It wasn’t hard for Jackson to piece together the identity of the Berserker based off of Catherine’s story. He did find it surreal to realize she was going to be his adopted daughter, but that was a while from now. His head hurt from this time travel stuff.

“I get it, if you cause a big enough scene and kill enough people, the assassins won’t get a chance to retaliate. The war won’t start, and the girls won’t die. But you’re sacrificing yourself. Catherine doesn’t like that.”

“Cat is a child. She still believes that a knight in shining armor will ride out and save the day. The war is coming, and there is nothing we can do about it. Those in power are already moving the pieces into place. I’m just going to delay it for as long as possible. She’ll understand one day.”

“I don’t know what happened last time we were here, or I was here, or you… doesn’t matter… but I think I have a better way. No assassins, no war. You must know where and how they attack. Catherine given us the basics, but she only knows the stories you told her. Surely, with you, we can stop the massacre.”

“You have no idea what’s about to happen. It’s too late.”

“No. We simply don’t have time. Help me, for them. For Angela, Gypsy and Barbara. For everyone you lost tonight. Help me stop it.”

“Barbara.”

They stood in silence. His future self-appeared to be thinking.

“The good thing is, when your plan fails, I can quite simply switch to my idea. I think I’m going to aim for Luna’s head when that time comes. I missed the chance last time around.”

“But you’re going to try and help me first.”

“Try is a strong word. Maybe, not prevent. Help from a distance. Either way, I’m going to enjoy cracking skulls. But, when this blows up in your face, it’s on you.”

“Cool. I’m glad we’re on the same page. That was quicker than I expected.”

“Oh, we simply don’t have time to debate. I’d say we have about another five minutes until the fun begins.”

“What?”

“Yep, five minutes at the most,” his future self-repeated. “We need to get a move on. Who else you got?”

“Catherine, Annabelle and Charles.”

“I only heard stories about Charles. Probably shouldn’t be a part of your plan considering he dies tonight.”

“You couldn’t have told your daughter that? So, we could stop him being included in this plan?”

“Maybe you should ask how he died.”

“I scared to now,” Jackson said. He shook for a moment. “Do I kill him?”

“Luckily no. Four minutes.”

“Then let’s get moving!” Jackson yelled, turning on his heels. His future self was just behind them as they sprinted. They reached the others.

“We got about two minutes,” old Jackson said in a gruff voice. “The attack starts above the ballroom. Thirteen assassins in total. They’re using poisoned tipped crossbows; each was given a specific target to take out at the exact same time. Four of them miss.”

“How much time do we have?” Charles asked.

“Forty or so seconds.”

Jackson felt his heart racing.

“We can’t get back to the ballroom in that time!” Charles shouted.

“We got two time mages,” old Jackson said with a smile.

“Oh.”

“I’ll get us started.” Old Jackson seemed concentrate for a long moment. Time once more paused around young Jackson.

“So now we can just kill all the assassin, problem solved,” Annabelle said with a smile.

“Not quite,” old Jackson said. “Catherine, the rules.”

“While time is paused, we can’t hurt anyone, nor interact with anything. Time is paused after all.”

“So, what you’re saying is, that we need to kill thirteen people at the same moment, with only four of us, all at the exact moment he un-pauses time. Explain to me again why we didn’t bring anyone else in on this plan?” Charles snapped.

“Told you my plan was better,” old Jackson laughed.

“Father!” Catherine snapped.

“What, we also need to take out all the assassins without anyone learning they exist. An attempted assassination can be just as bad, if not worse, then a successful one. The war will start if even one assassin is found. Got to love politics.”

“Maybe the Berserker plan is the way to go,” young Jackson said.

“No, it’s not!” Catherine snapped.

“What plan?” Charles asked.

“It’s a terrible plan,” Catherine said. “We don’t need to take them out at the same time, we just need to draw them into a fight at the same moment and stop them attacking anyone below.”

“Couldn’t you just go back in time and give us a few extra minutes?” Charles asked in a heated voice. “You know, instead of waiting to the last second.”

“Time travel doesn’t work like that. You can’t affect your own past,” old Jackson answered. “I was heartbroken when I learned that truth. Besides, time travel puts a massive strain on the mage. It can even kill us if we aren’t careful.”

“That’s ignoring the mana it takes,” Catherine commented. “We had to drain a two-thousand-year-old mana bank to get back here.”

““A what?”” Annabelle and young Jackson asked together.

“You two will learn,” Catherine said with a smile.

“We don’t have time for this!” Charles reminded them.

“Actually, we do,” old Jackson said. “I can keep this up for about three hours our time. Let’s focus on finding the assassins.”

They walked in silence to the balcony area over the ballroom. The entire time Jackson was thinking. He needed a solution to the problem.

“We can’t interact with anyone while time is paused?” he asked.

“Yep, anyone who is paused can’t be touched. You can hack at them all day, and nothing will happen. Otherwise taking the Berserker down would be much easier.”

“What about people that aren’t paused?” young Jackson asked.

“There’s no advantage, you still need to fight them.”

“But we could fight and kill them?”

“Yeah. Once they are in the time bubble they’ll be on our time.”

“But they couldn’t hurt anyone outside of the bubble?”

“Everyone outside would be paused, so no.”

“So, could we bring the assassins into this bubble?” young Jackson asked.

“No,” old Jackson answered in a flat tone. “Unable to affect anyone outside of the bubble. Once I drop it, it will take me a couple of seconds to put it back up. More than enough time to get their shots off.”

“Can Catherine create one of these bubbles?” Charles asked. The group came to a halt, staring several cloaked figures standing over the party. They had aimed their weapons and were getting ready to fire.

“Yes, but I can’t hold it for very long. I’ve been using a lot of mana over the past couple of days and haven’t had a chance to recharge.”

“And if she collapses or dies the bubble will fall apart instantly.” Old Jackson added.

“How long can you give us?” young Jackson asked.

“Maybe three or four minutes,” Catherine answered. “That’s if I’m not fighting.”

“Sounds like we got a plan,” young Jackson commented. “You drop it, Catherine instantly puts up a new bubble, then me, gramps, Annabelle and Charles murder the thirteen assassins before they figure out what’s going on. Can we do that?”

“We’d need to be quick,” old Jackson looked at the other two. “Might want to prep some spells. Remember, once time is paused you can go all out without worrying about collateral damage.”