Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six - Time Gives And Takes Away

Although Owen was a scientist developing medicines, there were somethings that he could not cure such as the ravishment of time.  Time would see their loved ones age around them and slowly steal them away.  Although Adam had suffered such before, for some reason, it felt so much more real now, though he could not explain why.  Perhaps it was because he was watching this occur through the eyes of Owen as well, who was hurting greatly as this was the first life where he was not only seeing people leave him behind, but they reminded him again of loved ones lost before.

And of course, they were watching as lines slowly began to appear upon each other's faces.  Though they had lived before and knew they were fortunate enough to know they would live together again, each memory in this life was precious and treasured much more as it would not be something they could say they would experience again.  And in this life, they raised between them a daughter.  Emma had surprised them with her unexpected pregnancy, but she was so delighted to be given the chance to be a mother again.  Unfortunately, she did not live past the little girl's fifth birthday after their car was involved in an accident.

When watching as their adopted daughter say her vows on her wedding day, with love and stars in her pretty eyes, Adam felt in his heart that his time in this life was almost over. He could not be considered old, in fact he could only be considered middle aged, however just because they were able to experienced life over and over again, did not mean that their bodies were any less vulnerable than the next person's.  He was grateful that he at least could share this moment with husband and child.

Adam had developed bone cancer.  He fought it, he fought to stay beside his husband's side for as long as he could.  But despite suffering the torment of chemotherapy and the illness itself, his body finally gave out and as Adam felt himself slip away, he could only squeeze Owen's hand without strength and tell him with his eyes that he loved him.

Owen kissed his pale forehead and whispered; "I will see you soon."

*****

Harmony spent many years in a mental institution and subsequent therapy.  Her explanations regarding Charity's unexpected suicide had labelled her with mental health problems.  It didn't help, of course, that she also had an unhealthy obsession with a young man who had rejected her and delusions about his betrayal.  I forgive him, she would say, he betrayed me, but I forgive him!  Her therapists were already aware that she had no relationship with the man beyond a small friendship gone sour.

She would be sent back after her release at least once after being caught stalking again.  She died a very bitter woman.

That bitterness, unfortunately, did not end as she awoke to find herself in another time, another place and another body.  She laughed madly!  So what the little bastard said was true, she would not cease to exist, but return to where she belonged!  What was the point if he was no longer here?  Her true memories began to flood into her mind overlapping with those she had gained and those she did not even know she had.

"Miss Canterbury," came a voice.  It sounded as if it were coming through a speaker of her game console...  "Miss Canterbury, can you remember who you are?  Can you recall how you came to be here?"

The capsule was opened and the oxygen mask removed from her face.  She coughed, her lips dried out and her body covered in a gelatinous fluid.  "I...I remember..."

There came some sighs of relief.  "Welcome back, Miss Canterbury," the man advised her.  "I know you have been through much, but we are here to help you reacclimatise.  Now, let's get you out of this pod and into something warm... hmmm?"

*****

Aidan was alone when he woke from his death slumber. Remembering Owen's last words to him, he half expected to see him appear beside him. But they had discussed things as he wasted away in hospital; Adam didn't want Owen chasing after him too soon and breaking their little girl's heart in the process. He had been blessed enough to see her married, he hoped Owen could view their grandchildren for him before returning to his embrace.

Yang had returned with him, morphing into his bulbous shape and floating off listlessly as he came to report to the Master. Aidan followed him after a moment and noticed that the Master had his chessboard ready. Aidan endulged him one game. He still lost, but... was he becoming so used to the white of this space that he was beginning to differentiate between the white pieces that were meant to be white and the white pieces that were meant to be black? He shook his head and waited for the Master to prepare another game.

Although it may have been years passing in the world that Owen resided in, Adam felt like only a few days had past. That was more than enough as far as he was concerned, but he tried to fill his time by reading the books upon the Master's white shelves. He had picked one at random and studied farming techniques for a while, before yawning and switching to a book on first aid. He couldn't say that he learned much from either book, studying was never really his strong point, but it killed some time until the small body of Kyan suddenly appeared upon the floor nearby.

