No Time to Explain

It's not clear how long it'd been. Days? Weeks? Years? Do labels like that even matter any more? For someone in his position time no longer had any real meaning. He was removed from time and space; able to traverse it freely with little to no repercussions. One of the very few perks of his blight. In an odd way it seems in the end he got what he wanted, just not the way he'd wanted it. But that was besides the point. The intricacies of time travel and its effects on the timeline had been a moot point for millions of years and millions of timelines. Different iterations of reality that all ended the exact same way. With Meridian's death and Matrix's ascension.

This iteration was no different. Despite his efforts this timeline had been brought down a doomed path. By this point Matrix's methods were so fine tuned he could pretty much guarantee one of two outcomes, although both of them ended in his death in the end. For the past several instances of the timeline he'd opted for this outcome. One that, while devastating to the world and almost irrecoverable, had far more promise than the other. If only he could find a way past it.

The year was 7000ADI, and it had been for the past thousand or so years. That being said, with time no longer flowing there was no way to truly tell just how long the world had been trapped in this state. His soul, or Meridian's soul rather, had been stolen by a being that'd been pestering the two of them for decades now. A thorn in their side Matrix couldn't get rid of without sending the timeline down a different and more unpredictable path. As much as he didn't like it, this being rising to power prevented more doomed timelines than it caused. A bump in the road to be sure, but one he deemed necessary.

It always ended like this. The god of white would fake out Meridian, rip his soul from his body, and finally absorb it for herself before reality ceased to exist. There was a problem with her methods, however. Her wild magic, magic that had blighted her body in ways never seen before or since, caused her physical form to be incompatible with the soul of a god. Especially one as powerful as Meridian. Once in place his soul would try its best to repair what was left of her, which in turn would destroy the remains of her being and allow Meridian to finally "die" once and for all. This version of him would be overtaken by blight, turn into a wraith, and merge with Matrix before he headed back to the beginning of the timeline to start this song and dance all over again.

Matrix had a bit of a game plan this time. There were two main problems with the current situation. The first one was obviously the fact he couldn't do anything. He may be the culmination of thousands of Meridian's past selves and the knowledge they each gained on their own time in the spotlight, but his being was weak and vulnerable. Matrix had taken great care in crafting his rules in order to prevent himself from getting killed and truly causing the end of existence. If that were even possible. By this point he figured if he did die the never ending loop would start all over again with the very first version of Meridian getting killed for the very first time. The slate would be wiped clean. In theory, anyway. When it came right down to it Matrix could not confront his rival by himself. It was too much of a risk.

The second issue was the fact no one else was around to help him in his endeavors. No one powerful or knowledgeable enough to do anything about it, anyway. With her ability to manipulate space and time the god of White had "revived" a select few people, but they were all powerless against her. She had made sure of that. Matrix needed someone, anyone, worth their salt in magic to come to his aid, but with his rival now pulling the strings he was unable to unfreeze anyone himself.

It had occurred to him not so long ago that he may be able to use his wraith abilities to solve this conundrum. In the previous iteration of this timeline, one that had ended in disaster as per usual, Matrix had successfully gone back in time and plucked an individual away and brought them back without any of the typical side effects of time travel. Typically when someone attempted time travel one of two things would happen. Going back in time would result in a cascade of changes to the timeline, causing it to break as a result, and going forwards would force the timeline to create millions of calculated events in an instant which would also result in the timeline shattering. Reality had a funny way of keeping itself intact, however, so under normal circumstances anyone dumb enough to attempt time travel would end up being blighted and turned into a wraith.

Matrix had discovered not too long ago in the previous iteration of this timeline that instead of unfreezing someone in the current time he could simply pluck someone from a point in time where time still flowed and bring them back here to lend him aid. Because time had to be flowing in order for these ripple effects to kick off bringing someone to a point where time was static seemed to be enough to prevent any immediate disasters. If he could get his plan to work and successfully revive his current self there would be no issue in the timeline whatsoever either, as his current self could use his magic to wipe their memory clean. Matrix could then return them to the exact point in time they left and the timeline would remain unaltered as a result.

But now he was left with a conundrum. Who the hell should he bring here? It was no secret the foe he was up against was powerful. Extremely powerful. Powerful enough to smite the god above gods and steal his soul for her own personal gain. He had to find someone not only willing to face someone like this but also able to. Someone who could hit the ground running and roll with the punches in spite of the horrors of this timeless wasteland that was once Mirror Domain. Someone... Like himself.

It was an insane plan. A plan that very well could and most likely would result in this timeline being doomed. A plan that would make the 14000 years of his work in this timeline all for nothing. But it was a plan worth attempting. He either took the leap now and tried something crazy or sat around and did nothing and let this iteration of the timeline die like it had thousands of times before. Matrix had made up his mind. He was going to call upon the aid of past Meridian to finally put this all to rest.

With this plan now in place Matrix headed off through time all the way back to the year 926ADI. The beauty of the blueish sky above him and the purple tinted plants that populated the landscape of Eon Isle was indescribable. After so long of being trapped in the dull and colourless world of the future any chance of pace would be enough to bring a tear to his eye, if he could cry that is. It goes without saying you need tear ducts in order to do that, and seeing as Matrix had shed the flesh of his body eons ago there was nothing there to produce anything off the like.

This point in time was chosen strategically. By now Meridian had already seen the rise and "fall" of the god of White. A young kodin by the name of Mau who happened to get her hands on a multitude of powerful relics and gain the favor of all the lesser gods. At this point in time Meridian would have enough context to know the true gravity of the future issue. Enough to take it seriously, anyway. Matrix knew he'd be capable, but that wasn't where he was stuck. What puzzled him now was actually getting Meridian to leave with him willingly.

Meridian had a few tricks up his sleeve. Tricks that even Matrix couldn't do anything about despite knowing them himself. If he grabbed Meridian by the arm and began dragging him away unprompted he'd simply teleport out of the wraith's grasp before he could get him anywhere. He'd have to do something in order to catch the god of time off guard long enough to get him where he needed to go. But what could he do? Whatever it was, he had to make it count. If this went any way other than perfect this timeline would come to an abrupt end.

That's when it hit him. Matrix had done everything once, from his perspective, but there was one thing he'd yet to do in this iteration of the timeline that would be guaranteed to catch his living self so off guard he could do basically whatever he wanted to him. All it'd take were a few simple words.

As one of Matrix's many rules he'd taken a vow of silence to prevent Meridian from connecting the dots on his true identity. In every version of the timeline where Matrix had outed himself as Meridian's wraith the timeline was immediately doomed on the spot. Once Meridian knew his fate he became far more reckless and self destructive; knowing that if whatever he did resulted in his death he'd simply turn into a wraith and try it all again. The weight of his death being the end of all things ceased to have any meaning, and Matrix knew all too well there was nothing he could say or do to stop him. He had millions of memories from all of his different iterations floating around in his head and each and every time their line of logic was the exact same. It'd be nearly impossible to convince him otherwise.

That being said, talking to Meridian wasn't a guarantee the timeline would end. That only happened if Meridian connected the dots and figured out Matrix's true identity. If he chose his words carefully he'd be able to remain a mystery yet still have the desired result of disorienting Meridian enough to whisk him away. The timeline was doomed anyway. It was worth a shot, and Matrix knew exactly what he was going to say next.

“There’s no time to explain” The Wraith hissed in a hoarse tone.

It wasn’t long before the creature had him by the arm, and before Meridian knew it it’d whisked him away to an unknown location; ripping him from my current point in the timeline and hurling him through a twisted portal of distorted lights and colours. This was far from the first time something like this had happened. Matrix had been pestering him for as long as they could remember. Before his ascension, even. Day in and day out, every loop and every blip he’d been stalking Meridian. Dragging him away somewhere wasn't all that out of the ordinary, but this time was different. This time he was dragging him to a different time rather than just a different location.

"There's no time to explain". Those words echoed in his mind over and over again as the wraith unceremoniously yanked him by the arm and shotgunned him through this portal of his. Under normal circumstances things like this could have been prevented with his ability to loop time. Time loops, having the day repeat itself infinitely, had been the reason for his ascension into godhood. Living each day a million times over, learning everything there is to know and experiencing everything there is to do. It really opens the mind to a world of possibilities the average mortal would never even be able to imagine. There was a glaring issue with this method of his, however.

Seeing as he was the god of time and space and the only one other than Matrix to experience these infinitely repeating days, the only anomaly, he was invulnerable. He'd seen what’s coming a thousand times over. It's the reason Meridian had been able to remain unseen by the world for all this time. The second anyone else is subject to these loops is when things go wrong. Once someone else gets involved they learn, grow, and change. They’re no longer trapped in a set schedule at the mercy of the timeline. Matrix was one of the very few creatures able to persist through these loops with. Wraiths, after all, aren’t bound by the timeline. Even he was at the timeline’s mercy, and he was supposed to be the god of such things.

This morning after being ripped from the safehaven of his citadel Meridian found himself laying on what seemed to be the cold stone floor of an unknown location. Looking around revealed a bizarre landscape unlike any he'd ever seen. It certainly looked like Mirror Domain at first glance. When every day extends on into the millions it’s hard not to familiarize yourself with the landscape of your world. He's quite literally explored every inch of this world. No stone left unturned.

He'd been brought to Barrowford. More specifically it’s capital: Astra. But it's surroundings were different. In place of the warm and welcoming purple roofed buildings and brown wooden structures everything was grey and dull. Sand, soot, and debris laid suspended in midair, and everything in the surrounding area was completely motionless. No wind. No signs of life. Not even the normal ambiance related to existence itself could be heard in the area. This was very clearly a populous city, yet it was deathly silent. So silent the sound of his own breathing seemed loud by comparison. It was the only thing Meridian could hear at all. At least, at first.

Seeing as he was here and the day had definitely ticked over to the next he really didn’t have much time to assess the situation. He'd yet to start today's loop and that needed to be the main priority. As powerful as someone like him is, he's not invincible. Outside his time loops he's as vulnerable as anyone else, and he absolutely couldn't have that. Not in a place like this. Not in a situation like this. If Meridian was going to be subject to whatever the hell Matrix had in store for him he may as well set up a safeguard. Inside a loop if he happened to get himself killed the day just resets. He just wakes up wherever he happened to establish the loop. Outside of one, though, his death was permanent. There’s no coming back from death, even for the gods.

Luckily he still had his bag. How or why he didn't know, but it didn’t matter at the time. The only thing of importance was gathering the required potion ingredients in order to start today’s loop. Everything seemed to be in order. As orderly as a bag like this can be, anyway. It was able to hold a damn near infinite amount of items, but everything of importance still seemed to be there. His journal, scythe, backup vials of various magics, spell components. It was all there just as it should be. Strange. In Meridian's experience when Matrix drags him off like this he takes something; usually his journal. Matrix doesn’t like him documenting their adventures.

That’s when it  hit him. While he'd been stunned by it in the moment, given the absurdity of this morning the thought had quickly been pushed aside. Now that he'd had a moment to regain his bearings Meridian could really stop to think about what had just happened. Matrix had spoken to him. He’d actually used spoken word for the first time. In all his years of dealing with that creature he’d never once uttered a single intelligible word, yet the sentence he spoke was crystal clear. Didn’t have time to explain. Hah. Somehow he doubted that. Wraiths aren’t bound by the laws of time. It’s a meaningless concept to them. Where had he run off to?

The whereabouts of his colleague would have to wait. Right now Meridian had to establish today's loop. Getting the loop started was simple enough. Everything was right where it should be in his bag, so it was simply a matter of getting it all measured and mixed together. Seeing how many times he'd done this before it took almost no time at all. With his safeguard finally in place it was time to continue the day as normal. As normal as a day like this could be, anyway.

