Chapter 10: Extremes Beyond Imagination
Seifer led us back to the area surrounding Deling City. This time Edea was also with us. Yaru asked "So Sorceress Thasma erased the abandoned missile base... where do we look next now that its gone?" Seifer shrugged and turned to us stopping briefly "Beats me. But we'll look around here for now. We dont have time to overthink this. If Thasma gets this other sorceress first..." I nodded "I know.. but if we take too long we still lose. And i may not remember much, but my mother can more than likely use her elevated time compression to get wherever she wants in a split second. She has magical stamina beyond what words can describe. I felt it during that encounter before..." Edea nodded in agreement "We are at a disadvantage, shes right... but if we think this through, we might still have a chance to beat her at this." Yaru was confused "But how...?" I explained "My mother may be a time mage like me, but that doesnt mean she knows the precise location of everything. So if she were to send herself to the wrong locations through time compression..." Seifer agreed "Right... we can still beat her then. Lets go!" Yaru nodded and we continued to follow Seifer. He lead us to some ruins several ways ahead and we stopped outside the entrance. Seifer said "Lets check here first." Yaru cried "But its super easy to get lost in there! If we got separated..." Edea added "I think thats why he wants to check here. Its a good place for someone to hide at a time like this because of how easy getting lost is. Only the strong would make it back out quickly." Yaru quickly caught on "Ohh, right! Ha ha..." She laughed nervously and then Seifer led us inside. The minute we were inside, i saw Matron just ahead of us. She looked troubled and didnt say anything. Yaru cried "There she is! You ok miss?" Yaru went closer to her and she stepped back cautiously without answering. Something immediately seemed off to me about her. I decided to step forward and went to her "Hey... this is..." I slowly pushed my gloved finger right through her and she vanished instantly. Yaru was immediately shocked "Wha... that was an illusion?!" I turned to them lowering my hand and nodded "It seems that way... and theres a bigger problem..." They listened and i went on "We dont know if my mother created it or if the other sorceress did." Seifer hardened his expression and shook his head "Youve gotta be kidding me... is there anything she cant do?!" He seemed angry. I said "We cant waste any time. We wont know who did it unless we keep going." Seifer sighed but nodded and continued leading us through the ruins. We followed him and came to several dead ends along the way. We took yet another long path to who knows where and found another dead end but i noticed a small path lit by black and purple that lead to a small room several ways ahead that i couldnt see into. It was also surrounded by the magical light. Seifer groaned "Again? This is crap! No way we'll find her like this!" Edea also noticed what i saw and gently tapped Seifer's shoulder "No... look closely." Seifer sighed but followed her gaze and asked "Whats that?" Yaru worried "I dont know but i hope we arent too late... theres definitely a sorceress in there. And if its our enemy, then..." I nodded and added "I know. If its Thasma then we're definitely too late." Edea closed her eyes and kept silent as if worried about what was ahead. We went ahead and followed the path lit by purple and black magic energy, and then we went inside the room at the end of it. I was shocked at what we found: Thasma was holding Matron with her magic, unconscious and suspended in midair. She took notice to us and smiled "How kind of you to take so much time, only to fail your objective... if you had been just a bit faster i mightve lost my target." Seifer got angry "Goddang it, no!" He groaned, feeling both frustrated and disappointed then shook his head and didnt say anything. Thasma giggled and then looked at me "Have you made your final decision, my precious child? If you come back to your mother like a good girl maybe i can release this rebelling sister of yours." I looked down unable to know how to word my feelings. Edea quickly grew brave and stood up to Thasma "There is no need to endanger so many over a family quarrel. You have to stop!" Thasma shook her head and kept Matron suspended in midair and unconscious using her powers, then said "You misunderstand, Sorceress Edea. This is far more than a family quarrel. This is exacting justice on all the shameless people out there who have done nothing but slaughter us and punishing us for being strong. And when people dont behave and a sorceress is involved, bad things happen. Very bad things. And im about to show them just how gruesome the consequences will be for the acts of foolishness!" I had another