Timeless Hero Without a Goal

78th Tick: Recording

“Are you really going to confront them?” Truth asked.

Rose shrugged. “Judging by the pattern and luck Tom has, I’m guessing he failed and needs someone to help him.”

Truth floated for a bit, the sea breeze blowing against them. “But, if they’re capable of stopping one of humanity’s greatest heroes, how do you plan to stop them?”

Rose thought about it. She then shrugged again. “My only goal is to get Tom out of trouble. I at least know he’s not dead, probably captured or hiding. If I can free him, it doesn’t matter if I die.”

Truth sat in front of Rose. “But aren’t you already dead? As an Angel, you would have died once, right? Speaking of which, how did you manage to get out of Heaven? I thought ever since that time, no Angel could leave?”

Rose, simply put, had no idea what Truth was talking about. The fairy seemed to wholly believe Rose was an Angel and that she was some important figure, which she was not. Rose had kept up with the lie long enough, but could not find the time to tell Truth the truth.

The fairy floated slightly, patting down her dress before saying, “Angela should have a strong magic, are you confident in fighting using magic.”

Thinking back, Rose had never actually gotten into a proper fight before. Starting from when she met Thomas, she had been saved by him. At the town of the demon general Bry, she had done nothing much at all. At the town where she made a wish, she was kind of the problem to begin with. At Amon’s town, she was hiding and supporting Thomas before being hidden away by Thomas after Wish showed up. At Episode’s place, she mostly ran away and hit a few statues, Thomas’ protection being the main reason why she was alive to begin with. Back to the present, she realised she had not gotten into a proper fight before.

Could she even ‘fight’? She could direct and maybe give instructions based on her sixth sense, but her physical capabilities as a fighter was even worse than Thomas’, and that was saying a lot.

“Not at all.” Rose finally replied.

She wore a stolen captain’s hat from Captain Wave’s drawer. She had worn it for fun just to lead the ship towards the island. From her memory, she had seen the demon general walk around the ship. She had killed every human in sight, even Truth, but she had looked in Rose’s direction and turned away. She had ignored Rose, and for some reason, killed everyone else. She remembered the ceiling falling on her before time reminded itself. Due to her constant exposure to time manipulation, she seemed to be developing a resistance to it. She had retained her memories, and her actual body did not rewind in time. She was unsure of why, but it was happening.

The next time she met Thomas, she was going to barrage him with questions.

“So we’re going on a suicide trip?” Truth asked, spinning circles in the air.

“Not really.” Rose said. “I would say more of a rescue plan.”

“You miss the point.” Truth sighed.

The fairy shook her head and said, “The men on board this ship, you’ll be sending them to their deaths for no good reason. There’s a high chance they might die since their individual abilities are limited.”

“Like I said, even if they die, as long as I can get Tom free, we’ll be fine.” Rose pressed.

“But what if you don’t? And we all die together?” Truth asked. “We’ll be dying in vain, and there would be no way to reverse that.”

Rose paused, thinking through her plan. Truth was right, the plan was too risky for them, and it seemed downright suicidal to even commit to such a plan. Each and everyone on the ship was weaker than the average demon soldier, what made them think they could invade an island filled with those soldiers and challenge the demon general amount to free Thomas.

“What a pain...” Rose complained. “Why can’t that Tom ever do anything right?”

“I’m guessing you’re insulting me.”

Rose turned around faster than Truth could even realise where the voice came from. There, standing on the deck was Thomas. He was slightly translucent, a clock ticking over his head, the hour hand pointing at the number three. His movements were slightly choppy as he looked at her.

“What the...” Rose muttered.

“Well, if you hear this, as you could probably guess, I would have lost.” Thomas said, not reacting to Rose’s words. “I recorded this, say, a day after the world was restored. In case of any emergency, I made it so that the recording would play around you.”

Rose waved her hand at Thomas, her hand passing through his image. Thomas continued, “I can’t say much. I don’t know the demon generals or catastrophes we may have faced by the time this recording plays, but I do have a warning for you.”

Thomas extended a finger. “Firstly, if the situation seems bad, just run away. If I’m trapped somewhere, I can find my way out eventually, even if it might take a hundred years.”

He extended another finger. “Secondly, you can just leave me alone if you choose to.”

He clenched his fist. “And if you don’t want to run, I can give you an option.”

Rose scratched her head, Truth beside her. They were both confused about what was going on and why Thomas had recorded such a thing. Rose ignored those questions and focused on what Thomas was saying.

“Focus within, look inside yourself, your own mind.” Thomas said. “You should be able to pull some kind of power by doing so. You are partially an Angel, so you should have some powers. Also, a warning that if your hair turns drastically white after unleashing the power, stop using it. That is all, the choice is yours.”

Truth looked at Rose, wondering what she was going to choose. Thomas could survive on his own, and Rose could try to lead a normal life, at least, as normal a life she could live. Truth was about to ask her that question when Rose asked, “What did he mean by look inside myself? Is he an i***t?”