His first loops are always spent watching. Watching, waiting, documenting. Letting the world tick by uninterrupted to get a feel of how the day was going to play out before meddling with things. If Matrix brought him to Astra there was undoubtedly a reason for it; especially if it was in this state. It seemed as if the place had experienced quite the tragedy.

Walking through the city streets gave little insight as to what had happened here, however. The streets were largely empty. Floating clouds of dust and debris were scattered every which way, and several buildings appeared to be in a suspended state of collapsing. They were in the midst of destruction by the looks of it, but it seemed as if time no longer had an effect on anything. It was all so bizarre. Unlike anything he'd ever seen before. At least, anything he'd seen that wasn’t a direct result of his own magic. The consequences of his actions didn’t apply so long as the day kept resetting. With that in mind Meridian had done quite a few things which have culminated in what would have been the end of the world in the past, all for the sake of his research.

It was odd seeing Astra in this state. The province was usually full of life. Many of Meridian's closest colleagues resided here. It was, after all, the only settlement in Mirror Domain with ample access to his magic. Purple Magic had always been a scarcity. The more he looked into things the stranger things got. The silence didn’t help, either. Silence like this only told him he was the only one in the area. He had to be. Given how quiet things were if anyone else did happen to be here he'd have probably heard them by now.

The next several hours of wandering would only reveal more of the same. More desolate, grey, unmoving buildings in various states of destruction. Some were relatively untouched with their only differences being the grey hue that seemingly stained the landscape. Others had been reduced to nothing but rubble. More alarming than that, however, were the remains of what once were the citizens of Barrowford.

Eventually he did happen upon people, but they weren’t the kinds of people you’d expect to see in a capital city. All of them were grey and frozen like the landscape. Living statues which dotted the area; their expressions of fear forever frozen on their faces as they ran from the destruction that’d never come. A perfect snapshot of a collapsing society in motion. It was unnerving, to say the least. All of these statues were people Meridian knew well. People he'd spent thousands upon thousands of loops getting to know. Many of them he knew better than they’d ever know themselves, but Meridian figured that came with the territory of godhood. A widened scope of the world. A certain amount of omnipotence.

Of course, he was far from all knowing. The only reason he seemed to know everything was because he'd lived it all a million times before allowing the day to establish itself in the timeline. The first few loops of a new day were always that of discovery. After all, he couldn't know what was to come before seeing it himself. This situation was one he'd never seen before. He didn’t even know where to begin with it.

As much as it annoyed him to see his younger self wandering around aimlessly, Matrix knew it was necessary. If Meridian didn't get enough of a taste of this world before he intervened the true horror of the situation would be unable to sink in. He knew there was time to spare. He had to leave Meridian alone long enough to realize time wasn't flowing and his potion of Temporal Echo would be of no use here.

Eventually, though, Meridian did seem to admit defeat. Once he'd made his way to Astra City's capital building things seemed to click for him. Once inside he could see firsthand that no clocks were ticking. Upon seeing that he really began to look into the situation more critically. The sun was unmoving in the sky, the wind was static and still. All telltale signs time wasn't affecting this place.

But now Matrix was stuck with another dilemma. There were only three people in the entirety of Mirror Domain up and able to move. Himself, Meridian, and Mau. If he allowed Meridian to interact with Mau before getting context as to what was going on it'd only raise questions. Not only that, but Mau would most likely put an end to his existence and this iteration would come to an end. He had to do something to get Meridian on track, but what that something was he didn't know. This was one of the very rare times he was experiencing something new, and unfortunately he only had one shot at it.

As the god of time continued to wander the desolate landscape in search of answers, Matrix stationed himself atop the capitol building to think things over. What could he do? There had to be something he could say or somewhere he could bring his colleague in order to provide answers, but with a near infinite amount of possibilities before him it was hard to settle on just one.

That's when it hit him. The Meridian in this point in time, the current one, was still here. His soul had been torn away, but his body had yet to succumb to its blight. He was perfectly frozen in time along with everyone and everything else in this world. Showing the past Meridian that much would cement it in his mind this was, in fact, a different point in time. He may have gathered that time was unmoving, but so far it seemed he was blind to the point in time he was in.

Meridian sat idly at the bottom of the stairs in front of city hall. Something was undoubtedly wrong with the world but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what had happened. Nothing that had happened yesterday would have resulted in an event like this. Nothing he could remember right away, anyway. That being said, Meridian had never trusted his own memory. Written word was the only way to guarantee information didn't get lost, so like he'd done millions of times before he opened the palm of his hand as if to open a book in order to summon his journal. Surely there was something he had overlooked. it was just a matter of figuring out what.

Oddly enough, when Meridian went to summon his journal not one, but two appeared in his hand. A bizarre situation to be sure. He only had one single journal tethered to his being. Yes, he had thousands upon thousands of books back in his citadel, but none of those could be summoned at will the same way this one could. It was yet another strange event on this day of anomalies.

Comparing the two it was clear they were identical copies of one another. The only difference between the books was the fact one of them lacked colour the same way everything else here did. Where this second book came from was a mystery, but not one that couldn't be solved right here and now. There was one surefire way to confirm the books were the same, and that was to open the second one and inspect its contents

Matrix had been so caught up in pondering what to say he'd completely overlooked one glaring detail. Meridian's journal! Upon first arriving he had dug through his bag manually in order to check on his items. Because of that his book hadn't been summoned as it usually was. Seeing him with the second book provided a golden opportunity. If all else failed he could at least swipe the second book in order to luer Meridian where he needed him to go, although with what Matrix had in mind that wouldn't be necessary.

The wraith flew down from the top of the building and in one swift motion grabbed the now open book from his colleague's hands; slamming it shut in the process. As finely tuned as Meridian's reflexes were, it was damn near impossible for him to anticipate anything he hadn't lived through at least once. His fatal flaw.

"Snooping as usual, I see" Matrix growled. "How typical of you. Unfortunately now isn't the time for that. There's much more important work to be done"

Meridian just stared at the wraith before him as it spoke. His voice was hoarse and raspy, and his tone was eerily threatening despite its lack of fluctuation. After all these years of silence it was bizarre to hear this creature speak in clear Standard language. Most wraiths didn't talk, but Meridian knew for a fact they could. They simply didn't for whatever reason.

"You... After all these years of giving me the cold shoulder you're finally speaking up?" Meridian asked, flipping his book to a fresh page to begin noting all of this down. "I demand to know the meaning of this. All of this."

Before he got the chance to write anything down Matrix brought his thumb to  the tips of his fingers as if to close a book. In doing so Meridian's journal disappeared from sight. Seeing as Matrix and Meridian were one in the same, he was able to summon and dismiss the journal the same way Meridian was. He didn't have to be holding it either.

"There's. Work. To. Be. Done." Matrix repeated, putting emphasis on each and every word. "Come along, now"

He had no intention of revealing any more than he had to. Of all people he knew damn well Meridian was smart. Even if he did get his memory wiped after all of this was over, assuming it worked, there was no guarantee it would stay that way. Part of his appeal was the fact he was cryptic and vague. Just the kind of thing that'd draw Meridian's attention. If he started answering questions now they'd be stuck in yet another never ending cycle

Seeing his book being dismissed without his permission was enough to anger him, but Matrix abruptly turning heel and floating off pushed Meridian over the edge. His relationship with this wraith was never consistent, that was for sure. One moment they'd be the best of friends coexisting peacefully and the next the damn thing would hit him upside the head with a metal chair for seemingly no reason other than to piss him off. He'd saved Meridian's life just as many times as he'd trapped him in a near inescapable trap and left him to rot.

This time, though. This time was different. The fact he was talking meant he had something to say. Something important enough to break a 7926 year bout of silence. That number wasn't even accurate either, seeing as Matrix clearly persisted through loops with him. For all intents and purposes Matrix had been silent for millions of years and now he not only had the audacity to utter a single phrase to him but then to run off as if nothing had ever happened? No. He wasn't having it. This little game of his had gone on too long. It was time for answers, and Meridian fully intended on getting them one way or another.

"Excuse me?" He called out, picking up his pace to catch up with the wraith. "Where the hell do you think you're going? After all this time you're going to leave me with that? If you have something to say, say it. I'm fed up with your little game"

"All in due time. Patience is a virtue" Matrix replied deadpan.

He'd fully expected Meridian to be angry. He often was after their first conversation, and he very well knew why. Meridian's loops could go on for thousands of years if not longer. He'd tried everything he could think of to force Matrix to speak all to no avail. Meridian didn't like things happening on terms other than his own. Not that he was egotistical, but someone like him was used to getting his way eventually.

Matrix speaking to him unprompted also felt like a hollow victory. After everything he'd tried to force it out of him it was almost insulting for him to just come out and start talking without warning. It was almost as if he was saying "Your efforts were in vain, but you tried your best and I pity you".

Either way, Meridian could be as angry as he wanted. Matrix knew it was only a matter of time before the situation at hand fully sunk in and enveloped his attention like a black hole. So, Matrix continued on towards Eon Isle where the present day Meridian's body lay. Until they were there he had no intentions of saying anything else.

"Patience is a virtue.... Fine. I can be patient. I've waited this long, what's another thousand years or so?" Meridian muttered in response.

The wraith had really started picking up the pace; to the point Meridian could no longer follow in foot. It was clear he wanted him to follow. If there was one thing he knew about this wraith it was that his actions were all highly calculated. They may seem random at first, but in the end they're all chosen very carefully. If he wanted to disappear he would have just blipped away as he always did.

Unfurling his wings and taking advantage of his running start Meridian took off in pursuit of the wraith. The two flew for quite some time, traveling over the Sanquet mountain range and past Adastin and Bane until they'd eventually reached a vast open expanse of pure water. He knew very well where they were headed. Matrix was leading him back to the citadel. Of course, Meridian wasn't prepared for the condition it was currently in.

As they got closer and closer to their destination Meridian noticed that they weren't descending towards Eon Isle as he usually would traveling here on his own. Instead, Matrix was ascending higher and higher until eventually he wasn't even moving forwards anymore, only up. It was odd at first. At least, until the island came into view.

Breaking past the layer of what he assumed to be thick and unmoving clouds, Meridian could see the island he called home floating idly above the surface of the sea where it usually stood. Not only that, but it had been uprooted similar to how a plant is when pulled from the ground. The citadel below the island was clearly visible from where he was. It almost looked like a life sized ant farm.

Then, of course, was the staircase. Deep below the surface of the citadel Meridian had set up a rift where he could freely enter and exit his own domain at his leisure. This rift clearly didn't move along with everything else. Instead it appeared as if whoever had done this had extended the staircase from its usual starting point in the citadel all the way below the water's surface to where the rift naturally stood. It was bizarre to look at.

Eventually he made it to the inside of the Citadel where he saw yet another alarming sight, only this time what he saw before him raised far more concerns than everything else up to this point. Standing in the middle of the Citadel surrounded by chaos and destruction was a very familiar statue. It appeared to be that of a human clearly blighted by his magic. He was wearing large round glasses, a dress shirt, and a long flowing lab coat. It was undoubtedly a statue of himself. Meridian. But there was something wrong with it.

The statue's throat starting at the bottom of his chin and continuing down to his chest had been torn wide open. Whoever had constructed this statue had taken great care in making every minute detail as realistic as possible. Even the individual threads of his shirt had been perfectly crafted. Nothing was left untouched.

Given the fact Matrix was hovering idly at the statue's side it was clear this was what he wanted Meridian to see. Why was a completely different story, but he figured things would soon become clear. At least, he hoped things would become clear soon. So far today had taken a turn he never could have expected.

Tracing his hand across the statue's surface Meridian summoned his journal in the other to begin noting down this experience. Like before both his and the duplicate appeared in his grasp, and like before both books were promptly dismissed by Matrix. This was going to be a running theme, that was plainly obvious. An irritating one at that. Meridian let out an annoyed sigh.

