in the room hummed in agreement.

"… thanks, Charlie, but let's get down to business before my idiot husband does something stupid again," Olivia whispered as she smiled.

"You're welcome, so what is it you need my help with, Olivia?"

"Sigh... well, initially I was going to ask you to create a passage to the Voice of Time for me, but looking at your current appearance, I think th~" Olivia said before Charlie interrupted her.

Who suddenly used the remnants of his qi to freeze the time around her as various patterns of birds and flowers, flashed across its surface briefly in a violet ash color.

Causing the mirror to suddenly shatter and resemble itself as if nothing had happened, however, during that moment when the mirror had shattered tendrils of energy. Sneakily wrapped around Olivia's hands and feet and dragged into a grayish portal which led to the mysterious Voice of Tim without her consent.

A dimension outside of existence made of stone platforms connected to stairs, which went in all directions like a maze and led to various timelines that each had a subtle yet variating frequency.

'Sigh, now this is just asking for someone to have a headache.' Olivia thought after regaining her bearings and taking one glance at her surroundings.

"Is there anything I could help you with young lady?" Someone in a butler uniform asked nonchalantly as they tapped Olivia's shoulder.

"Yo, what the fu~" Olivia screamed as she jumped back in fear nearly losing her soul in the process.

After like, a minute or two passed, the person from earlier gave it another try, "Is there anything I could help you with young lady?"

"Yes, but next time, please don't sneak up on me," Olivia replied as she took a good look at the person or entity before her, which seemed to be a fusion between a robot and a human.

That had eyes that periodically flashed with a reddish hue as a bluish neon light glowed underneath its skin, while the sound of gears and trinkets sounded from its body like the steam engine of a locomotive.

"Okay, but still you haven't yet answered my question, young lady?" The cyborg said as it examined Olivia from head to toe, but she did not hear him as she continued to marvel at the artistry before her.

"Who would've thought it'd be possible to use the universal energy of the Cosmos in such an intuitive way? Through the usage of a Chaos crystal which can function as a defensive mechanism and a medium to contain various energies."

'Sigh, just why do I always get the weirdos?' X asked as he tapped Olivia and took her to the place she wanted to go.

"Hey, just what are~" Olivia shouted before realizing the cyborg had left and dropped her off at a stone platform with a blue portal, however, this one seemed to be different from the rest as she could sense the presence of the entity that placed her in this position to atone for the sins of her greedy husband. 

Yet how can you blame the man you love when did such a crime for you? Knowing firsthand what the consequences would be if he got caught with death even being a feasible outcome.

However, whom in their right mind would dare to steal from the crown prince of Liberia? A man of mystery and wonder, who once was such a fragile and… until the day he returned from a trip through the Mountains of Genesis.

15 minutes later…

"Sigh, so what can I do for you, Olivia?" Leon asked after trying to ignore her gaze as they sat in a tavern.

"Oh, nothing really except, I'd love a reduction on my sentence and maybe the chance to kill you," Olivia replied without a hiccup as she smiled innocently after taking a sip of her drink.

"So, you're still upset about that, huh?" Leon asked as he raised his eyebrows, "Sigh, I guess time truly doesn't change people after all, but I guess my actions back then were a bit extreme."

"Tsk, extreme... don't you mean borderline crazy! As whom in their right mind seals, a stranger in their soul palace because their husband stole a piece of amber?" Olivia stated as she looked at Leon as if he was a sociopath.

"Hmm, well maybe I was a bit crazy back then but on account of your service, I'll cut your remaining time in half so, just continue to do the good Lord's work and everything shall work as it was supposed to."

"Oh, so you're finally willing to acknowledge my efforts, huh? After, keeping me locked up in a room for the past eon with my only privilege being my ability to talk to my husband for 30 minutes every day." Olivia shouted as her blood began to boil just thinking about all the bullshit and headaches she had to tolerate during this time.

'Sigh, well if you didn't try and steal my mother's family heirloom, maybe I wouldn't have cared.' Leon thought before glancing at his watch, "Well, would you look at the time… it was nice talking to you, Olivia but I got places to be so bye and good riddance."