A hand tugged sharply on his sleeve. He turned his head slowly, dread already pooling in his gut.
"Zeph… what's going on? Why did he… how did he…?" Talia's voice faltered, fragile and confused, the words exactly the same as before.
Chrono's breath hitched, ragged and shallow. Time had been rewound—completely. But how? March had died. He had watched the head fall. He had seen the blood spray. Nocturne's Law had been triggered.
"How… how is this possible…" Chrono whispered aloud, voice cracking with exhaustion and horror. He turned forward, legs threatening to buckle beneath him.
March stood there once again—head fully intact, clothes still torn, a huge, mocking smile plastered across his blood-smeared face.
This can't… this can't be happening right now…
Chrono stared with absolute, soul-crushing horror. His knees nearly gave out. Only sheer willpower kept him upright as he ground his teeth together until they ached, fists clenched so tight his nails bit into his palms.
"What did I say, Zeph?" March taunted, voice dripping with cruel satisfaction. "I would defy the very rules the figure set up. And here I am."
How…
How… is this fair at all…?
Chrono clutched his fists so tightly his nails bit into his palms, drawing thin lines of blood that trickled down his knuckles. The cool night breeze brushed across his sweat-slicked skin, sending an involuntary shiver racing down his spine.
Talia noticed the blood and reached out, gently grabbing his wrist. "Zeph… what's going on?"
Chrono let out a shaky sigh, forcing some of the tension from his shoulders. "March isn't Iris' brother. He's a creation of May, and he's trying to kill you because you know about May's secret. He has two abilities: Chrono Stasis Veil—it slows time down within a specific radius. And time reversal. He can reverse time to a specific point after he's activated the veil."
"He wants to kill me? A time-slowing veil… a reversal veil… Created by May…" Talia hugged herself, trembling as the weight of it all crashed down. "That's a lot to take in…"
Chrono's gaze snapped back to March, eyes narrowing. "How are you alive right now?"
"How I'm alive right now?" March repeated with a mocking lilt, stretching his arms wide. "I don't have to tell you, Zeph."
"I've given you the luxury of knowledge… but this time I won't." March laughed, the sound sharp and unhinged under the flickering park lights.
Chrono's eyes narrowed further. A single bead of sweat traced down his cheek. He glanced back at Talia.
"Talia, what's the time?"
Talia blinked, caught off guard, then fumbled in her skirt pocket for her phone. "8:55 pm," she said, voice steadier now.
Chrono's eyes widened.
That's it!
"March," he said coldly, "I've figured it out."
"Really? Well I'd love to hear how wrong your little theory is," March replied, folding his arms with smug confidence.
"Your veil doesn't rewind time or its flow. That was a lie you told me, and I believed it. Your veil simply restores things back to a certain point in time—injuries, positions, memories—as long as they're inside the radius."
Chrono pointed directly at him. "You restored your body to a point where Nocturne's Law hadn't triggered yet."
"But there are things that don't track. Like how you restored your body while dead. Or how you negated the existence erasure."
March's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. For the first time, genuine anger flashed across his face—raw and ugly. He exhaled slowly, forcing calm. "And just from the time you were given… I truly admire you, Zeph."
March sighed again, almost regretful. "I'm annoyed and impressed. No matter what trick I pull, you see right through me. Fine then! I'll tell you. There's no point hiding if you've already figured it out."
"My veil is independent of me. What that means is—no matter my state of being, the veil stays active and can still trigger. It's still my ability, but it doesn't die when I do."
"Nocturne's Law will eventually trigger again, since I only restored my body to a point before it activated. When time catches up to that exact moment, the universe will 'remember'… and I'll die. But as long as I have stamina, I can keep restoring myself to this point."
"But this is the last rewind I've got in me," March admitted, laughing bitterly. "If I fail to kill Talia before that time runs out… I'm a goner!"
"But what about the existence erasure?" Chrono pressed. "How the hell can you rewind that?"
March shrugged, grinning. "Beats me."
In the blink of an eye, March vanished—leaving only a delayed rush of wind in his wake. He reappeared behind Talia like a ghost, fist already clenched and moving toward her stomach.