"Fine, I won't note this down." He muttered. "What is the meaning of all this.. Is this another one of those events that can only play out in the set timeline? Or did you do something? Is this another one of your ploys to-"

"Ignorant, as always" The wraith grumbled, cutting him off. "You really do have a one track mind. Not that I'm surprised..."

"I am not ignorant! I'll admit I don't immediately know what's going on here but-"

"Ignorant" Matrix repeated, this time in a more assertive and somewhat fed up tone. "What do you think's going on here? I think it's quite obvious"

"Tsk. What do I think? Clearly between the span of yesterday and this morning something's gone wrong with the timeline to warrant it freezing up like this. And clearly your little stunt earlier was to prevent me from falling under its effects, but... I'll admit, I'm at a bit of a loss as to how this happened." Meridian said, clearly sounding less sure of himself as the sentence rambled on."

"... Typical. Blind to the possibilities..." Matrix said before beginning to fly off.

His own journal would be too much of a risk to let him look into. Inside were world events and spells and all manner of other things Matrix couldn't risk getting out if he did find a way to remember today. If today actually worked as he intended it to, anyway. There was still the very real possibility this would all be for naught. But Meridian not being ready to see his journal didn't mean he couldn't be shown something else to drive the point home.

The citadel was chalk full of books. Books documenting the lives of anyone who'd ever lived, books documenting various statistics of the world, books documenting random and seemingly useless information to anyone other than Meridian himself. Of course, all these books were dated with not only the dates of the set timeline but also the number of iterations of said day.

There was one book in particular Matrix was after. Of all the people Meridian kept tabs on there was always one who got priority over all the rest. Mainly because this one individual at any given time could out him to the world if he wasn't careful. That one person was his assistant. The guardian of Eon Isle, the alarm bell for anything being amyss during his loops, and the one mortal sane enough to keep him somewhat grounded in reality. One of the few people he allowed himself to listen to.

Past Meridian's assistant was a human woman by the name of Sylvana. She was by all accounts his and Matrix's favourite. Of every person he'd ever remembered working with, none of them could even compare. It made him sad to dwell on the matter for too long because Matrix knew no matter what he did there was no way to make her stay any longer. Even after their conversation. Even after revealing his identity. Nothing ever worked, and he'd accepted long ago that was just the way the timeline was going to go.

That being said, Meridian's assistant in the current day was different. Since Sylvana's retirement he'd had two more, making the final list for this iteration of the timeline Barx, Dawn, Maywell, Haco, Sylvana, Pippin, and finally the current one, Zero. She's who Matrix had his sights set on. Perhaps showing him her contract would finally get the message across. Then again, if showing him his own body frozen in the stasis of time wasn't enough there was a very real possibility this wouldn't be either.

As per usual the wraith flew off without context. He didn't know why he would have expected anything differently. Even after the creature decided to break this thousand year bout of silence he was still himself. A creature known for doing things with absolutely no regard for the safety or well being of anyone but himself. Typical.

Eventually, though, he did return. He returned with a single piece of paper in his hands. It appeared to be in pristine condition, other than the fact it too was clearly affected by the time stoppage. For once Matrix handed this item over in a rational way. Typically it'd be thrown, slapped against him in a fly by, attached to his person without his knowledge, or any other host of random and wacky ways one could give something to someone. Now, though, he simply handed it over. No tricks, no shenanigans, no nothing.

Detailed on this document was a contractual agreement Meridian was all too familiar with. One that had largely remained unchanged over the several thousand years it'd been in place and the 5 different people who'd signed it. A simple work agreement that, in essence, confirmed that the signing party would agree to guard the citadel, and by extension Eon Isle. Said party would be granted immortality for the extent of their stay as well as just about anything a mortal could possibly fathom so long as they continued to do their job without issue. Something nearly too good for anyone in their right mind to pass up. Something only a god could offer.

Of course, while the majority of this document was as it should be there were two things at the bottom that caught Meridian's attention. The first and most obvious one was the name of the individual signing it. At the bottom written on the signature line was the name "Cipher "Zero" Nix". Meridian couldn't recall anyone by that title no matter how hard he wracked his brain. But the name at the bottom wasn't what caught him off guard. It was the date.

5870 ADI. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. The laws of space and time had shown him time and time again that this couldn't be possible. All he could do was stare at that number as he looked for any way to explain this other than what he feared to be true. Time travel was against the rules. It was one of very few things deemed impossible by the laws of magic.

"What have you done..." He whispered, mostly to himself as he continued looking over the paper in utter awe.

Matrix didn't respond. Instead he circled around Meridian once, then the statue several times to draw his attention.

"What the hell have you done?!" Meridian said again, this time much louder and a fair bit angrier. In an instant he summoned his scythe to his side and held it at the ready. "Was this your doing? Do you have any idea the kind of damage you could have caused?! No wonder the world is in shambles, you broke the one rule we've had to follow since the beginning of all this! A rule you taught me, no less! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Taking a quick step forwards Meridian raised his scythe and gave it a powerful swing. He didn't care what lay in his path so long as he knocked some sense into Matrix's skull. Normally Meridian was level headed to some degree. Sanity had lost its meaning on the very first day of his ascension. He'd lost and regained his mind so many times that morality itself no longer applied to him. But in this instance with the singular rule of the universe broken he felt it was appropriate to let out the millions of years worth of rage he had against this creature. Especially considering it'd effectively ended the world in it's ploy.

Before the scythe could make contact with the petrified body of the current Meridian Matrix dismissed the scythe from past Meridian's grasp. In his many attempts to save this doomed timeline of events he had tried breaking the statue and every time it hadn't ended well. That being said, dismissing his weapon only seemed to anger Meridian more.

"No, this wasn't my doing." Matrix hissed, clearly annoyed. "I merely brought you here to pick up the pieces."

"Pick up the pieces? No, I'm done with you. You're either going to explain what's going on right here and now or I'm ending all of this right here and now"

Meridian re-summoned his scythe; this time with both blades active and split in two to have one in each of his hands. If he was going to talk he was going to talk. If not, Meridian no longer had any intentions of humoring him. Clearly he was still alive. Clearly what he knew about the laws of time travel was wrong, so there shouldn't be anything stopping him from returning to his current place and time in an attempt to prevent whatever the hell Matrix had done to cause all of this.

He once again ran at the wraith and gave two hefty swings of his scythes. One missed and made contact with the stone floor below causing it to shatter like glass. The pieces of broken flooring quickly disintegrated into nothing but dust. Not the intended effect, but Meridian paid it no mind.

His other swing contacted the wraith dead on, catching the few bones making up its spine and flinging it across the room and out into the sky around them. Almost immediately the wraith popped back into view, just as expected. Meridian could tell he'd pissed the thing off but he didn't care. He didn't want to care. He wanted an explanation.

The anger Meridian felt was no stranger to him. Matrix had been in this position before. Or rather, he'd been in an equivalent situation which had thrown him into a rage. There was really no way out of the situation other than to let Meridian exhaust himself. He knew he'd be able to take anything the god of time dished out. How long this would last he didn't know. All he did know was they had time left before the final end of this world. Enough for the rage of a god to run its course.

Swing after swing made contact with both the wraith and the ground beneath him. Every swing that hit the ground only caused more damage to the already decrepit citadel below them. It seemed as if the ground was only so stable. The second the ground was disrupted enough to break free of it's paralyzed state it no longer had anything keeping it together. Every place his weapon impacted the ground began to crumble away like dust. By the time he was done the entire place looked like a block of swiss cheese slowly becoming more and more unstable.

It wasn't clear how long his episode lasted. Usually Meridian was innately tied to the flow of time. He didn't need to check a watch or a calendar to know what time it was. It was ingrained into the very soul of his being. Now, though, that aspect of his existence was gone. The entire fight blurred into a single moment that could have lasted anywhere between a millisecond and a thousand years if not more. There was no way for him to tell how long this went on. All Meridian knew was that by the time he was done he'd completely exhausted himself.

Almost as if a switch had been flipped, Meridian abruptly stopped in his tracks and collapsed on the ground; like a fan being unplugged from the wall. One moment its blades were whirring at full speed and the next everything stood still. The stability of what was left of the citadel was questionable at best, but at that moment he didn't care. Exhaustion like this wasn't something he dealt with often. With how well he took care of his body in the set timeline it was rarely something that came up.

The wraith floated idly for a moment before lazily floating over to the collapsed mass of magic energy on the ground before him. Meridian was still seething with anger, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. Not without pushing himself too far. Even with the current situation at hand he knew Meridian wouldn't do anything that'd put his life at risk.

"Are you done yet?" He asked, sounding no more exerted than he had been before. "Or are you going to continue throwing a tantrum like a child?"

"I... Don't have to dignify that... With a response..." Meridian panted.

"You just did. Either way, if you're ready to talk rationally I'm ready to answer whatever questions you may have... So long as I'm permitted to."

Hearing that certainly caught Meridian's attention. Enough for him to sit himself upright to face the wraith as he spoke. He got the feeling the majority of his questions were going to forever remain unanswered, but something was better than nothing. Anything was better than nothing.

"Fine.... If you're really going to explain then get to it... Why did you bring me here?" Meridian asked. He was still clearly upset, but the promise of seemingly forbidden knowledge was too alluring to pass up."

"I already told you. You not wanting to believe me doesn't make it not true. I brought you here to fix this. Pick up the pieces. You and I both know you're the only one who can."

"Am I? Clearly you know more about the situation than I do. Why can't you do anything about it?"

"I've already done my part in bringing you here" The wraith replied. "Other than steer you in the right direction there isn't much else I can do"

"And why's that?" Meridian asked. "I know what you're capable of. I don't know how but you have magic that can rival my own. At least, in some regards. Some of what you do even I can't compare to... You're the one thing I can't seem to figure out."

"And you never will." Matrix said coldly.

"Of course. Why would I expect anything different from you..." Meridian sighed. "So you've brought me here to fix all of this. Mind telling me what happened? Kind of hard to me to do anything if I don't know what the problem is"

"That I can't tell you, but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough...."

Matrix looked out on all the destruction Meridian had just caused. Destruction that'd undoubtedly catch the attention of their adversary. Mau didn't often leave the citadel. More specifically, she didn't often leave the room; Meridian's own plane of existence. Time didn't flow in that place, but now that time ceased to flow in general there were no consequences for her staying there.

Of course, what she did in there Matrix didn't know. Once she'd gained control of Meridian's soul she'd gained control of the plane itself. Matrix was no longer welcome inside, and as a result the broken god of white had a safe haven all to herself.

Still, even with that in place and it being so terribly far away the sounds of destruction Meridian had just brought on would undoubtedly be enough to lure her out. That's when things would really kick off. Mau in her current state was heavily weakened, but with magic like hers the weaker she got the more unstable she became. It was a double edged sword, but knowing Meridian there was still a good chance he'd find himself being hit with the flat edge long enough to keep on going.

Meridian stared at the wraith for several moments in complete silence as he pondered what to do next. He wanted this written down for reference later. An issue of this magnitude would surely take a significant amount of time, and memory was something that faltered as time went on. The only true way to keep information straight was to have it on paper. Paper that Matrix clearly didn't want him using.

Slowly, looking the wraith straight into his glowing purple eye sockets, he raised his hand in an all too familiar gesture. Almost as if to gauge his reaction to his attempt to summon his journal before actually doing so. Like a cat staring at its owner before knocking a glass off the kitchen counter.

Before he got the chance to summon the book to his aid Matrix summoned the journals for himself. Part of a wraith's curse was the inability to utilize magic the same way one could in their normal state. He still had his magic, but it was as if the magic was locked away just out of reach. The power of a million gods all trapped in a state of stasis unable to exhaust itself. That being said, because he still had ties to Meridian, given they were the same entity, he could still trigger any active spells Meridian had up. This was why he was able to summon and dismiss things like the journal or scythes or enter areas Meridian had restricted access to.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that" He said, holding the books firmly.

