“Come now, Chronos, do you really think this stagnant peace of yours will last forever? Even if I don’t write it down in the Records, it will happen eventually.”

“Do you wish for chaos that badly, Fate? Is it that important?” Chronos waved her hand. The space fluctuated, shaping a world filled with life. She peered down upon it with longing. “Even if I cannot prevent it from happening, there’s no reason to hasten the process!” She snapped, turning around to glare at the man with disdain.

Fate sighed. He already knew that dragging out the matter wouldn’t even do a single thing to change her mind. She was quite stubborn. “Look Chron- No. Goddess Chronos,” corrected Fate, with a mixture of both sarcasm and impatience.” The time for taking in disciples is soon. Make up your decision by then. It will happen, with or without your permission. The Records say so. Even I can’t prevent it. And don’t use your powers again. The others won’t be there to protect you from yourself this time around…” Fate smirked, and took out a small tablet. He scribbled on it, and a gateway formed in front of him. “Heh, choose wisely, my Goddess.” Laughing, he crossed the gate, his sardonic voice still echoing throughout the vast space. It closed, and the room turned silent once more. Chronos stared at the empty spot where Fate had been. She had a lot on her mind. The only thing to do now was… wait.

Chronos turned back to face the lush world. She gazed into the timeline of the inhabitants there. Every couple of seconds, a person’s Time would cease. Fate was right- she needed a disciple. Many of her servants have gone missing or have left her service. Even her most skilled servants had left, refusing to part even after they had finished their duties. But they were gone now. She’d sent them off to various timelines to live their lives in peace. They were all very reluctant to leave; they’d only left once she ordered them to.

“I wonder how my children are doing…” Chronos looked on down at the world with sleepy eyes, and fixated on a boy.

Shaun checked the time on his phone. 6:55 a.m. He ran even faster to his destination – the bus stop. If it wasn’t for him oversleeping this morning, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush. Today was different though, it was the first day of school. Though he didn’t care much for learning in itself, his mom would really have his ass if she found out that he’d been skipping classes. On her payroll, no less.

He could almost see the stop now, and out of nervous habit, he checked his phone once more. 6:55 a.m. Not much of a change since the last time he’d looked at it. As he slowed down to catch his breath, he looked up to the distant bus stop sign. Three people were already there, two of which he recognized. After confirming that nobody had seen him just yet, he trudged over to where the other three were standing at.

As he got closer, he stopped at a distance to where he could avoid a certain individual who he knew all too well. Hershel. His happy-go-lucky ‘friend’ who had the tact of a rock, and the tenacity of a cockroach. He was the type of person who’d never stop talking once something or someone set him off. Silencing him once he’d started speaking would be a miracle deemed by Christ himself.

Shaun positioned himself in way where he wouldn’t be seen spotted by said individual, but not so much that he wouldn’t be able to see the bus as it arrived. He checked the time again. 6.57 a.m. About three more minutes until the bus would arrive, and he’d be finished with the first part of the day. A glance past Hershel revealed two girls, each at a distance from one another. One of these girls Shaun recognized, but couldn’t place her name. Her black hair and freckles were things that he’d noticed stood out quite a lot. He’d seen her from time to time in the hallways, and never spoke much to her, other than responding to an occasional “Good Morning”.

A curious glance to the right of the black-haired acquaintance was someone who Shaun had never seen before in his life. The few things he could note was that she was wearing a hoodie and jeans during this hot summer season. As she shifted around, something in her hands shone with a distracting glint, catching Shaun’s eye. Shaun took a few steps closer for a better look. He’d noticed that it was nothing more but a stopwatch. He found it quite odd, for this kind of time and age.

Shaun pulled out his phone once more. 6:58 a.m. Just two more minutes to go, and he’d be off on his merry way. But while he was distracted, someone placed their hand on his shoulder. Shaun already had a sinking feeling of who the owner of said hand belonged to, and slowly turned around to a face a grinning boy. One who he knew all too well.

“Good morning, Shaun!” Hershel said.