When did he—?!
Chrono spun violently, yanking Talia out of the path while throwing his forearm up to block. The impact landed with a sickening crack that echoed through the park. Pain lanced up Chrono's arm which caused him to grimace. A powerful shockwave blasted outward, ripping leaves from the trees in a violent swirl.
March didn't hesitate. He lunged at Chrono like a teleporting predator, seizing his face in a crushing grip and slamming him downward. Chrono's skull smashed into the pavement. The force was so brutal that Talia was thrown backward, tumbling across the grass.
March instantly released him and pivoted toward Talia, still airborne. But his movements jerked to a crawl—Chrono had grabbed his ankle, yanking him back with a roar, ready to spike him into the ground, but March's movement slowed.
He used Chrono Stasis Veil on himself?!
March reversed time in that instant, slipping free like smoke. He lunged again at Talia, who had just hit the ground and was squirming in pain. Chrono forced himself upright, blood pouring profusely down the back of his head, vision blurring at the edges. The earlier slam had taken a heavy toll.
He's switching his focus from me to Talia!
He's thinking… This isn't good.
I have to stop him!
Suddenly Chrono's own movements dragged horribly. His eyes widened in raw panic..
No… Not now!
No…. Don't panic…
He's going to lower the veil…
March grabbed Talia by the hair, yanking her face level with his. He glanced sideways at Chrono, smiling wide and cruel. "You probably expect me to lower my veil so I can use my enhanced physical strength. But there's no need! I can easily overpower Talia like this." He laughed.
His laughter was suddenly choked off by a wet gag.
Two hands clamped around his throat with vicious strength—Talia, choking him with everything she had. "You're after me, right? Not Zeph. I'm your opponent." Her fingers dug deeper, nails breaking skin and drawing blood. March clawed desperately at her arms, gagging for air.
"I'm not going to sit back and be a damsel in distress… If I'm going to die here, I'm gonna go down fighting!" Talia roared, squeezing harder, her face twisted with fierce determination.
"Talia! Let him go! He's going to kill you!" Chrono shouted, but his words stretched out painfully slow under the veil, useless.
It's no good…
I can't do anything unless he lowers the veil.
I'm completely at his mercy.
Is there nothing… nothing I can do?
At this rate she'll die!
"You little…" March strained, grabbing her wrist and squeezing.
"What's the matter? You said you were so much stronger than me. Why don't you just break out?" Talia taunted, a defiant smirk on her bloodied lips.
The truth was March couldn't break free easily. The way Talia held his neck, pulling her off him would prove more detrimental. Instead, he constantly rewound his own body to points where he still had air, desperately buying seconds. He couldn't rewind her grip away—he hadn't activated a veil beforehand.
"You… leave me no choice." March began hammering brutal punches into her stomach. Each blow landed with wet, meaty thuds. Talia spat blood, her body shuddering, but her grip only tightened in stubborn fury.
He's insisting on not lowering the veil to keep me out of it.
Even though he could end her in an instant if he used his enhanced physical strength.
But if he keeps punching her like that she won't last.
Damn it…
I need to keep moving.
The veil only slows me down—it doesn't stop me.
Eventually I'll reach him.
I just have to keep moving.
Just please… hang in there, Talia.
March's punches grew more savage. Talia's grip finally began to falter as her strength drained. In that instant, March ripped himself free. Deep crescent-shaped gashes dripped blood down his neck, but he ignored them completely. He charged one final, devastating punch that would surely end her life.
As his fist swung forward, a hand shot out and caught it mid-strike. March's eyes widened in shock.
Chrono stood there, eyes blazing with pure rage. In one fluid motion he drove a thunderous punch into March's neck, sending him flying backward. But mid-air March triggered the veil—his movements slowed, and the injury from Chrono's strike healed instantly, flesh knitting back together.
Chrono clicked his tongue in frustration and dashed forward, only for his own body to drag once more under the veil. March regained his footing, skidding to a stop. Then, in a blur of lightning like speed, he dashed straight past Chrono—ignoring him entirely—and streaked toward Talia.
