"I'm here to meet God of Time, your master, Chryos," was all that Mizuki said gruffly to the guard, Gilbert, before entering her way into the palace, almost angrily.
"You're here to meet Lord Chryos, Lady Fortune? You've come at a terrible time, I'm afraid. The Lord has gone out for some work in the office. Would you like to stay for some tea, perhaps?"
"No, I'm afraid I'm in a rush today, Gilbert. And I would prefer it if you wouldn't lie to me straight to my face, either. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think he'd be here." Mizuki spoke in a rather commanding tone. Of course, she wouldn't have to second-guess her thinking. She knew. And, of course, she was right.
Chryos walked down the staircase, tying his bathrobe around his waist and slicking his hair back slightly, a maiden walking behind him, her hair messed up. Mizuki had a dull expression growing over her face, as if she didn't expect better from someone like him. He chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to be alongside your best friend ?"
"And aren't you supposed to be at your office, doing some amount of work?" Mizuki asked, glaring at Gilbert, who nervously stepped back enough times to be out at the palace gate once more.
"Yes, but I was having the time of my existence, with the lovely lady who's now gone to the kitchen to make tea for both of us. So, tell me. To what do I owe the pleasure of having Lady Fortune personally visit me in my charming palace instead of sending a text? Or a letter, I find letters very sophisticated."
"I'm here to talk about this." Mizuki took out the message she'd received. Time smile dropped almost instantly. "Did you send this to me?"
"I wasn't even aware-" his head hurt. "Wait... listen. I assure you this - I didn't send the message. But recently, I remember meditating to enhance my visio futura. There, I saw something, but as the God of Time, I know everything, but I can't tell everything, either. I know what will happen, and since you won't be able to foresee it... Yet. I'll give you some hints beforehand. First... there is danger.
Death has already made contact with the anomaly, and it will only become worse from here. Don't let them get any closer than they already are."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Yumi... is unpredictable for you, for Death, for everyone. Lock her away as soon as possible, so that you can at least make some change or maybe delay the worst. Second..." Chryos sighed, biting his lips.
"Find your favourable contestants for the position of the god of Death and train them."
"WHAT?!" Mizuki shouted, "Are you saying that Yanluo will... cease to exist?"
"I can't tell you everything, but you already know that. And you won't tell Yanluo about it."
"I have to! He needs to kill the anomaly now-"
"Per potestatem Caeli et Inferni, tibi veto!" Chryos held his arm out to Mizuki. Thin white and black threads of Heaven and Hell bound Mizuki's body, burning her and absorbing into her, leaving a slight mark on her wrist. Yin and Yang.
"You will do no such thing, Mizuki. Even if that means I must stop you by using the restriction of Heaven and Hell. Because, should you try to defy the future, not only will you bring about any major change, but you will end up speeding the process, and we will all suffer a great loss once more. Not only that, but you too will cease to exist. You will destroy us all along with you. So I suggest you do no such thing, not that you'll be able to anymore, and instead, you talk to Hakai. Maybe she can help you out, comfort you even. But don't try to distort the timeline just because I've given you some hints. Consider it a favour that I've restricted you."
"Why can't we change it?"
"Because it has already happened, and everything that is happening is all happening according to the script. Ultimately, we will all lose to what is bound to happen, and we all play our parts in it. Should I impart to you some wisdom, even though in your eyes, I am a bastard of the highest order?"
"Yes, please. Go ahead." Mizuki scoffed.
"We might all be Gods, but ultimately, we're all subjected to fate. And even though we are granted the highest power, why is it that our actions are only restricted to certain things? We all play our game with the pawns of the mortal realm, but why can't we save our comrade? It is because, even above us, even above Heaven and Hell, there is a greater power, and ultimately, we are the real pawns. So again, I'll suggest that you talk to our lovely Destruction and hopefully, you'll understand that we need to strengthen our people and ourselves as well."
Mizuki sighed, knowing that this was the reality. Ultimately, why can't they defy certain things? Why would they cease to exist if they wanted to go against it all? Maybe it didn't matter. What now mattered was what Death would do with the Anomaly.
.
.
.
SOME STRANGE PLACE A BIT AWAY FROM DEAD MAN'S TOWN
"So, where do we go from here, Death?" Yumi asked, to which Yanluo sighed, "I have no idea. I don't know what I should do with you..."
Yanluo took off his cloak, his appearance changing. He almost looked like a mortal. Yumi looked at him, surprised. "Whoa, well that is a real shocker now. I didn't know you could look like this, too. I would have preferred it, actually. I'm sorry to tell you, but your previous look was scary. This one is... charming, maybe? I don't know... But it is an improvement."
"I didn't do it to impress or charm you. I did it because I got tired of looking like that. You didn't even get scared, so what's the point of putting in so much effort?"
"It suits you. You're taller than me, not much taller though. I'm 5'7 myself, so you must be, what, 5'10 or 6 feet?"
"Yeah, I'm 5'11. I think it's a good height. I mean, I can grow taller, make myself 6'4, 6'5 but that's..."
"Too tall."
"Yes, too tall. Exactly. So I keep my original height."
"You didn't even try to round it off, that's honest."
"Why round it off?"
"To look taller, guys out there do that."
"Pathetic approach."
"Agreed."
Silence. Awkward... silence. "So... what now?" Yumi asked.
"Umm... let's explore a bit."
Yumi looked around and back at him, trying to be as serious as possible, stifling her laugh. "In this desert?"
"Of course not!" Yanluo put his hand over his forehead. "I'm already so done with you and everything that has been going on. Let's go to a shrine."
"Shrine?"
"A lovely shrine in the mountains."
"Why are you wasting time, both mine and yours?"
"Time is a meaningless thing, or person, in my eyes. But we will actually go there to meet a friend of mine."
"You have friends?"
He gave her an annoyed look. "Too many, in fact. And this one in particular... is a real sly fox."
Yanluo held her hand, and the two of them got teleported back to the train station in the middle of the field once again. The train arrived, and they went in, continuing on their journey.