To Save Her, I Become the Time Master

It took Ryan a while to gain consciousness. He couldn't move and felt very weak. His head was in pain, and it took a lot of strength to even try to open his eyes. He felt heavy on his head and wet as the blood rushed down from his head. He felt cold because of the drop in temperature in the night, and the air against the dripping blood didn't make him feel any better. "Sir, are you okay?" Ryan heard a voice asking him. "Sir? Can you speak?" Ryan let out a breath and tried to take in as much air as he could inside his lungs. He felt a lot of pain in his chest as if he was hit by something very hard and heavy, and that he might have broken a bone or two. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes, turned his head, and saw someone trying to talk to him. A young man, crouched, trying to look at him through the small gap in the window. "Bring the stretcher out. He's badly hurt," the person shouted looking back, and a couple of guys dragged the stretcher out of the ambulance in a quick action. He looked back at Ryan and said, "Sir, you had an accident just now. We will get you out of here and straight to the hospital. Do not panic. Just stay with me." Ryan could hear a commotion happening near him. The siren of police cars and ambulance sounded like a high-pitched orchestra to him. As the ambulance and the police were working to get him out of the badly damaged car, it all started coming back to him. He was at this party late in the night, had a few too many drinks. He and his wife were returning home. 'My wife? Where is she?' He thought. He was stuck in the driver's seat tied hard by the seatbelt. He looked at his side and saw no one. He turned his head and looked at the person from before, and with all the strength he could gather, he asked in a very slow voice, "Where is my wife?" The person couldn't understand what he was saying in the middle of all the noise. Ryan tried to ask again but his lips just moved, and no voice came out. "Sir, are you okay? I cannot understand what you are saying," the person said, his face puzzled and worried. Ryan closed his eyes, his lips still moving and mumbling, and fainted. "Ah! So bright," Ryan said out loud, trying to cover his eyes with his right arm, "where am I?" It took him a little while to adjust his eyes, but what he saw didn't look much at all. It's all white. The ground he was standing on, wherever he looked, everything was white. He walked a few steps forward, waving his hands, trying to find or grab anything but he could touch nothing. There was nothing. "The movies and television series showed the same. I can't believe they were right all along," he said, both hands resting on his waist, "So, this is the afterlife?" Ryan was confused, but his face remained expressionless. 'What am I supposed to do now? Is an angel coming here to take me to heaven or something?' He thought, chuckling at how absurd this all feels. "Move fast people, he can still make it." He heard. "What have we got here?" "An accident on the highway," someone said. "Emergency Room. Fast." And a number of other voices, getting slower and quieter, as Ryan began to see something in front of him. Not very clear, but he saw a bunch of people wearing white aprons working on a man. It was him. He was being treated by doctors, nurses, and machines were being attached to him while he lay completely unconscious. 'This is me,' Ryan thought, still expressionless. Ryan stretched out his right hand, trying to grab someone, anybody, but nothing happened. His hand just passed through a man, probably a junior doctor who was filling up an injection with some medicine. Ryan lowered his hand, looking at the whole scene like he was watching a movie, standing on the other side of the mirror as in those of an interrogation room. Another group of people came and started to set up on the side: the doctors and the nurses were just rushing. As they were all moving, he caught a glimpse of the person lying on the other bed. It was a woman covered in blood, her head was still bleeding. She was his wife. "Maya? MAYA!" Ryan shouted. He tried to move forward to her side, but an invisible wall stopped him. It was like a one-sided mirror. He tried to push past it, thinking he could move the wall or something, but he was unable to budge it. He smacked his fist on the wall, maybe it would break, but again, nothing. "MAYA! MAYA!" he shouted. He kept banging the invisible wall while screaming her name. "Open your eyes, Maya, see me, I am here," he said. "I am near you. I am here." Ryan stood there while the doctors started working on her. He was worried, barely blinked. He kept staring and praying, hoping that she'd be all right. "Please God, save her, please, " he said, pleading. "What are you willing to do to save her?" he heard a voice from behind him. Ryan turned around and saw a handsome man, wearing white clothes and white wings, smiling at him. The man was like a god, or an angel, something divine. Though his eyes seem mischievous as if hiding something beyond Ryan's comprehension. "Who are you?" Ryan asked, knowing that the person in front of him is not human. Like seriously, who has wings? "What are you?" Ryan said after a brief pause, puzzled. "Someone who can help you save your wife," said the man, still smiling. "The question is, what are you willing to do to save her?" Ryan looked straight into his eyes, calming himself down. "Anything. Everything." "Call me Edith," the man said. He snapped his ring hand fingers and the whole scene changed. Everything was white again, as before, and nothing else in sight. "Wait! Where's