Chapter Text
Kronii was sleeping peacefully, a long day of being the Warden of Time had taken a toll on her energy levels. If her continuous gentle snoring was any indication to go by, she did not notice as a dark shadow fell over her prone form.
A gloved hand reached out and brushed her midnight blue hair to the side.
Kronii stirred. But only a little, her head shifted away from the hand, and she mumbled something inaudible.
The glove hand crept forward to Kronii’s face again. This time it cupped the sleeper's cheek, stroking it tenderly.
Kronii’s hand came up to swat it away. It was incredible what she slept through, sometimes. The Warden muttered something incoherently, sounding slightly irritated.
The gloved hand suddenly turned aggressive. It attacked Kronii’s cheek again, this time giving it a pinch. Another gloved hand joined in, pulling on the other cheek.
Kronii’s eyes snapped open, and a panicked glint reflected off them in the dull light.
She looked about frantically, but soon settled when she realised who was assaulting her.
“Mumei, what the hell are you doing?” Kronii grumbled out, her voice low and raspy from sleep.
Mumei smiled down at the drowsy girl, fingers still gently pinching her cheek.
“Hi,” she said, totally ignoring Kronii’s question.
Kronii pushed Mumei’s hands from her face with a glower and shuffled upright to rest her back on the headboard.
“Mumei…” Kronii sighed, rubbing her eyes.
The invader lost her smile for a second, entering deep thought.
“I think there was something important, but you looked so cute,” she said, not really trying to remember her original purpose there at all.
Kronii grumbled and beckoned for Mumei to give her space before getting out of bed. Then she moved to the ensuite, speaking over her shoulder.
“You can think about it while I wash my face,” she said throatily and very grumpily.
The bathroom door closed with a click, leaving Mumei alone.
Kronii emerged from the ensuite to find Mumei lying down on her bed. She was facing the ceiling and had her hands clasped over her stomach.
Kronii laid down next to her and looked at the Guardian of Civilisation.
“So, what were you doing here?” She asked, much more tamely now she was properly awake.
Mumei swivelled her head to meet Kronii’s eyes.
“Kronii, I need you to come with me,” she whispered with a breaking voice.
“What’s wrong?” Kronii replied, her brows furrowed in concern. Mumei bit her lips gently as she thought. In the light emitted from the hallway fixtures, Kronii could see the Guardian of Civilisation's eyes dampen as thoughts passed through her mind.
“It’s happening,” said Mumei, still ever so softly, “And I need you with me.”
“Of course, I’ll be right next to you no matter what,” Kronii answered without hesitation, using a delicate hand to brush Mumei’s hair out of her face before continuing, “But what’s happening? Is everything OK?”
Mumei shook her head and brought a hand to hold Kronii’s hand against her cheek.
“Everything will be fine. I just need you with me today,” she said, sniffling a little.
Kronii didn’t say anything. Instead, she lay down fully and wrapped an arm across the Guardian's chest. Mumei sighed contently, turned and snuggled into Kronii’s neck.
“Thanks, Kronii,” her muffled voice reverberated through Kronii’s collarbone.
The morning had gone away while Kronii and Mumei had been cuddling, and they were now standing on a cliff, overlooking a vast ocean. Before them, uninterrupted blue water sparkled with the sun’s light and stretched as far as they could see.
“What are we doing here, Mumei?” Kronii asked. Her hand was entangled with Mumei’s.
“Waiting,” Mumei said without clarification.
Kronii nodded and sniffed the cool sea breeze that buffeted them. Mumei needed Kronii today. She may not have been forthcoming with details, but Kronii held absolute trust in the girl. Kronii would wait beside Mumei for as long as they needed to.
They waited in peaceful silence. Kronii closed her eyes and relished the calming sound of the wind and waves. And the soft touch of Mumei’s hand in hers.
After a while, Kronii felt Mumei tense up next to her.
“It’s time,” she said under her breath, mostly to herself. Kronii heard and cracked an eye open to look at the brunette next to her. Mumei’s owl feathers flapped wildly in the wind as she looked back.
“Kronii, come on,” she said, walking forwards towards the lip of the cliff, pulling Kronii with her by their connected hands.
“Mumei, wait-“ Kronii started but then Mumei disappeared into thin air, along with Kronii’s arm.
Kronii froze in panic for a second before she heard Mumei calling her.
“Come on!” She giggled.
