The Pause [Adopted Book]

Two Souls and Time

Cycle 232 Notes:

I messed up. Badly.

I don't know what happened. I had just gotten bored of lurking in the shadows, waiting for the time to come when I could arrive through the portal.

I decided that it was well past time I heeded Origin's request and got to know him a little better. This pause, I decided to travel with him, visiting the steves the same way he did. I met a lot of amazing people this way, but there were consequences. Every steve suddenly knew who I was: Sabre, the one who hung out with Great Origin.

When I got to the loop, Red Steve recognized me instantly. He didn't even lead me to the temple. He assumed I already knew all about the different colored steves. Every village I went to, I was quickly handed the crystal (except for the Yellow Kingdom, for obvious reasons.) No matter how hard I tried to get the timeline back on track, things kept deviating farther and farther from the path I was used to. It was a miracle Time and Elemental were created at all.

When Time arrived, he immediately realized something was wrong. I've never seen him in such a panic. Every steve was concerned about him, but only I understood why he was so terrified. The First Curse recognized me immediately, and didn't bother asking me to release his chains. He knew I was already aware of him, and not a new iteration of Sabre. It wasn't long before the curse on Origin started to fall apart, and the entire timeline with it.

Despite our best efforts, Time and I couldn't save it. I will never forget how scared Time was, or how scared I also became. Before that cycle officially died, Time managed to create something new for me: a staff. Its purpose was simply to undo my mistakes, driving that entire timeline back in time. He gave me a warning. I was never to do this again. In every timeline, I must remain hidden. It wasn't safe for other steves to be aware of me. Even the steves whose creation I watched could only know a minimal amount.

Cycle 233 Notes:

After that, I took on the alias of the Judge. My staff morphed into a hammer, and I wore a long cloak to help hide my identity. Origin didn't seem to understand why I was so distant from him. But it was for his own good. For the good of the entire timeline. Now, I simply watch from afar, looking for any anomalies that might cause a disruption in the normal order. Until the loop starts, that is my role. I will never deviate from it again.

----------------------------------------------------------

Only a few days after Hypno's visit, I decided to pack up and leave. I made sure to pack plenty of food and water, as well as a tent to sleep in. Thanks to my inventory, and Elemental's bag, which had infinite space inside, I was able to go without a large, suspicious backpack. I had to travel through a few steve-populated areas to get to the first location. Every coordinate set was far from the original civilizations, so they took some time to get to. It was a lot of walking, but it wasn't like I was short on time. In fact, I really enjoyed the fresh air, just as Hypno had predicted.

It was strange to see areas so far from steve influence. Without any interference, the plants grew wild, taller and wilder than any I'd seen before. The animals were unafraid of me, ignoring me as though I were some ghost passing through. In a way, I supposed I was.

The first area on the list was a mutated birch forest. Or at least, that's what they came to be known as later on. The white-barked trees grew at least twelve blocks in the air, their canopies tangling into each other like one large roof, protecting me when it started to rain. The ground was so thick with moss and grass that I almost forgot there was dirt at all. Rose bushes grew in thick patches, making the entire place smell like flowers. As I traveled, I tried not to disturb any of the nature growing around me. If no steve was going to come here and disrupt the beauty of these places, it would be a shame if I did.