my wife?" Ryan asked, worried, looking here and there. "She's being taken care of in the mortal world and is still alive," Edith said, "although she has only a few breaths left with her." Ryan was about to ask him more about his wife but Edith stopped him. "Walk with me," Edith said, looking at Ryan and looking straight into his eyes. Then he turned around and began to walk. Ryan was hesitant, but he started to follow him. Both of them walked for a while, and soon enough, Ryan could see a large white building coming into view. It was beautiful and looked as if he was seeing some ancient building of the past. As they walked closer, the building seems smaller than he had expected it to be with large pillars on the side of the door. No other buildings, plants, or hills. Nothing else, but just a building. "Come inside," Edith said, opening the door for Ryan. Ryan stepped in, and he was surprised. The inside of the building looked exactly like his apartment studio when he was still in the final year of his university, but it was all white as if someone was making a sketch on white paper. He walked to the desk and picked up a picture frame. It had a photo of him and his wife, his girlfriend that time, taken when they were on their first date. "What is this?" Ryan asked, confused, his gaze still on the frame. "The beginning," Edith said. "What did you mean when you said you could help me save my wife?" Ryan asked. Ryan set the frame down and turned to face Edith. Edith stood in the center of the room, staring at Ryan as if he knew everything about him. "What do you know about the past, Ryan?" Edith asked, a smile on her face. "Sorry?" Ryan asked, confused by his question. "Do you know how past and present work in reality?" Edith inquired. "I don't understand," said Ryan. "I know everything about you, Ryan, and I have come to you because this isn't the time for you. It's not the time for you to die," said Edith. He took a moment's pause, and continued, "sadly, your wife doesn't have much time left with her." "What do you mean by that?" asked Ryan. "Every human being born has a fixed time on which they live," Edith explained, "and this is the time that you call life and live by. You walk the path of existence, making memories and accomplishments, but in the end, that's all there is. Humans are fragile creatures, and your life is only as long as you breathe." Edith opens his palm and waves his right hand. A golden white hourglass appears in the air, glowing magical and mystical. The sand on top is almost gone, and it is gradually falling down. "What is that?" Ryan inquired. His gaze was drawn to the hourglass. "The time your wife has before she dies," Edith said, "unless you do something about it." "What can I do?" Ryan asked. "Change," Edith said, looking right into Ryan's eyes. When Edith closed his palms, the hourglass vanished. "Let me show you something that will explain everything," Edith said, judging by Ryan's expression. Edith waved his left hand and the entire surrounding changed. They are standing on a patch of small green grass on the ground. An old man is planting a mango tree in front of an old wooden house, which is most likely his home. They can both hear small children's laughter and voices from inside the house. The old man is working slowly, but his hands are steady and he is smiling. "What are we looking at?" Ryan wondered. "What do you believe the old man is up to?" Edith responded with a question. "Planting a tree?" Ryan said, raising an eyebrow at Edith. "Of course he is, but why?" Edith inquired. "How will his actions affect him in the long run?" Ryan took a step closer to the old man and gave him a hard stare. He then looked around at the surroundings, the old house, and the green grass, and he thought of the children inside the house. "Even if the old man is no longer alive, the tree will continue to grow and provide fruits and shade to the people," Ryan said still looking at the old man. "Yes, it will," Edith replied, smiling at Ryan's response. "And what happens after that? Consider how it will affect people's lives in a century's time." "I'm not sure," Ryan said, "maybe it'd still be there, or someone would cut it and build something out of it." Perhaps nothing will happen, and it will simply be a fruit-bearing house tree for a couple of years." "And what if the old man had not planted the tree?" Edith inquired. "I guess things would be a little different," Ryan replied, then turning to face Edith, "but it wouldn't change much for the people who live here, would it?" Edith smiled at Ryan and turned his head to look at the old man. "The old man planted the tree in memory of his dead wife because she loved mangoes," Edith explained, "and he cared for the tree for a couple of years before he died. By this point, the tree didn't require much attention and would continue to grow on its own. The children who lived here all grew up playing around this tree and eating its fruits, and their children even lived here for a while before moving to another town. This old house and tree remained here, abandoned and alone. When famine struck and an unknown disease spread across the vast lands, the children returned here to seek safety for themselves and their children, only to discover that the tree was overflowing with fruits. They survived for months on this tree and other trees planted by the old man when he was still alive. This tree gave birth to other trees nearby, and the entire area became a large farm. For centuries, the family was happy and fulfilled after starting their own business. All it took was one tree and one small