flashback of when i had thought angry people killed my mother, her taking the hit to protect me when i was too young to use my magic and defend myself. Edea paused in silence, then remained serious "I understand your fury for generations of being unwelcome... its true that most dont welcome the presence of a sorceress. Its the reason there have been so many power struggles in this world. People get afraid and then things spiral out of control. I understand that completely. However..." Edea hardened her expression "Punishing the ones who did nothing wrong for things that happened in the past is completely unacceptable. You cant blindly resort to such monstrous extremes like this!" Thasma sneered "Hmph... im not blind. Im well aware of how those so-called innocents will turn out. Theyll be the same filthy wenches as those who hate us! So why wait for the inevitable when we can exterminate it once and for all?!" Edea went on "If you display such violent extremes then nothing will change. It will worsen the already existing conflict, not resolve it! If the people see an evil sorceress at work their opinions will not change! We need to show them that theyre wrong, not murder all of them and prove they were right!" Thasma sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head as if annoyed "I dont have time to hear your speeches, Edea... I only want my daughter standing next to you. But it seems she cant make up her mind right now either. Mark my words, all of you... if you so much as scratch Ultimecia it will be the end of your very existences." Thasma vanished through a hazy space with Matron and Yaru shook her head worried "I cant believe it... she got her first...?" Edea sighed and looked down "I understand Thasma's anger at the mass people, but... she is crossing the line with her extreme measures." I said "Something is off. Why hasnt she just attacked any of you if she wants me so badly?" Seifer turned to me "Good point... I dont get it either. What exactly is she planning?" Edea replied "I think she wants to use Immortal Time Compression... if she is able to do that then she has no reason to fight us unless we are directly threatening this goal." I had another flashback of being around my mother as a child, and the words 'When mother and daughter are in harmony, the true nature of time compression will manifest itself forever'. I accidentally spoke those words out loud and Seifer was confused "What in the world does that mean?" I closed my eyes and paused in silence, then answered "Its not the same as the time compression i did generations from this past. Its a lot greater than that." Yaru asked "How is it different?" I explained "Immortal Time Compression is much more dangerous. It allows the sorceress to reshape anything and everything in existence to whatever she pleases. Anyone or anything can become someone or something else, or even disappear from existence... or return. There is an endless fabric for anything to be absorbed into time top either become something else, or disappear as if they had never happened... literally." Yaru cried "What?! Thats worse than just disappearing!" I added "And thats not even the worst of it... theres a very high risk of the temporal paradox collapsing completely. And if that happens, no one survives. Even the caster would be lucky to live on if that happened." Seifer cried "The heck?! Is your mother insane or what?! We'll all die if she does that!" Edea said "And she needs Ultimecia to do it. Its impossible for only one sorceress to do alone. Time compression from two sorceresses births the Immortal Time Compression when there are affectionate feelings on both ends, no matter how buried they might be." I nodded "Thats why she doesnt need to fight us. If i continued to refuse cooperation, however..." Edea added "Immortal Time Compression might sound like an endless world of infinite pleasures, but if you tamper with time and space too much all at once it can throw the temporal paradox off balance and then the universe will simply destroy itself..." Seifer asked "Any ideas how we should calm your mother down so she doesnt do this?" I shook my head "If i turn myself over, she will almost certainly prepare for the ultimate time compression... then we fail anyway. I dont want to see my mother suffer like this, but... i cant be careless and let her do this so easily..." Yaru said "But she cant do the highest form alone right? So if we keep you then she cant complete her goals." Seifer nodded starting to calm down "Right. But for right now we need to get that sorceress back. We cant return to garden without going after Thasma this time." Edea added "I think i might know where she went... lets go back to where you three found me." Seifer nodded and led us out of the ruins and we made for the same enemy castle that Edea was in when we saved her.