Kronii hesitantly took a step forward, and more of her arm vanished. She wiggled her fingers, feeling Mumei still tightly gripping her hand.
She took another step and then suddenly, an entire city appeared in front of her. Mumei smiled at her.
“Barrier of Invisibility,” she said before losing her smile. In a quieter voice, she said, “Might be the last time I get to do that.”
“What? Wait what is this place?” Kronii uttered in confusion.
“It’s the city of Atlantis,” Mumei said, looking at the shining towers of mithril, lit up brilliantly by glowing lanterns. A large marble stairway led them from the cliff down to the floating city, at sea level.
People were bustling everywhere, rushing about their lives. Some people held tridents, others carried pouches filled with goods and foods. Some swam through the canals with fish flippers or shark tails. Others walked on two legs.
Kronii was breath taken by the beautiful city that towered over her.
“Oh, this is where Gura’s from?” Kronii wondered out loud.
Kronii was looking at the tallest tower in the centre of the city. Electricity and magical power crackled around it. Jagged azure lines of energy arced through the air and into the clouds.
“Yeah,” Mumei said sadly. She tugged on Kronii’s arm to get her attention.
When Kronii turned to look at her, Mumei started talking.
“Kronii, we’re not here for fun. I’m really sorry to do this to you during your first visit here.”
Kronii stared in confusion once again.
“What do you mean?”
Mumei didn’t respond, only looked at the city with an impassive look on her face.
Suddenly an explosion rang out from an unseen source. Kronii jumped at the abrupt disturbance. Dirty smoke billowed into the sky from beyond the forest of mithril towers. Atlanteans screamed, some started running. Trident-carrying people were dashing around, shouting to others.
Another boom sounded, much closer this time. A rapid series of additional explosions occurred and the ground shook. However, it didn’t stop shaking even after the ringing of the blasts dissipated.
The screams of the city echoed horrifically as Kronii watched in shock and horror.
There was a final bang and a ball of blue energy evaporated the top of the tallest tower. The pinnacle of the once impressive structure disappeared as quickly as the flash of light that had enveloped it. Below it, the rest of the tower crumbled and slowly descended. At this distance, Kronii couldn't differentiate the sound of the tower falling from the rest of the destruction, but she felt the fear in her heart as she thought of the Atlanteans trapped below and within.
Kronii took a step forward to help the people, but stopped when she felt Mumei’s arm holding her back.
“Mumei? What are you doing?”
“We can’t interfere, Kronii,” Mumei with pain in her voice but also very resolutely.
“We have to help them!” Kronii yelled at the girl who flinched at the sudden aggression.
However, Mumei’s grip did not lessen.
“We. Cannot. Interfere.” She punctuated every word with a pause, her face steely and resolute through the tears that threatened to spill.
Kronii’s desperate face crumbled.
“Why did you bring me here? To watch these people suffer?” She asked in a hoarse whisper.
“No,” Mumei shook her head, “I’m the one here to watch. I brought you here because I trust you the most.”
Before Kronii would ask for further clarification, Mumei let go and stepped past the Warden of Time.
Kronii turned, tracking Mumei with her eyes. As she pivoted on the spot, her feet splashed in seawater that had begun to rise over the once solid ground of the city.
Mumei walked several steps forward as Kronii stood back, still extremely stunned and confused. Kronii watched the shattered mithril towers of Atlantis crack and tumble to the ground. Mumei seemed to flicker in and out of existence for a second, but this time, it wasn’t like before when she had walked through the Barrier of Invisibility. It was something different.
“The Atlanteans had achieved so much as a civilisation. The City of Atlantis doesn’t get built overnight...” Mumei called over her shoulder.
A giant crackle resounded over the water that lapped at their ankles. The screaming had died down, only to be replaced with panicked shouts and distressed yells.
“...But it crumbles in one afternoon,” she finished as another tower crumbled. It landed with a great splash in the water which was now rising frightfully quickly. The Guardian phased away and back again, several times in a row. Kronii took a step forward and reached a hand out to hold Mumei, to touch her, comfort her, anything. But she faltered hesitantly. What was going on?? Her mind whirred frantically.
“They got too greedy,” Mumei said, her voice fading in and out along with her existence.
Kronii was speechless as she watched the chaos and destruction. Most of her focus was redirected to Mumei, who suddenly collapsed to her knees.
Kneeling in the water, the sea level had risen to her stomach.
“They wanted more power,” Mumei said, tears now beginning to pour from her eyes.
