The Asura Kingdom's capital was always busy, but the palace had a rhythm of its own, especially on days when nobles came sniffing around Ariel for favors.
The halls buzzed with hushed politics, distant footfalls, and the faint scraping of ink quills in the war room nearby.
Shift had disappeared somewhere, probably to keep herself entertained or silently intimidate another overeager suitor.
That left Sans leaning against one of the inner balconies, watching the city breathe beneath a pale blue sky.
He wasn't doing much. Just people-watching. Thinking.
A pair of court assistants passed by behind him, their voices quiet but clear enough.
"...can't believe it's already been five years since the Fittoa tragedy. Seems like just yesterday."
"Mm, yeah. You weren't even in the capital back then, right?"
"No, I was still in Roa. I saw the crater it left. It was, well, hard to forget."
Sans's eyes didn't move. But his fingers twitched just slightly, his grip tightening around the bone he'd been idly twirling between them.
Five years?
He let out a faint breath, not quite a sigh. His sockets stayed fixed on the horizon. His mind? Nowhere near it.
That couldn't be right. He and Rudy got caught up in the light at the same time. It was sudden. Blinding.
One second he was home, the next he was on the outskirts of some unfamiliar woods. Disoriented, sure, but time hadn't felt off. Not until now.
More voices came from further down the hall.
"...I heard the Greyrat boy's enrolling soon. Paul's second son, he's coming to the university next month."
"Right, the one who's friends with Princess Ariel's group? He's supposed to be fifteen or sixteen, isn't he?"
"Bit young to be enrolling, but I hear he's a prodigy."
Sans blinked slowly.
Rudy. Fifteen?
No.
No way.
He'd only seen him last when they were kids. Just kids. Rudeus had been what, Ten? Nine? And that wasn't long ago.
He remembered the way the light swallowed them both. He remembered how he hit the ground first, alone. He'd assumed Rudy was somewhere nearby.
But if this was five years later... and Rudeus was already a teenager...
"...heh." The sound escaped before he realized.
Something was off.
More than just location. Time had bent, curved in a way he didn't see coming. He hadn't just been flung across the map.
He'd been thrown ahead.
And now, everything around him, the bustling capital, the politics, the grown-up version of his little brother stepping into a new chapter, was evidence that he was behind in a timeline he hadn't lived through.
He tucked his hands into his jacket pocket, quietly staring at the clouds above the rooftops.
"...guess I missed a few birthdays, huh, kid."
...
The late afternoon sun bled through the stained-glass windows of the palace's inner chamber, throwing colored shadows over stone floors.
Ariel was seated at her usual spot, reviewing scrolls handed down by one of the court advisors.
Luke stood nearby, arms crossed, pretending not to be bored.
Fitz hovered behind her quietly, always attentive, always watching.
Sans stepped inside without knocking.
Ariel glanced up. "Sans. You usually don't show up when it's this... official."
"Yeah, well." His grin was faint, but not quite lazy. "Guess I felt like stretchin' my legs and maybe stretchin' a few answers outta someone too."
Luke raised an eyebrow. Fitz narrowed their eyes slightly, but Ariel motioned for them to relax.
"I suppose I owe you a few, don't I? What's on your mind?"
Sans didn't move from the door. His arms were still tucked in the sleeves of his coat, his posture unreadable.
His eyes, though, those sockets fixed on Ariel, were unusually steady. No flickering glow, no jokes. Just quiet.
"What year is it?" he asked.
The room stilled.
Ariel blinked, then slowly leaned back in her chair. "You don't know?"
"Pretend I've been livin' under a rock for a bit." His tone was dry, but flat. "Indulge me."
Luke gave him a look like he was trying to decide if this was another weird joke or a serious lapse in sanity. Ariel, to her credit, didn't question him further.
"It's the year 422 of the Human Calendar," she said clearly. "Five years after the Mana Calamity struck the Fittoa Region."
There it was. That number again. Five years.
"...Right." Sans tilted his head slightly, as if that helped the thought sit better in his skull. "And, uh. Say someone got hit by that light. Teleported. Woke up somewhere else. What're the odds they missed five whole years while feelin' like it was only... maybe a few days?"
Ariel frowned slightly. "You think that's what happened to you?"
He shrugged. "Startin' to wonder."
"You didn't notice until now?"
He looked away for a second. "Didn't really check the clocks on the way here, y'know? Had other things on my plate. But... everything's older. Everyone's older. And I'm not."
A long silence settled in.
Luke opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Fitz shifted uncomfortably, almost like they understood what he was getting at.
"You might've been displaced in time," Ariel said softly, her fingers tightening slightly around the scroll in her lap.
"Spatial teleportation was a known effect of the Mana Calamity, but this... temporal delay... That's something else."
"Story of my life." Sans gave a short breath through his teeth. "Still... five years. That's a long time to lose."
"Do you remember the moment it happened?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I remember light. And then I was here. No in-between. No time skip."
"Then something must have slowed your arrival."
Luke finally spoke, his voice a little cautious. "If that's true... how are you not different? No side effects? No magic instability?"
