"May I ask why you've come here?" Jolen sat in his office of the realm, writing off paperwork. He didn't even bat an eye to Jílliace who stood at the door, awkwardly etching closer to the desk. "I know you helped Kári by hiding her from the council, but…" Her eyes slowly grazed the room, finding everything covered in the colors of black or gold. "How are you able to do something so difficult as that?" Jolen stopped writing and placed his gold feather pen to the side. Jílliace froze mid step and faced him as he had his hands together over the desk, pondering. "Why are you suddenly so curious, Sister?" His eyes narrowed, glaring into Her's. He then noticed how uneasy he was making her, pulling back at his gestures. "It is nothing you should be concerned about. Simply go on about your duties as the Goddess of Judgment and I will as God of Destruction." Jolen swiftly grabbed his golden feather pen, continuing his paperwork. There seemed to be no use in speaking with him, so Jílliace left to her own realm, sitting in her throne room. All she had to do was watch the lives of the people on a large screen and tell whether they deserve a second chance or to be sent away. Jílliace had very little power with any fighting abilities, but she was capable of deciding where the souls of the dead are allowed to enter. Whether they are sent to Flótic for reincarnation or to the Eternal Ruins where they are forced to live in constant regret of their actions, a prison for those who have done the irreversible. Kári's concerns were much different, still living in frustration of this loop to save the prince. She gained a thought in her mind and took the ancient device used for time traveling. With the help of Jolen, Kári had no concerns as she travelled to the future as a change of pace.
"Lily, I will be going to the future and spend some time alone." Kári packed herself with a bag of infinity that held everything placed inside. She mainly took books and scrolls to make note of everything she spots. "I will return by the same time as of now." Lily simply nods in response, watching as Kári disappears in her place. Kári watched the environment surrounding her change drastically. Her eyes widened as the loud noise of crackling and an odd repetitively annoying grunge sound. There was nothing in her mind that could describe the echoing muse that etched into her eardrums. Tall structures that reached the sky, people entering objects that had lifted above the ground. Even those seen waltzing on devices that made them travel on a ground level were hovering. Kári was overwhelmed by this and shut her eyes, holding her hands to cover the blasting noise in her ears. All that she'd seen or allowed to sink in her mind was too much of a trifling thought, and yet she slowly attempted to process it all. She took slow steps and strolled around all these buildings, along with quite a few number of people who preferred taking a walk. Once she found anything that piqued her interest, she entered to take a few glances inside. Many seemed to be shops and what was supposed to be a library looked far from her own. These people obviously spoke the same language, yet everything from mannerism to literature had a vast difference. Kári grabbed a journal and quickly took note of these small things she noticed. A person passing by glanced and unintentionally saw what she'd wrote. Kári looked towards them in realization and their swift change in avoiding eye contact made her follow them. This stranger had purple hair and eyes, which reminded her of Louis, yet they wore what looked like a white long coat.
"Excuse me." Kári spoke firmly as she watched the man slowly stop and face her. She stood in her place as well. "What did you happen to see?"
The man nervously adjusted a form of accessory in front of his eyes. "It was an accident, I'm sorry. Please don't try to spy on me or anything, okay?" His expression shifted to slight fear and embarrassment, bowing vigorously.
"Hm." Kári watched with curiosity as he slightly peeked up to her while adjusting his posture after bowing so much. "I suppose I can forgive this."
"Well, I did notice you were writing in the ancient language." The man scratched the back of his head. "N-Not that I think it's weird, I just- I understand it and you wrote it so naturally." He then looked at Kári's style of clothing and seemed slightly skeptical. "Wait, I don't think I've ever seen you around here bef-"
Kári's eyes slightly widened, and she immediately cast a silencing spell on him. None were paying any attention to them, and she took a step closer, whispering to him. "Speak another word of this after I lift my spell, and you will not see the light of day." She signaled with her hand to follow as her body swiftly moved away. The man was in slight shock as he almost panicked, quickly jogging behind as he held onto his books and papers of his own. Kári allowed the stranger to guide the way instead, sensing he had no ill intent their entire interaction and realizing she had no idea where to go. In a way, he seemed quite familiar to her, his messy hair was the only thing throwing her off. Once the two made it to a large building, Kári lifted the spell and patiently watched him open the door. His voice seemed to activate it as he spoke his name, Tao Ginta. Kári finally clicked in her mind who he was, but she'd been distracted by the doors sudden opening. It was unlike anything she ever expected, sideways as if it was slid by a person from left to right. She'd been guided inside, allowing this curiosity to pass as Tao showed her around what he called his "Science Lab." With a thorough explanation and some awkward conversation, Kári came to understand a few more things. Now that she was face to face with whom she'd only read about, it was finally clear. "I thank you for this explanation. What do you plan on doing inside this area?" Kári skimmed her eyes, looking at little scraps of his projects lying around.
