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kachikirby · 4 months

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GranEssex Chronicles: Chapter 11 - Trapped in Time

Two weeks had passed since Meta boarded the VictoriousArc. While slow, he had warmed up to a few of the others on board, namely Calzone, Fettuccine, Risotto and Pandoro. He was also getting along with Reedy's children, mainly Lyze as he found her to be the easiest to communicate with. At this moment, the puff was getting ready to begin his day as he normally did.

"I better get my morning call with sensei over with."

He took out his phone and punched in the number before waiting for her to pick up. While Meta did enjoy talking to her, he was glad he only needed to do it once a day now. After a week and half, Kurabe told him that to help both of them get used to having minimal contact with each other, he was now only required to call at least once a day and at any time he wanted. He chose to call in the mornings, thinking that hearing her voice would be a good way to start the day. In a few seconds, he heard her pick up.

"Good morning, Meta."

"Good morning, sensei. I trust all is well on the GranEssex?"

"Yes, everything is well. It still feels a bit empty without you, though I have so many students..."

Meta sighed. Even now he longed to go home, but he promised to see this through.

"It should only be a few more weeks, sensei. I'll be back before you know it."

"I know, Meta. I trust that you will."

This was how their calls usually started. Not that the youth truly minded. In fact, it felt good to know how much his mentor cared.

"Have you made any progress with Reedy's crew?"

"I've become friends with a few of them."

He heard a slight hum from the other side of the line. "Let me take a wild guess. Two of them are Risotto and Pandoro, am I correct?"

"Y-yes. But also, Calzone and Fettuccine."

Kurabe giggled at his reaction. "That's good. Hopefully by the end of this month you'll befriend all of them. You never know when you might have to work with them again, so it's good to start off on good terms."

"...yeah, hopefully." He replied, nodding.

Just then, the youth heard knocking on his door.

"Meta, if you're awake please come to the meeting room." He heard the deep voice of Risotto say.

"It seems I'm needed for something, sensei. I'll have to talk to you later."

"Understood, Meta. I'll look forward to talking to you tomorrow." He nodded quietly.

"Yeah, same here."

"Have a great day, my little knight."

Meta smiled and hung up.

"Better see what they need. I wonder if they'll have me tag along for a mission?" He hopped down from his bed and exited the room, following after Risotto.

---------

In the meeting room, everyone was gathered and staring intently at Reedy.

"I'll get straight to the point. Early this morning we received reports that the planet we normally get supplies from, the planet Hoco, has been emitting strange energy. As we were already in proximity with Hoco, it has become our duty to investigate it. As such, we already landed well before most of you were awake. Now for mission details, I want a team of six to investigate. I've already decided that Meta and I will be a part of this team so I want the rest of you to decide who the other four members will be. Any complaints?"

"No, sir." Was the immediate response.

Reedy nodded. "Then begin discussing amongst yourselves. Once you're finished, I want the selected four to join Meta and myself at the unloading dock."

He then turned to the puff.

"Follow me, Meta." He ordered.

"Understood." The youth nodded and followed Reedy out of the room.

---------

As they walked down the halls, the man asked the youth a question.

"Meta, do you know why I'm having you come with us on this mission?"

It didn't take long for the puff to think of an answer.

"To learn about cooperation and working as a team with people I'm not familiar with, correct?"

"That's one reason. The other is that your skill set is perfect for this type of mission. You're an excellent fighter for your age, combined with your natural survival instinct and your attentiveness, you are a natural fit for searching the unknown."

"...I see."

Not too long after that conversation, Meta and Reedy got to the unloading area, the four chosen Task Force Zetta members appeared, led by Calzone.

"Calzone, Tiramisu, Pandoro, Risotto. I see you were the four chosen." Reedy said with a nod.

Meta gave a slightly relieved sigh. Almost all of them were members he got along with. The only one he was unsure about was Tiramisu. Not that he distrusted the twin Limet. He just wasn't sure on how to handle the two intense personalities.

"So, are we going now?" The puff then asked.

"First, let's cover what strategy we'll be employing. Before I called the meeting, I had the ship scan where the strange energy was at its most powerful. It appears to be in the main city. I'll have us split off into groups of two each. Then we'll search the entire city and ask the citizens if they've noticed anything strange. Then we'll meet up in the town square and discuss what each group has learned. Understood?"

"Understood!" The entire group replied.

"Excellent. Meta, you choose who you want to be paired with first."

He nodded in response before taking a few minutes to think.

"Preferably I should join up with someone I should have no issues with. Maybe someone who can track down the others if needed. In that case..."

Meta then looked at Risotto.

"Would you mind working with me?"

"I'd be glad to." The man replied.

"Very well then." Reedy nodded.

"Tiramisu, you two are with me."

"Yes, sir!" The twins said.

"So Pandoro, looks like you're stuck with me." Calzone said with smirk.

"How horrifying." The swordswoman smirked back.

Meta nodded in understanding at these arrangements. Hopefully, this would be a quick and easy mission.

---------

All six of them headed towards the towns square, deciding that would be a good place to start and split up. Along the way, Meta saw many residents going along with their day like normal. On the surface, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

"Let's see if I can sense anything..." He thought as he closed his eyes and focused his energy. Almost immediately, he felt sick to his stomach.

"What happened?" Risotto asked in concern, noticing that sweat was dripping from the youth.

"I'm not sure. I tried to sense the source of where this energy is coming from but..."

"You were overwhelmed. Clearly, we're dealing with something in the high A tier. Possibly even an S tier." The man mumbled to himself.

"This is... the negative feelings of an S-tier, huh?" The youth gave a slight chuckle, but it clearly sounded more horrified than anything.

"Don't jump the gun, Meta." Risotto said place his hand on the puff's shoulder. "I said it could be an S rank, but again, it could just be an A rank. Now try sensing it again. I'll send my mana into yours to help keep you stable."

The youth then silently nodded before attempting it once more. This time he had an easier time sensing the source of all these emotions, but the intensity still shook him to his very core.

"It's somewhere in this town for sure. It's hard to pinpoint where exactly, however..."