Kronii, without any more doubts in her heart, closed the distance to Mumei, reaching out to hold her. And finally comfort her.
“I couldn’t protect them,” Mumei cried sorrowfully into the water.
Kronii reached Mumei, sinking into the water with a splash behind her and wrapping her arms around the girl.
“Mumei, I got you. What can I do?”
Mumei sniffled and said weakly, “I’m going to disappear with this civilisation. I need you to find me again.”
“No..." Kronii said with uncertainty laced in her voice, "No, Mumei you can’t!”
“Promise me, Kronii,” Mumei said, holding Kronii’s arms as they trembled around her, “That you will make sure I never make this mistake ever again.”
Mumei’s body phased out again, the flickering was getting more violent by the second.
“Mumei! No you-“
“Promise me, Kronii!” Mumei shouted, her hands held onto Kronii’s arms painfully tightly. Kronii was dangerously closed to crying herself. An unimaginable pain had blossomed from her chest and radiated outward to touch her extremities. She felt numb. No! No! This can't be happening! Kronii fought the choke that blocked her throat and swallowed down a burst of emotions. Mumei flashed in her arms again. And again. With each flicker, Kronii felt the sensation of Mumei's body diminish.
“I… I promise,” Kronii managed to utter out weakly.
Mumei smiled a sad, tearful smile.
“Kronii, I love y-“ With one last flash, Mumei’s physical body disappeared and suddenly Kronii’s arms felt nothing but the ghost of Mumei’s tight grip.
She was gone.
Kronii stood up shakily and breathed away the tears that were on the verge of spilling from her eyes.
She turned and walked back up the stairs they had just walked down. They cracked and creaked unsteadily as Kronii scaled them. Water dripped unendingly from Kronii’s soaked clothes, splattering on the ruined marble.
At the cliff where they had stood waiting, she turned and watched as the city sunk below the waves.
The smoke dissipated, the shimmering of mithril faded, and the voices of the drowning died away. A few Atlanteans were swimming around frantically, others struggled to stay afloat. The rest either floated or sunk lifelessly in the waves that had rushed in to replace the displaced city.
Kronii turned away and wiped her eyes.
With trembling breath, Kronii walked away from the cliff, turning her back on the scene of the disaster that had just swallowed an entire civilisation. And her Mumei.
Countless moons had turned since Kronii last smiled. Her friends had tried to help her, but they all felt the loss of Atlantis and Mumei. Even Gura, their Atlantean friend came by to check in on her and offer her support.
Perhaps it was selfish that Kronii was grieving more when she had only lost Mumei while Gura had lost everything she knew. But nothing changed the hollowness Kronii felt without Mumei.
She sat in a comatose state for most of the day staring out the window, grasping a worn leather notebook. When she wasn't alone in her room looking through the window, she was alone wandering the woods outside the Council's hall.
She found herself spending more and more time in solitude lately. It helped her think, she reasoned with herself.
One day, she was sitting hunched over on a mouldy log, breathing in the scent of spring and flowering plants.
It was just her and her thoughts out here.
Or so she thought. A rustle came from the foliage behind her. Kronii turned and saw a vision from the past. A pair of twin brown owl feathers poked up above a berry bush.
The bush rustled again as someone picked a fruit from the branches.
Kronii quietly rounded the bush with anticipation, her heart beating loudly against her ribcage.
“Hello?” She called, hesitantly, not trusting what she thought the presence of those owl feathers meant.
“Hi!” A voice called back in a friendly manner.
The speaker poked her round face above the bush and smiled at Kronii.
The Warden's breath hitched as she recognised the chocolate brown eyes, curved smile and flushed cheeks.
Kronii stepped around the bush fully but restrained herself from wrangling the girl in a giant bear hug.
“Mumei?”
“Who? Me?” the girl asked, confused.
“Y-yes, that’s you,” Kronii said through a lump in her throat. She hadn’t forgotten her promise to Mumei. Tears once again welled up in her eyes.
“Mumei,” Kronii whispered, her heart burst from the joy of being able to say that name to its rightful owner.
“Yes?” Mumei looked innocently at the Warden.
“Mumei,” Kronii repeated, fresh tears now overflowing from her eyes.
Mumei was finally home. And that was all Kronii wanted.
She reached out and engulfed the shorter girl in a hug. The warmth from the contact healed her. Fully and completely.
Kronii could finally be complete again.