"Put an end to what exactly?"
I asked even though I knew what they were talking about.
"You know what we're talking about" Kael said still looking at his drink. So they want to stop shifting timelines? Is that even possible? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't amused at all or didn't entertain the idea but-
"Aren't you all able to control the shifts now? So why is there a need to put an end to this?" I asked calmly expecting a further explanation. "Well the thing is..." Lucien tried saying something but seemed to be at loss of words. "We can control the where and when we shift but can not avoid it completely. We have to shift when our stay in a timelime extends a certain period. We can sometimes predict when the certain period in a timeline is coming to an end for us with the help of Kael so we prepare and plan everything in advance. We still can not control which body we will posses though. We usually decide a particular city in a particular timeline and all of us shift there. That's how we all decided to come to this timeline" Irene explained everything in detail and I processed everything bit by bit.
"So what did you all come to this timeline for?" I asked them even though I do have a guess that they came here for me but that would be too egocentric of me to believe and they all seem much smarter than that, I'm sure there is a bigger reason for them to come to this timeline...
"For you"
Or maybe not.
All of them said in unision... Well at least most of them.
"I'm flattered?" I said awkwardly because I don't know how to react in such situations. "So how do you guys plan to put an end to the shifts? I'm sure you guys must have a plan if you're planning something so big" I asked because now I am interested in what they have to say and what their plan is. I myself have tried multiple ways to end all this but it never worked and I am tired of the shifts too so I understand where they're coming from. Immortality is a curse like they say.
"It may sound a little crazy but we're planning to..." Irene tried to go on with the explanation but kael interrupted her. "We will find our original bodies" My eyes went wide at that. "Is this a joke?" I looked at him with a serious expression warning him not to joke about stuff like this and he turned to look at me with that indifferent cold expression of his. "Do I look like someone who jokes around?" he asked me in a serious tone. "But is that even possible now? Most of our real bodies must've died a long time ago since a of us have been shifting timelines and universes for hundereds of years now." I asked in bewildered manner.
"Did you forget? Time is nothing to us, we can visit the time before we started shifting timelines and stop it from happening. After acquiring our real mortal bodies, we can live out that life like it was meant to be from beginning and die of old age" Kael added further explanation but for some reason I was having hard time bbelieving that it would be possible that easily.
"So you're talking about time travel?" I asked perplexed yet again.
He just looked at me like I was dumb for asking something simple but I don't care, I have to be clear on such things because this is huge and what they're planning to do isn't easy.
"Well if that's what makes you understand it better then yes, we are going to time travel" Kael said going back to focus on his drink again. And to think he was saying I wasn't allowed to drink.
"How are you going to do that? And why have you approached me? I don't think I can offer any assistance in the condition I am in" I asked and he let out a sigh. "You certainly can not offer any assistance here but you can in one of the universes you have been in before" Kael said calmly "that doesn't narrow it down for me, I have been in so many, you have to more specific" I said looking towards him.
"Do you remember the universe where you were child of a priestess?" He asked me whereas I started jogging my memories of that universe. "I do remember a shift like that but I was only there for a few years as a child and the priestess wasn't my mother she just raised me because the parents of the body I was possesing abondoned it but what about it?"
"In that body You had potential to develop a lot of elemental controlling abilities along with a lot of other abilities like Space and time control but it would still require a lot of time and training" He explained further but how does he even know that?
"So let me get this straight, your plan is getting me to that universe and have me learn the space and time control and then take us all back to our original universes in the time before we started shifting timelines and prevent the shifts from starting so we can live out the lives that were meant to be for us and die of old age like a normal person?"
"Well technically yeah that's what he's saying" Lucien added confirming my statement. "What do you think of the plan?" Irene asked with a little hope in her eyes but- "it's trash" I said flatly while Eugene spit out the water he was drinking. Everyone's eyes went wide and the harsh comment I made but it was true.
