Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Polaris was already on his way back to Kravero. Whether Draven and Aza knew or not did not matter. What mattered was if he could make it in those 3 hours. He sprinted as fast as he could, leaping over fallen trees and weaving through branches. He knew he would make it. All he had to do was keep a steady pace throughout. Grief was struck all through his body. All he felt was pity for Cliff. Cliff, if you haven’t figured it out already, was The Harvester of Sorrow’s real name. Polaris felt as though he gained speed from his misery. He ran as fast as he could to Kravero. He made it to Baile nan Gaisgeach in an hour. When he left the town to got to Yveskin, it took him an hour and thirty minutes. 30 minutes faster had he come back to Baile nan Gaisgeach. It took him 3 hours to get from Kravero to here. He’d do it in 3. Polaris kept running all the way through the city. On the path to Kravero he saw an old woman. She was carrying a big bag with her. It didn’t matter to Polaris until she dropped the bag and fell to her knees. Polaris stopped running and rushed over to help her. “Excuse me, are you alright.” he asked. The old woman looked over at him. “Not fast enough.” The lady croaked. Polaris’ eyes widened when she said that. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” He asked her. “Doesn’t matter, take this.” She said. She took a needle from the bag, injecting it into his chest. Polaris looked down in disbelief. He fell to the ground. “What did you do to me!?” He demanded. “Now, try again. And this time don’t let me fall.” She said. After she said that, time began to stand still. Polaris began to rise from the ground. He ripped the needle from his chest. He walked over to the old lady. He looked her in the eye, but she seemed completely still, like a statue. He waved a hand in front of her face. No response. “Hello? What did you inject into me?” he asked. “Answer me you old hag!” he shouted. He walked over to her bag. He grabbed at it roughly, throwing it into the air. Once it stopped climbing upwards, it stayed in the air. What is happening? Polaris questioned himself. Polaris went to walk forward, but was stuck in place. Then, from what came of nothing, he started moving backwards. In the same motion he did moving forward. Time had started to reverse. His position returned to back when he saw the old lady. She also was in the same position as when he first saw her. Her legs wobbling under the weight of the heavy bag. Time started to move forward once more. Polaris was in the motion of running when he had remembered about what the old lady said. This time don’t let me fall. Polaris looked over at her. Her legs looked like they could collapse at any moment. Polaris ran over to the old lady. She began to fall, but before she could hit the ground, Polaris had an arm out in front of her. He caught her, like she said. “Good job, you’ll do good.” She said. “What was that? Why did I know to catch you?” Polaris was starting to question his own sanity. “That dear, is a muzzle ability I made myself.” The old lady said. Polaris looked confused. “But, how did you know what it was going to do?” Polaris asked. She chuckled. “That does not matter, what matters is the ability you did receive.” she said. Polaris looked at her. She smiled at him with her broken teeth. “And that is?” Polaris questioned her reliability. Perhaps she had just gone mad. Perhaps he had just gone mad. “You now have the ability to reverse time.” She said. Polaris was astonished. The ability to rewind time itself. This could possibly be the most powerful muzzle ability anyone has ever had. Even more powerful than Battery’s power. “But, there is a twist.” She remarked. Polaris’ curiosity became anxiousness. “What is it?” he asked. He was being killed by curiosity. He wanted to know this instant. “If used too rapidly, or for too long, you could die.” she said. Polaris was worried. “What constitutes too rapidly and too long?” he asked. The old lady looked down at her bag. She pulled an old pocket watch from a pouch. “Look at the watch. It only moves when time is being reversed. Every Time you use your ability, the hour hand strikes an hour. Then, time begins to move normally. Every minute of time reversed is a minute on the clock. If the minute and hour hand both reach 12, you will die.” she told him the answer he yearned for. “How long until it goes back to 0?” he asked. “Every 10 minutes the hour hand will go down a number. It will take 120 minutes total to reset to 0 if used at the maximum amount of times.” She explained to Polaris. Polaris gulped. “So, I can effectively reverse time upwards of 12 hours?” he asked. The old lady simply nodded. She picked up her bag and continued walking. Polaris looked down at the watch. He now had a revelation. He could reverse time back to before he left. If he could remember that he had to catch the old lady, than he could surely remember that- Polaris now remembered why he was in such a hurry, and what brought him out here in the first place. He looked at watch, then back to the old lady. His eyes widened in panic. “Wait, wait! How do I use it?” Polaris asked the old lady. She turned around. “What?” “How do you use it?” “Oh, just hit the button at the top and think about how far you want to go back. Once you learn to control your power, you’ll be able to do it without the watch.” The old lady yelled back at him. “I see, thank you!” he yelled back at her. He looked at the watch clutched in his hand. He clicked the button at the top and thought to go back 7 hours. Time started to reverse once more. Before he knew it, he was already on the couch. The stopwatch, still in his hand, now had the hour hand at 8 hours. The clock started to slowly reset itself. Polaris set the watch on the stand next to him. Cliff, I will make sure your death was not in vain. He thought to himself. Polaris shut his eyes and dozed off. That day, Polaris gained a new solution to his problem. Not only would he move faster, but now if he was too slow, he could try again by reversing time. If only he had this power before Cliff’s death. No matter, Polaris would use this power to keep Draven and Aza safe.