“Good morning, Hershel.” replied Shaun, annoyance seeping into his tone. It’s too early for this cheerful nonsense. Quiet down a little, will you?

“Sooo,” Hershel drew out his words, smiling all the while. “Ready for the first day of school~?”

“No.” Shaun pried off the offending hand from his shoulder. Shaun wanted this over with already, and tried distancing himself from Hershel. He shifted away from Hershel, who drew closer to him as he moved. Shaun moved again. Hershel moved as well. Finally, Shaun gave up and left Hershel to his own devices. Unfortunately, Hershel’s agenda clashed with his.

“Hey, Shaun, hey, hey Shaun.” Hershel probed, adding some nudges and pokes in for good measure.

“What do you want, Hershey?” Shaun replied, irritation present in his voice.

“It’s Her-shel!” Hershel said, pretending to pout like a child. “You do this on purpose, don’t ya!?”

“Stop it, that’s disturbing.” Shaun said, looking up from his phone at Hershel and scrunching up his face in disgust. Leave, already!

Shaun ignored him by counting down the time the bus would arrive. He checks the time once more, wanting to leave as soon as possible. 6:59 a.m. So close, yet so far. Shaun looked down towards the road, praying in silence for the bus to come even faster. His gaze shifted over to the left as a hint of black moved in the corner of his eyes. He noticed that it was his other familiar classmate.

What was her name again…? C… C-something.

“Oh?” Hershel tilted his head. He looked over to Shaun, and then matched the object of his gaze. “Lookin’ at cute Cecil now, are we Shaun?”

Right, it was Cecil.

Cecil turned around to look at both Shaun and Hershel, as though she’d heard someone say her name. Shaun doesn’t say anything back to him, thus confirming Hershel’s suspicions. He started to say something else, but got cut off midsentence by the arrival of the bus. As it pulled in closer to the stop, Shaun dashed for the door as though greeting a long-lost friend, almost bumping the new girl to in the process.

“Hey, watch it!” She staggered backwards a few steps, before readjusting herself.

“Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.” said Shaun, with a false tone of guilt in his voice.

She boarded the bus without another word, and Shaun followed in after her. Now onboard, the driver asked for Shaun and the others to call out their names as they enter. It seemed like the driver had skipped over on the new girl, but Shaun didn’t care for that little detail. He wanted this over with.

“Shaun Mason.” He said, eyes following the movement of the new girl, who had then sat down somewhere near the back.

“Seat 24D, in the back.” the driver said, giving but a cursory glance above his clipboard before checking off Shaun’s name.

Shaun walked down the aisles, looking at the seat numbers as he went. 10D, 15D, 20D, 23D… and then he stopped. Someone was already sitting in the seat besides his. Her again? The new girl gives Shaun a momentary look of recognition, and then one of annoyance, as she moved over a seat so he could sit down.

Shaun murmured a “Thanks” and placed his backpack underneath his seat before he sat down. Before he could relax, Hershel came down the aisle waving at Shaun, grinning from head to toe. He placed his backpack underneath the seat in front of Shaun, and sat down. Give me a break, already. First her, and now him? Shaun really wanted to bang his head against a wall right now. He just couldn’t get off easy today. After confirming that everyone had boarded the bus, the driver put his clipboard away, closed the doors, and started the bus up again. As the bus started to chug along, various conversations filled the background. Not even a minute had passed before Hershel added onto the noise by chatting with the unlucky soul next to him.

Better him than me. Shaun sighed in relief. He decided to pass the time by reading some novels on his phone. In the middle of his reading, a certain someone chose to interrupt him. After finishing his social interrogation with his partner, Hershel turned around in his seat to face Shaun.

“Well isn’t this great?” Hershel smiled. “First day, and we’re already next to each other!”

“Yeah, it’s just perfect.” Shaun said, sighing. I guess it was too good to be true.

“That’s the spirit!” Hershel beamed, oblivious to the sarcasm. Thankfully, it was the rare small-talk today compared to his previous conversations that seemed to never end.