Barely being able to contain himself, he gathered the boy into his arms and kissed him soundly on the face several times. Kyan gave a small giggle, which melted his heart even more than normal. He'd never heard the cute chiming sound from his love's true form before. "I missed you," Aidan told him.

"I missed you too," Kyan smiled and blushed as Aidan stared at him intently. He was much shyer in this form, Aidan wasn't sure why as some of his other selves had been so much bolder and more brash. To be honest, Aidan liked this side of him as well, he loved everyone he had been and believed he would love everyone that Kyan would become.

"So did Lily Ann succumb to her husband's wishes," Aidan asked, "and bare him children?" He knew the girl had regretted not getting pregnant before one of her fathers passed away, but he also knew that she had not been ready. He had tried to reassure her that he would rather she be happy than force herself, just so he could once see his grandchild, but he suspected she still wondered whether she had done the right thing.

Owen nodded. "Two grandsons, Adam and Charles." The later had been named after their son-in-law's father. "Naturally, very cute and grew up to be very handsome. I saw Adam get wed, but I was terribly lonely, couldn't live without you any longer to see Charles chose a partner."

"I wish I could have seen them," Aidan sighed and buried his head into Kyan's neck.

"Yin will show you," the small black ball hovered before them before zipping over to the large screen. Aidan and Kyan followed curiously only to watch as images flickered in screen of two cute, chubby boys with their mother and father. They grew up in small shots before his eyes and Aidan watched as Adam said his vows to a cute brunette, who blushed the colour of a rose as he kissed her.

"Thank you," Aidan said to Yin with a slightly cracked voice.

"You are welcome."

*****

"It is a shame that the System got away," the Master said with a slight grumble. "But the female is safe and sound in her physical body."

"What should we do?" Kyan asked. "How can we stop it?"

"You can't for now," the Master mused. "Especially as it has gone into hiding. Yin cannot find trace of it, so clearly it is... how do you put it...? Laying low." The Master did not seem to concerned about it, more interested in setting up the pieces of a shogi board. Naturally, Aidan had to squint to see the carvings on the all white pieces as the etches were not coloured in.

"Can I ask," Aidan said, suddenly. "How come you did not ask us to stop the protagonists from coming together?" This had been his mission in many earlier worlds as part of protecting Kyan.

The Master did not look up, but there seemed to be a hint of colour on his pale face. "Ah that," the Master said.

"The Master noticed that when a Golden Child or something else brought major change to a file, the corruption ceased," Yang interrupted.

"But we do not know why," Yin added, abruptly.

"It will be discovered," the Master told the two spheres. "We have also learnt that if we create copies of the files, the copied creation has no sentient data. Thus there is no longer a reason to prevent the files containing sentient data from evolving and preventing destructive corruption."

"What about our last world?" Kyan asked him. "If the golden child program was not activated, will it not be at risk of corruption?" Naturally he was worried for his daughter and her offspring. They might no longer be able to be a part of their lives, but it did not stop them from caring.

"The corruption had actually already affected that world briefly," Yin told them. "Two sets of protagonists were born instead of one in your generation. The others were Jordan Potter and Alexandria Hamilton."

"Ah, did they not have a daughter, who managed to write a best selling novel?" Adam mentioned.

Kyan chuckled. "Actually, she wrote three in the end," he told him. Although it was only three, each one had the potential of becoming a major classic of their time. They perhaps would only create small waves of change, but if her words were sufficient to stabilise the world, what did it matter?

"Quite. Her life successfully altered the world and the corruption of the file ceased," the Master informed them.

"Still, what do we do now," Kyan mused, moving a shogi piece and challenging the Master. "I am not used to sitting around too long."

"Well there is one thing," the Master told them. "We've located a couple of old friends of yours."

"What do you mean?" Aidan asked. The Master simply smiled.

Author's notes; Okay, this story will take a very short break. It will recommence next week. In the meantime "Learning to Be a Cultivator" will have it's usual two updates (just two chapters this week, the Friday double updates were because those chapters were very short). Plus "The Omega is a Novelist" will be updated on Saturday.  Definitely look forward to it! I also have a short chapter for my YA book "Hell's Game" will be released Sunday. TTFN!