Threads Of Fate Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Up ❯ Time's Up ( One-Shot )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Teaser: Are you still with her? Are you happy at this very moment? I hope you are, you bastard.

�Mint?!� A gentle voice beckons me away from my dark thoughts. Hn, it seems I�ve become more like Rue than I intended to.

Isn�t that just fuckin� hilarious?

I turn from the ship�s rails and come face to face with the most beautiful sight I�ve laid my gaze upon since my voyage began months ago.

Wow, he�s grown. A lot.

�Well shit. This�s awkward.�

�We weren�t ever supposed to bump into each other again.�

Anime/Manga: Threads Of Fate Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 06.29.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 344 | Status: Completed

Pairing: Rue x Mint

Fandom: Threads of Fate/ Dewprism

Genre: Fiction Angst/Romance

Authoress: Kairi21 (pen name)

Date written: 06-14-09

Disclaimer: Names of places or characters used in this story are completely fictional, any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events and places is purely coincidental. Threads of Fate/Dewprism belongs to it's creators at Square Enix (Squenix), formerly known as SquareSoft.

Teaser: Are you still with her? Are you happy at this very moment? I hope you are, you bastard.

“Mint?!” A smooth voice beckons me away from my dark thoughts. Hn, it seems I've become more like Rue than I intended to.

Isn't that just fuckin' hilarious?

I turn from the ship's rails and come face to face with the most beautiful sight I've laid my gaze upon since my voyage began months ago.

Wow, he's grown. A lot.

“Well shit. This's awkward.”

“We weren't ever supposed to bump into each other again.”

Summary: Sometimes, the comic relief characters are the deepest of them all.

Today, fate has finally decided to give one the happy ending she deserves.

Title: Time's Up

***********

Dearest Rue,

It's been two months since I've last attempted to write to you and a month since I've heard from you last. Do not worry, your letters have made it safely to me. Maya's kindly offered to use what's left of the energy in the Book of Cosmos to establish a small magical connection between my Haloes and the castle. It isn't strong enough to detect my whereabouts, but it is sufficient to send small objects from one side to the other. Just keep sending your letters there and they will have them forwarded to me as often as they can.

It has been three years since you and I have defeated Valen. That makes thirty-six months since you made your dreams come true and twenty-five since we set out together that I may do the same - twenty-four since we “failed” to do so.

Were Claire and Ruenis surprised to find you home after just a month? I told you to get lost after we stood and watched the Ephlesian atelier crumble to pieces under it's own guardian's fall. Nothing was to be there after days and days of digging and the atelier guardian was the last straw. I made a show of snapping spectacularly, as I always do, and fooled both Klaus and you into thinking the [relic] was nothing but a rumor after all.

Heh, I guess I was a little too harsh huh? Of course, if I didn't act like I was furious, I knew you would never leave me alone. You're too damn nice for your own good, y'know that? Then I'd never be able to keep the [relic] to myself. To my great relief, you bought it.

Hook, line and sucker.

It's been roughly seven hundred twenty days since I had Rod fly the lot of us back home on his Pulsar-Inferno-Typhoon-Alpha, the family-sized red speed demon. It wasn't as fast but it got everyone there much faster than any friggin' boat can.

And I still think the PINTO had more of a ring to it.

Just thirty minutes after we reached Carona, I ran to the lake ruins to meet Belle and Duke. I wasn't going to make the same mistake of plotting with them in the tavern ever again. The old bag had always developed a bad case of loose lips after chugging down a mug of ale or two and the man simply had a screw loose in his head. Plus, that was probably the first place you'd look for me had you noticed my sudden absence.

Two days later, I had them fly me back to Ephlesia on the Hexagon. We went back to the catacombs I hid the Ephlesian [relic] in. The agreement was that I got one wish granted and then the artifact was theirs to do with as they pleased provided my wish wasn't revoked or tampered with in any manner whatsoever.

