A crumbling tower (6)

The Name Slade is one of English origin, more specifically the old english prominent in the Middle ages and came from the word Slaed.

The words Slaed meant Valley, or dweller in the valley.

The one whos named their child Slade probably had no idea of this connection, or if they did they didn't show it as their child grew up in age.

If only they knew that their child would grow up to embody a Dweller in the Valley.

But in the year 19|-|-| where roughly twenty years had passed since his birth in 19|-|-|, Slade was drafted into the army as America tried to stop the |--------| Influence by providing military aid.

Started in the Year 1955, it was currently 19|-|-| and news had already reached home of how bloody and brutal the frontlines were.

But what could you do when the president was watching over them?

For Flag and Country as they say.

The sound of gravel against their boots, the sound of a wind howling through the gulges of a valley.

"Oi snap out of it Second Lieutenant, we need you here and now to kick some ass." A man snapped his fingers in front of Slade's face.

"Hm? Ah." Belatedly reacting to the snap Slade blankly turned his gaze to the side where other soldiers were resting, preparing to invade... Where were they going to invade?

"Captain" Words strangely familiar yet repulsive appeared on Slade's tongue. "What is our current objective?"

Despite searching through his memories Slade was unable to recall anything, as if a fog had settled on his mind.

Turning his gaze to the captain, the familiar rotten face devoid of blood came into his vision, bits of bone poking out from beneath his jaw.

But as if it weren't even a hindrance, the Captain spoke. "What are you talking about Slade? Don't you remember? We have to kick Viet-Cong ass!"

Grin spreading across his face, Slade secretly felt as if that smile was repulsive despite nothing being wrong.

But nevertheless, the Captain's words did indeed spark a few old memories.

Currently, Slade was ordered by his primary superior to attack a recently discovered Viet Cong outpost with the aid of South Vietnamese natives.

Secretly built into the cliff face of a valley, Slade and his fellow compatriots in arms ran alongside the wall made of stone.

And right now they were resting at a small crevice within the cliff face, hidden from Viet Cong forces by the use of tactical foliage

Face of the captain growing a beard to hide his jawline, the man gave a reassuring grin and patted Slade on the shoulder.

"Nervous enough to forget our objective? Heh, that reminds me of that one time-" The sound of groans leaked out of the makeshift resting sight as all the men glared at Slade.

Feeling wronged as the source of all these angry glares, Slade knew why they were glaring at him like that.

'When he gets going the captain doesn't stop easy.'

Shaking his head, Slade let the words flow in one ear and out the other, his gaze turning vacant as he scanned the faces of all his comrades present and all the supplies that they carried.

Guns, military grade armor and standard issue helmets were the norm.

Using the M16 which was born from the assault rifle line, several magazines filled to the brim with their bullets were nestled in the corner in a duffel bag.

Settled besides said duffel bag was another duffel bag filled with standard issue military rations, very unpalatable, but just enough to live.

And besides the food and water was the final bag filled with various medicines and drugs now outlawed in the big year 20|-|-| like Meth.

Since Meth hadn't been outlawed as an illegal drug yet, every soldier had a packet of the white powder that would be used to briefly negate the sensations of pain that they were feeling when getting shot at.

Of course, having a dulled sense of pain didn't mean that they were truly dead yet.

Turning his head to the blurred faces of his comrades trying to ignore the drones of the captain Slade felt something off.

This was... familiar wasn't it? Nostalgic yet painful.

Furrowing his brows, the words of the captain continued to burrow ceaselessly into his ear.

The Red eyes of his comrades glaring at him from within the darkness.

A flash of metal coming from the Southern Vietnamese who the Higher ups thought would be suitable to guide them.

The brief flash of starlight in the dark cave and the crackle of fire which echoed into his ears

The engines of a plane.

The sight of two towers burning in front of him

Then nothing

---

I woke up 

Eyes snapping side open I hurriedly sat up with a gasp and instantly assessed my surroundings with a strong glare.

And despite my worries, only the dim light of a crackling fire was all that could be seen instead of the stars that lit up...

What was I dreaming about again?

Brain doing the thing once again to trash any movie like ideas formed with the dream, I tried to remember what it was about before failing horribly.

And instead of trying to force it, I looked around hoping that my surroundings would jog my memory.

And you could say my memory had been jogged.

Just in the wrong direction.

'I forgot I'm not on earth anymore.'

Flames casting the shadow of my figure against a wall, the flickering fire light provided a soothing ambiance to the starry night sky.

Something that would be impossible in today's light polluted society.

Blankly staring at this scene with cold sweat dripping from my brow, the shadow moved to hand me something.

'Oh wait, that's not my shadow.'

Blinking, my eyes regained their focus as my mind processed what was actually in front of me.

Light filling their features, the once featureless shadow gained features revealing the face of one of the twin women.

Bearing more than a few changes, Ella or Cherry had taken off the armor which seemed to cling to their skin like a second skin, revealing the pale milky white skin underneath.

Wearing a woolen shirt, she rolled up its sleeves to revealed a pair of scarred hands and muscular arms.