He's ignoring me completely.
He's running out of time.
Just a few more minutes… until Nocturne's Law activates again.
Until then…
I have to hold him off!
Chrono spun desperately and hurled himself between them. March's eyes widened as he raised his arms to block. Chrono's punch slammed into March's forearms with another deafening shockwave. The ground beneath March dented from the force, but he held his ground, groaning in pain as he clutched his head.
"Get out! Get out of my head!" March screamed.
Chrono froze, confused. "Huh?"
"The voice… the voice of the Nocturne. It's getting louder and louder, it's like it's voice is banging against my skull. It's counting down… thirty, twenty nine…" March's voice shook violently. A thin red line appeared around his neck like a spectral noose.
That's it!
He has less than thirty seconds.
I just have to hold him off a bit longer.
I can do this… I can win!
March bit his lip hard enough to draw fresh blood down his chin. "I can't die! I die unless I fulfill my mission—my purpose! I cannot die unless I kill that girl! I'm going to do it… I will… I must!" His declaration echoed through the park like a madman's final vow.
"Time acceleration!" March screamed.
Time what—?!
Before Chrono could even process the words, March vanished in a streak too fast to track. Chrono spun wildly, heart hammering in terror.
What he saw froze the blood in his veins.
It was March, gripping Talia by the hair, his hand driven straight through her chest. His fingers protruded from her back, slick with blood, as it poured from the wound and spilled from her mouth in thick, choking streams.
The blood, along with her body, struck the pavement in heavy, wet drops, spreading into a dark pool beneath them while the metallic stench filled the air, sharp and suffocating.
"Ta… Ta… Ta…" Chrono tried saying Talia's name but it wouldn't come out. His chest heaving violently as if he was having a brutal asthma attack, his breath shaky and ragged, each inhale tearing through him like broken glass.
"Talia!" Chrono screamed, the words finally ripping out of his throat in raw agony. He quickly ran over, dropping to his knees right next to her body, the impact jarring his bones. His knees turned red as he sat in the warm, sticky pool of blood, the metallic scent flooding his senses and making his stomach churn with horror.
"See that mistress… I am worthy of being your shield…." He said with a soft, broken smile, his voice irritatingly calm. "I win. Zeph."
"Shut up! Just shut up! I won! I won the fight! You died, I killed you! You shouldn't even be here! How are you here!? Why are you here!? Why do you exist!? Just die! Die! Die! Die! You sick bastard! I hate you! I hate you! Go to hell and rot there for all of eternity! Just die! Die! Die! Die!" Chrono screamed, his emotions pouring out of him in a torrent of pure anguish and rage. He clutched Talia's body desperately in his arms, pulling her close as hot tears flowed uncontrollably out of his eyes, blurring his vision and soaking into her blood-stained clothes.
March scoffed. "Winners celebrate… and losers… complain." Those were the last words that came out of his mouth before his head fell onto the pavement with a sickening thud. His body followed, spilling out blood in a grotesque rush. It slowly started to disintegrate until there was nothing left, as if he had never existed, leaving only the echo of his taunt hanging in the air like poison.
Chrono slammed his palm onto the pavement, hard enough for them to start bleeding, the sharp pain shooting up his arm but nothing compared to the shattering in his chest.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all! I won! I won that fight… why…? Why… then why do you have a hole in your chest, Talia!? Why couldn't I protect you!? Why did I fail you like this!?"
Talia turned towards Chrono with what little strength she had left, her bloody hand trembling as it reached up to caress his cheek, her touch so gentle and loving it broke him even more. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't, her lips parting uselessly, this was the only thing she could do to comfort him.
Chrono's eyes widened in desperate hope, his tears stopped briefly as a fragile spark of comfort and fear ignited inside him. He held her hand tightly, biting his lips hard enough to draw blood, his voice cracking with raw vulnerability. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… please… please forgive me… I'm—"
Chrono's words were cut off, as she lowered her hand from his cheek with heartbreaking slowness. She dipped her finger in her own puddle of blood, and reached out to a part where there was no blood.
"Thank you."
