flash forward fables second place!

A Twisted Timeline

by Cassidy Bellew

     Most do not believe that time is alive. In fact they would laugh at the thought, but as Dallan stepped into a completely new world, he realized it has a cruel sense of humor after all.Time, as it turns out, prefers to go by Tick, and when Dallan was given the secret to communicating with her, he quickly found her better company than anyone else. He, however, now had the uncomfortable task of being mediator between Tick and her brother, History. The two supernatural beings are in a centuries long disagreement from which the origin has been long forgotten, but the conflict remains. The unfortunate reality for Dallan is that the two entities will never tolerate what they perceive as disrespect. And when Dallan broke Tick's one rule— do not remove anyone from their place in the timeline— they took it as the utmost level of disrespect.

     First of all, even saving someone's life isn't reason enough to break Tick’s rule. She never forgives and never forgets. She will always have the last laugh. On the other hand, History has the time of his life throwing society into the fiery pits of despair. Dictators, genocides, and destruction are his legacy. Humanity's pain is simply his job. It doesn't bother him, but taking the control out of his hands does. This conflicts with Tick's slightly less questionable morals, so they rarely get along. However, they were all too willing to put that to the side in order to throw Dallan's life into chaos.

     After stepping out of the time continuum and into his apartment, Dallan carefully placed his girlfriend, Destiny, on the couch. Even while unconscious, she trembled from the fireworks of pain shooting through her body. Her suffering was shown by the cold sweat trickling from her brow and her breath coming in short gasps.

     Moving quickly, Dallan retrieved some recently acquired, cure-all serum from his kitchen and injected it into her arm, careful to brush her long, blonde hair to the side first.

     As if a fire had just been lit in her stomach, Destiny leapt to her feet, fight or flight in full effect. Bright blue eyes wide with fright, she started towards Dallan as if to attack, but then came up short.

     "Wait… Dallan? Where am I?" Confusion was painted across her face as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings.

     "Um, well, the future."

     “Excuse me?” In an instant she turned bright red. "What have you done?"

     “Well, save your life. I think that would be worth something, right?” He reached for her hand in an effort to comfort her.

     She slapped it to the side and grabbed his hair. “Not with how important my task was!” And without any more discussion, she thrust him out the door.

     Dallan stopped in surprise as it slammed in his face. The last thing he had expected was to be kicked out of his own apartment after saving the love of his life from an agonizing death. Confused, he turned to walk away, but her anger began to make sense when he ran straight into a Nazi enforcement bot.

     While not a normal occurrence, face planting into a dictator's super machine has a tendency to make a person reflect on their decisions in life, and Dallan had just made the biggest mistake possible. Every warning he had ever received about changing the timeline passed through his mind. Almost every person who knew his secret, told him the importance of following Tick's rule; his grandfather, mother, sisters, and even his deadbeat of a father had told him not to mess with the timeline, but did he listen? No. And now, the worst possible scenario had occurred. Panic began taking over Dallan's every thought, causing him to freeze at one of the most critical moments of his imminently ending life.

     Moving lightning fast, the bot grabbed Dallan by his oil black hair and thrust him into the wall. "Unregistered intruder detected. Initiating societal protection."

     Dallan's breath caught in his throat as a glowing dagger appeared in its other hand. Before he could even register what was happening, the bot thrust it towards his heart. With every muscle tensed, Dallan waited for the burning pain of death— but it didn't come. Hesitantly, he looked down at the knife hovering just inches from his chest, frozen by Time.

     "Uh, Tick, what's going on?" Dallan spoke into the stilled hall, hoping for a sign from his other-worldly friend.

     "You are the bane of my existence."

     Dallan jumped with a start as she spoke into his mind, sending a chill through his bones at the intrusion into his thoughts. "I- uh, I'm sorry?"

     "You're sorry? Do you really think that's enough?"

     He could feel her anger as palpable as his own emotions. It terrified him more than the luminous dagger still lingering by his chest.

     "You just upended me and History’s hard work and you really expect 'sorry' to solve everything!" Her voice reverberated throughout Dallan's skull, as if a gong had sounded next to his ear. "Are you so foolish as to not understand the disaster you have caused? Your girlfriend was not merely a medic of World War II; she was a spy crucial to the solution of that conflict. Pulling her from her proper place has reversed the results! Do you understand now what a mess you have created?"

     "Oh…" Carefully avoiding the blade, Dallan slid, with his back against the wall, to the floor and clutched his knees to his chest. All the tension leaving him in an instant, and the realization leaving him shaken. "What can I do?"

     "There is only one possible solution."

…

     Dallan's hands trembled as he desperately gripped Destiny's weakening form, each of her breaths coming shallower than the last. He watched as she closed her eyes, straining against the unseen creature of Death's design inside her. It clawed her chest, causing an unbearable pain to stab her heart and a feverish heat to radiate from her skin. This was what Dallan had been trying to prevent to begin with, but now tears painted a trail down his face as the poison of Death consumed her.

     But Dallan still had something even more difficult left to complete. With hands still shaking, he reached into his jacket to retrieve the glowing dagger taken from the Nazi robot. Sobs wracked his body, but he kept course. Slowly, almost tenderly, he inserted the knife into her heart, killing her instantly.

     Destiny became history. And Dallan's story turned to tragedy.

     It had to be this way, even with Dallan’s inner turmoil. Her body had to be discovered along with the bloody letter in her pocket. Her brother was a strategist critical to the winning of the war, and her death was his motivation. The letter was just as important as it contained the opposition’s plans. Destiny had to die, stabbing her was just the best way to end her suffering.

     Completing this task restored order to History and Time, but he knew he would always carry the anguish in his heart from a love lost. His mistake was corrected, but its result would leave his soul forever changed. Destiny would never be forgotten.