"And I'm in for it" I added only too see everyone's expression relaxed again and then start laughing. "You are good at playing jokes Nora" Lucien added while laughing. "I wasn't joking, the plan is trash" I said again making everyone come to halt and look at me as if expecting a further explaination. "The plan is pure fantasy and there are no proofs that it is even possible. We are talking about preventing something from happening and it's not a small thing, it's timeline shifting we're talking about here. Many things could go wrong, some of us could even die for good or get lost in the eternity or be stuck in a time loop.... the possiblities of horrible things happening are endless. We don't know many aspects that could affect the plan in unexpected ways so the chances of us actually succeeding are extremely low" I explained to them and some of their expressions seem to falter whereas some of them seemed like they were proud of me giving it such a deep thought.
"Told you she was smart, Kael" Irene said looking towards Kael who was finally facing everyone else. He must've turned around during my explaination but that's not the issue here. "What do you mean?" I asked Irene demanding an explaination for her statement. "Well I told Kael that you would point such things out because you are not the kind of person who gets into something without thinking deeply about it" Irene said being proud of her judgement of me. "And how do you know that much about me? " After hearing my question they all started looking here and there awkwardly as if to avoid answering that. I sighed "let me guess, you all have been spying on me in my past few timelines haven't you?" I asked already knowing the answer. "Well we wouldn't say spying on you but more like making sure you're fine and-" "Worthy of being in the team?" Lucien started giving an awkward explaination but I cut him off and finished that sentence. They all looked me cautiously, waiting for my reaction to that "it's fine, you guys didn't mean any harm and if I was going to add someone in my team, I would also do the same thing to make sure I'm adding the right person" I said and they seemed to have relaxed after hearing that.
"So are you joining us or not?" Kael asked once again as if to get a final answer from me.
"The plan has a lot of loopholes and many things could go wrong but if you've done a good background check on me then you woud know that things like that don't stop me" I said confirming that I would be joining them because personally I was also tried of this and living felt like a chore at this point so better do something than nothing.
Everyone seemed to have a cheerful expression on their faces from my response and It was adorable seeing little Dylan finally reacting positively towards me.
"But I have a condition"
Their cheerful expressions were replaced by a small frown wondering what the condition will be. I turned to look at Kael and I flatly demanded
"teach me how to maintain a particular appearance in different timelines like you maintain the same appreance in all the timelines you shift in" I said and he stopped stirring his drink. He hasn't even been drinking it, just stirring and playing with it. he came to a halt after hearing my demand and finally turned towards me as if to see if I'm just joking around or being serious.
Everyone else seemed to have horrific expression on their faces as if I asked for his kidney. "Nora I think you should stop joking around" Irene said trying to lighten the mood in hopes that I'd play along and drop it but I won't. I looked him in the eye "take it or leave it" Kael looked at me for a while to see if I'd back down from my demand but I didn't. He turned around in annoyance and stood up from his seat and muttered something very lightly.....
"Fine" that's all he said before leaving
And everyone else seemed to have a look of disbelief in their eyes. "Did- Did he just agree to that?" Lucien asked in disbelief. "Well that's what it seemed like" Irene added to confirm Lucien's statement. Eugene scoffed and added "that guy knows when to not be stubborn and prioritize what's best for everyone"
"Well it's all good then isn't it? Maybe he'll teach us too but I doubt that's going to happen" Lucien said wondering if it would be possible that he teaches them too. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you all learn it too. I can teach you all after learning it myself" I said making them all break into a smile "really?" Iris asked in excitement, I patted her head and said "yes I will" while smiling at her. "What about Kael? Won't he be mad if you do that?" Irene asked still not sure about my idea. "What can he do after you all have already learned it?" I said while smiling mischievously and they all burst into Laughter yet again. "We finally got a match to him" Lucien said in between his laughs. I looked outside the window and the dawn was breaking in. I needed to go back to the castle before anyone could notice my absence. I got up from my seat and put my cloak over my head again.
"It's been nice meeting you all but I need to get back before I get caught or I'll be in trouble" They all seemed to have a look of disappointment on their faces after hearing my words "so soon? but we didn't even get to chit-chat yet" Irene added with a disappointing tone. I smiled and said "I'm sure we'll have a lot of time for that in future for that"
I reached towards the door and looked back at them one last time and gave them a final smile before leaving.