"Just want to make a time machine." He let out a slightly stressed sigh, picking up the mess he left behind. "For you I guess it's pretty easy, you probably used something that looks ancient to us." Objects began slipping out of his arms and Kári used a spell to levitate them. "Th-Thanks, um I was wondering about that by the way… How are you able to use magic here?" Tao quickly grabbed everything back to place them down.
"In order to use magic, there must be life surrounded by the caster." Kári looked down at the trinkets and then to Tao. "Yet there is this strange sense of life, rather than nature, a looming feeling of dread flows through me. My magic is much weaker here, but that does not stop it from activating at all. I am not only a spellcaster, but I am a goddess. Believe what you must, I am simply here to learn about this new world full of interesting technology."
Tao stared in awe as she stood there with this new information, despite it based off her beauty. "I will let you know that that we have the power to create people. I know that may not be so much of a surprise to you, being a goddess and all." He gently tweaked with a few trinkets on his side.
Kári lifted a brow, slightly offended by this, she crossed her arms. "Tao Ginta, I will have you know that as a goddess it is strictly forbidden to create a living breathing person with my powers. I am naturally surprised this was allowed for mortals and yet I feel I would like to learn how you have created these 'People' you speak of." Kári was intent on hearing this man, figuring out the way to bypass the laws of the gods. So, he did, teaching her the fundamentals of what they called "Robots." The way this new technology was able to adapt and learn amazed Kári. She was easily able to understand the functionality of it all with the proper lessons. Not many recognized her ability to easily accommodate but it was a sure surprise. Tao felt as though their time together was fascinating, especially when Kári implemented her own magic into a project or two. Genius and prodigy at work in a shut-out laboratory. Kári would often explore the nearby before the occasional meetings during Tao's work. "The food here has such a peculiar taste… like that one time my brother burnt water with my late mother's favorite powder. I had always wondered what mystery ingredient that was." She stared off into the distance until Tao held a small object in her view. "Oh?"
"It's called a watch. Some use it to tell time, contact with other persons, or even simple things like this." He lightly tapped the watch, and a soft buzzing sound flew into the air. Each time there was a plucking sound of string Kári glanced around. Like a winter stride, these sounds glided into her ears with each second passing. Tao gently placed the watch down in front of her, the oddly continuing. Kári's eyes watered for a moment without her even realizing. "You can have it, just wrap this part around your wrist and it'll do the rest for you. Tap it whenever you need to look at something, or you can speak and ask it to do anything else." He quickly stood while his long white coat picked up in movement. "Well, let me know if you have any trouble with it. I'll be working on something else." Kári watched him waltz off to the other table and glanced back at the watch, listening to the sounds fade. In her heart she was well aware that whatever beautiful sounds etched out the watch was music, something she only ever heard properly as a child. Wiping her eyes, Kári took the watch and attempted to place it on her wrist as it almost seemed to move on its own. The watch tightened itself just enough to fit perfectly without an uncomfortable feeling. Staring into the watch as she lightly tapped the small patch of darkness, it emitted a strong glow. Fazing into shapes of letters in her own common language. "This is… Fascinating." Kári's voice was filled with a soft but bold tone. She had been surprised and even felt the need to add her own signature. Tao glanced back to witness another one of Kári's moments of engraving incantations into a creation. The original color the glow emitted had been blue, but it was changed to a mixture of blue, purple, and pink. This final addition brought a new certain life to the watch. It felt more intricate and expressive to Kári; she held it up to look at other angles.
"I'm glad you like it." Tao grinned softly as he continued to tinker with a project. The soft sounds of frustration eventually came to light, catching Kári's attention. She swiftly rose to meet his level and catch a glimpse of the project. The structure had multiple different parts to it, Tao even held several to figure out what he was trying to complete. Kári reached out to grab some and clicked them together. He stared, dumbfounded as he placed the pieces down from his hands. She continued, and it all clicked into a triangular shape. Tao squinted his eyes into the center and sighed as he turned to Kári. "Do you even know what this was supposed to be?"
Kári glanced at the completed object with a hint of obliviousness. "This is…. A sort of placement… for… a…" She reached the end of her mind to think of something and remembered the book about Tao with his creations. "Ah, yes! Your traveler machine." Pointing to the center.
"How di- Never mind. Thank you for helping me put it together, Kári." Tao slightly smiled as he picked up the now large piece. This was the final and missing piece to the time traveling machine he spent years working on. "With that, I'm finally done with the construction, and I'll be able to start the testing." There were multiple buttons that had been pressed, and the machine began charging up. Vibrations radiated throughout the entire lab as Tao and Kári were blinded by the strong light emitted. Once she felt nothing else and opened her eyes, Tao was gone, not a trace of him in sight. "Tao, what was that light just now?" Silence was the only response in the empty room. As many times she called out to him, she had the sudden realization. Tao had been sucked in by the machine and was supposedly in her past time zone. Glancing around the Lab full of now rubble, Kári took her device and traveled back to her realm.