"How do you expect me to do anything without my journal? You can't expect me to remember everything I've ever written."

Matrix just sighed. "I suppose that's why I'm here. If you really need information I can get it for you. But this" He held up the second journal "Is going to get you killed now and this" He held up the first "Will get you killed later. And we both know how that ends"

"Alright, fine. Mind bringing up the page on time stop, then?" Meridian asked.

Matrix, using the second book, flipped open the cover and began browsing through the seemingly infinite expanse of pages. Even with their ties to this book finding specific pages could prove to be difficult. By holding the book in his hand and thinking of certain key words or phrases the book would flip to any page applicable. Meridian was very particular about how he documented things. There was a whole system of symbols and shorthand in place to allow him to find things of importance, but if all else failed a simple word search could do the trick. It'd just take longer to find what he was looking for.

She had been laying in her domain for god only knows how long. The thick white blight that had overtaken her body like a fungus ached with every minor movement. Existence was painful. Open sores and exposed bone that somehow, despite the lack of nerve endings, burned with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns.

It'd been like this ever since the time stoppage, although back then it wasn't nearly as bad. By the time it had gotten bad enough to register as a concern it was too late to do anything about it. It was too late all the way back in the beginning. Those damn gods had bestowed upon her this curse eons ago and she'd resented them ever since. Luckily for her, though, they were all gone now. All of them but one. It was only her now. Just. Her…

Or so she thought. Breaking the deathly silence and snapping her out of her agony was a single sound. Then another, and then another still. The unmistakable sound of destruction. This was unexpected, but it was far from the first time she'd heard sounds like this. In recent times, if you could even call it that anymore, things all around the world had been crumbling to dust. It was as if the world itself was feeling the pain she was in. Pain that was finally starting to tear her down.

When the sounds didn't stop the broken and battered god rose to her feet and gave her torn wings a good stretch. She'd be damned walking up all those stairs. As much as existence pained her she could still do just about everything she could before. The pain she felt laying still and the pain she felt running a marathon were more or less the same in terms of intensity. they were clearly different sensations, but the same intensity all the same.

The citadel itself was rapidly beginning to crumble. Disintegrating down until the particles making up the dust itself fell apart. Reality was crumbling, and anything that moved out of place in a way it shouldn't was subject to the same fate. Simple things like books or doors could be disturbed as normal, but breaking a twig or stepping on a leaf was enough to make it crumble to nothing.

Soon enough she was back at the Citadel's base, right where the staircase led. There she could hear what sounded like a fairly mundane conversation. As muffled and far away as it was, the sounds screamed in her ears. Her head was pounding by the time she got close enough to make out what they were saying, and she didn't like what she heard when she got there.

"-which is why it needs to be lined with copper despite being a purple aligned artifact." Matrix finished.

He already knew why time had stopped, but that was a conclusion Meridian had to come to on his own. The more he could figure out on his own the higher chance this timeline had of succeeding. Generally speaking the less Matrix had to hold his hand the better. That's why he had all his rules set in place. That's why all the help he offered Meridian was so cryptic and confusing. It had to be, otherwise he'd never learn anything.

The sound of clawed feet pattering against the ground caused Matrix to freeze in place. He knew what was coming. Meridian was capable enough on his own. It was best if he left now. No point in needlessly putting himself in danger. All he could do was hope the statue didn't get smashed in the process

As usual, the wraith was back to his cryptic and confusing antics. Shortly after finishing his spiel he stared off into space for a moment before backing into the nearest wall and disappearing from sight. Annoying, but not at all out of character for him. But what in the world was he staring at?

It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. All that time ago she'd torn his life force away from his body, yet there he was standing before her. Meridian. The god of time and space. The one who's pride trapped her in this endless state of turmoil. After all this he was back! Was there no stopping him? No end to his reign of terror? The gods were a blight on this world, and the world would never be at peace until the life was snuffed out of every last one of them. No wonder she couldn't fix the timeline. No wonder time was still frozen after all these years. He'd made it that way just to teach her a lesson!

A low growl began to echo from deep within her chest as she prepared an attack suited for a target such as him. It rattled and cracked as she took a deep breath in. Whatever structures were still left within her were clearly broken beyond repair; held together with nothing but pure willpower. That, and a dash of magic. Soon the Kodin let out a horrid scream which shot out a brilliant beam of light right at the lowly god's level.

Of all the people he could have encountered here this certainly wasn't at the top of his list. After all this time Mau was still around? The no longer young Kodin was for all intents and purposes the god of Coagulant; what remained of magic after being expended. An unstable substance which more often than not caused nothing but devastation to those who wielded it.

Luckily he'd seen this attack before, and multiple times at that. This was one of the few things he didn't need his book to remember. The first time he ever encountered it was enough to cement it in his mind. That being said, the first time he'd seen it it had been used by a much larger creature; one long since dead. Mau's version was devastating, but it wasn't anything he couldn't avoid.

The second she breathed in and he heard that rattle Meridian opened his wings and ducked out of the citadel via one of the many holes that'd he'd blown in it. Just in time as well. As he began a brief free fall towards the ground below before his wings caught the seemingly non existent wind the beam of light discharged and blasted what was left of the citadel's flooring out of existence.

Books and shelves and anything else that was once housed on the surface of the citadel began plummeting towards the ocean below. From what he could see from his vantage point the Citadel's flooring had been blown apart in a torus shape. The outermost edges where the stairs leading down were still intact, as well as a single island towards the middle.

The middle island was what caught his attention. In his rage he'd chased Matrix all around the citadel smashing holes in the floor the whole way. One would assume running in a circle like that would be the most logical course of action, but Matrix was always five steps ahead. He'd lead him in circles for a reason, but why?

It didn't matter right now. Shortly after taking flight he could hear the sounds of leathery wings cutting through the air behind him. The two had always had a rocky relationship. Before her ascension Mau was nothing but a runner for the lesser gods. A mortal they happened to take a shining to for whatever reason. Of course, the gods all fighting over the affections of a single mortal is bound to wreak havoc on their ego. That's exactly what happened, so when she finally did find Meridian and he didn't share the same admiration she began to resent him. That's where it all began, and it only got worse from there.

He was fleeing. Of course he was fleeing. If there was one thing Mau remembered about Meridian after all this time it was the fact he was weak and cowardly. Without the safeguard of his precious time loops he was just as vulnerable as any mortal. Luckily for her the concept of time had been erased long ago. There was no time to loop anymore, so his only safeguard was powerless to save him.

In one swift motion the Kodin opened her arms wide as if to grab on to a creature much larger than herself. As she did her body began splitting in two until eventually there were two identical copies of herself flying in perfect synchronization. Each god had their gimmick, and this was hers. A mirror image of herself which carried out her every whim. A way to be at two places at once. Two heads were better than one, after all.

Each copy of Mau had a distinct look to them. Where the original had a beautiful gradient of purple running down her body the two forms were split into a single red and a single blue form. The red began ascending higher in the sky until it was well above Meridian, and the blue below. Once there one veered to the left and the other right until they made a diagonal line between them. This formation wasn't foolproof, of course, but it covered the most ground. Left, right, up, or down he'd put himself in their line of fire.

Matrix by this point had stationed himself by the lone statue's side as he watched the two gods fly off. Both versions of the kodin were glowing brightly by this point. Meridian had escaped the first attack, but he'd made the mistake of flying into open sky. The fool! His only advantage was the cover Eon Isle and the citadel offered him and he'd wasted it. Mau was smaller and faster than he was. Every time in the past the two had gotten into a chase like this she'd come out on top.

This was it. This was the end of this timeline. It wasn't for naught, as the knowledge he could pluck a past version of Meridian away would help him immensely. Perhaps next go around he'd take Meridian from a different point in time. Maybe one closer to the current date. Or maybe one from a point in time where the threat of Mau was fresher in his mind.

Two blindingly bright flashes of white light shot out from the Kodin, causing the entire sky to white out for a brief moment. Once the light faded Matrix could see the only splotch of colour for miles quickly falling to the ground below. A glowing stream of purple that cut through the dull greys which enveloped the landscape.

He knew it was only a matter of time before reality began to crumble. So, using his Wraith ability to traverse space time in an instant, Matrix flew through a small portal from the citadel down to where Meridian's body would undoubtedly hit. Because Wraiths were exempt from the bounds of time they could, in theory, encounter different versions of themselves. Whenever that happened the different iterations of the two would merge into a single being. A simple and routine event in the life of a wraith.

That being said, fleeing from the end of reality itself was always nerve wracking. Matrix preferred to be as close to the newest addition to his being as possible to ensure he'd merge in time to make an escape. As much as he didn't want to admit it he wasn't the culmination of every version of Meridian. Many of those from the earlier timelines had been lost simply due to his lack of experience.

Meridian's body splattered hard against the stone-like ground; making a horrid crunch as it did so. It spattered bright purple blood in every direction as it did so. Both versions of Mau reformed into one as she looked at her handiwork from above. She seemed quite pleased with herself for killing the god of time a second time. But, much to Matrix's surprise, the usual event following Meridian's death did not play out.

When Meridian died his blight would not only envelop him, warping and distorting his body into the skeletonoid creature it was now, but it'd spread out across the world itself until everything was coated in thick black rot. Reality itself would then rapidly decay in a terrifying display of flashing purple lights and fizzling and crackling sounds that'd surely have burst his eardrums if he still had any. That was how it ended. That was always how it ended.

This time, however, nothing of the sort happened. Meridian's mangled body simply splatted against the ground and began bleeding out. The kind of death you would expect from a mere mortal. Something was definitely wrong here, so once Mau set off back to the citadel, Matrix floated in for a closer look.

Indeed something was wrong. While he could feel the absurdly powerful ping of magic brought on by the blood leaking out of his corpse, Matrix couldn't feel the presence of his soul. It was gone, but something as powerful as that couldn't just disappear. There was no way it could have. It had to have gone somewhere, but that place wasn't here. If it wasn't here, where the hell did it go?

Meridian found himself coming to with a white fuzzy haze taking over the majority of his field of vision. He was clearly laying on the ground, but he was seemingly unable to move. It would be that way for the next several minutes as his body reformed itself from nothing. Bone, muscles, blood vessels. Once he was able to sit upright he could see all of these things forming in front of his eyes. He was nothing but a skinless mass of flesh and bone, but it seemed he wouldn't remain that way for long.

After an amount of time he couldn't seem to fathom Meridian's body had completely reformed itself, constricting everything short of his clothes. A peculiar event indeed. Without his glasses his right eye would be completely useless. His blight had long since overtaken it, causing it to only see vague masses of blurry colours. Definitely a setback, but at least he was still alive.

How he was still alive he didn't know. Temporal echo would cause his days to repeat infinitely, but if time wasn't flowing he couldn't loop anything. It was static. Unmoving. Useless, or so he thought. Unless his death wasn't as world ending as he first thought the potion he'd drank upon getting here had to have done something.

Not knowing what else to do Meridian began making his way back to the Citadel, but it wouldn't be long before he needed to stop and take a break. His mana was all but drained by this point. Seeing as his soul was the source of purple magic, the thing which created it, his mana could never be truly empty, but it'd been a long time since it'd gotten this low. It hadn't been this low since before his ascension. This was pitiful even for the average mortal.

"Matrix... Matrix! If you're listening... I could really use a hand right about now..." He shouted aloud before allowing himself to collapse.

Matrix was nowhere to be seen, but by this point it was a well known fact he was never far. The wraith had been stalking him since the beginning. He was known for showing up seemingly at random. An ever present being. Always there, always watching. It'd only be a matter of time before he once again reared his ugly head. Until then, Meridian had no choice but to rest. Not like he could force himself to exert any more of his energy. There wasn't really anything left to exert at this point.