Shutting himself out of all external noise, Shaun entered his own private world, the world of online literature. Ignoring the chatterbox in front of him, Shaun began to read. Everything was silent, save for the occasional chatter. But it’s at a tolerable level. In his world, there were no distractions. Shaun finished another chapter of his novel, and set his phone down in his lap. Taking down his wall of isolation, Shaun gave a furtive glance towards the person beside him.

He looked at the new girl for a second. She was quite mesmerizing to watch, with the sun making her blonde hair and skin seem to light up. But Shaun’s gaze then shifted his gaze to her stopwatch. He’d already saw it before. It’s nothing too special, at most, it’s probably just some family heirloom. Shaun lost interest in her soon after, and closed his eyes. His thoughts ran rampant as he waited for slumber to take him.

Is there a point to all of this? He opened his eyes once again, and looked up to the blank ceiling. Everything’s going to come to an end eventually. Why put so much effort in school? We’ll learn for 13 years, and then spend another 40, 50, working at some dead-end job until you retire. That’s just how it works. There’s no alternative. Sayings like “Live your life to the fullest”? Hah. Hypocritical. My “life” is stuck in the place called school for the next few years. Shaun sighed once more, crossed his arms. If only, He yawned, there was something more interesting in my life… Shaun drifted off to sleep, still in deep thought. Various sounds and vibrant sights colored his dreams. They’d always seemed to last forever. In his dreams, he’d traversed towering mountains, slew monsters of awe, and rescued stereotypical damsels in distress. But today, there was just a room of absolute white. He saw and felt nothing, but heard some distinct sounds of clockwork reverberating throughout the space. For a moment, Shaun thought he’d saw a silhouette of a woman in front of him, holding a stopwatch. He blinked, and found himself alone again.

Click.

“What the h-” Shaun jolted forward from his spot, slamming his head into the soft, yet firm seat in front of him. Dazed, he places a hand up to the seat to lift himself up. As he managed to balance himself, the bus shook the entirety of the bus, before coming to an abrupt stop. Shaun once more gripped the seat in hopes of not being thrown out into the aisles. He felt an immediate regret on his decision to not wear a seatbelt today. He looked around for the cause of his rude awakening, and peeked his head out into the aisle to get a clear view of the front like many of the other bewildered students. If he wasn’t awake before, he was now. Shaun’s eyes widened in horror.

Red. Red. Red. The front windshield was splattered all over with nothing but the colored liquid, like abstract art. A body was slumped all over the dashboard, arms dangling to the sides while something pooled down from the head like a stream. Shaun sat there. He just stared and stared. It didn’t need a genius to know that whatever it was up front wasn’t paint. While he was looking at the front, a bright light seemed to be approaching. Closer. And closer. And when it finally arrived, the bus shook, threatening to break apart. The impact was absorbed into the windshield, until it couldn’t hold anymore. Glass shards were sent flying throughout the bus, and the majority of the students caught the brunt of the propelled projectiles. Shaun was lucky enough to be in the back, as most of the shards had either lost their inertia upon reaching him, or some poor sap ahead of him had caught them. Few died on the spot, glass piercing through their skulls. Many others received the impact on their upper torsos, crying out in pain. It didn’t stop there. The bus then convulsed, sending Shaun flying into the back wall, striking head first against it.

“Sh-!” Someone cried. My head… Shaun strained to register the sound. He could hear something directed to him. But some high-pitched screeching kept ringing throughout his ears. Make it stop…

“Shaun!” They repeated once more. Shaun felt someone shaking him. The screeching seemed to lessen. He blinked, and saw Hershel standing over him, with his free hand on his shoulder to nurse a wound.

With a pained voice, Hershel said, “Shaun, we need to get off the bus.” Shaun didn’t reply, but gave Hershel a simple nod. He picked himself upright, and looked towards the closest exit: The back door. Shaun managed to recover most of his hearing, and found that what was thought to be screeching was… screaming. Shaun turned around to face the concentrated sounds, and everything hits him at once. The front… or what was left of the front, was nothing more than horrific, mangled bits of metal, still alight with fire. Starting from the front to the middle, whoever had been sitting in or near those seats had been charred to a crisp. Those that had survived were clutching their singed body parts, groaning in agony. The more mobile victims made their way to the back, away from the flames. The first person to reach the back tried for the door.