Before he could finish, he was cut off by Reedy, who was adjusting his glasses.

"Alright, now is a good time to split up. We'll meet up back here in two hours. Let's go, Tiramisu."

The group then split up and went in different directions.

"Meta, let's start by asking the towns folk if they've noticed anything unusual." Risotto said, his hand still on the youth's shoulder.

"Yeah. Also..." The puff replied as he turned around. "You can let go of me now, Risotto. But thank you."

The man nodded and removed his hand.

---------

The duo walked up to everyone they saw but they received the same answer each time.

"Nope, everything's been pretty normal around here."

At this point, Meta couldn't help but find the whole situation a bit disturbing.

"How have they not noticed anything? I can't go anywhere without feeling that disgusting pressure. Risotto you've been here before, correct? Has it always been this eerie?" He asked, but his ally shook his head.

"No, it has not. That's why this is quite unusual."

"Couldn't we just investigate all the buildings in town? The townsfolk might be hiding something."

Risotto shook his head once more.

"We can't investigate without good reason. Without proof that something is happening, we can't do anything. But that doesn't mean we're out of options."

The man then clapped his hands and chanted a magical spell, summoning multiple small bird-like creatures.

"Go and search, my little friends." He said to the birds.

While this happened, Meta began to think. What exactly could the townspeople be hiding to cause such a volatile feeling to appear?

"Risotto, when would you say was the last time you came to this planet?"

"At least two months ago."

"So, whatever is happening it's incredibly recent..."

That was when one thought came to mind.

"Is there any kind of dangerous monsters that live here that could potentially cause these feelings?"

"None. Most of the wildlife is harmless and keeps to themselves. Even then the strongest monsters here are only a low C rank and only attack when threatened."

"So, if this isn't caused by the townspeople, could it be an invasive species?"

That was something Meta had learned about from his mentor. Sometimes, monsters and wildlife would hide away on transport ships, meteors, or something similar and that would lead to them running wild within the ecosystem.

"That would the most probable cause. However, I fail to understand why anyone, or anything would target this town in particular. No offense to the people who live here, but besides being a location to resupply, there isn't much to discuss about this town."

While that was the most likely case, another question came to his mind. "...how common is powerful magecraft in this town?"

"As far as I know, not at all. Let's ask around to be sure."

He then took a moment to look around before seeing someone.

"Excuse me, sir, may we have a word with you?" Risotto called out to an elderly man who was walking down the street.

"Yes, what is it?" The elder calmy replied.

"Is magic common on this planet? Or at least in this town?" Meta asked.

"Magic? I'm afraid not. You see centuries ago before even I was born the practice of magecraft was forbidden. I couldn't tell you why. As a result, those born here, myself included, lack the ability and talent for magic. I hope that answers your question."

"It does, thank you very much, mister." The youth said.

He then thought to himself. "So, then it likely is some kind of invasive monster..."

Just then, the birds Risotto sent out returned to him. He then clapped his hands, and the birds became pure mana and flew into him. Upon seeing Meta's quizzical expression, Risotto elaborated.

"By absorbing my summons, I gain their memories and the ability to see what they what they saw. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find anything useful."

The puff nodded. "Then we should keep looking around."

The two kept moving, but Meta kept feeling an eerie force around him. No matter where he went within this town, he felt trapped within a barrier of negative energy that was honestly draining to him. Just then a large explosion could be heard in the town square followed by the violent screams of its inhabitants. Looking at each other with worry the two ran as fast as they could.

---------

By the time they got there the rest of Task Force Z had already arrived, along with several dead bodies and no sign of what caused the destruction.

"W-what in the world happened here...?" Meta uttered in shock.

Reedy walked over to them, a grim look on his face. "You two, I assume you found nothing during your investigation?"

The puff shook his head. "Most is that I think there's an invasive monster on this planet, but that isn't too helpful."

"I came to the same conclusion myself. Unfortunately, none of us found anything more substantial than that." Reedy said as he began to examine the bodies of the deceased.

After a few moments, he gave a slightly puzzled, yet worried expression.

"How curious. It seems whatever caused this must have an appetite for blood. All of these bodies have been drained of any blood they had. Look around, you'll notice there isn't a single drop of blood anywhere."

The rest of the group looked around and confirmed it.

"None of you would happen to know any monsters that do this, would you?" The puff asked.

"Unfortunately, there's quite a lot of blood suckers in the universe, though if we narrow it down to S class creatures only one comes to mind. A Myovam." Reedy stated, pushing up his glasses.

"Myo... vam...?" Meta asked. Despite reading up on a lot of species throughout the universe, he had never heard of something like that before.

"A rare species of blood suckers. In fact, there's only been four of them recorded in our history books. From the information we have on them, they are capable of large-scale explosions, illusions, and, of course, draining the life force of its victims. They like to feed on pure blood, though unfortunately I'm unsure of what exactly constitutes as pure blood by Myovam standards."

Meta began to sweat upon hearing that but quickly shook it off the best he could. "Are there any weaknesses?"

"Despite being able to use magic, Myovam's are allergic to foreign sources of magic. For example, Meta, your lighting might be an effective tool against it. That is of course we're able to track it down."

The youth nodded. "...do you think I'll become a target for that thing, since my magic is very powerful?"

"No, in fact it'll probably avoid you at all costs unless it thinks it can kill you with one shot. Remember that it's allergic to magic. It's no surprise that all the previous Myovams the Organization has dealt with were eliminated by the mage division."

Just then Meta's sense of danger went off and he looked behind himself to see a figure dressed in a cape floating in midair. The figure pointed its finger at Meta and fired a concentrated beam of energy at the young warrior, who was barely able to dodge it. Seeing that it missed, the figure turned around and flew off into a nearby forest. Nobody there doubted what it was.

"Don't let it escape!" Reedy shouted, causing everyone to rush after the escaping Myovam.

---------

Unfortunately for them, the forest was huge and considering that the Myovam has potentially been on this planet for at least a month, it had the advantage.