Almost in a panic Matrix began flying around the area in search of this seemingly missing soul. First it was just the area surrounding Meridian's body, but it rapidly expanded as more and more of his search turned up nothing. It had to have gone somewhere! Where did it go?!

After scouring the surface of Mirror Domain, Matrix eventually got a faint ping of purple magic. It was nearly halfway around the globe, all the way in Barrowford. There, curled up at the steps of Astra City's capital building, was what appeared to be Meridian. He looked horrible, and his clothes hadn't followed along with him, but he was there. He was definitely there, but was he still alive?

Cautiously Matrix approached. As far as he was concerned Meridian's clearly weakened form could give out at any moment resulting in the end of the timeline. He didn't want to do anything to speed up that process if he could help it. Luckily, it seemed he was still alive. Once he'd gotten closer he could see the rise and fall of his chest as Meridian breathed.

It seemed like ages had gone by, but eventually Meridian woke back up. Everything ached, and his mana pool hadn't made much progress in refilling itself. He was groggy and disoriented, but even in his confused state he could make out the unmistakable shape of a wraith floating a foot or two in front of him.

"Oh... There you are" Meridian mumbled, moving his hand to push up the glasses that were no longer on his face. "Took you long enough-"

Before he got the chance to say anything else Matrix grabbed the god by the shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. Under normal circumstances he didn't like being touched. Neither of them did. With all the times they'd both died in the set and unset timeline the feeling of being touched had been tainted by all those unpleasant memories, but he couldn't help himself.

It was rare for Matrix to feel such overwhelming emotions. It was rare for him to feel anything other than annoyance at this point, but seeing Meridian alive and at least somewhat well filled him with an overwhelming sense of relief. He hadn't lost his chance. This timeline could still continue on. Even if returning the present day Meridian's soul to his body caused reality to implode in on itself he'd at least have gotten further in this timeline than any other before it.

Meridian immediately tensed up at the wraith's embrace. It was... So horribly in character for him. At first Meridian had expected him to be angry. Perhaps whack him upside the head or shove him to the side as he often did, but Matrix was known for being unpredictable. As odd as a gesture of kindness like this was, it was out of left field. Just what he would expect from someone like Matrix.

"Uh... You... I'm fine, Matrix. Kindly let me go, if you would." Meridian said gently.

As if nothing had ever happened, Matrix let go of his grip and lazily floated backwards away from Meridian until he was a normal talking distance away from him.

"You're supposed to be dead." He muttered.

"Are you upset that I'm not?" Meridian replied, unsure of what to make of the situation. Matrix had always been an enigma, and now that he was finally talking he had absolutely no clue how to actually do so.

"Why didn't you stay in the citadel? You of all people should know how to deal with... Her" Matrix questioned, completely ignoring the previous comment. "If you get yourself killed this would have all been for naught..."

".... There's something important in there. I know there is. It may not be much, but if there's one thing I know about you it's the fact there's method to your madness. I fully intended on heading back, but when I saw my previous path of destruction-"

"So you are taking this seriously"

"Are you insinuating that I wasn't before?" Meridian asked incredulously. "I've been aware of the gravity of the situation you brought me in since the beginning. The only reason I've yet to actually do anything is because you're the only one here with any damn clue what's going on and you refuse to tell me! You can't blame me for getting frustrated over all this!"

"The pieces are falling into place now, aren't they?" Matrix asked

"I suppose. Although now it might be too late." Meridian replied, laying back down in the process.

Matrix was right. Things were falling into place. The fact that only he, the wraith, and Mau were still unaffected by the stoppage of time was incredibly telling of something. The false deity had clearly done something big with her power to cause all of this. What she'd done exactly or when this event had happened was still a mystery, however. To top it all off the prior attack against him had drained him of his mana. Even if he did know what she'd done he wouldn't have the magic to do anything about it. Not as things currently stood, anyway.

That's when his mind went back to the statue. The statue of himself Matrix had shown him earlier. At the time he hadn't taken note of where it was in the citadel, but looking back Matrix had dismissed his scythe before he was able to make contact with it earlier. Perhaps he wasn't as unaffected by the time stop as he first thought, and given that statue's current state he was really starting to understand what was going on.

With that in mind, there was still nothing he could do about it right now. As far as Meridian was concerned the only reason he was even alive right now was because of the absolutely massive amounts of magic he had at his disposal. Magic that was now gone with this new iteration of himself. The best thing for him to do would be to rest up and think of a plan while his mana replenished itself. So, seeing as there was no one else around and they were on the complete other side of the world, Meridian decided he'd take that rest right where he was; at the front of Astra's capital building

Before he could get too comfortable Matrix grabbed what was left of the god of time and yanked him back to his feet. Now wasn't the time nor place for this, but at the same time he knew damn well Meridian was useless without his magic. He was intelligent, yes. Far more so than the average person. And his skills had been honed over the years to the point he could accomplish great feats without the use of magic, but when pitted against someone like Mau, magic was damn near a requirement. If he was going to sleep this off he was going to do so inside.

"If you're going to rest I'd suggest you do so in a more concealed location" Matrix grumbled. "So long as she's at large you aren't safe. It's only a matter of time before she finds out you aren't dead. Believe me..."

As much as he wanted to contest being dragged away Meridian just couldn't will himself to. Putting up a fight would only exhaust more of his very limited energy. So he allowed Matrix to drag him into the capital and off to what was very clearly an old bedroom office. A twin pair of mirrors hung on either side of the room and an ornate bed on a raised pedestal laid in the center. There was also a walk-in closet inside which Meridian promptly raided until he found something somewhat fitting. Humans weren't native to Barrowford, but he could make due with other species' clothing so long as it had slots in the back for his wings. Astra was home to Lesser Dragons, so finding something that fit him wasn't difficult.

Now dressed Meridian laid himself down on the bed and almost immediately passed out. His body was still sore and tender from its reformation and without the near absurd amounts of power he was used to having he felt far more drained than usual. The average person may be able to grit their teeth and bear it in a state like this, but Meridian clearly wasn't the average person.

Soon enough Meridian was out cold. Not ideal, but it was the only way for him to regain his mana. All Matrix could do was wait and hope that this timeline had enough left in it to wait for his mana to return. They'd gotten lucky earlier, but luck could run out at any moment. If only there was a way to speed up the process. if he could do that perhaps the timeline would have a fighting chance yet.

That's when it hit him. Meridian didn't have any of his magic because he'd had to construct a brand new body for him to inhabit. His old body still had its magic, though. The blood spilling out was chalk full of it. If anything it is essentially pure magic incarnate. So, while Meridian recovered what he could on his own, Matrix flew off back to the battlezone to recover what was left of his previous body.

The scene of the crime was less than pretty. It seemed the rogue magic of reality seeping out of Meridian's lifeless body had stained the landscape and caused it to rapidly melt away just like the citadel had before. The only thing preventing his remains from falling straight through the world itself was the fact it hadn't yet broken through the world's surface.

First thing's first, Matrix took back all of the god's belongings from his old body. This included his bag, coat, shirt, pants, shoes. pretty much anything on his body that wasn't attached to him. The glasses were of importance as well. Once that was done he dug through the near infinite bag until he got his hands on a rather large glass. Anything that could store liquid would have worked; this just happened to be the first thing he found that was large enough.

Collecting what was left of the magic seeping out of the gods body was difficult, to say the least. Anything the raw magic touched began to wither away out of existence. The landscape had been disturbed too much. It was only a matter of time before this blight on the world spread until it enveloped existence itself. That would be the nail in the coffin for this timeline. Still, he continued on with his work. If he didn't this timeline was guaranteed to fail.

Seeing that heathenous traitor of a god rearing his ugly head had certainly caught Mau's attention. Once she'd swatted him like the fly he was she scurried back to the Citadel to see what the hell had just happened. She knew damn well where the purple god's tomb was. She knew exactly where the petrified remains of his body were supposed to be, and she knew what they were supposed to look like. The Meridian she had just seen did not look how she remembered.

Just as she expected the statue was where it always was. Right in the very center of the Citadel where she'd sealed his fate and stolen his soul. It was in a constant state of agony, with its chest ripped open from the throat. A reassuring sight, for sure. At least she wasn't the only one in a constant state of suffering. But, if Meridian was still here, how was he also splattered against the ground below the citadel?

"Your games... Don't work on me" The Kodin muttered in a weakened voice. "They don't..."

Using her magic had always brought on more pain. It seemed the more she used the worse she got, and the attack she'd just shot off had used a hell of a lot more magic than she usually did. She felt hollow inside, and the empty spaces were only getting larger and more painful. Like a billion small ants were eating away at her innards. The only solid thing left was Meridian's soul which was far too strong to be contained in such a weakened body. Not even her own soul remained. Just his.

She was going to return to the confines of her room and return to her seemingly endless slumber in an attempt to forget the pain she was in when suddenly Mau felt a sudden influx of energy. The ambiance of the area she'd long since absorbed had returned. Purple magic was heavy in the air and it was only getting stronger as time went on. Was this a result of that traitor spewing his blood across the landscape? it had to be. Nothing else in the area gave off quite this much power. It'd been a long time since her last attempt, but with this rush of energy Mau felt inspired to try a spell or two. One last ditch effort in restoring the timeline and making a world free from the reign of the gods.

Not long after he'd drifted off Meridian found himself being jolted awake by a thunderous crash and the ground around him shaking violently. Usually he'd immediately be at his feet and ready to take action but his overall state had seemingly gotten worse rather than better. Everything that was sore was still sore. Perhaps even more so now that his injuries had gotten time to really set in. The only thing that'd gotten even marginally better was his mama pool.

The ground shook for several moments and almost as if someone were shaking a box of loose sand everything around him began to crumble into nothing but dust. Not even the ground was steady anymore. Soon it too gave way and if it weren't for his wings Meridian would have been dragged down to the depths of Mirror Domain's underground.

Soon the tremor came to a stop and the god of time was able to land himself on somewhat solid ground. Nothing seemed to be 100% stable, but at least here he had some footing. What little was left of Astra City was almost completely gone now. The only thing that still remained of the town was the outline of the building's foundations. Everything else had collapsed entirely.

"That's certainly odd" Meridian muttered to himself, instinctively summoning his journal to his side.

Both journals appeared, just as expected, but unlike last time it seemed Matrix wasn't in the area to prevent him from taking a look. At least, if he was it wasn't immediately obvious. The wraith had a way of keeping himself hidden only to jump out at the very last second. Even with that in mind Meridian figured it'd be worth a shot to try and take a peek.

As much as he wanted to believe Matrix the thought of "forbidden knowledge" was alien to him. His whole life had been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. Sure, there were things he knew that could cause irreparable damage to reality. Time travel used to be one of the few things he'd discovered only to actually avoid. Used to, as it seemed now that was no longer the case. If anyone could be trusted with forbidden knowledge it was Meridian. As chaotic as he was, he knew when to stop.

Without hesitation Meridian flipped open the greyed out journal to the most recent page and began reading over it. The very first thing that stuck out was the date. He'd seen the date his alleged new assistant had signed his contract of employment, but until now he had no idea what year it actually was. Seeing the header of this journal entry finally cleared that up for him.

June 24th 7000 ADI, L26342,

It seems today I'm finally looking into the message Zero's sent me and the beginning of damn near every iteration of today. I do find it quite odd the message hasn't been sent every morning, but I can only assume Matrix has something to do with the anomaly. With my adversary involved like this I can only imagine he's been kept quite busy today. A small victory on my end. At least he's been bothering someone else for a change.

Still, Zero's messages have been getting more and more desperate over the past few loops. Given the one I was sent this morning I fear whatever lays in store for me back at the citadel isn't pretty.

