《The Time Tower (the first visit)》Chapter 17
Advertisement
Jaru screamed in pain. He tried to pull the key back out, tried to release the key’s handle, but they
were both held fast. Shadows leaped from his eyes and open mouth, from the keyhole, from the cracks
appearing in the wall.
Several onlookers cried out and attempted to reach him, but they were swallowed up by the
shadows. Their cries of pain joined Jaru’s, echoing off the walls and piercing Pima’s eardrums. Pima
scrambled for the key as well, but she couldn’t pull hers out, and she couldn’t break through the
shimmering wall to grab its copy.
Time shifted. The scene elongated and compressed, shoving this Jaru to the side and making
room for a long line of Jarus, each of a mirror of the first Jaru’s agony, to appear.
Pima tore her gaze from this vision to look behind her. A line of Pimas wound down the hall
behind her and disappeared down the stairs. A hundred Pimas all stuck to the floor, their expressions
frozen in various stages of hopelessness and horror.
And this is the vision that undid the knot that held the part of herself that she’d been holding onto
in her mind. There was a...slip...She felt it. She was unraveling.
“Ahhhhh!”
Her hands flew to her head, her heart, her mouth. She threw herself at the guardian’s image of her
father and beat at him with her fists. She stumbled into Akish’s chest and threw her arms around him, too
drained for tears or words to express all the heartache she felt at her failure, her inability to cage time, to
turn back the clock, to save him, save them, save anything.
As time incarnate, the Tower had always seemed two things to her: imposing and cruel. Now she
knew that time was impassive. It marched on because it must. It was hard and immovable but it wasn’t
Advertisement
cruel.
She felt the apparition’s arms encircle her, gently, lovingly almost, and she pressed her face into
its shoulder.
“Pima…”
“Don’t.”
“Pima, you can’t---”
“I know I can’t! I can’t change anything! I can’t save anyone! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t
save you!”
“Stop looking back, Pima. You can’t stay in the past. You don’t belong here.”
“I know. I know. I can’t go back. I can’t. I can only...go...forward…” She pulled away, her eyes
searching for the light that stood watch over the form of a sleeping five-year-old Akish. “And do better.”
She took a step away from the Tower guardian, prying her arm free from its grip, and crept back
into the room to stand beside young Akish’s sleeping form. She reached out a trembling hand as if to
brush the hair from his eyes. “I have to look forward. There’s nothing else I can do for you...for them...but
they can still make a difference. They can do better. I choose to look forward...to their future.”
She refused to run. She refused to look back when the guardian called her name. She refused to
stop, though the floor continued to buckle and shadows leaped from the walls and it felt like she was
caving into herself, crumbling into dust. She walked through door after door in a straight line, never
deviating from her chosen path. No, she inched along as if she had all the time in the world, teeth and fists
clenched against the odd sensation of walking outside of time.
She reached the room where her father stood over the bed as her mother cuddled a newborn baby
in her arms as they discussed the activation of the Tower. With eyes burning from unshed tears, Pima
Advertisement
walked through the next door - a scene of her parents bent over Tower schematics - and the next - the
family of three sitting around the same table eating supper - and the next - her father holding back her
mother’s hair as she threw up into a wastebasket - until finally - she was met with nothing on the other
side of the door but a black void.
She closed her eyes and imagined her mother and brother as they had been in her memory of
them standing beside the horse, getting ready to move on to the first tiny, rundown house among many that stood out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by wildlife and fog poison. There she was riding on
Akish’s shoulders. She laughed at his joke, the joyful sound ringing out loud and clear.
There was her father, leading the horse on, while their mother walked beside him. She held his
hand; she was smiling. And there was Neeman as she imagined him at that age, walking beside Akish,
grinning up at her, with the left side of his mouth screwed up just a bit higher and a warm twinkle in his
eye.