“Shit!” he roared, yanking his hand from the lever. “The handle is on fire!”

Wincing a little, Hershel pulled out his backpack, and took something out of it, tearing it in strips. He wrapped the cloth-like objects around his hands until it formed into a shape of a glove, then applied some of the leftover strips onto his wounded shoulder. Hershel then approached the back door. With a deep breath, he turned the lever. The door opens, just about enough for a hand to squeeze out. A car was right outside the exit, blocking the door from opening further. With a grunt of effort, Hershel pushed the door with both hands, and the door made a miniscule amount of progress.

“Give me a hand here!” Hershel cried, sweat cascading down his back as he struggled with the back door. “Shaun! Come on man!”

Shaun didn’t hesitate. One look at the front, and he knew that he would be incinerated if they stayed here longer. Shaun and some others repeated Hershel’s actions, and covered their hands with whatever they had to move the door. The temperature inside the bus was increasing at a fearsome rate. Smoke was continuing to billow its way through the remaining half of the bus, and the inferno that birthed it was creeping towards the back. At this point, the back became flooded with bodies. The claustrophobic surroundings became even more unbearable as sweating, squirming bodies, mixed with blistering heat and suffocating smog meshed together.

As Shaun, Hershel and the others continued pushing on the door, Shaun’s eyes swept over his seat. His mysterious seating partner, in comparison to the scenery around him, gave off an aura of unnatural calm. She just sat there, gazing out into the window without a worry. Her hands hovered over her keepsake, making a small sound as she pressed down on the button.

Click.

The back door screeched with an ear-piercing wail before it gave way at the combined pressure of various bodies. Shaun snapped to attention as he almost fell through the created opening. With but a last glance at the girl, he jumped out of the back with the remaining students. One by one, people shoved their way out of the small opening. Some were slower than others, because of their wounds. A small, brave few stayed back to assist the wounded in evacuating. Within minutes, most of the survivors had gotten out. Shaun performs a mental head count, and notes that about 15-20 people had gotten out. The bus could hold around 100, which meant… Only about a fifth of the original amount remained.

Shaun looked on at the carnage in around him. He didn’t have any close friendships with those on the bus, but even he had a conscience. The deceased’s faces as he boarded the bus this morning were vivid in his mind. He could still recall the lively conversations they once had. But that was gone now. Isn’t this what I wanted? I wished for this, didn’t I? A grin crept up on Shaun’s face, and he chuckled in silence. This is very… interesting.

“Someone, help!” A voice, permeated with desperation, brings Shaun back to reality. His grin fades as fast as it came. He looked for the source, and saw both Hershel and Cecil. Hershel was unconscious at the base of the bus exit, fresh blood pooling out of his shoulder wound. It seemed that he’d exerted too much force helping the wounded off the bus, and the weak bandage couldn’t hold out anymore. Cecil was still on the bus, attempting to drag a near-lifeless body out. The fire within was growing larger, and out of control. It had already spread to nearby vehicles, risking further explosions. Shaun made a decision. He looked away from the struggling Cecil. Sorry Cecil, but I can only take one. Good luck. He put a hand around Hershel’s right shoulder, and didn’t look back. Whatever happened next was up to fate.

Hershel let out a small groan of pain as Shaun lifted him up. He threw Hershel’s left arm around his left shoulder, and carried him across the road. Shaun could still hear Cecil calling, crying almost, for help. Shaun made some mental effort to block out the sound, and the cries grew weaker and weaker as he created some distance from the desperate voice. He made his way to the small encampment of survivors, now flocked with random assortments of people- “Good Samaritans.” Shaun was disgusted. They probably just want the media coverage. “Oh, I helped some students in distress.” “Just doing what anyone would.” As if. I can clearly see one person who high-tailed it out of there as soon as he heard an explosion, and had the face to come back now.

Shaun felt Hershel stir, and gave him a little kick on his healthy shoulder. He groaned, and lifted himself into an upright position. “You’re welcome.” Shaun said.

