The rules involving temporal manipulation are constantly in a flux.
When it invlolved future events, even I wasn't skilled enough to navigate through that mess. Time wasn't my specialty, and I hadn't taken due course to learning it.
However, the past was different!
The events of the past were fixed, thus becoming a fixed moment to explore and investigate. All I had to do was calculate the right trajectory and properly navigate through the tides of time to reach my desired destination.
However, that wasn't without its fair share of problems.
'Even Neron never properly traveled to the past before—at least, not that I am aware of.'
The most he did was infuse his consciousness into the Time Stream in order to observe the events occuring.
Hence, Time Immersion.
It was theoretically impossible for a future event to overlap with the past, because that would make it a non-fixed moment, thus unraveling any other fixed point that occured after that.
In essence, the calculations required for physically manifesting in the past and altering an immutable part of existence… were absurdly high.
As a result, I could only use Time for investigative processes. Nothing more… nothing less.
'Well, that much is enough. If I can see what happened, I should be able to develop a working model to counter the problem.'
Time Immersion involved streaming my soul through the timestream. For Neron, he used his Original Magic in addition to [The Hermit] to achieve a cohesion effect between his soul and the world, allowing him to travel.
I needed something similar for my own process.
'Spellcraft.'
With it, I could manipulate the essence of the world and link my Soul with it. Using [The Hermit] as a propeller, I could achieve the same effect as Neron.
… Or at least something similar.
"Well, that's my theory. I just came up with it on the spot, but considering it isn't breaking any established rules, and I have addressed all the problems that could potentially stop the Spell, I think I'm good to go." Mumbling these words to myself, I rubbed my chin and smiled.
My allies simply stared at me throughout, and once I was one contemplating, they came into focus once more.
"Okay. I'm ready now."
"Need any assistance?" Kuzon and Edward asked almost at the same time, however I shook my head.
Personally, I was curious.
'Can I do this on my own?'
"There's only one way to find out." With a wide grin, I finally burst open my vast supply of Aether.
~VWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!~
The power that flowed from within me swirled around, causing a wave of power that caused everyone to be pushed back by the pressure alone.
"You had all better stand back." I advised, hoping my words weren't lost in the torrents of power that were wrapped around me.
Fortunately, they weren't.
My friends managed to create enough space between me and them, choosing to watch me work my Magic from a distance.
'Alright, Jared…' I could feel my heart racing as I tried to do something I had never attempted to do before.
For a moment, I forgot about the worries I had, or about the lives that were absent in the world.
Nothing else mattered to me at the current moment.
I just wanted to do Magic.
[The Hermit] generated the formula neccessary for the travel in the form of Spells, and I began to orchestrate a navigational guide for the Immersion.
Using Spellcraft, I connected the overflowing Aether within me to all the energies around me, conensing and compressing them to grant me enough force for breaking the barrier that separated past, present, and future.
The world suddenly became still, and everything froze in time, but this was only the beginning of the process.
My actual body was also frozen, but the 'Me' that perceieved reality as still was the Soul.
My spectral entity was now one with the world's energy, and with [The Hermit], temporal manipulation was made possible.
It seemed my model was correct, after all.
All the requirements had been met.
~VWUUUUUSSSHHHHH!~
The feeling was surreal. As I traveled through the lens of time, feeling it like a wave of the ocean wash over me, I could feel an embrace of warmth an chill at the saem time.
It also felt like electrifying currents pulsated around me, and with each second of time I traveled beyond, the sensation was akin to breaking the surface tension of a semi-liquid mass.
The faster I went, the more intense these sensations felt.
So this was Neron's world: the realm he constantly experienced as a consequence of his power.
Seeing realities zoom in and out of view, discarded and regressed as I progressed…
It was amazing!
'Let's slowly unravel what happened here…' Breaking past my thrill, it was time to get serious.
I was resolved not to miss any single detail from the past.
Anything could serve as a clue.
'... One day at a time.'
*******
[Moments In Time Later]
'Nothing thus far…'
I didn't know if I was meant to be relieved or worried about our friends and family.
My Soul was drawing closer and closer to the point where I, Kuzon, and the others were sent to the scattered branches, and throughout my search, I was yet to see a single living entity in this world.
That was problematic.
I was beginning to suspect that the cause of our disappearance could also have something to do with everyone vanishing.
That was the only viable theory at the moment, but what exactly did that mean?
It meant that either Neron planned all of this from the start… or something wrong happened with his plans.
I had to know more, so I sped deeper into the time stream—perhaps a bit too much.
Until finally, I arrived at the moment that supposedly changed everything.
The wedding where we vanished.
The exact moment when Legris Damien floated overhead everyone, with his dark brown hair swaying with the wind as his malevolent smile spread over his handsome face.
He looked just as I remembered him.
Just as it happened in the past, he was accompanied by Ciel, and his sudden appearance caught the attention of all our past selves.
This was the point where everything went amiss. If I could at least change a few things that happened, I would, but…
'... All I can do now is watch!'
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[A/N]
Is the vanishing of the team a part of Neron's plan, or is there truly some other sinister explanation?
What will Jared find out?
Let us see, shall we?