"Everyone, stick together! It's going to try to pick us off if we try to split up!" Reedy shouted to his subordinates.

"Meta, can you sense it?" The man then asked, turning to the puff.

"I can try..." The youth then closed his eyes and focused his energy. In a few moments, he could feel a malicious presence like the one he had been feeling before. "It's straight ahead, but something doesn't feel right. It's not moving at all, as if it's waiting for us to get close."

Reedy nodded in understanding. "Everyone, let's proceed with caution. It's likely a trap."

As they approached the Myovam, Meta kept wondering what exactly it was planning. Clearly it was a trap, but what kind of trap? Reedy said that Myovams use illusions, what if that monster placed them under a spell the instant they got close? Before he could come up with any more scenarios, Meta saw the creature waiting for them. The Myovam had a humanoid appearance but with pale blue skin and blood red claws. The most striking part were its shining violet eyes.

"...Meta, can you cast some kind of stunning barrier?" Pandoro asked.

"Unfortunately, I think that might be a bit too advanced for me..."

In truth, outside of teleportation and basic healing, most of his spells were purely meant for dealing damage. Barriers were not his strong suit.

"I have an idea, however... I have a magic cloak that allows me to fly. If you could distract it, I could attack it from the sky." Meta explained as he pulled out and put on his cloak.

"Sounds like a plan." She then turned to Reedy. "What do you think, sir?"

She got her answer in the form of her superior already firing a flurry of arrows.

"Fly, Meta!" He commanded.

In a single instant, Meta transformed his cape into bat wings and took to the skies with a nod in response. The fired arrows got closer and closer with each passing second. However, instead making a clean hit, the arrows phased right through the monster.

"An illusory clone." Reedy said gritting his teeth.

Just then, the real Myovam appeared right in front of Meta and slashed at him with its crimson claws. Not having time to react, the puff was sent flying far away from the rest of the group, with the monster flying quickly after him.

---------

Upon crashing to the ground, Meta struggled to get up and put a hand on his cheek, feeling a giant slash wound and plenty of blood coming out of it. Thinking quickly, the puff cast a healing spell to at least stop the bleeding, but he still needed to get proper medical attention.

"Meta, are you ok!?" He heard Pandoro shout.

"I'm fine..." He replied after a brief moment of hesitation. Then he had a single thought.

"Wait, how can I hear her already? There's no way she could cover that much ground, right? Unless..."

He saw Pandoro walking toward him.

"Thank goodness you're alright Meta." She said in her usual kind tone, but Meta could detect a large amount of malice from it.

"I'm not falling for that!" He shouted, firing a bolt of lightning at Pandoro.

Once hit, the illusion was destroyed and instead of Pandoro being electrocuted, it was the Myovam. Holding his sword in front of him, Meta dashed at the monster, intent on killing it with one strike. Unfortunately for him, he would never get that chance. His opponent fired a small blast of energy, knocking Meta away. It then pointed at the moon, which was now fully visible, and shot a beam of mana at it. The moon became blood red and everything on the planet was quickly covered in darkness. The puff couldn't see anything and was starting to lose consciousness. The last thing he heard was the Myovam's chilling laughter.

---------

After a few minutes, Meta's eyes slowly opened, his vision fuzzy.

"Where? Am I back on the ship?"

He looked around and indeed he was in the guest room of the GranVictorious. He went to feel the slash wound he received, only to discover it wasn't there.

"What the hell?"

Meta attempted to think back but most of his memories were blurry, and he couldn't recall much of what happened.

"Was I just dreaming?"

He even pinched himself, giving a sigh when he noted the pain he felt.

"...what happened? Maybe I should call sensei...?"

He took out his phone and punched in her number, waiting for her to pick up. Soon, she did.

"Good morning, Meta." Came the response on the other end.

"Morning, sensei. There's something I need to talk about. It's nothing serious... or at least... I hope it isn't..."

"What is it?" She asked, her tone sounding noticeably dire.

"I had a strange dream. But I'm not entirely sure if it was a dream. Everything felt real, but now I'm having trouble remembering the details."

"Can you give me a vague idea of what happened?" His mentor asked, sounding even more worried than before.

"I believe I was on a mission with a few members of Reedy's crew. The only member I can clearly remember being there was Risotto. I believe we were fighting some kind of creature with claws. The pain getting of getting slashed felt so real, but there's no injuries on me anywhere."

There was a brief silence, as if Kurabe was processing that information.

"Meta, could it be that you had a vivid nightmare? I know you often had those when you were younger." His mentor asked with concern.

"No. I would always wake up with sweat everywhere whenever I had one of those nightmares. But there was nothing like that when I woke up this morning."

"Ah, yes, yes, that's right. And you would come to me crying in the middle of the night and ask if you could stay with me for the night and-" There was a pause, as if she was shaking her head. "Back on topic... that is quite unusual."

"Could it be a vision of the future?" He asked, barely suppressing his embarrassment.

"...there's a chance that it could be. Please be cautious for the rest of the day."

Before he could answer, a loud banging on his door interrupted the conversation.

"Yo, kid, get your ass to the meeting room." A loud, abrasive voice said.

"Ah, Capellini, I know that irritating voice anywhere. You better get going then, Meta." Kurabe said.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow, sensei."

"Indeed. Have a great day, my little knight." She then hung up.

Just then a small feeling of deja vu creeped up on him, but he quickly shook it off.

"She always calls me that, nothing to be concerned about."

---------

That feeling would become stronger once he arrived at the meeting room. In the meeting room everyone was gathered and staring intently at Reedy.

"I'll get straight to the point. Early this morning, we received reports that the planet we normally get supplies from, planet Hoco, has been emitting strange energy. As we were already in close proximity, it's our duty to investigate. As such we already landed well before most of you were awake. Now for mission details, I want a team of six to investigate. Meta and I will be a part of this team so I want the rest of you to decide who the other four members will be. Any complaints?"

"Why does this situation feel so familiar? Probably just my imagination, I need to quit worrying about that dream." The youth thought to himself.

"Meta, is something wrong?"