To Be Continued...
Seifer led us back to the area surrounding Deling City. This time Edea was also with us. Yaru asked "So Sorceress Thasma erased the abandoned missile base... where do we look next now that its gone?" Seifer shrugged and turned to us stopping briefly "Beats me. But we'll look around here for now. We dont have time to overthink this. If Thasma gets this other sorceress first..." I nodded "I know.. but if we take too long we still lose. And i may not remember much, but my mother can more than likely use her elevated time compression to get wherever she wants in a split second. She has magical stamina beyond what words can describe. I felt it during that encounter before..." Edea nodded in agreement "We are at a disadvantage, shes right... but if we think this through, we might still have a chance to beat her at this." Yaru was confused "But how...?" I explained "My mother may be a time mage like me, but that doesnt mean she knows the precise location of everything. So if she were to send herself to the wrong locations through time compression..." Seifer agreed "Right... we can still beat her then. Lets go!" Yaru nodded and we continued to follow Seifer. He lead us to some ruins several ways ahead and we stopped outside the entrance. Seifer said "Lets check here first." Yaru cried "But its super easy to get lost in there! If we got separated..." Edea added "I think thats why he wants to check here. Its a good place for someone to hide at a time like this because of how easy getting lost is. Only the strong would make it back out quickly." Yaru quickly caught on "Ohh, right! Ha ha..." She laughed nervously and then Seifer led us inside. The minute we were inside, i saw Matron just ahead of us. She looked troubled and didnt say anything. Yaru cried "There she is! You ok miss?" Yaru went closer to her and she stepped back cautiously without answering. Something immediately seemed off to me about her. I decided to step forward and went to her "Hey... this is..." I slowly pushed my gloved finger right through her and she vanished instantly. Yaru was immediately shocked "Wha... that was an illusion?!" I turned to them lowering my hand and nodded "It seems that way... and theres a bigger problem..." They listened and i went on "We dont know if my mother created it or if the other sorceress did." Seifer hardened his expression and shook his head "Youve gotta be kidding me... is there anything she cant do?!" He seemed angry. I said "We cant waste any time. We wont know who did it unless we keep going." Seifer sighed but nodded and continued leading us through the ruins. We followed him and came to several dead ends along the way. We took yet another long path to who knows where and found another dead end but i noticed a small path lit by black and purple that lead to a small room several ways ahead that i couldnt see into. It was also surrounded by the magical light. Seifer groaned "Again? This is crap! No way we'll find her like this!" Edea also noticed what i saw and gently tapped Seifer's shoulder "No... look closely." Seifer sighed but followed her gaze and asked "Whats that?" Yaru worried "I dont know but i hope we arent too late... theres definitely a sorceress in there. And if its our enemy, then..." I nodded and added "I know. If its Thasma then we're definitely too late." Edea closed her eyes and kept silent as if worried about what was ahead. We went ahead and followed the path lit by purple and black magic energy, and then we went inside the room at the end of it. I was shocked at what we found: Thasma was holding Matron with her magic, unconscious and suspended in midair. She took notice to us and smiled "How kind of you to take so much time, only to fail your objective... if you had been just a bit faster i mightve lost my target." Seifer got angry "Goddang it, no!" He groaned, feeling both frustrated and disappointed then shook his head and didnt say anything. Thasma giggled and then looked at me "Have you made your final decision, my precious child? If you come back to your mother like a good girl maybe i can release this rebelling sister of yours." I looked down unable to know how to word my feelings. Edea quickly grew brave and stood up to Thasma "There is no need to endanger so many over a family quarrel. You have to stop!" Thasma shook her head and kept Matron suspended in midair and unconscious using her powers, then said "You misunderstand, Sorceress Edea. This is far more than a family quarrel. This is exacting justice on all the shameless people out there who have done nothing but slaughter us and punishing us for being strong. And when people dont behave and a sorceress is involved, bad things happen. Very bad things. And im about to show them just how gruesome the consequences will be for the acts of foolishness!" I had another flashback of when i