*Boom*

Reiss extricated his face from the floor, rubbing his nose and coughing; he objected severely to this string of events. His mental processes are having a laugh. It wasn't funny the third time around. Waving a hand in front of his face to get rid of the smoke, a thin sword of ice rebounded off his barrier.

Groggily backflipping out of the way, Reiss spoke curtly.

"Lizzy? You really didn't have to stop on my account. Please, by all means, finish what you started."

*Clang*

Reiss' noggin rang as it was impacted with an ebony maul. He pushed it away with a finger. Excitedly, he responded.

"Queen Eli? It is you, right? My, I have been dying to meet you. Can I have your autograph by chance?"

*TING*

*BANG*

*BOOM*

Reiss rolled backward out of the smoke, frowning as he blocked a second sword strike and set up a stronger barrier spell. An explosion of fire impacted and dispersed. His hair fluttered out behind him like a cape before settling down. An alarm spell continued blaring around the compound. Reiss smacked his ear with a palm, thinking he was imagining it.

Nope. The entire place was on full alert. Again.

"As always, I am happy to see you in good health. Doubly so, considering the Queen is still alive."

The dust cleared. Lizzy Lestruiz stood in a ready stance while being buffed by several enhancement spells. Physical weapons are most effective in limited space, after all. She wasn't able to cast freely without blowing the place apart. The Queen stood behind her readjusting her clothes and trying to hide the flush in her face.

"How did you get past the wards?"

Reiss sighed. He made things complicated by rushing. His heart hurt for how much he worried.

I would like a refund on my spent emotions, please.

A condensed icicle formed at the tip of Lizzy's blade. It shot out at Reiss, probing his defenses. Lizzy's eyes narrowed at the complete neutralization of the spell as it hit the barrier. It was remarkably similar to her own spell formations. It was even better. Lizzy turned on Mana Sight and shut it off twice as quickly.

"My bad. I should have warned you. Inform before you check my mana. It has changed a lot since Iteration 87."

She wiped her mouth and looked back at the abomination in front of her. It was like staring into the eyes of a Primal Avatar. The pure mana density made her feel nauseous, and he wasn't even actively casting spells or accumulating mana. The enormous pillar of light that left stars in her vision was just his reserves.

The Queen prevented her curiosity from getting the better of her. She tried to continue questioning instead since the intruder seemed talkative.

"Who are you with, and why have I never heard of you? I assume you've come for my head."

Queen Eli took in the intruder in full. His skin was not bronze but a slightly tanned white. There were no leylines marking his face or body. He wore strange, smooth clothes. A sky blue fabric wrapped around his neck. His hair was a pure winter white, shining and brilliant, longer than anything she had ever seen, and Eli didn't need a Mana Sight spell to see the magic practically dripping of it.

Whoever this man was, he was an elite. A secret weapon. A hidden monster.

"I'm Reiss. And I am fangirling so hard right now."

"..."

"..."

An artificial breeze. The alarm seemed to pause for a moment.

A cough. Reiss deepened his voice.

"Come with me if you want to live."

More blank stares.

The wind whistled

"Seriously? Nothing. I suppose you haven't seen any Earth movies yet, but honestly, Terminator is a classic."

The pair watched Reiss huff and pout.

Ah! That's cute.

They both had the thought. Lizzy smacked herself. Queen Eli shook her head. Snarling, Lizzy pronounced her words.

"How did you get past the wards."

"You gave me the password."

"I did no such thing."

"You just don't remember."

"What is that supposed to mean."

"Eliz2."

Lizzy turned away while flushing with color. Eli smacked her forehead.

"You hopeless idiot."

Reiss nodded along.

"Right? Right! I thought the same thing. Using your names. I didn't put two and two together before. I had no idea you two were an item. I should have guessed it after how choked up you were about the Queen's death."

Lamenting the past for a moment, Reiss started to get lost in his thoughts. Meanwhile, the duo was even more confused. The Queen's death? He was spouting nonsense again. He was likely after the Queen's head after all. Better to attack and restrain him before asking any more questions.

Lizzy cast several spells while Reiss was dazed. Eli supported her with several restraining spells. Wood grew around Reiss' legs while the air pressure and gravity increased dramatically. Several icicle arrows spun in the air, growing larger and spitting off frost. Reiss came back to himself.

"Maybe this will be faster."

The arrows flew.

[Rewind]

=

Half her clothes were removed, and Queen Eli still squirmed underneath her. Back in the office. Papers and knick-knacks were strewn on the floor, knocked over from their activities.

"What happened?"

Queen Eli looked down at her open shirt and quickly covered herself once again. Looking around, they both noticed the door to the study was intact—no signs of battle. The alarm was off.

The two exchanged a glance.

"Was that real? Did we both imagine that?"

"Uh-uh. No. No way. I clearly remember the feeling of my sword in my hand. Casting spells."

Lizzy opened and closed her hand, still feeling the comfort of her absent weapon. Even if the contents of her stomach were back in place and the bile in her mouth absent, the mana reserves she used in the battle remained gone.

*KnockKnock*

Both of them resummoned their weapons and pointed them towards the door.

"Are you two decent in there? Can I come in now?

The words were muffled but clearly audible. Another exchanged glance. They must be going crazy. The implications of otherwise were more frightening.

Their grips tightened around their weapons as a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

Reiss halfway peaked in, then noticing they were fully clothed, entered fully. Taking in the two, they were quite the scene. Curvaceous, both of them. Lizzy being slightly thinner. Bright and beautifully maintained hair. Shining, prismatic eyes. Lizzy was already a few inches taller than Reiss, and Queen Eli was even taller. It was something else seeing the Queen in person. He's seen illustrations and sculptures of her but never in color.

A crude analogy would be looking at a numbered coloring book where an artistic child ignored the proposed colors and just filled in whatever colors they felt like.

"You two okay? I didn't think you would be able to continue after being interrupted once."

Reiss got to watch them both flush with color. Surprisingly, it was the Queen who was more embarrassed. Lizzy didn't even stutter in response.

"What was that? What did you do? Was that magic?"

"Time magic."

"Impossible."

Lizzy's words were breathy. It couldn't be. No one could control time. Space was extremely fickle as is. It was an absolute disaster trying to convince time to bend. The slightest miscalculation and...

Eli was staring at Reiss like he was a monster.

"It's true, Lizzy. Time Magic is possible. In fact, I've rushed here to help you both. I didn't expect you to be so... spirited. But I needed to make sure you were both still in one piece."

Lizzy wanted to deny it. But she experienced it herself. The evidence was right before her. That ridiculous amount of mana, his sudden appearance inside, bypassing the wards and somehow knowing the password, the conspicuous spatial anomaly, and regressing through time herself. Even if it was only two minutes, the feat was undeniable. Still, she questioned Reiss as her sword became unsteady in her grasp.

"Then, you are saying that you managed to travel back in time?"

A nod.

Eli asked.

"Why."

"Because Lizzy asked me to save you. And I wanted to save Lizzy."

"What does that mean? Is Eli in danger? What happened? I have so many questions."

Lizzy believed him unconditionally now. It would be like her. She had been griping over not being able to touch the school of Time magic for years. After mastering space, what was the next step? How could she beat Eli in a duel? How could she finally earn the right to marry her? And if she continued to fail? If she were completely unable to manipulate time, she would have sought out someone who could. If Eli happened to perish before then, she would undoubtedly ask the stranger for help. Bargain and plea as well, eventually.

Reiss smiled, knowing what was going through her head. He decided to make it easier for them. Casting his [Memory Mansion]. a new door appeared in the room with a calming jingle of a bell.

"Why don't you ask yourself?"