The moment he heard that, he immediately noticed that Reedy and the rest of the squad were looking directly at him.

"No, sir."

For a moment, the man had a skeptical look on his face, but then he gave a slight sigh.

"Alright, now let's get going."

Reedy gestured towards the door and Meta left the room with him while the other members discussed amongst themselves.

"Meta, do you know why I'm having you come along?" Reedy asked as they walked to the unloading dock.

The feeling became even stronger.

"To learn about cooperation and working as a team with people I'm not familiar with and because my strength and survival instincts are great for this kind of mission?" He answered.

Reedy looked pleasantly surprised. "That's exactly right."

Admittedly, the youth was a bit stunned.

"How...did I remember that...?" He thought.

"Mr. Reedy. Have you ever experienced an intense case of deja vu before?"

The man took a moment to think before adjusting his glasses.

"A few times. There was a time when I was a child and I had something that happened in a dream happen in real life and when I told my mother or Mercury, they would say it's deja vu. I would reply that it was a dream come to life, but then they would reply that we had that conversation the previous month and..."

Meta was now slightly regretting asking that question. But at least he now had somewhat of an idea of what he was experiencing.

"There was also the time where your mentor called me at 4 AM two weeks in a row, I don't quite remember the details but-"

"I think I get the idea. Thank you." He mumbled in annoyance.

---------

Soon the selected four approached them, comprised of Calzone, Tiramisu, Pandoro and Risotto.

"Calzone, Tiramisu, Pandoro, Risotto. I see you were the four chosen." Reedy said with a nod.

The feeling of deja vu became even stronger.

"Before we leave, let's cover what strategy we'll be employing. Before I called the meeting, I had the ship scan where the strange energy was at its most powerful. It appears to be in the main city. I'll have us split off into groups of two each. Then we'll search the entire city and ask the citizens if they've noticed anything strange. Then we'll meet up in the town square and discuss what each group has learned. Understood?"

"Understood!" The entire group replied.

"Excellent. Meta, you choose who you want to be paired with first."

The youth only stared with a shocked look on his face.

"Why... why does this seem so familiar...?" He thought to himself.

"Meta, you've been acting strange today. Is something wrong?" The man then asked.

"I feel like I'm experiencing deja vu, but I'll be fine. The sooner we get this done the better. As for my partner... Pandoro would you mind joining me?"

"Of course!" She replied with a smile.

Meta smiled back. For the first time today, he wasn't feeling that deja vu, but he knew the relief he felt wouldn't last for long.

"Alright, let's head out then." The man said with a nod as the group left the ship.

---------

The walk to the town square was uneventful, at least for most of the team. Meta, however, was incredibly paranoid.

"Alright, Meta and Pandoro. You two take the north side of town." Reedy commanded.

The puff jumped a bit on hearing that.

"Understood, sir. Let's go, Meta." She said while dragging him along.

The duo had asked as many citizens as they could about the situation going on, but none of them had noticed anything strange going on.

"We're getting nowhere. As much as I hate to accuse the innocent, maybe this town is hiding something from us." Pandoro said, putting a finger on her chin to think.

Meta shook his head. "No, I think they are in the dark as much as we are."

"Really? What makes you say that?" His companion then asked.

"I've read the faces of everyone we've talked to. That's something sensei and Mercury taught me. I couldn't detect any lies."

Not to mention the strange feeling he's had all day.

"Alright then, what do you think it is?" The woman then asked.

"I don't know. I've been feeling a strange presence ever since we've arrived. It's oddly familiar but I can't tell you why."

Meta was stumped. Everything felt so familiar yet so foreign.

"Maybe someone is casting a spell on the planet? That could explain why no one notices anything strange."

Honestly, that did somewhat match up with what the youth was feeling. He did feel the presence of some notably powerful mana on this planet.

"You think I should go ask someone about magecraft?" Pandoro asked.

"We probably should, just to cover our bases."

With a nod, the woman walked over to an elderly man.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you have a moment? I'd like to know if anyone knows something about magecraft in this town?"

The old man looked at them in slight confusion. "Magic? I'm afraid not. You see, centuries ago before even I was born the practice of magecraft was forbidden. I couldn't tell you why. As a result, those born here, myself included, lack the ability and talent for magic. I hope that answers your question."

"It does, thank you very much."

The feeling of deja vu got even stronger on Meta's end upon hearing that single conversation. As they walked away from the man, Pandoro spoke up again.

"Meta, I have a question. Have you been to this planet before?"

The youth shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure I haven't, but... everything just feels so familiar..."

"As farfetched as it may sound, maybe you've been to a town with the exact same set up as this town? Stranger things have happened."

The youth took a moment to think, checking his memory for any chances of that happening.

"That would make sense, but..."

"But...?"

"...there feels like there's a bit more to it..."

"Perhaps you have clairvoyance?"

"...would the ability to sense positive and negative energy be clairvoyance?"

"Not exactly. Clairvoyance is more akin to seeing the future or at least knowing what will happen in the near future."

That could explain a lot about what was happening, but Meta wasn't completely convinced.

"Except I've never experienced anything like this until today. Wouldn't it be strange that I'd just happen to suddenly become clairvoyant? If I did have an ability like that, I'm sure either myself or sensei would notice it sooner."

The woman shrugged. "Well, what other explanations do you have for why you're feeling like this?"

The puff averted his gaze. "I don't know..."

Suddenly, they heard a massive explosion. For some reason the explosion didn't surprise him, but he didn't have time to think about it.

"We have to hurry!"

---------

Upon arriving at the scene of the explosion, yet another vaguely familiar scene awaited Meta: no sign of destruction combined with several dead bodies. The others arrived at the same time they did. Reedy walked over to them, a grim look on his face.

"Did you two learn anything useful?"

Pandoro shook her head. "Unfortunately, not. Most we were able to figure out is that it might be some kind of powerful magic user that's not from around here."

"So, it's a monster..." Meta uttered mindlessly.