I do appreciate the warnings given to me by my mortal assistants, but with how Zero's talking right now I can only help but wonder if there's anything I can do to cement it in his mind that my death in a loop isn't something to worry about. I've lived a million lives and died a million deaths. That pesky Kodin won't even make a dent in the grand scheme of thing-

Zero is hellbent on dividing my attention and I'm getting quite sick of it. I can understand the cause of their concern but Mau is a one trick pony and as far as I can tell she's in her standard form. If she wasn't-

If she wasn't she'd be split into a red and a blue-

- form, yet she's clearly-

Blue form. It seems I was mistaken. Looks like today's going to end early. I'll keep Zero's warnings in mind for-

His own writing cut off there, with a decent spatter of dried blood covering the latter half of the page, but that wasn't the last entry in the journal. On the very next page written on both sides of the open journal was a list of four names. His own name, followed by the names of the three other true gods of Mirror Domain. Meridian, DC, Oasis, and finally Sandra. Each name had been crossed out and judging by the variations in the shade of grey it was safe to assume each name had been crossed out in a different colour. Perhaps the colour of the magic each represented, although that was nothing more than speculation.

Even that wasn't the end, though. There was one final page after the list of names. Well, two, but like before the next message had been written on both the front and back of the next set of pages. It was a simple message, reading "I WIN, I HATE YOU, I WIN" over and over and over again in rapid succession. Mau had clearly been the one to write these notes. Matrix's handwriting was far more neat, similar to his own, and there was no one else still around to write anything like this.

Reading over the journal answered as many questions as it raised. The only thing keeping Meridian from going further back through the entries was the fact his current situation was far more pressing. If he had the time he would have spent countless loops uncovering the secrets of his future self, but now wasn't the time nor place. Time was rapidly running out, and unless he found a way to combat Mau  it seemed this would be the end of the line for him.

The book did offer one small hint, though. One that'd certainly help him later on. Somehow Mau had found a way to alter the look of her twin forms. At least enough to fool him into thinking there was only one of them. His shaky handwriting and final message made that clear. When he encountered Mau in the future he'd have to keep this fact in mind. Unless he clearly sees the both of them merge into a single being it'd be safer to assume the other could be lurking nearby ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Meridian dismissed the journals just in time for Matrix to return. It wasn't clear if this was merely a coincidence or if Matrix had intended him to see the entry he'd looked over, but at least he'd returned. Not only that, but as the wraith came in to view Meridian could see he had a few things with him. The main thing of note was his outfit; which Matrix was currently wearing for himself. Well, the coat and shirt. Without legs the best he could do was throw the pants over his shoulder alongside his bag.

It was strange seeing Matrix wearing clothing. Especially his own, which hadn't been worn by anyone but him in quite some time. He almost looked human in an odd way. More human than before, anyway. Given the shape of his skull it was clear he was human at one point, but Meridian could never figure out who he belonged to. All wraiths had a mortal counterpart. Matrix seemed to be the only exception.

"I didn't expect to see you up so soon" the wraith said.

"I didn't intend to be, but it seems the world had other plans" Meridian replied, gesturing to the destruction behind him.

Matrix glanced behind him to get a better look at the city. The ground was steadily caving in on itself at a relatively quick speed. A telltale sign their time here was running out. It always ended this way. Once things started collapsing reality would rapidly start caving in on itself. Meridian's statue would succumb to the chaos and with his body gone his soul would tear itself free from Mau's grasp and warp into that of a wraith; the newest iteration of Matrix.

"Time is running short..." he muttered, sounding more worried than he may have liked. "Take this. It should help"

Matrix reached into his satchel and pulled out a rather large jar of, admittedly poor quality, purple magic. Inside the liquid magic were flecks of dirt and debris and god knows what else. Definitely not up to Meridian's standards, but that wasn't what caught his attention most. What really caught his attention was the wraith's demeanor.

Not only had Matrix never spoken until this point, but seeing him wearing his clothes caused something to click in his mind. Nothing that could be confirmed just yet, but the beginnings of this realization made too much sense to write it off as mere coincidence. The way he talked, the way he moved. With him dressed like this he almost reminded Meridian of himself. The more he thought about it the more sense it made, too. How else would he know all of his tricks and schemes inside and out? Or be able to predict his next move before even Meridian knew what it was going to be. And, to top it all off, how else would Matrix be able to summon objects tethered to him and enter areas only he had access to?!

Until now his best guess was that Matrix was a future assistant of his. someone who perhaps he entrusted enough to take along in a loop or two to the point he'd have learned all this, but now the idea of that seemed ridiculous. But there was no way it was actually him. With how much of a pain Matrix had been throughout his life. surely if this was his wraith he would have said something by now. Meridian imagined he'd want himself to know. Think of all the knowledge they could share...

"Mind returning my clothes?" Meridian asked. He figured it'd be best if he kept this new realization to himself for the time being. At least until he had more definitive proof. As similar as the two looked with matrix dressed in his outfit it was safe to assume any wraith would. After all, they don't have faces. Just plain skulls. With an outfit as iconic as his own it was only natural he'd draw that conclusion.

Matrix returned all of Meridian's belongings, not taking his eyes off the chaos behind him as he did. Barrowford was a sentimental place to the wraith, and seeing it in the state it was currently was disheartening. Even if they did restore the timeline and brought the world back to how it was it'd never be the same as it was before.

Still, even if time was restored to a barren and desolate world it'd be better than it ending. So long as time kept ticking things could be fixed. As a god Meridian would be able to pull some strings. But the second things ended that was it. This instance would be gone forever and there'd be nothing Matrix could do but go back and start over.

"Well? Now what?" Meridian asked, less to get an actual answer and more just to get Matrix to talk.  The more he spoke the more he'd reveal.

Matrix didn't respond. This was the end of the line for this world. It was a situation he'd never encountered before and one he wouldn't encounter again for a very very long time. This was one of the very few instances where he didn't know what to do next. He had ideas, sure, but he didn't know anything for certain. Matrix didn't like not knowing. The unknown, especially in cases like this, terrified him. He didn't know what to do.  He didn't know what to do and he didn't know how to say it.

"I brought you here to pick up the pieces" Matrix said quietly. "So... Pick them up..."

It was a copout answer, but Meridian was used to him being cryptic. So long as he gave off the illusion he knew what he was doing Meridian wouldn't have any reason to suspect otherwise. He didn't know what would happen if he was found out, but he knew it'd happen eventually. Either it'd happen now and doom this timeline or it'd happen after all was said and done with almost unimaginable results.

"Pick them up... Fine. I suppose I can make due with this" Meridian said, holding the jug of magic up and swirling it around a few times. "But I'm afraid this isn't something I can do by myself"

"And why not?" Matrix asked

"She can be in two places at once. Usually I'd task my assistant with keeping a lookout, but it seems I don't have any of them available to me. Unless this "Zero" is still around"

"I'm afraid they aren't..."

Under normal circumstances Matrix would never go along with a plan like this, but given this was new territory he was open to experimentation. If anything this could be a learning experience. Perhaps next time he could swipe one of Meridian's assistants from the timeline as well. Or he could find a way to spare Zero and keep them alive long enough to be of some use here. It was something he'd have to note down, but so long as Meridian did most of the heavy lifting himself it was worth a shot.

"I can keep a lookout, but don't expect me to do much else. I can't risk involving myself..." Matrix muttered.

"That's all well and good. All I need is an indicator in case that wretched child decides to pull a fast one on me again. I'd like to think I learn from my mistakes. Don't want a repeat of last time."

"Last time?" the wraith asked

Meridian just gestured to the world around them. "Well, clearly it's happened before. If it hadn't we wouldn't be here, now would we?" he said, giving a sly grin.

Matrix sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nonexistent nose. Chaos first. It was always chaos first with him. Leave it up to the god of time and space to crack jokes in a situation as dire as this. He wasn't going to dignify that with a response. Matrix could appreciate the gods chaotic nature, but right now he had to focus. After a moment or two of awkward silence Matrix began making his way towards the citadel; using a portal to leave his past self behind. If he was going to be a lookout he may as well get a head start

The small kodin was hard at work in the citadel's last remaining workstation. She had taken bits and pieces from both the forge and the potion brewing station to make an easily accessible area for any form of magic experimentation. It'd been a long time since she had access to this much raw, pure, purple magic. As "time" went on the lingering ambiance of the world had been exhausted. Until that petty god of purple had returned the only way for her to access magic was via recycling what remained of the world. Meridian's soul did not produce magic while in her body. Not in a way she could use it, anyway.

In addition to the various spell metals, gemstones, and other materials commonly used in spell casting and artifact creation Mau had rummaged through the citadel's expansive library until she'd found an array of books detailing the flow of time. How it worked, how it started, how to pause it. She was convinced time hadn't stopped permanently; it was merely paused.

She had been researching a way to unpause time for as long as she could remember, and she'd gotten several things to work on a smaller scale. In the past with the help of Meridian's magic she was able to revive individuals and return the flow of time to their bodies. The only problem was with time frozen everywhere else they didn't last long. There was nothing for them to eat or drink that hadn't been frozen solid. Matter couldn't change states while frozen like this, so whenever anyone she'd brought back bit down on anything it simply crumbled away to nothing. It was a slow and painful death for all of them.

The amount of magic she had now was negligible compared to her former glory, but if she was smart about it she could find a way to work with what she had. Crystals were known for amplifying the effects of magic and the citadel was chalk full of them. Her plan was to construct an array of beacons around what was left of the place and imbue them with the same spell she'd used to restore time in the past. Hopefully, with the amplifying effects of the crystals and the pure nature of the magic she now had at her disposal the spell's effects would have more of a global reach. Even restoring time to a single area would be better than nothing. If that happened ambiance could build, she could restore her magic, and repeat this process as many times as it took.

The main problem with artifact construction in the current situation was the fact that altering the state of any item too drastically would cause it to crumble away. With a means of isolated restoration she was able to "fix" the few items she needed in order to get the project started, but with each beacon she made she'd have less magic to power them with. It'd be a balancing act. Reserve enough magic to kick start everything while also making enough beacons to make the effects noticeable. Of course, until she actually made the first beacon she'd have no idea just how much magic it'd take.

Arriving at the citadel, Matrix was greeted to the same sight he'd seen every other time, with the addition of the gaping holes in the floor which were slowly expanding. Meridian's statue was right where it always was, and the area seemed more or less unchanged since he last saw it. The only indication that anyone was here was the sounds.

Off in the distance he could hear the unmistakable sounds of arcane incantations being cast. They were nothing he hadn't heard before. Matrix had been around for all of Mau's subsequent attempts at repairing the damage she'd caused, but in all said attempts there was one thing she kept overlooking. Her body was not a suitable vessel for Meridian's soul. The reason time didn't flow worldwide was because her body wouldn't be able to withstand the strain keeping reality up and running would put on it. Time had stopped as a defense mechanism. If her body wasn't so badly damaged Meridian would have just dropped dead and a new god would have ascended in his place. Matrix had seen that happen before, but seeing as none of them had anywhere near the amount of experience he had neither them or their wraiths could escape the inevitable end of the timeline which soon followed.

Assuming Meridian had an actual plan he expected him to be here any minute now. Mau seemed to be in her natural form as far as he could tell, so it was just a matter of watching and waiting. If she did split for whatever reason he'd do his best to keep tabs on the both of them in the meantime.

Meridian had hoped Matrix would have stuck with him a bit longer to confirm his suspicions, but seeing him leave came as no surprise. With him gone he'd now be more or less forced to work on the task at hand, which was probably why Matrix opted to do so.

He didn't really have a concrete plan, but rather Meridian had a single idea he was going to roll with under the assumption Matrix would put a stop to things if they'd go horribly wrong. Mau was in essence the god of wild magic. He knew from past loops that killing her more often than not had devastating consequences. While killing the other gods didn't result in the end of reality itself, their magic getting out in such large quantities more often than not ended up killing him in the process. It was a chain reaction. Mau was no different, so if he was going to get rid of her he'd have to put a fail safe in place.