action by an old man to change the lives of future generations." Ryan was listening attentively. "Is this what you meant when you said to change," Ryan asked. Edith waved his hand and they were back in the earlier building. "The threads of time are all intertwined," Edith began to explain. "What you perceive as your reality in the mortal realm is the result of a series of actions that span centuries. It takes years and a million different things to get to where you are now, and humans believe they have what they have solely because of themselves. Change just a little bit of anything in time, and the entire future that you are experiencing in your present could change dramatically. Your universe isn't the only one that exists, and they all exist on top of each other, differing only slightly over time." Edith brings forward his left hand and opens up his palm, and what seems like an entire universe in space appeared. "If things are left alone," Edith explained, "everything remains constant; change a tiny part, and a lot begins to change." Another universe appeared from the first, slightly rotating. Ryan stared at it as if he was looking at what appears to be a hologram of the universe, with stars and planets glimmering and moving, and bursts of energy flying all around. "However, change is neither easy nor preferred," Edith continued, "because the time saint despises interference, and an unjust change can lead to destruction." Ryan observed the universes trembling violently and bursts of energy flying around before everything exploded. Edith closed his palm. They both remained silent for a few moments. "So, when you said change, did you mean to change certain events so that I could save my wife?" Ryan wondered. "Yes," Edith replied, "because now is not the time for you to go. And I've been keeping an eye on you for quite some time. I believe you are entitled to a second chance to save what you have lost or are about to lose." "So I am like a time master?" Ryan asked. "I guess you could call yourself that," Edith replied. "Master, traveller, although I am not sure what's your definition of the one is." Ryan shifted his gaze to the stacks of books on his desk. He walked over to a book and opened it, but it was blank and white. "Are you God?" Ryan asked, looking at Edith. "Those are mortal beliefs," Edith responded. "Why are you giving me this chance?" Ryan inquired. "Why not?" Edith countered. Ryan flipped through the pages and placed the book back on the table. "Don't I just have to save my wife by preventing the accident?" Ryan inquired. "Wouldn't doing that solve everything?" "It might," Edith replied. "It could also result in the death of someone else in the future, or it could bring the universe to an end. Are you okay with that?" Edith asked. Ryan remained silent. "How would I know if what I did made a difference?" Ryan asked after a brief pause. "You will travel back in time into the memories and minds of your past connections in order to change your or others' actions. You will automatically return to this room after a while. You will be going through the books to determine the significance of your actions, and this room will fill itself with colors of your previous memory of it for every action of yours in the right direction." Edith said. "So I won't know whether what I did was right or wrong? Is it just a matter of hitting and trying everything until I get it right?" Ryan inquired. "We cannot have the universe end without thinking about and considering the consequences of your actions," Edith responded. Ryan scratched his chin with his right hand as he pondered. "You mentioned a time saint or something before? What exactly is it? Or who exactly is that?" Ryan inquired. Edith's expression changed, and his gaze hardened. His demeanor shifted and he appeared solemn. "The time saint is the keeper of time and reality," Edith explained. "He assists in the maintenance of the universe and ensures its survival until the end. As I previously stated, disrupting reality could have far-reaching consequences, even leading to the world's destruction. Giving you this chance is against the rules of the mortal realm, and the time saint would try to prevent anything that goes against the natural flow of reality. He is an extremely powerful being. He'll try to find you and stop you from changing anything, and if he does, you and your wife will face a fate worse than death." Ryan felt scared as Edith explained more about the time saint. "If you don't do anything, your wife will die," Edith warned, "and I don't think you'll be able to live much longer after your wife's death. If you are caught by the time saint, you and your wife's fate will be beyond life and death. If you don't act quickly, your wife will run out of the breaths she has left in her body. So, Ryan, what will you do?" "Do I have any other option?" Ryan asked. "You can just return and do nothing, "Edith suggested. "Death is better than an eternity of damnation, don't you think?" "Wouldn't my life already be damned if she isn't anymore?" Ryan said. "As you said I won't be able to live longer after my wife's death, and you are right. I would rather try everything I can to stretch even the bits of moments I could have with her, even at the risk of eternal damnation, or whatever you said. I don't fear the time saint, Edith, I fear the time I would have to live alone without my wife, and I won't let that happen. I will save her, no matter how many times I have to change the reality. I will save her." Ryan clenched his fists as he finished. "I am sure you will," Edith said, with a wide grin on his face.