Reedy nodded. "Not just any monster, but one that feeds on blood. Considering the circumstances, it's probably-"

"A Myovam." Meta said mindlessly before widening his eyes. "How? Why do I know all of this?"

"Meta... are you hiding something from us?" The commander asked.

"I don't know!"

Suddenly the puff's instincts went off and he quickly dodged a beam of energy. Looking at the source of the beam, Meta's eyes widened and all the haze in his head disappeared.

"The Myovam...I remember everything now! I don't know how but we've already lived through this day and that thing is the cause!"

"...that would explain a lot." Reedy then mumbled and summoned his bow. "All personnel, attack!"

Before anyone could get close, the Myovam flew off into a nearby forest.

"Meta, is it leading us into a trap?" Pandoro asked.

"It's probably going to use an illusory clone..." He uttered.

"We could set the forest on fire to draw it out." suggested Misu, only for his brother to punch their shared body.

"You idiot, we can't hurt the planet just to draw out one monster!" Tira scolded.

"I'll just go in first to draw its attention. The rest of you surround it." Reedy then stated.

Everyone nodded and Meta preemptively put on his cloak, ready for action.

"Now, head out!"

As they ran, Meta noticed that the sun was beginning to set and that terrified him.

"Reedy, we have to kill it before the moon comes out! I'm not sure how but that thing used the moon to cast the spell!"

The man nodded in response. "You all heard him! Put the pressure on it and show no mercy!"

Soon, Reedy, by himself, came across the Myovam.

"I know the one in front of me is just an illusion. Quit wasting both of our times and come out. You know that we won't leave until we either kill you or take you into custody. You might as well make this easier on yourself and give up."

Chilling laughter surrounded Reedy as soon as he said that.

"You're right about one thing, Limet. You won't be leaving for a long time."

"What do you mean by that?!" He shouted towards the voice.

Then he remembered. This was no time for questions. He had to attack now. Reedy shot an arrow straight into the air. The laughter got louder.

"Where are you even aiming, Limet?"

"Everywhere."

With a grin, Reedy snapped his fingers at the arrow split into thousands of smaller arrows that then fell toward the forest, like a rainstorm of arrows. Reedy was in no danger of getting hurt, but the Myovam had no such advantage. The monster jumped out into the open to avoid getting hot, only to kicked down back to the ground by a flying Meta. The monster was quickly surrounded by everyone, with no chance of escape.

"What are you waiting for!? Finish him off!" Reedy shouted.

Everyone then pierced the monster's body, Pandoro in particular cutting its head off. Meta gave a sigh of relief. It was finally over.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves now."

The puff's eyes widened. That voice came from the disembodied Myovam, who didn't appear concerned in the slightest.

"This was certainly a fun distraction, but it's time to say goodbye. Until next time..."

The monster then shot a beam from its mouth towards the sky, or more accurately, towards the moon.

"Oh no..."

The moment those words left Meta's mouth, everything around him went dark and he lost consciousness once more, the last thing he heard was the monster's chilling laughter.

---------

Once he regained consciousness, he was again back in the guest room.

"Another dream? No, it couldn't be right?"

He looked around his room and checked his body. If he did get injured, there was no proof of it.

"...maybe sensei might know..." He uttered, pulling out his phone and dialing her number.

After a few seconds, he heard that familiar voice on the other end.

"Good morning, Meta."

"Sensei, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it, Meta?" The woman asked with concern. "Is it about the dream from yesterday?"

Meta's eyes widened. Kurabe's words proved to him that what happened to him did, in fact, happen.

"Before I go into more detail, what is today's date?"

"The 26th of September."

The youth looked at the digital clock in his guest room to see what it said.

"The 24th..." He muttered under his breath. "Sensei, promise you won't laugh at what I'm about to say."

"Meta, you know I'd never laugh at you for anything."

Meta took a deep breath. "I think I'm in a time loop."

There was a deafening silence in the room.

"Meta... I..." Kurabe hesitated as she spoke, as if unable to process what she just heard.

"On the 24th we went on a mission to investigate a strange reading on Planet Hoco. During the mission, we encountered a Myovam. I fought it and then it cast a strange spell that covered the world in darkness. When I came to, I was back on the VictoriousArc, where I thought it was a dream. It wasn't. Then yesterday we went on the exact same mission, fought the same Myovam who then casted the same spell now here I am back on the ship like nothing happened. It's still the 24th here, sensei."

"...there's no doubt about it then." Kurabe said with a sigh. "Meta, did you tell someone on the VictoriousArc? Perhaps one of them might have the same feelings of deja vu that you currently do."

"If everything goes the exact same way as last time, then Reedy will be calling a meeting soon."

"Just in case, I think you should tell him in private. There's a chance that panic will break out otherwise."

Meta nodded, incredibly grateful for his sensei's advice.

"He will force me to take the mission and will take me aside to talk about it. That will be my chance."

"Yes, that indeed sounds like Reedy. Explain it to him then."

"I will. Sensei, how far away is the GranEssex from Planet Hoco?"

There was a moment of silence.

"We should be there in about two days if we travel at maximum speed. Can you hold out until then?"

"I'll try."

"We'll do our best to get there before then. Please be careful and good luck, my little knight."

"Thank you, sensei."

He hung up after that, just in time to hear knocking on his door and the voice of Pandoro calling out to him. "Meta, I'm sorry to disturb you, but our presence is needed."

"Alright, I'm coming." He replied as he hopped down his bed and began to make his way straight to the meeting room.

---------

In the meeting room everyone was gathered and staring intently at Reedy.

"I'll get straight to the point. Early this morning we received reports that the planet we normally get supplies from, planet Hoco, has been emitting strange energy. As we were already in close proximity with the planet, it's out duty to investigate. As such we already landed well before most of you were awake. Now for mission details, I want-"

Meta blocked out the rest of the speech, knowing exactly what will happen and who will come with.

"Any complaints?" Reedy asked.

"No, sir!" The reply was unanimous, except from Meta.

"Alright then. Meta, please come with me."

Silently nodding, the youth followed him out of the room. Upon exiting, the man began to speak once more.