She wrote, each letter a painful labor of love that tore at his heart.
Chrono shook his head frantically. "No… no… no…. It's still possible, possible to save you. Yeah! Yeah! I can take you to a hospital, I'm fast, yeah! I'm really fast. I can get there in no time. Please, Talia, hold on for me!" Chrono reasoned frantically, his voice rising with panic as he fought back more tears, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
Talia slowly shook her head, her eyes filled with a sad, peaceful resignation that crushed his soul.
"Are you an idiot!? We have to… we have to go to a hospital right now. Please Talia. Don't leave me like this… I can't lose you!"
Talia shook her head again, each movement weaker than the last.
"Then why!? Do you want to die!? I can still save you, we still have time. All you have to do is make it to midnight, yeah! And then everything will be alright… Please, Talia, fight for us!"
Chrono's eyes widened with frantic desperation. "Yeah… the time! The time!" Chrono scrambled into Talia's skirt pocket, pulling out her phone with trembling fingers. It was broken and covered with blood, but still worked, the screen a cruel reminder of how little time they had left.
9:08pm
That was currently the time.
"It's still possible Talia… we have to hurry! Just hold on a little longer, I beg you!" Chrono placed his hand under her to lift her up, but she stopped him by digging her nails into his arm, the sharp sting a small price for her final act of will.
"Why… Talia? Why do you object!? Please… please. I need to save you. You need to live. It's my fault for bringing you into this. Please Talia… please. Don't do this to me… I can't bear it!"
"Talia… Talia… we need to go… please don't give up on me now…"
Chrono's eyes widened in fresh horror, while lost in emotion Talia had written something else with her own blood, her finger moving with fading strength.
"Keep moving forward."
It said, the words simple yet devastating, a final gift of appreciation wrapped in goodbye.
Chrono's eyes widened when he saw the words. The flood gates opened up completely, as tears began to run endlessly down his face in hot, choking streams. He cried. It was ugly, it sounded ugly, raw sobs wrenching from deep in his chest as if all his pent up emotions were poured out in that single, shattering instance.
He placed his head gently on her chest, careful not to lean down on the part where there was a hole, his ear pressed desperately to listen for her heartbeat. "I'm sorry…. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry… I'm sorry." Chrono repeated endlessly, weeping with soul-crushing sorrow. His hands gripped her blood-stained blazer tightly, as if clinging to her could somehow keep her here with him.
Her chest stopped undulating. Chrono's eyes widened in pure terror, he raised his head to look at her body, his breath catching in a broken gasp. He checked her pulse with frantic fingers. There was none. He looked at her face, her eyes were lifeless. Eyes once full of life, full of energy and warmth, were now pale, empty, and cold. But, she was smiling. Despite the unimaginable pain and the situation, she still managed to wear a soft, loving smile to the very end, as if telling him it was okay.
Chrono looked at her face utterly broken, his heart splintering into a million irreparable pieces. He closed her opened eyes with trembling fingers, whispering a choked goodbye, then slowly stood up with her limp body cradled tenderly in his arms. He looked in the distance to see Iris' headless body, the sight twisting the knife deeper into his wounds.
Why…
Why is this happening?
It's all… it's all my fault…
Why… why did I ever think it was a good idea to bring Talia into this?
She was innocent…
If it weren't for me Iris would be…
Chrono fell to his knees, Talia still in his arms, the impact sending fresh waves of agony through him. He couldn't hold the tears back anymore. He wept bitterly, placing his forehead on Talia's, his body shaking with uncontrollable sobs.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean for any of this… Please come back… I need you…"
If all your problems are self created… is it worth complaining? Is it worth shedding these endless tears over?
If I hadn't handed May the book… none of this would've happened.
Everything that happened, every bad event caused… is all my fault, every drop of blood, every life lost.
I don't….
I don't want to live anymore.
I'm a cold blooded murderer.
The only way I can atone… is to give up my own life.
It's only been three loops, and I've caused this much damage to myself and others, all because I'm such a useless idiot.
Something…
Someone…
Please. Please kill me…
Phase 1 - End