That was thirty-eight hours after I failed to see you off at the docks of Carona town, before you left to go back to her. I've never made an effort to hide my distaste for the woman every time the topics of our late night conversations at the desert town's inn would go in that direction and I still don't really give a damn about her. Or you. Okay, maybe I'm lying.

I cared. I still do. I care too much. I couldn't keep my mind from wandering back to those docks that smelled of the sea and fish as I lead the hag and her crony down the dimly lit tunnels of the forgotten city hidden below the atelier. The one I purposely didn't tell you or Klaus about.

Two thousand two hundred and eighty minutes since I broke the seal I left to keep other adventurers from finding my hidden [relic] and I couldn't seem to get my breathing under control. I think that makes one hundred thirty six thousand eight hundred seconds since I made a wish that changed my life forever, with nothing but your smile on my mind - a wish that no one who knew me then could have ever expected me to make.

Now, time doesn't really matter to me anymore.

I gave the [relic] to Belle and Duke as promised and unsurprisingly, both treasure hunters were at a loss for words. I didn't really know what to tell them either. The entire journey was a complete gamble on the powers of a relic we weren't certain existed and my apologies for any losses weren't necessary. Still, I don't think they were speechless due to my lack of etiquette but because of something else. Thankfully, the two were wise enough to keep mum on the subject and just carry on as if nothing happened. Business, as usual.

Unfortunately, the Ephlesian [relic] was but a mere prototype Valen made for the actual DewPrism and was nowhere as powerful. I suppose I used up all of it's magical energy with the complexity of the wish I had granted and the article I handed to the pair of vagrants was nothing but a shell of it's former glory.

Still, they managed to gain a generous amount of gold from selling the thing off to some wealthy archeologist and from what I've heard, they've been living comfortably somewhere in the Eastern region ever since. I chose to travel alone after we decided to part ways.

I knew then that I could no longer return to East Heaven. Not the way I was.

So I've decided to traverse the world instead. In fact, I'm currently on board a ship bound to the trading city of Ixpen on the coast of the Western region. I was running low on my food supply and decided to check out the exotic dishes the city is famed for. I may have lost my tyrannical tendencies, but I still enjoy the occasional food tripping.

Hn. It seems the task of recalling all these events has helped me forget about my seasickness - the reason that drew me on deck in the fist place. In fact, all this writing has left me a tad hungry. I better check what's cooking down in the kitchens later.

Rue, it's been five years since I first left the Kingdom to seek revenge upon my sister. That makes sixty months since I first met you in the fields with Elena's parents. Around, one thousand eight hundred days since I gained your trust and betrayed it - twice, including the last time.

Forty three thousand two hundred hours have elapsed since I vowed to trust no one but myself and broke that oath the moment I met a weirdo with a funny green hat in a small town called Carona.

Two million five hundred ninety two thousand minutes have passed by since I made my first real friend and for once, helped someone other than myself - no matter how reluctant my actions were.

That amounts to one hundred fifty five million, five hundred twenty thousand seconds that I've spent falling - and being in love with you.

Although I must admit, I only realized that last bit today.

I've always wondered what you would say should one day, heaven forbid, we'd meet again. I know it goes against you nature to absolutely hate anyone and for that I'm thankful.

Would you thank me? I hope not. I find it rather ridiculous that the first selfless wish I've ever made was my most selfish one yet.

Are you still with her? Are you happy at this very moment? I hope you are, you bastard. Else, my wish would've been for naught.

I hope you grow old surrounded by the ones you love - even if I know I'm least likely to be one of them.

I'm not ashamed to admit, that I've failed once again. Five long years have come and gone since I've set off on this wild goose chase for power and I'm still nowhere near being Queen of the World. I've lost yet a little more of my pride. I fucked up - royally.

I suppose it's because I know these words would never find their way to you. I'm throwing this letter away, just as I did the other twenty times I attempted to write a proper explanation to you within the past two months.