"Meta, do you know why I'm having you come along with us?"

"Because you want my unique skill set and want me to learn the value of working together." Meta said impatiently.

"That's exactly correct." However, the man then pushed up his glasses. "Though, Meta, you appear to be on edge today. Is something wrong?"

"Mr. Reedy, have you felt like we've had this conversation before?"

The man looked troubled for a moment. "...Meta, could you keep this a secret from my crew?"

The puff sensed the urgency in Reedy's voice. "Yes."

"The truth is, I don't remember much about it, but had a dream about having this conversation with you last night. I assumed it was some kind of lucid dream, because I couldn't remember much about it. However, I now have the vague feeling there might be more to it. I woke up Raita to talk to her about it and she said that I'm probably overworking myself and that I should take a vacation after we complete this mission..."

Meta sighed. "...where to begin? For starters it wasn't a dream Mr. Reedy. We've had that conversation before. Twice."

The man stared at him in shock. "...how exactly do you know that?"

"I can prove it, too. The four members that will be chosen are Calzone, Tiramisu, Pandoro and Risotto."

As expected, the four Limets Meta named could be seen walking towards them.

"How did you know?"

"...this is going to probably sound unbelievable to you, but we are stuck in a time loop."

Reedy was silent, processing exactly what he heard. "...Meta, it's not that I don't believe you per say. Time magic like that does exist, but still. This is quite a lot to take in."

"Reedy, please, just trust me, ok?"

"Well, I can tell that you're serious. Very well, I'll trust you for now."

Just then the other finally caught up to them. The man turned to the rest of the group.

"Understood!" The entire group replied.

"Excellent. Meta, you choose who you want to be paired with first."

Meta silently groaned, not wanting to split up this time, but understood he couldn't do anything to cause the others to panic. "Tiramisu, would you mind teaming up with me?"

"Man, I'd prefer to go on my own..." He then punched himself in the stomach. "Shut up, you!"

"I'll take that as yes then." Meta said as he started to walk out of the ship but got close to Reedy in order to whisper something to him.

"If you see an elderly man, ask him about magic. He'll say that magic has been banned for centuries."

The man only nodded silently. "Alright everyone, let's head out."

---------

Upon reaching the town, the investigation began. As expected, Meta was unable to find anything new about the situation. This however gave him to think about the situation, namely why the Myovam was doing any of this.

"Let's see... it feeds on blood and is allergic to foreign sources of magic. If the people of this planet don't have even a single ounce of magic, then the blood they have would be pure. No wonder it decided to invade this planet, but then why bother with the time loop? Wouldn't it be easier to just kill and leave in a single night?"

"Whaddya mumbling to yourself 'bout?" His travelling companion, specifically Tira, asked.

"He's talking to himself about some monster thing, you moron! Are you deaf or something!?" His brother, Misu, replied.

"No, I'm not deaf! I'm just feeling hungry now!"

"How are you feeling hungry from that?!"

"I don't know! I just randomly thought that if I had the ability to time loop, I'd probably just build up a supply of snacks!"

"THAT'S NOT HOW TIME LOOPS WORK!"

Meta sighed. He never knew how to deal with the sentient comedy routine known as Tira and Misu. Then something hit him.

"Infinite snacks? Could that be its plan? Absorb all the blood of the inhabitants, reset time, and just keep feeding for as long as it wants? But wouldn't the absorbed blood disappear after each loop? Unless of course, the caster of the spell is exempt from being physically affected by time resetting..."

This was going to be a long shot, but...

"Do either of you know if casting a spell that creates a time loop would affect the original caster?" He asked.

Tiramisu scratched their head.

"That's outside our area of expertise..." Tira said.

"But theoretically it should be possible that they're the only ones unaffected..." Misu continued.

"That's it! The Myovam created a time loop to make itself more powerful by drinking all the blood it wants!"

"The what!?" Tiramisu yelled.

Meta flinched. In his excitement, he forgot that his companions weren't aware of the Myovam.

"No time to explain, we have to get to the town square before-"

A large explosion could be heard in the distance.

"...that happens... Come on we have to go!"

With a nod from his ally, they headed for the town square.

---------

Upon reaching the town square, however, Meta saw the familiar horrifying sight of many dead bodies, yet it also looked like nothing occured there.

"Exact same as before...damn it!"

Soon Reedy could be seen running towards Meta.

"Meta, you know what caused this don't you?"

"Yes, it's a Myovam and it's going to target me."

"...because you're its biggest threat, I assume?"

"Yes, it knows my lighting could kill it, so it wants me dead."

Reedy nodded. "Alright, everyone we need to protect Meta at all costs. Understo-"

Just then a beam of energy that came seemingly out of nowhere hit Reedy's core dead on, shattering it completely. The man's body quickly became nothing more than a dead pile of slime. The others stared in silence.

"Don't panic! Follow the commander's orders and protect Meta!" Calzone was the one to give out those orders.

While he could hear what Calzone said, Meta couldn't register it. Reedy, a man he didn't necessarily liked but on some level respected was dead. What was he going to tell Raita and the kids? What would he tell Mercury? Reedy died because he failed to do something about the Myovam.

"Meta, looked out!" Risotto yelled pushing the puff out of the way only to get killed just like Reedy did.

The youth could only stare in shock at that.

"What are you doing!? Are you just going to let their deaths be in vain!?"

Pandoro barely managed to block another attack.

"If you need to, shut off all your emotions and fight!"

Shortly after she said that though, she too fell victim to the Myovam's attack. Tiramisu was also killed almost immediately afterward, leaving only Meta and Calzone behind.

"You bastard!"

Calzone leapt at the Myovam but was reduced to nothing with one attack. The man known as Calzone was dead.

"Everyone..." Meta said, tears forming in his eyes.

He hadn't known them for long, but he viewed them as comrades, friends even. But now they were dead, and it was all his fault.

"No... no... NOOOO!" He screamed with all his might, his mana skyrocketing.

A beam of mana shot out from his body and into the sky, hitting a certain object. The moon. The Myovam's eyes widened.