“Huh?” Hershel looked around the small encampment, scanning through the crowd. “Where’s Cecil?”

“Playing hero on the bus.”

“What?”

“She’s on the bus, trying to drag someone out.”

Hershel processed the words, and snapped to his feet. He made way for the bus, but Shaun grabbed his arm to stop him. “You’re not going.”

“I’m going!” Hershel tried shaking Shaun’s grip off, “Let go!”

“I didn’t save you for you to die afterwards. She’s made up her mind, and even then, it’s not safe. Look, the cars- they could expl-“ Hershel smacked his hand away.

“Let go, Shaun!” Hershel gave Shaun a disgusted look, and made way for the burning wreckage. Is he… For the love of god, he wants to play hero. Influenced by Hershel’s stubbornness, Shaun followed behind him. Shaun weighed the two paths- If they could make it in time to save Cecil and her classmate, or if they would combust into nothingness. Though it went against his common sense, Shaun bet with the former. As the two approached the bus, the temperature increased in turn. Cecil was staggering down the aisle, with a body in tow. The smoke was getting to her head, and she became woozy. Finally, she collapsed to her knees in front of the back exit.

“Cecil!” Hershel ran towards Cecil, catching her before she landed flat on the ground.

“Got your girlfriend yet? Let’s go!” Shaun yelled. You’re a real pain in the ass, in more ways than one, you know that?!

“Not yet,” Hershel grunted, balancing Cecil’s limp body on his back. “There’s still one more person. We can’t just leave him there!”

“For the love of… fine! I’ll get him.”

Muttering curses, Shaun hesitated for a moment before climbing back into the hellish wreck. The smoke assaulted him the minute he stepped inside. He pulled his shirt up to his face. Scanning through the smoke for the boy, he saw his body a few feet in front of him. Taking hold of both of his feet, Shaun dragged him down the aisle, face first, with arms trudging along at the sides. Coughing, he reached the front door, and slid the student out the back.

Suddenly, the floor of the bus vibrated as though it was to erupt. The windows shook, and glass from the right wall exploded into the aisles. Shaun was thrown back into one of the seats, bleeding from the upper torso. He plucked out a piece of glass from his chest, earning himself a pained hiss. The piece clinked onto the ground, and Shaun found himself shaking at the sight of his body. Shrapnel was embedded within his body, and the liquor of life began to drip out of him as he squirmed. He struggled to raise himself up to the exit, which was right before his eyes. Shaun kept trying to move; bringing him more pangs of pain each time. Eventually he succeeded in finding himself on the ground once more, driving the foreign objects deeper within his body. He didn’t even let out a sound. He couldn’t even speak. The little he could do was move his head. Shit, that hurts…

“Shaun!” Hershel left an unconscious Cecil down near the encampment, and ran full speed to the bus upon hearing the explosion. The flames began to envelop the bus as if to swallow it whole, with Shaun in the center of it. Time seemed to slow down, as the figure of Hershel was becoming more and more distant as shadowy figures blurred past Shaun’s eyes. Silence dawned upon his ears, as the furious crackling of hellfire was no more. He wanted to yell and cry out. But nothing came.

This idiot. You can’t save everyone, you know. Why do you even try? But… I guess I’m a bigger moron for following him here.

“Shaun.” A familiar voice said, tone filled with an endless calm.

Who?

“In front of you.”

Shaun tilted his head in the direction of his seat, looking up at the form of a recognizable acquaintance.

“Your time has come.”

I don’t want to die. Shaun felt his eyes watering up.

“You’re not going to.”

I don’t want to die. Shaun repeated.

“You won’t.”

I won’t?

“Do you want to live?”

Yes. The tears came streaming down Shaun’s face.

“It will cost you…”

I’ll give you anything.

The girl smiled. “Then we have a deal.”

She clicked her stopwatch, and time resumed at a normal speed again. The bus was swallowed up by an explosion, and Shaun’s consciousness and body drifted elsewhere as the flames took him.

Hey.

“Yes?”

What’s your name?

The girl smiled, “Me? I’m your master.”

…Click.