It's a shame really. I act brave but I would always be too much of a damn coward to send these to you. What more drop by to pay you a visit. Of course, I can't.

Not since I -

***********

“Mint?!”

I take a tentative step closer to the figure I've been watching for hours now. The one who wrote the crumpled letter I've picked up from the deck's floor.

Of course, I have a high chance of being wrong. If I am mistaken, this wouldn't be the first time.

It's been a while since Mint vanished without so much as a goodbye and I fear I've started going mad after that. Mad with guilt or some other feeling I couldn't quite name. I've always had problems dealing with these emotions even before the defeat of Valen. Claire was the only one who ever understood my trouble with comprehending most elements of being human and I suppose she was the only one I ever truly trusted back then.

Until I met a certain free-spirited bossy princess.

It's taken me a while to realize the feelings I had for her are different from those I hold for Claire. They were much more powerful, threatening and yet intoxicating.

My days after her sudden disappearance have been unsettling, surreal, and things have gotten worse since then. Frequently I found myself losing touch with the world around me and the feeling of dread that clawed it's way into the darkest corners of my heart would rear its menacing head more and more often.

And then I woke to find myself… human one morning. I've since then developed the nervous habit of brushing my fingers over my forehead, to assure myself that I wasn't just having another one of my recurrent nightmares.

It still disturbs me to find nothing but smooth skin there, every time.

It got so bad that Claire and Ruenis had to kick me out of the house and force me to find the answers they knew I needed. I was aware then that I'd never be able to live in peace without conclusion to these troubling thoughts. And so, I decided to once more took up my Arc Edge and set out on yet another journey since the one in Ephlesia.

This time, it's to find Mint.

***********

“Mint?!” A gentle voice beckons me away from my dark thoughts. Hn, it seems I've become more like Rue than I intended to.

Isn't that just fuckin' hilarious?

I turn from the ship's rails and come face to face with the most beautiful sight I've laid my gaze upon since my voyage began months ago.

A young man dressed in clothes that would look ridiculous on anyone else but him is staring at me as if it was the first time he'd seen a girl on a ship before. A green hat sits atop his unusual silver hair, it's yellow ribbons flowing in the wind just above the neat ponytail behind his head.

A pair of mismatched boots and a large red axe-like weapon strapped to the familiar stranger's back help him stand out from the crowd even more.

But what captures me so completely are those soulful soft brown eyes - those never ending pools of emotion set upon his look of incredulity. If the situation were any different, I would have ended up laughing my head off. The look on his face was too damn funny to describe in words.

Wow, he's grown - a lot.

“Well shit. This's awkward.” I counter the pained expression on his face with a well-practiced fake grin.

He suddenly kneels down and seizes me into a crushing hug, burying his face into the curve where my neck meets my shoulder. I'm almost too surprised to realize that the wetness I'm feeling there are his tears as we stand in close proximity on the ship's thankfully deserted deck.

“We weren't ever supposed to bump into each other again.” Is all I could manage to choke out before throwing a bitter look to the slowly darkening sky. Half in anger, mostly to keep my own tears from spilling over my cheeks.

I hated crying then and I still hate it now.

Slowly, I wrap my trembling arms around him to make up for the weakness I'm beginning to feel in my knees. My blood red bangs slip to either side of my anguished face and the last rays of the dying day are refracted by the tiny jewel embedded at the center of my forehead.

What a sight we must be. A doll trapped in the crushing grip of a young man, surrounded by a myriad of brilliant colors of the rainbow.

Ah fate is a fickle tease indeed. Here I was just about to count down the years `til I got my own happy ending since I figured I had the rest of eternity to do so when… BAM!

“I found you. I c-cant believe I finally found you.” I hear his breath catch in his throat as he struggles to hold back a shuddering sob to allow him to speak.

As gently as my numbing fingers could, I lift his face towards mine and plant my trembling lips upon his.

“Guess your search is finally over huh?”

Heh. Looks like my time's up.

~Owari~