Avir and all the rest, the brave group that had stormed the Tower, trailed behind the horse,
skipping and hopping along as if they were part of a celebratory parade. In the background, she heard her mother’s voice singing a lullaby, lulling her to rest.
“I choose you,” Pima whispered. She took a step back, and her searching hand found the
guardian’s.
She was lifted off her feet and cradled in gentle arms. Good, because at that moment she heard a
baby’s thin wailing cry, echoing through the maze of time, a shrill cord of hope. She was sure the sound
would have sent her to her knees.
Pima lay limp in her brother’s arms as he cradled her close to his chest. She imagined that his
hands were warm. She imagined that she could hear his heartbeat, and she smiled.
He looked down at her, a question in his eyes. Her vision blurred, or its face did, and she didn’t
know who she was looking at. Akish or Neeman or her father. She didn’t care. It was enough to know she
wasn’t alone.
The figure took one step forward, and they fell into the dark abyss.
Advertisement
The Infinite Resurrections of Ray Mc'Lore
[You died from taking a poison dart] [Skill ‘???’ activates] [You have stolen +2 AGI; +5 STR; +10 PHY from your killer] [You obtained Poison Resistance] [Ressurecting to your last check point] One day, strange monoliths appeared all over the world, creating gateways to pocket spaces filled with monsters. These monoliths were later named dungeons. Those who touched these monoliths gained supernatural powers and also access to stats and attributes. It was called System. Within a year, society collapsed as a new one stood from its ashes. Several years later, in a remote dungeon, a young man sees a bunch of weird texts floating before his eyes just before death claimed him, thereby changing his life forever. --- AN: inspirations are taken from a few Korean novels. It is my firts time writing so please go easy on me.
8 167In Search Of The Sanctuary
[CURRENTLY ON A MONTH-LONG HIATUS. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST CHAPTER FOR MORE DETAILS.] A man summoned to a fantasy world agrees to the request of the Humans to vanquish the Demon Race and becomes the Hero. After a lengthy ordeal fraught with obstacles, he, along with his allies, defeat the Demon King and drive the Demon Race to the brink of extinction. But he is betrayed by most of his allies, who attempt to exterminate him. He is saved by the Goddess of the World, who shows him a vision of a Sanctuary of unparalleled serenity and urges him to come to her. He is reincarnated as the son of a wonderfully cheerful Elven couple Elrohir and Luthien, who name him Aldon. Follow Aldon on an adventure of a lifetime as he seeks out the Sanctuary to get answers. Chapters will be updated weekly on Mondays at 08:00 AM IST (Indian Standard Time). This novel is also published on: Wattpad, Scribble Hub, and FictionPress.
8 160Promote on the path of the dragon
It tells the story of an abandoned Chinese who fought with werewolves, kinsmen, and all powerful enemies on the land of Britain, and finally established his own power.
8 163The Lieutenant
Harper Williams has never been one to follow the rules, so it's no surprise she lands herself in a court-ordered delinquent bootcamp for two years trapped under Lieutenant Assholes ruling. He's unapproachable, unattainable and fucking hot. Rumour has it, he took a vow to not have intimate relations with any of the recruits. So what happens when she accidentally ends up sharing a shower with him?Will he break his vow, or will she just get into a lot of trouble for that? 🪖💎Short story, no triggers. 💎🪖
8 211Join The Crew [ One Piece Various x JJK Reader]
[One Piece Various x Jujutsu Kisen Reader]Book 1"That is one interesting power you have" (Y/n) spoke interrupting the amused male. "Woah! Who are you? I didn't see you on the ship earlier!" Luffy exclaimed while pointing to the female. "Oh, me? I'm the greatest and strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer, (Y/n) Gojo".There are major spoilers for both of these animes, so be prepared! I will also be taking from the manga of Jujutsu Kaisen, I do not own any of the characters of the animes, just some of the added plot I made up on my own! Enjoy!
8 193Malec one shot
My boys malec and my crazy mind
8 190