Sans gave him a sideways look and smiled faintly. "Who says I'm not?"
Ariel tapped her chin thoughtfully. "This may explain your... peculiarity. If you were out of sync with the rest of the world... maybe that's why you seem so different from the other survivors. Your abilities. Your soul."
"Eh, i'm not sure about that" Sans muttered. "You can say i was born with all these"
He looked back out the window. The city was still alive and busy, like it hadn't missed him at all.
Like he'd just skipped ahead in someone else's book.
Ariel stood and walked closer to him. "I don't know what happened to you. But... I'm glad you're here now."
He gave her a quiet nod. "Thanks, princess."
"Do you want help investigating it?" she asked gently. "Maybe Fitz can look into possible anomalies. Or Shift."
He thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe later."
Because deep down, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what happened in the time he'd lost.
Not yet.
...
..
.
..
...
Meanwhile, somewhere in the town.
The village was quiet, peaceful. The air smelled fresh, and the sky above was clear, a perfect day for a stroll.
Shift wandered through the cobbled streets, hands tucked into her pockets, enjoying the calmness of this world.
It wasn't often she had a moment like this, away from the usual hustle of her friends and, well, William.
Sans was still with Ariel, as he had been for a while now.
The conversation between them seemed to flow easily, and Shift wasn't in the mood to stick around and listen to the political chatter.
She knew Ariel's mind was sharp and her ambitions clear, but Shift wasn't in the mood for that sort of conversation today.
Besides, it gave her a chance to think, or more accurately, to avoid thinking about the nagging feeling she had inside.
She walked aimlessly, her feet leading her to a quiet spot on the outskirts of the village, near a little grove of trees.
It was there that she found William waiting for her, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a slight frown on his face.
He hadn't moved from his spot as she approached, his eyes narrowing just a little.
Shift paused, her hands still in her pockets, but she didn't stop walking. She wasn't in a hurry to face him, not after their earlier conversation.
William straightened up when he saw her, his face softening just a little. "Shift."
"Hey, William," Shift replied casually, though she was already mentally preparing herself for another lecture. "What's up?"
He gave her a pointed look, his tone a little more serious than usual. "We need to talk. About you, about staying here."
Shift wasn't in the mood for this. She gave him a half-smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Again? You're starting to sound like a broken record, you know."
William didn't laugh. He was serious, and she could tell he wasn't going to let this go. "You can't stay here forever. You've been avoiding the issue, but it's getting harder to ignore. What about your family in StoryShift? What about your friends?"
Shift paused, the smile fading from her face as she looked down at the ground. William was right, of course.
She knew that. But admitting it, acknowledging it, felt like admitting something she wasn't ready to confront yet.
She had come to enjoy the peacefulness of this world. It was different from the chaos of her past. No timelines, no resets. Everything seemed simple. Here, there were no expectations.
"I'm not avoiding anything," Shift said finally, though the words felt like they were meant more for herself than for William. "I just... need time, alright?"
William's expression softened, but only slightly. "You don't have to stay here forever to take time, Shift. You've been gone from your world for longer than you realize. Your family and friends are probably worried. And no matter how peaceful this place is, you can't live in someone else's world forever."
Shift sighed and leaned against the tree beside her, looking up at the clear blue sky. "I know, but I don't want to go back yet. Not just yet. Things were... easier here. No one was after anyone, no world-ending crises, no time traveling genocidal children. It's just calm."
She glanced over at him, trying to read his reaction. "I guess I'm not ready to face everything back there."
William watched her for a long moment before speaking again, his voice softer this time. "Shift, I'm not asking you to rush. But running from things doesn't make them go away. And you can't hide forever."
Shift's eyes flicked toward the ground, her fingers tapping absently against the bark of the tree. "I'm not hiding. I just don't want to go back to that chaos. Things were never simple there. Not like they are here."
"And that's exactly why you need to go back," William said, a faint trace of frustration creeping into his voice. "You can't escape your past forever, Shift. You've got people there who care about you. They'll be wondering where you've gone."
She turned away slightly, her expression hardening, though there was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. "I don't want to let them down," she admitted quietly. "But I'm not ready to go back. Not yet."
William sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "You're not alone in this, Shift. I know it's tough. But you've got to remember, you can't avoid everything forever. People are waiting for you."
Shift was quiet for a while, the tension between them lingering in the air.
After a long pause, she spoke again, her voice softer now, quieter than before. "...i'm tired of timelines and resets William, we all are...."
William looked at her with a mixture of concern and acceptance. He wasn't going to force her to leave, not if she wasn't ready.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't make sure she understood the weight of her choice.
"Alright," he said after a moment, his voice firm but not unkind. "But think about it, Shift. I'm not going anywhere. If you decide to come back, I'll be there. Just call me or Error, we'll pick you up"
Shift nodded slowly, though there was no promise in her gesture. She was still lost in her own thoughts, caught between the past and the present.
William turned and began to walk away, not looking back.
Shift watched him leave, a strange mix of relief and regret stirring inside her. She wasn't sure what the future held, or what she would do next.
But for now, the only thing she could do was enjoy the time she had here, before reality came calling again.