"No not now! It's too soon!"

Soon, darkness swallowed everything once again and Meta himself fell unconscious.

---------

Almost immediately, Meta woke up in the guest room once more, panting heavily.

"Was it all...?"

That's when he remembered it. Every single thing that happened.

"The date, I need to check the date." He thought scrambling over to the digital clock.

"The 24th. So, they're still alive, right? I saw them die but that didn't really happen, did it?"

Meta tried to convince himself that his friends didn't die, but he couldn't trick himself. They died in front of him. They died because of him. Them being alive now doesn't change that fact.

"...I need sensei." He said in a hollow voice.

Quickly, he pulled out his phone and dialed her number. Almost immediately, she picked up.

"Meta?"

"They're dead, sensei. All of them, but not really. They're still alive but I saw them die. They're dead but still alive. I failed them but I guess I saved them from my failure, but I still failed. They died because of me and-"

"Meta, calm down and breathe!"

He took a deep breath, but he could still feel himself trembling.

"Please, if you don't mind, tell me what happened."

"There was another time loop. I talked to Reedy, and he believed me. From there the mission went on like normal. Then the Myovam attacked and..."

"And?"

"And Reedy was killed. Then Risotto was killed. And Pandoro and Tiramisu and finally Calzone. Everyone died at it's all my fault."

Meta could feel the tears run down his face. There was a brief moment of silence before a response.

"...oh, Meta, how I wish I could be there for you right now." His mentor uttered. "We're about a day away. Now I have a question for you. How did time reset this time? I can't believe the Myovam would do it after getting so close to its goal."

"It didn't..."

"Huh?"

The youth clenched his chest. "I don't know exactly what happened, but after seeing everyone die, I just lost control of my body and its mana."

"...then your mana must have triggered the reset."

Meta blinked. "What do you mean, sensei?"

"The Myovam most likely placed a magic seal on the moon. In order to trigger the seal, it needed to shoot its mana at the moon. While an effective way of resetting time, it's a double-edged sword as anyone's mana could activate the seal."

"So, I saved everyone..."

While Meta was relieved, the pain he felt earlier still refused to leave him.

"That's right, Meta, you saved them. Not only that but you know when the Myovam will attack and how it resets time. With this information..."

"I can perform a counterattack."

"Exactly. So how about I leave you to do that?"

"I won't fail, sensei."

"Then good luck, my little knight." She said while hanging up.

"I won't fail ever again..."

He then looked at the clock, noting that he awoke much earlier than he normally did.

"Time to go talk to Reedy."

He exited the guest room and immediately walked to roughly where the captain's cabin on the GranEssex would be, swiftly knocking upon reaching it. Almost immediately, he heard shuffling from inside the room and incoherent mumbling. Reedy opened the door with a cranky expression.

"Meta? You better have a good reason for this." He uttered with a yawn.

Based on his slightly messy hair, more casual clothing, and lack of glasses, the youth could tell that he had been sleeping.

"Reedy, get the crew together. Now." Meta said, his tone indicating complete seriousness.

Reedy was taken aback by this.

"For what reason? I was going to call meeting anyway to-"

"To talk about how we got a strange reading from the planet Hoco that needs investigating and how you'll form a team of six that includes both you and me."

The man blinked in shock. "...wait a minute, how do you know all that?"

"Because I've lived through it three times. We're dealing with a Myovam that's using a time loop spell in order to infinitely feed on the blood of this planets inhabitants."

Reedy became silent for a moment, as if processing this information.

"...well, that kind of behavior is not unheard of for Myovam and you don't seem like you're lying..."

He attempted to push up his nonexistent glasses, but the quickly stopped upon realizing he wasn't wearing them.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgement. I'll call the meeting in a bit."

He then closed the door. Meta let out breath he didn't know he was holding.

"...I'm glad you're still alive, Reedy."

"What was that, Meta?" He heard from inside the room.

"It's nothing. I'll see you in the meeting room."

Before he could hear a response, he rushed to the meeting room. Shortly after their conversation, an announcement was made that told all members of Task Force Zetta to head for the meeting room immediately and ready for combat. Meta, who was the first one there, saw the various members enter at varying stages of wakefulness.

"Thanks for coming, everyone. I'll cut to the chase. We've gotten a report of something strange happening on Planet Hoco, and Meta knows what it is. Meta, if you would please explain this to everyone?"

The puff nodded and began. "There's a monster called a Myovam on this planet. It's been creating time loops the past few days to try and build up its blood supply and get stronger. We need to eliminate it before it can attack the town square and kill more people."

"And why should we believe you?" Capellini asked in his usual standoffish fashion.

"Because I've lived through this time loop three times and I know that people are going to die if we don't do anything." Meta then shook his head. "No. This crew will die."

Everyone fell silent, until Risotto spoke up. "I believe him. I had this odd dream of fighting and dying against a Myovam. Though I suppose it wasn't a dream, was it, Meta?"

The youth shook his head. "It wasn't. That was what happened in the previous loop."

There was another moment of silence, until someone else spoke up.

"Come to think of it, I had a dream like that as well..." Pandoro said.

Most noticeably, Reedy averted his gaze slightly. "...loathe I am to admit it, I awoke a few hours ago due to a nightmare of myself being killed... Raita was quite worried..."

Calzone and Tiramisu both nodded their heads, silently saying they had the same dream.

"Are you really going to say that all these people who have testimony that supports mine liars?" Meta asked.

"Fine, whatever."

Reedy then nodded. "Now that we have that out of the way, let's go over the strategy." He then turned to Meta. "Do you have any?"

"Yes. Around evening the Myovam will attack the town square. We'll all need to hide from sight. Reedy, right as soon as it's about to attack the square, hit it with an arrow. From there I'll kill them using my magic to target its weaknesses to foreign magic."

The man nodded in response. "You all heard him. We'll be heading to the town square before evening to carry out this plan, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Very well, let's prepare to move out for then!"

"Understood!"

---------

In a few hours, the entire group was waiting, hiding in the town square.

"Come on, you bastard, show yourself already!" Meta thought to himself.