His plan was to convert the entire jug of raw magic he had into a massive potion of Dispel magic. It'd be risky, seeing as doing this would mean he'd have to face Mau in his current state, but if all went well this would take away her magic and most likely kill her in the process. Perhaps "potion" wasn't the right word for a concoction like this. She wasn't going to be drinking it, she was going to be drenched with it. it was more akin to a salve or an ointment if anything, but that was besides the point.

With spells that lacked material components making a potion or artifact of any sort was difficult. Usually a contingency was added to them which would allow the raw magic to be "assigned" a spell but not have it trigger right away. For a spell like this Meridian wanted to make sure it only triggered after being splashed on the god of white. In order to do this he'd have to find a piece of her. Fur, blood, spit. Anything the contingency spell could latch on to to ensure it worked properly.

Finding such a thing shouldn't be too difficult. Meridian knew where Mau had been. Kodin shed fur regularly, so all he'd have to do was head back to the citadel and, as Matrix put it, pick up the pieces. With this in mind Meridian tucked the jug safely back into his bag and began flying off towards the citadel

The Kodin was hard at work by the time Meridian arrived at the Citadel. Matrix didn't know what he was planning, but he trusted his judgement. In a case like this his was as good as anyone else's. All he could really do was continue to keep an eye on Mau as Meridian did whatever the hell it was he was going to do.

With the wave of a hand Mau cast an admittedly powerful spell on the components laid out in front of her, and as she did the kodin retched over in pain. Her body couldn't handle the magic it had been given, and Matrix could tell it was starting to take a toll on her. As she stumbled to the ground the area around her began to tremble briefly. It was clearer now more than ever this world was at its end. before it was passive, but with that single action taken by the god of white the switch had been flipped and this timeline was actively dying. Whether she knew it or not, using the purple magic she'd been given had just sealed her fate.

The tremor was certainly cause for concern. It began just as Meridian landed at the citadel as if to welcome him to his doom. Assuming things went poorly, that was. Matrix hadn't stopped him yet, so he could only assume he was doing something right. When it came to his more outlandish and extreme plans that was his only real indicator. If Matrix didn't put a stop to something, how bad could it really be?

It wouldn't be long before Meridian found a bit of Mau's being to imbue his potion with. A small bit of fur stuck to the wall being held by a sticky black substance. Clearly she'd bumped into it at some point and shed some of her blight in the process. Meridian didn't know much about blight brought on by Coagulant, but he did know Mau's skin was often a festering open wound. Not surprising it'd come off so easily.

With the chunk of gunk put in the jug and the magic inside being set to cast the correct spell Meridian braced himself for the upcoming fight and began marching towards the only other sound in the citadel. The faint tapping noises of clawed feet against stone were unmistakable, and Mau's clearly labored breathing would be loud enough to alert just about anyone to her whereabouts.

Before getting to the Kodin's whereabouts Meridian stopped for a moment.  This seemed to be the final stretch. There was a pretty good chance if he died here he wouldn't get lucky again. If this was possibly going to be the last thing he ever did he has to make an entrance, but what was he going to say? It was a lot to think about.

After a bit he continued his walk. Off towards the outermost portion of the citadel where Mau had her station set up  there he could see her just getting up from... Well, whatever she was doing on the ground. He didn't actually know what the false god had been up to since the time stoppage. Either way, once there he summoned both his journal and scythe to his hand. He flipped the journal open to the very last page and gave the scythe a firm tap on the ground to catch her attention.

"You win, huh?" Meridian said, turning the last page of the book for Mau to see. "Somehow I doubt that. If you really had won wouldn't I be dead? Or, is your definition of winning different from mine?"

Mau just stared in awe at the sight before her. Not only had she killed him once, but now twice! How the hell was he still alive?! Would her torment never end?

Casting the spell moments ago had shot a wave of pain through her body originating from her chest. It was painful, but the rage she felt upon seeing that purple shirted bitch was enough to snap her out of it long enough to do something.

Almost immediately Mau split into her two forms, sending the red one behind the human god in order to get a better vantage point. It was so easy to snuff him out before. Surely now would be no different. That is, unless he was expecting that. If Meridian was dumb enough to come back after getting killed the first time he surely knew something she didn't. It didn't matter, though. Mau was going to once again end his existence before he got the chance to try anything else

Even Matrix was taken aback by Meridian's entrance. When did he get the chance to look over the journal?! And how much had he seen?!? It wasn't important now, but if they lived he sure as hell was going to demand answers.

The second Mau split into two Matrix began trailing her red form. That one seemed to be out of Meridian's line of sight and as a result a liability. All the while Matrix began wracking his brain for something he could do to increase their chances of success.

As the Kodin split into two Meridian dismissed his book and took off running towards the blue form with his scythe held at the ready. It sliced through the air with a satisfying "swoop" sound before making contact with the Kodin's midsection. It sliced in two quite seamlessly, but seeing as she was also somewhat of a wraith herself her legs simply disappeared in a puff of fog which promptly reformed to take their previous shape.

Before he got the chance to do anything else Meridian could feel a searing hot pain hit him right in his lower back. It was clearly a spell, so as the blue form was reforming it's legs he whipped around and took another swing at the Mau behind him before taking off running.

The first strike was simply to catch Mau's attention. His plan from there was to run off before the two overpowered him in the hopes he could either split them up and take them out one by one or make them merge and take both out at once.

This time he wasn't exiting eon isle, although he was leaving the citadel to take advantage of the island's cover. The thick jungle of the island above would be the perfect labyrinth. He only hoped the layout of the place hadn't changed too much over the past 6000 or so years.

Once again he was running away. Why did he always do this?! Why couldn't he fight like a man? Why did he always flee like a coward? It was so typical of him. Painfully typical.

Instead of immediately chasing after him Mau lingered until she was out of sight. Once there she channeled as much of her magic into the blue form as she could. Flooding that form with magic caused the tops of her wings to tint purple, giving her the appearance of being in her true form without actually being in it. Both forms were able to do this, but it looked more convincing on the blue one.

Once her disguise was in place Mau took off flying towards the top of the citadel to begin her hunt for the cowardly god. He'd fallen for this last time, and last time she'd torn his soul away from his body. Using this much magic was really wearing her down, but she only needed one good hit. One hit was all it took. It was just a matter of getting that hit in first

Meridian ducked and weaved between bushes and trees in an attempt to put at least some distance between himself and Mau. He was really pushing his limits with this plan, and he was hoping that finding a place to hide would give him a little bit longer to rest up. It wouldn't last, though. Even after all the twists and turns he'd gone through, Kodin somehow managed to keep up.

It was just him and the blue form. At least, he assumed it was the blue form. If Mau was whole surely Matrix would be nearby keeping an eye on things. That was the task he was assigned to, after all. Now really wasn't the time for the wraith to start acting suspicious and running off.

Still, with one target to work with his plan would be significantly easier. Just to be safe Meridian would only use half of his dispel salve. If it didn't work he'd use the rest of it, and if it did he'd know for sure this was only half of the Kodin.

"You weasel..." Mau hissed. "After all this time... How are you still alive?!"

As she spoke she charged forwards with her wings pointed out as if to take off. Her wings each had two small finger-like grabbers at the end with extremely pointed tips, and her goal was to gore Meridian and pin him in place long enough for her other half to finish him off. It wouldn't work as intended, though.

As she barreled forwards Meridian produced his scythe and gave it a good swing, hitting her right across the chest. Her skin tore and warped revealing the bones underneath. Those were all that was left of her innards, after all. By this point she was more or less a walking skeleton with a fur coat. The magic inside of her had been eating away at her body so long the wound didn't even bleed as it tore open.

As the Kodin's flesh tore open Meridian could see inside for a brief moment before being slammed against the wall and pinned in place. Inside her chest cavity was a very bright, glowing, purple wisp of energy. Once the flesh had been torn away a single faint tendrel of light reached out of said cavity and pointed towards something west from where they were standing.

This tendrel was faint. Faint to the point Meridian wouldn't have seen it if he wasn't mere inches away like he was now. But what was this wisp? He'd seen things like it in the past. It very closely resembled that of a soul. He knew very well what those looked like, as one was required to make the potion to start and stop his time loops.

It was odd to see. A soul like that seemed so drastically out of place. Most wraiths' souls weren't strong enough to see through the thick black fog which made up their body. Mau was a different kind of wraith, sure, but the only time Meridian had seen a soul like this was from the other gods. The other gods, and Matrix.

the gears began to turn in his head as his mind was pulled in every direction at once. On the hand he'd just connected the dots on Matrix having the soul of a god. On the other he had the same realization for Mau, but with the knowledge her soul didn't look like this before. And to top it all off he was still trying to figure a way out of this mess without getting himself killed. So much to think about in so little time!

"My eyes are up here" Mau growled.

She knew damn well what that pathetic god was staring at, and he wasn't going to get it. Even now if he attempted to take back his soul it's only return to the other half of her being. The red half, which was slowly making its way over as they spoke. One form dying would set her back significantly, but she wouldn't be down and out for good.

Mau grabbed Meridian by the face and forced his head upwards to break his line of sight with her open wound. That, and to stabilize his head so he couldn't see behind him. Her red half was going to strike the killing blow as the blue one kept him occupied. Generally he liked to talk things out. Get information. Gain leverage. If she could make him think talking would keep him alive the attack would hit him out of nowhere. He wouldn't be able to fight back.

"You are a tricky one" she continued. "Even after losing your soul you still don't die. Why. won't. You. Die?"

"My soul? You must be mistaken. If you really had my soul I'd be dead-"

Meridian cut himself off as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. That's what happened. That's why the world was in the state it was. The body of that beast was not suitable for a soul as strong as his. Not only that, but her form of magic was quite literally incompatible with his own. Her body was able to pause the end of reality, but it wasn't enough to keep it up and running.

Until now Meridian figured he had to kill Mau in order to have enough time to figure out a solution, but now the solution to all of this was clear. He had to retrieve his future self's soul and put it back where it belonged. That's why Matrix took such care in keeping his statue safe. If it was gone there'd be no vessel left and no way to fix anything.

All he could do was stare at Mau dumbfounded as her grip on his face tightened. He could feel the Kodin's long distorted claws digging into his flesh and slowly being dragged down his throat. It wasn't deep enough to do any real damage, but it was enough to prevent him from doing anything drastic. The second he moved her claws would gouge right through his neck.

The red Mau continued on until eventually it was stationed right above the others. Blue Mau had Meridian pinned against a stone overhang where the island's waterfall usually flowed. It wasn't too far of a drop, only about 25 feet, but she was high up enough to stay out of view.

Matrix already knew what she was attempting. This is similar to what she'd done in the past many times. Not just this timeline, either. In every iteration of this world where she existed she tried pulling this stunt at least once. Meridian had tasked him with being look out. There had to be some way to alert him of what was to come.

The wraith faded into the abyss and re-appeared right behind the Blue Mau in such a way Meridian could see him. He was just barely poking his head through a small portal to avoid being seen by the red Mau above. Whether that worked or not was up in the air, but he was at least able to catch Meridian's attention. That was the important part.

as the wraith popped into view and gave a very clear glance upwards Meridian had to do everything in his power to not immediately take a look for himself. The god of white was staring him dead in the eye to the point averting his gaze for even a second would be enough to tip her off. Still, he wanted to give some form of affirmation.

Now wasn't the time to experiment with things, but being under the assumption there was a possibility Matrix was his wraith Meridian decided to signal him in the only nonverbal way he could without moving his hands; blinking. For someone who'd lived every day a million times and learned damn near everything there was to know he was almost certain that if this wraith was his he'd know some form of Morse code. At the very least Mau seemed oblivious.

