Chapter 62

"It's darker than I thought," Tsuna whispers, unable to speak louder in the empty space they found themselves in. Daemon hums in agreement, his mask gone now that no one is there with them. His hair is still in its high tail, his pineapple-like hairstyle nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Daemon turns to see him with a raised eyebrow which causes Tsuna to turn away, blushing high on his cheeks. He hasn't meant to stare but it's that or continue to study his surroundings, which are creepy as hell with their high ceilings and dark shadows. After a couple of minutes more, they reach a circular chamber, dark except for its center where it can be seen circular shapes engraved on the floor, forming a perfect circle.

Someone clears their throat and Tsuna looks up where the sound comes from, noticing for the first time the chair like-throne at the back. The color of the chair is a metallic one, not easily identifiable because of the lack of light, old and fancy but nothing too important. Or at least not so much, unlike the figure sitting on it, with his usual traditional Japanese clothes. There's a tired smile on his lips, reflected perfectly with the exhausted eyes he can barely see behind those glasses.

Suddenly nervous, Tsuna tries to step down the negative feelings inside him as he moves forward, lips forming a grim line. "Hello, Kawahira-san."

The Earthling nods. "Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Is it time, then?"

"I'm afraid it is." He stands up, making the movements of stepping down a couple of stairs look graceful and weary at the same time. "I thought of keeping you in the dark for a while longer but I don't think I'll be able to anymore. Not with you so sure of your choice. It's the least I can do considering the sacrifice you'll make."

He swallows. "So it's true, then. I won't return home."

The other nods with a sad smile. "This timeline has already started to rewrite itself. It's not something permanent yet, so it's actually hard trying to not have it erase you from it. That being said, it's fortunate that you kept part of the arcobaleno curse with you as it stabilized you somehow. Though if you make a great change, it's unknown what will happen to you."

Tsuna glances at the bandaged hand on his side where the curse is printed on his skin. His eyes water, still thinking about how he can't return, but he cleans them with the sleeve of his shirt. He takes a deep breath and concentrates on the now. "Timeline that wants to erase my existence, right. Does it have anything to do with what Mafer said about me destroying other timelines? Or is that false?"

Kawahira hums. "Not exactly."

"W-What? Then will I--?"

"You should understand this, Tsunayoshi-kun," Kawahira interrupts him as he looks to the side. "To change the past, some timelines will have to be destroyed. It's inevitable. However, it's not as a big deal as she makes it be. Every time Luce or other powerful Esper tries to change some fixed point in time, one of those timelines is destroyed as it's a parallel to this one and not an alternate one ."

Tsuna blinks, confused. He chuckles dryly. "Should I remind you that I was known as No Good-Tsuna for a long time? Dumb it down for me please."

"You're not a Not-Good. I wouldn't have trusted you with this mission if I thought that." The hard look he was giving him softens. "Not to say you're perfect. I understand your shortcomings and that's why I will clarify.

"Picture the timeline as a tree with thick branches. There are the main branches with their own different stories even if their characters are the same: they're the alternate universes. These main branches each give birth to their own thin branches known as parallel universes. "

"… Okay, I get it. I think. What does it have to do with me destroying other universes?"

"This universe is the main one, the one others are born. If I may continue with the tree metaphor: when the main branch is sick then the others weak branches will fall off. You're the sickness in this metaphor. The branch is trying to erase you but because of the arcobaleno curse grounding you, it can't so it's doing its best to change itself. If that means erasing a couple of universes, well. You just need to not do any terribly big changes to maintain the balance, as I said before. "

"Okay, I kind of get that is not really a problem. Then, why...?"

"It's because when something like Luce intercepting occurs only one or two worlds die. What we're planning on doing will kill thousands, at the same time." Ignoring the look of horror on Tsuna's face, he continues. "This will drive her crazy. Most likely her daughter too, as she's been starting to teach her how to control the power of the ring, intending it to pass it on her in the same way it's been passed to her by her mother."

"Isn't that a great change, too? She going crazy, I mean. You told me if I do something drastic, the timeline will try to erase me, right? Isn't that-?"

Kawahira snorts. "Don't worry, Tsunayoshi-kun. Something like this happened in the previous timeline, too. Apparently, Luce tried to make a big change to help the arcobaleno, which obviously didn't work at all. It ended with her crazy, too. It happens in a lot of universes, too. She knows this, too, and tries to stop it from occurring in most universes. She makes it in some but in most..."

"That doesn't make it right at all! Isn't there a way to help her?"

This time is Daemon the one that snorts. "No, kid. And you must let it happen. We need Xanxus to be born, after all."

"What does Xanxus have to do--" He stops and remembers Mafer's red eyes and dark skin. The feathers adorning her hair enveloped a familiar fierce glare. "Is she...?"

"Her grandmother? Yes."

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