had thought angry people killed my mother, her taking the hit to protect me when i was too young to use my magic and defend myself. Edea paused in silence, then remained serious "I understand your fury for generations of being unwelcome... its true that most dont welcome the presence of a sorceress. Its the reason there have been so many power struggles in this world. People get afraid and then things spiral out of control. I understand that completely. However..." Edea hardened her expression "Punishing the ones who did nothing wrong for things that happened in the past is completely unacceptable. You cant blindly resort to such monstrous extremes like this!" Thasma sneered "Hmph... im not blind. Im well aware of how those so-called innocents will turn out. Theyll be the same filthy wenches as those who hate us! So why wait for the inevitable when we can exterminate it once and for all?!" Edea went on "If you display such violent extremes then nothing will change. It will worsen the already existing conflict, not resolve it! If the people see an evil sorceress at work their opinions will not change! We need to show them that theyre wrong, not murder all of them and prove they were right!" Thasma sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head as if annoyed "I dont have time to hear your speeches, Edea... I only want my daughter standing next to you. But it seems she cant make up her mind right now either. Mark my words, all of you... if you so much as scratch Ultimecia it will be the end of your very existences." Thasma vanished through a hazy space with Matron and Yaru shook her head worried "I cant believe it... she got her first...?" Edea sighed and looked down "I understand Thasma's anger at the mass people, but... she is crossing the line with her extreme measures." I said "Something is off. Why hasnt she just attacked any of you if she wants me so badly?" Seifer turned to me "Good point... I dont get it either. What exactly is she planning?" Edea replied "I think she wants to use Immortal Time Compression... if she is able to do that then she has no reason to fight us unless we are directly threatening this goal." I had another flashback of being around my mother as a child, and the words 'When mother and daughter are in harmony, the true nature of time compression will manifest itself forever'. I accidentally spoke those words out loud and Seifer was confused "What in the world does that mean?" I closed my eyes and paused in silence, then answered "Its not the same as the time compression i did generations from this past. Its a lot greater than that." Yaru asked "How is it different?" I explained "Immortal Time Compression is much more dangerous. It allows the sorceress to reshape anything and everything in existence to whatever she pleases. Anyone or anything can become someone or something else, or even disappear from existence... or return. There is an endless fabric for anything to be absorbed into time top either become something else, or disappear as if they had never happened... literally." Yaru cried "What?! Thats worse than just disappearing!" I added "And thats not even the worst of it... theres a very high risk of the temporal paradox collapsing completely. And if that happens, no one survives. Even the caster would be lucky to live on if that happened." Seifer cried "The heck?! Is your mother insane or what?! We'll all die if she does that!" Edea said "And she needs Ultimecia to do it. Its impossible for only one sorceress to do alone. Time compression from two sorceresses births the Immortal Time Compression when there are affectionate feelings on both ends, no matter how buried they might be." I nodded "Thats why she doesnt need to fight us. If i continued to refuse cooperation, however..." Edea added "Immortal Time Compression might sound like an endless world of infinite pleasures, but if you tamper with time and space too much all at once it can throw the temporal paradox off balance and then the universe will simply destroy itself..." Seifer asked "Any ideas how we should calm your mother down so she doesnt do this?" I shook my head "If i turn myself over, she will almost certainly prepare for the ultimate time compression... then we fail anyway. I dont want to see my mother suffer like this, but... i cant be careless and let her do this so easily..." Yaru said "But she cant do the highest form alone right? So if we keep you then she cant complete her goals." Seifer nodded starting to calm down "Right. But for right now we need to get that sorceress back. We cant return to garden without going after Thasma this time." Edea added "I think i might know where she went... lets go back to where you three found me." Seifer nodded and led us out of the ruins and we made for the same enemy castle that Edea was in when we saved her.
To Be Continued...