"don't believe me?" Mau finally said after a prolonged silence. her claws dug deeper into his neck as she spoke. "You just saw it yourself. You were staring quite intently. My brother always said it was rude to stare"

"The concept of "rude" lost its meaning a very long time ago" Meridian replied. "Right, wrong, good, evil. Someone in my position is above such things. After all, when nothing you do sticks in the set timeline your actions no longer have consequences. My morality can flip on a dime and the only one affected is me. It's quite a lonely existence, but I'm sure you know that by now."

"The gods have no place in this world" Mau said coldly. "They only exist to make people suffer. Mortals, demons. Even other gods. Your suffering was brought on by your own hand, and now... It ends with mine."

Meridian wasn't listening as the Kodin spoke. Her words were meaningless. He only got her talking like this in order to get another message across to Matrix. A very simple message: "throw something.". He wanted Matrix to out himself to Mau as a distraction. His plan was to get the red one to pounce, and while the blue one was distracted and the two were in proximity he was going to whip the potion out of his bag and hit both of them at once. He only had one shot, so Matrix better play along.

Throw something. Throw something?! Of all the things that fool could have said, why the hell did it have to be that?! He didn't know what Meridian was planning, but at this point he had no choice but to play along. All he could do was hope Meridian's plan didn't end in complete disaster.

Bending down, Matrix grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on, a small rock, and threw it as hard as he could at the back of the Kodin's head. Immediately she jolted in surprise and whipped around to get a better look. By the time she had Matrix had already fazed away somewhere else to keep himself out of harm's way.

The second Matrix popped in to view Meridian could hear the sound of the Kodin above jumping down to strike. This was his only chance, so despite the blue Mau's claws being anchored in his neck he bent down and grabbed the jug from his bag. His flesh tore and blood immediately started pouring out of the wounds, but he managed to grab it just in time for him to hoist it above his head and have the other Mau smash it to pieces.

A shower of bright purple liquid spewed out every which way as the glass jug broke open. It's liquid made contact with both halves of Mau and the Kodin screamed out in pain. The blue one let him go as she staggered backwards and in that instance Meridian made a break for it. Or at least, he would have, if Matrix didn't jump out of the woodworks and push him to the ground

The soul. It was free! And the ignorant moron was running away! They were at the final stretch, he couldn't trip at the finish line. The second Mau reformed into one and her body began to decay down to nothing but a black sludge Matrix dove down and wrapped his hands tightly around the purple wisp of light before it broke apart. A soul could not exist outside a body for long. Not without something to hold it together; which right now was his own hands.

With the soul now in his grasp Matrix just collapsed and let out a long overdue sign of relief. Mau was gone. The soul was in safe hands. So long as he held on to it the world wouldn't be able to decay any more than it already had. After all this time, he'd finally won. Or at least, he'd finally made a breakthrough in the progress of this world. Things could still very much end the second time was restored, but even if they did, Matrix would count this attempt as a win. For now, though, he wanted to stay in this moment just a little longer. A rare moment where nothing was pressing and he could just sit in silence with the satisfaction of victory

"Did you have to do that?" The god of time muttered as he rose to his feet and brushed the dirt off his person.

"You were in the way. This" Matrix said, holding up his closed hands. "is more important than you right now"

"That is me" Meridian replied.

He had a lot of questions, but now that this was all over the important thing now was repairing his wounds. His neck was bleeding far more than he would have liked, and of all the worst times to die right now would certainly be up there. So, he kept his mouth shut, sat down, and began patching up his wounds while the wraith caressed his future self's soul in his hands.

After several minutes passed and Meridian's wounds were fully healed he looked over to get a better look at the wraith. He looked... Overwhelmed to say the very least. Meridian had never seen him in a state like this before. His whole body was trembling, although he did his best to keep his hands steady. The grip he had on this soul was so ironclad Meridian feared not even he could break it. That is, if he wanted to. Clearly Matrix had things under control. He always did.

"Well?" Meridian said some time later after not getting any response from the wraith. "Are we going to put that back, or are you just going to sit there."

"I... Don't know..." The wraith replied quietly.

"Come again?"

"I've never gotten this far before..."

Matrix's voice was trembling at this point. He really didn't know what to do next. If it were up to him he'd just sit here for the foreseeable future, but he knew Meridian wouldn't have the patience for such things. Doing nothing was one of the very things the god couldn't do. He always had to be busy with something. Usually when he had a moment to himself to do nothing he'd either open his journal and begin scribbling down notes or he'd pull out some trinket to fiddle with.

Now that the soul was back in his grasp he had to deal with the past Meridian. He knew that restoring time with him still here would definitely cause reality to implode in on itself. When the past and present versions of someone interact bad things happen. But did he wipe Meridian's memory in silence and drag him back to his original time, or did he explain himself for the first time in this instance? It was a difficult choice, and given the uncertainty of what the future had in store he wanted to be in good standing with Meridian. Then again, there was a good chance the timeline would still implode even with all his precautions in place.

Meridian just stared blankly at the wraith for a moment. "Gotten this far... right... You never cease to amaze me, Matrix..."

"Right..." Matrix let out a sigh. "Unfortunately I don't think you're going to like what's in store for you next, but given everything going on... It has to be done"

"As it always does. Isn't that just the way of the world, though?" Meridian asked.

"Our world is much different from the average person's. You of all people should know"

"I suppose... Well, what's next for me exactly? We still have to put that back in it's rightful place" Meridian pointed to Matrix's closed hands as he said this.

"Now, you go home. With you gone there's an anomaly in the timeline. One that can only be fixed with your return, but-"

"If I return now won't that alter the past? Or was this always how things were supposed to play out? I must admit, this is far over my head... Time travel used to be one of the few certainties of the universe, but now it seems that isn't the case"

"No, it still is" Matrix said. "The only reason nothing's happened yet is because time isn't moving. No effects of altering the timeline can play out if time isn't moving, but I've taken a risk in bringing you here, and unless I take the proper precautions in returning you there's still a very high chance this would all have been for nothing."

"And what are these precautions?" Meridian asked.

"I have to put you back in the exact state you were when you left." Matrix said quietly. "My thinking is, if nothing changes-"

"The timeline won't be altered...."

Meridian sighed heavily. After everything he'd learned over the course of this... However long he'd been here. With time not flowing it really was hard to say. Regardless, after everything he'd seen and done and learned because of this event he didn't want to just leave empty handed. It was all for the good of reality, sure, but the thought of forgetting all this was disheartening.

He knew he didn't have a choice in the matter. This was one of the very few things out of his control. But, if he was going to forget all of this anyway he figured he may at least clear a few things up. Remember it or not, he'd kick himself in the moment for keeping his mouth shut. Perhaps the fact nothing Matrix said in this moment would stick, he'd be more inclined to reveal things.

"If you're just going to wipe this all away, can I at least ask one question first?" Meridian asked.

"What is it?" Matrix replied, a bit curious as to what the god would say next.

"I must say, it didn't occur to me until seeing you dressed in my outfit earlier... You're me, aren't you?"

Matrix just stared back. If it weren't for the fact his face was nothing but a skull his expression may have revealed the answer. That certainly wasn't what he expected to hear, but knowing what tipped him off would prove to be useful information going forwards. He wouldn't give Meridian an answer. Not a real one, anyway. Instead he just tilted his head and let out a rather iconic hiss; a sound Meridian knew all too well. Before breaking the vow of silence he'd had for so long this sound was the only thing Matrix ever responded with.

With that, he gripped the soul firmly in one hand and pressed the now free one against Meridian's forehead. Using the soul as a spell focus Matrix cast something his wraithly restrictions wouldn't normally allow him to; a powerful spell to not only wipe this event from Meridian's memory, but to daze him until he returned to his original point in time. Then, while he was still stunned, Matrix grabbed the god of time by the arm and pulled him through the confines of time and space until they were right back where he started.

"There's no time to explain" The Wraith hissed in a hoarse tone. Before Meridian got the chance to say anything in response he found himself being quite violently pushed to the ground. Matrix had pushed him like this several times before, so Meridian was able to put his hands out to catch himself before making contact with the ground. He saved himself, but his glasses were another story. The momentum of it all caused them to fly off his face and smash against the ground. They broke directly in two and Meridian had to cover his bad eye in order to focus on anything enough to pick up the pieces. Soon enough he was back on his feet with the two halves of his glasses in his hands.

"What... In the world... D-did you just speak?" Meridian asked, but it was too late. The wraith was already long gone by the time he'd gotten back up.

This certainly was interesting. For one thing, this was the first time Matrix had ever said anything intelligible. No time to explain what, though? Meridian summoned his journal in order to organize his thoughts as he pondered what had just happened. There was purpose behind everything Matrix did. His glasses were not broken unintentionally... Perhaps this was his way of saying it was time for a wardrobe change? After all, Meridian only had a prescription in one eye. Would a monocle suffice?

With the past Meridian dealt with it was now time to deal with the present one. The timeline had yet to collapse, but Matrix could only assume that was because Time had yet to be restored. The shimmering purple wisp of a soul was still firmly in his grasp, but now was time to return it to its rightful place.

Making his way back to the ruins of the citadel Matrix stopped to gaze at Meridian's statue one last time. It was always the same. The same torn open chest, the same terrified expression. The moment time resumed its flow Meridian would begin to bleed out, but Matrix could do his best to mitigate the damage. Before returning the soul to his body Matrix scoured what was left of the citadel until he found a few old healing potions. Vials of what would normally be blue magic, if time was still ticking. it wasn't much, but it'd be enough to prevent him from dying on the spot assuming reality didn't implode.

Very gently Matrix took the soul in his palm and set it back in place. Right in the center of the statue's open chest. As if the universe itself had a heart beat, things began moving again. Slowly at first, with movement coming in waves like the beating of a drum, but slowly and steadily getting faster and faster until eventually everything was moving just as it was before.

Meridian promptly collapsed backwards as he gasped for air. His blight was slowly expanding on his body as the god began to bleed out. To him this had all happened in an instant. One moment Mau was before him tearing the soul from his body, and the next Matrix was hovering in her place and aggressively shoving a glass vial in his open wound. Hard to make someone drink something when they don't have an esophagus intact, but Matrix made due with what he had. At the very least it was enough to stitch everything back together. There was still damage, sure, but that came with the territory.

For a brief moment everything began to tremble violently, and in that moment Matrix feared his efforts had been in vain. But it wasn't reality collapsing. It was merely what was left of reality settling itself to a more stable position. Meridian was back. He was alive, and for the first time ever Meridian would live to see the year 7001, assuming this event didn't mark a new era in history.

Meridian was still on the ground trying to process everything that'd just happened in the blink of an eye, and in that moment Matrix swooped down and gave the god a firm hug. One that was admittedly a bit too tight for someone in Meridian's condition, but he just couldn't help himself. The emotions he felt after seeing all of this finally occur after eons of attempts and countless timelines lost were overwhelming. His whole body was shaking by this point.

Surprisingly, instead of being pushed away Meridian returned the gesture; albeit a bit confusedly. It seemed he was still too dazed to really question anything that was going on, let alone fight back. That, and Meridian could undoubtedly tell something was wrong. Matrix rarely lost composure like this.

"N-now now, it's alright... Everything is going to be... Alright" Meridian said, struggling to find the right words to say. He was still having trouble processing all of this, but seeing as Matrix was here now he could only assume he'd done what he always did: prevent him from doing something stupid.

"It is now." The wraith replied softly.

There was still work to be done. The world had been altered in an almost irreparable way because of this event, but in this moment Matrix just didn't care. The wind was blowing, the birds were chirping, and the ambient sound of water flowing as the waterfall above the citadel roared back to life filled his ears. The world was back to being full of life and colour and, most importantly, time. That was enough for him.