Chapter 986: A Crime of Timing
Couple moments ago, around the time Cornelius was manifesting…
=Pathos! Are you oka-BAH!=
Before Logos and Pathos could continue with whatever the former’s folder entailed, the two of them had suddenly stopped in their tracks as a surge of information suddenly floored them.
=What in the name of Chaos?!=
However, the information that was rocking their minds right now wasn’t new information, rather, it was a surge of old memories, along with an entire section of the library, that the two of them kept lock away until a very specific set of circumstance was met.
Namely, when a certain [Time] asshole showed up on their doorstep.
It took a couple of moments for the duo to resettle their reacquired memories, but once they did, they were pissed. Well, Pathos was pissed.
=Same…but something feels off.=
It didn’t take the duo too long to realize that he had made an appearance where their current lord was situated, which made sense.
The first time he manifested properly was with one of their other lords anyways.
…Now back to the present…
“Hey…buddy…could you tell your curator friends to let go of my neck? They’re starting to cut off air flow…”
<=You're lucky we haven't taken your head clean off your shoulders you traitorous cur!=>
“Hey, whoa. Let’s just calm down everybody…just calm down.”
In a rare display of physical aggression, Logos and Pathos had simultaneously appeared in the padded room that Zhen Liu and Cornelius were having their discussion, and had slammed the latter against the wall like he was a prisoner undergoing intense interrogation. Making the matter more intimidating, Logos and Pathos had somehow managed to merge their hands together into forming one giant, demonic looking one.
If Zhen Liu had to make a comparison, it was like staring at the hands of a judge man from hell. That stated, this was not the time to be impressed. Right now, he needed answers.
“Okay, so I’m assuming that you two have a very good explanation as to why you want his head on a spike.”
=I believe the plan was to remove his head from his neck and use his brain as an organic computer.=
“Regardless!,” Zhen Liu said with a forceful tone of voice. “I would very much like to know the why before we commit. If the reason is good enough, I will even assist.”
“Ey yo, what the fuck?!,” Cornelius asked in a mildly hurt tone of voice. “Even after I told you my tale about how I am intertwined with your seal?”
“Well, I’ve known Logos and Pathos longer than I’ve known you, so excuse me for being a bit bias here.”
“I mean that’s not wrong, but still.”
“Now then, can you please talk to me?”
<=Mmmgh.=>
“Guys?”
<=...fine.=>
Like a pair of scolded children, Logos and Pathos lowered their killing intent towards Cornelius in order to give their lord a proper explanation. That said, they still kept their combined claw against the [Time] cultivator’s throat. Much to Cornelius’s discomfort.
“You…you guys are still kind of choking me…”
<=That's the point.=>
“F-fair enough.”
Now that Logos and Pathos were a little bit calmer, Zhen Liu simply had to wait for them to explain themselves. Which didn’t take long.
<=You know how we have some our memories sealed away due to other kaijin lords wishing to keep a portion of their lives secret until certain conditions are met?=>
“Yeah, hence why I’m going to the Abyssal Lands.”
<=Do you also remember when you went to visit the Strange Bloods and they showed you footage of how civilians were evacuating from the Undertow Kingdom?=>
“Yeah. A lot of people were running scared, an older version of this guy absconded with a baby that was then dropped in my time.”
<=Well, as it turns out, the two of us had part of our memories sealed until a certain condition was met. Namely, the reappearance of this asshole,=> Logos and Pathos said as they lightly squeezed their shared claw. <= And there's a bit more to the story than what the Strange Bloods showed, our lord.=>
With free hands, Logos and Pathos summoned forth a projection screen, not unlike what the Strange Bloods used.
Unlike the one used by the Strange Bloods though, this one came with sound, color and really distinct visuals. In other words, these were HD memories.
But what was being displayed…wasn’t pleasant.
“What the fuck…”
From the eyes of Kaijin that Zhen Liu never met, he could see scenes of devastation. What was obviously a once glorious city was being reduced to rubble. People who didn’t escape in time were being caught in devastating crossfire. And the cause of this devastation, a monstrous being that made all the dragon-like beings he met so far, appear to be nothing more than lizards in comparison.
It was a lot to take in…but not enough to deter Zhen Liu from asking more.
“Is…is this what happened at the same time as all those evacs?”
=It is.=
“Oh…”
As the scenes of devastation, destruction and carnage played out before Zhen Liu’s eyes, he couldn’t help but feel a modicum of worry in his soul.
‘Well…never thought I would see my worst fear realize, but here it is.’
Call it paranoia, call it a needless worry, but Zhen Liu had been developing this growing fear of what might happen if he or his kaijin ever faltered.
They might’ve been unstoppable forces of nature, but even floods had to recede, tornados had to stop and wildfires eventually die out.
Regardless, Zhen Liu failed to see how this pertained to this Cornelius guy…for about a minute.
After that minute lapsed, suddenly and without warning, all of the displays of what was Undertow’s darkest day suddenly went haywire. In manner not unlike a signal being overlapped.
“Whoa, what the fuck? Why is everything…doing that?”
=If a kaijin ever gets injured or slain, their display goes out like a television screen being shut off.=
“Oh…”
That’s all Zhen Liu needed to hear to know this was when the Storm Queen met her end, or at least…was close to it.
The display continued to be hazy for a couple more moments, tension filling the air, until it finally cleared up to a rather perturbing scene.
“What the…”
It was the scene of Cornelius, or at least one of the older versions, holding the injured form of the Invulnerable Storm Queen, while covered in blood and looking injured.
Off to the side of this embracing duo, Zhen Liu could see a discarded trident.
Regardless of the circumstances though, Zhen Liu could hear what was being said next.
Although…the audio sounded…tinny.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…it’s all my fault!”
[You! What did you do? What did you do to our queen?!]
“I didn’t-! I didn’t mean to-!”
*Bzkkt!*
Once the kaijin confronted the older Cornelius, everything went black.
<=Now you know why we want him dead.=>
Perhaps feeling that his card was about to be punched, Cornelius himself had developed a despondent look that screamed that he was ready to accept his fate. Wash away the sin with blood, as it were.
However…
“I’m not convinced.”
“What?”
<=Milord?!=>
Zhen Liu had his doubts on what he saw, much to the surprise of everybody present.
Thankfully, he didn’t leave them in suspense for too long.
“Logos, Pathos. Both of you have been in my head with and without consent and have gone through a lot of pop culture from my world, yes?”
“Pop culture?”
=Yes.=
“How many of those articles consisted of murder mysteries or evidence being fabricated by a third party? Or better yet, how many times has there been an inconsistency that mattered?”
<=Too many to count.=>
“Exactly. You two have records of an older version of this guy, probably one of his… timeline clones?”
“They’re not clones!”
“Whatever. You guys have records of one of his versions being there at her final moments. I don’t know about you, but the past few months have kind of proven that the kaijin can be fucked with the power of music, sensory denial and emotional manipulation in general. It wouldn’t be a massive twist to assume that they maybe, just maybe, there was a third party involved?”
<=That's...possible...=>
“Also, I don’t know about any of y’all, but the fact that he was entrusted with the life of my girlfriend, the Storm Queen’s baby, seem to be a bit incongruent, yeah?”
<=Huh...=>
Having made his point, Logos and Pathos began to relax and doubt themselves a bit. However, Zhen Liu wasn’t done yet.
Directing his gaze towards Cornelius, he asked one simple question.
“What happened that day? Do you remember?”