Brown eyes staring at me, upon their face they carried a white bandage and messed up hair.

But despite this unfamiliar appearance, they were still one of the Eisengards

Which one of these two women was to be seen, but I had my suspicions that it may be Ella despite her shortened hair.

'...But what happened? Why am I here?' But that still didn't erase my confusion since the last thing I could reliably recall was the fact that I was watching over the captain-

A piercing headache struck my mind as memories flowed into my brain allowing to me finally remember what had happened.

"Ugh." Doubling over, Ella hurriedly moved forwards and spoke softly.

"Hey hey hey, don't over exert yourself, you're body isn't in the best condition Slade."

'Ah... I've been stabbed have I?'

Now fully awakened to the reality of my situation, two distinct pains forced themselves onto my stomach as I recalled the fact that I had foolishly and recklessly leaped in between two timebreakers trying to stop their mutually destructive clash.

And if not for the fact that they recognized me, I would probably be bisected by the waist forever more.

I probably fainted soon after.

One of them were two scars made prominent in my mind by the fact that they burnt hellishly one both sides of my waist.

It didn't help that the impossible to scratch itch was now worming its way through the path carved through by the two weapons.

'Aw bloody hell.'

The other was just simple hunger.

*Gurgle

Ok it probably wasn't just simple hunger since last I recall I haven't even eaten at all.

Actually I wonder why that is?

*GURGLE

Hearing my stomach grumble unnecessarily loud, my stomach which decided embarrassment wasn't going to feed it grumbled even louder

Cracking a small smile, she handed me a bowl of suspicious looking stew.

"Take it, I'm sure you're hungry"

Staring at the brown stew with something purple mixed in, I stared at her face.

Alternating from the suspicious stew and her face she gave a reassuring smile while watching, her brown eyes locked onto the bubbling cauldron besides her.

Using a ladle to take out some of the soup from within, although I was curious where she had gotten the ingredients and the bowl, the fact that she unhesitatingly ate some of it despite its suspicious stew meant that it wasn't poisoned.

Or maybe it was and she just had resistance to it, but unless it was through time breaking I wouldn't be gone forever and would definitely hold a grudge for it.

I didn't want to test how well I could hold a grudge though.

Silently sipping the stew instantly a burst of flavor hit my tongue.

It was sweet and sour all at the same time.

Like the pork common in asian countries, the sweet and sour soup filled my stomach as the warm fluid warmed my cold chest cooled by the cold sweat drenching my back.

Moving back to the otherside of this building, the open air structure let in the cool night breeze, stirring up the flames and embers.

It was surprisingly mild for a night out but hey, I wasn't complaining.

Taking periodic sips from the soup bowl, I thought.

'...I don't recognize any of the star positions'

Having been trained to use the stars as a guide if I were to get separated from the group, I wasn't an astrologist, but I could tell instinctively that the stars above my head weren't my own.

Maybe they existed in some far off corner of the universe where my world hadn't reached yet? But even I knew the chances of this were low with how magical this place was.

If the lack of supernatural beings said anything, Earth and whatever this planet was named were extremely polar planets only commonised by the fact that they could support life.

"...Hey Slade?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you"

"What?" Giving Ella a confused look, Ella let out a deep sigh, her brown eyes carrying a stunning clarity to them.

"After stabbing you I... Was forced to face reality."

"?"

"When I looked at my hands that harmed someone else other than my sister and the captain, I can't count how many times I worked with my sister to take down the captain only to throw it all away for some memories long gone, erased by this damned plague."

"Wait a minute..."

"I don't know what you want to do Slade." Miss Eisengard clenched her fists before staring into my eyes with a dulled gaze. "I nearly killed my sister, my blood for someone dead, I nearly killed you."

Giving a small smile, a distraught thought flickered through my mind as I stared at her slack jawed.

'Oh she's not Ella.'

"And after seeing you stabbed, dying in between us... I had a realization."

Cherry clutched her head in depression

"What was I doing? I nearly killed someone, I nearly killed Ella! And all for a dead man walking and another dead man"

She got up from her place on the ground, her head bowing down as her knee thudded against the ground.

Kneeling like a knight, Cherry Eisengard spoke "I, Cherry Eisengard, third sibling of the Eisengard line, the Vice captain of the Bronze Order, Knight of Vesallia ask this of you Slade Bridge, man of unknown origin."

"Please tell me, what do I do?"

"..." Still sitting on the ground, I forcefully pulled myself up, holding my guts to prevent my intestines from spilling out.

"Hey Cherry."

Still kneeling there, I tapped her shoulder causing her head to turn up.

"My name is Slade Bridge, I may not know what you can do, but I can tell where you can start."

"How...?"

"For a start, how about helping me find the source of this plague and time loop that is the source of all your problems?"

Smiling at her, Cherry stared at my face.

Presenting my hand to her, Cherry let out a small smile before taking my outstretched hand.

+++

The past is the past and the future is the future, linger in the present, pay respects to the past and prepare for the future.

Also yes I spent six damn chapters trying to build up a nine eleven joke.

Tree