There was a moment of silence. Then, he noticed something in the sky.

"There it is!"

The Myovam raises its hand and started to charge a beam of energy, only to be struck by an onslaught of arrows by Reedy.

"Now, Meta! Kill it before it can recover!"

Without hesitating Meta flew into the air and charged his sword with his mana.

"This is for Risotto!" He slashed off an arm.

"This is for Pandoro!" He cut off the other arm.

"This is for Tira and Misu!" He sliced off both legs.

"This is for Reedy!" He then decapitated the Myovam.

"And this is for all the innocent lives you've toyed with!"

The puff then fired a beam of electricity at the severed remains, completely incinerating the Myovam. It was finally over.

"Everyone, you've been avenged." Meta said, tears now freely flowing from his eyes as his sword slowly dropped from his hand.

"...wait a minute, but we're still alive..." Tira asked, only to be punched by his brother.

However, the youth didn't hear them and only collapsed to the ground, no longer caring about anyone seeing him cry. Silently, Reedy walked over to his side and knelt beside him. He hesitated for a moment before beginning to stroke his head softly.

"That's right, Meta. Just let it all out..." He whispered.

This was the first time Meta had ever experienced the death of someone he knew and cared about. What if it was Kurabe and Mercury that died? He would most likely just shut down completely. In a way, he was lucky he was able to reverse time, but the pain of losing a friend will be with him forever. However, there was one thought that persisted in Meta's mind doing this whole event.

"I need to get even stronger, so that I won't have to lose anyone ever again..." He whispered to himself.

However, Reedy was the only one that could hear him.

"...and I'm sure that Kurabe will support you with that." The man uttered in reply.

Just then a familiar ship could be seen coming in from the distance.

"Speak of the devil and she will appear. I assume you contacted her about the time loop?"

The puff silently nodded in reply.

"Good, that will make this easier." He then turned to the rest of his unit. "Alright everyone, let's head home."

---------

Back on the ship, Meta was waiting for his sensei to show up, Reedy standing a bit behind him figuring he could use the space. Before he could even react, Meta was instantly swept up in a hug by his mentor. It took a moment for the puff to process what happened.

"Sen... sei...?"

"Yes, Meta. I'm here now." Kurabe replied.

"...thank you."

There was a brief moment of silence as he held on to the warrior tightly, as if wishing that she would never let go. Suddenly, he had the urge to speak up.

"Sensei? Will this pain ever go away?"

He heard his mentor gave a slight sigh. "...it won't, Meta. I won't sugarcoat it. However, I will do what I can to lessen it."

He figured that would be the case, still he was ever grateful for his sensei's presence and reassurance.

"We can continue this later, right now I need to give Reedy a piece of my mind. While I do that, there's someone else you should go talk to." Kurabe said, pointing at Mercury.

The youth nodded in response as his mentor walked off and began to fight with Reedy. Mercury shook her head at the sight of her best friend and brother figure up to their usual back and forth.

"Some things never change, do they?" She asked rhetorically, then she noticed that Meta was strangely silent. "Is something wrong, Meta? I might not be the best person to talk to, but I can help you if you have a problem."

Meta looked down at his feet, and slightly fidgeted. He was extremely nervous, but after everything that had happened, he knew he had to get this out. If he didn't, there was no doubt he would die with regrets and that would be it!

"Mercury... I..."

He suddenly looked up with determination. "I love you!"

Mercury blinked in surprise and her face became slightly pink, before returning to its natural silver color. She looked at the nervous kid, trying to think of what to say.

"Listen, Meta, I'm flattered really, but I'm afraid I don't share the same feelings that you do for me. If it means anything to you, I do love you, but only as a little brother."

Admittedly, Meta somehow knew somewhere in his heart that his feelings would be unrequited, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"I... understand..." He whispered, looking down at the floor, as if ashamed. To his own surprise, he felt tears well up in his eyes.

Suddenly he felt himself being wrapped up in a hug by Mercury.

"Hey now, there's no need for you to be ashamed. Kids your age get crushes like that all the time. I know I did."

She then looked at him directly in the eyes.

"Now I understand that it hurts and there's no remedy for it other than time itself. But..." She then wiped his tears away. "You don't need to shoulder that pain by yourself. We're still a family, and I would be a horrible sister if I didn't help you."

While he was stunned for a moment by this sudden action...

"...even for something like this?"

"Yes, even for something like this."

Those words warmed his heart.

"...Mercury, is it fine if we hug for a bit longer? You feel so warm..."

"I already told you, I'd be horrible sister if I just left."

As she said that, Meta could feel the hug tighten. With that, Meta himself began to feel himself calming down. However, it wasn't just from this warmth. Due to how close he was to Mercury, he could now hear the soft beating of her core. It was...strangely comforting to him.

"Mercury... do you hate me for what I said?" He received a flick on his head in response.

"Don't ask such stupid questions."

He rubbed the part of his head where he was flicked, but then gave a smile. "...I'm so glad..."

"Good, now as much as I'm enjoying this, it looks like Kurabe is wrapping up her conversation."

He internally gave a pout before turning back towards his mentor. Soon, Kurabe followed by Reedy came up the two.

"Alright, Meta, let's go home." Kurabe said with a warm smile.

"But I still have a few weeks on the VictoriousArc, don't I?"

The man gave a slight laugh. "After all of that, I think you've done more than enough for us."

Meta couldn't argue with that.

"Not to mention that you were here to learn how to cooperate with strangers. It was your plan that killed the Myovam, Meta. I say you learned the lesson we wanted to teach and more." Reedy added with a rare smile.

"Then in that case, I enjoyed my time aboard, Mr. Reedy." Meta said holding out his hand.

The man nodded back, taking his hand and shaking it. "I'd be glad to have you on our ship again someday, Meta."

The puff gave a small smile of his own.

"Yeah..."

#kirby fanfic #granessex chronicles #meta knight #reedy #calzone kirby #risotto kirby #pandoro kirby #tiramisu kirby #kurabe #mercury kirby #art of rikka

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