An Inch of Gold

32

"I was, I am, I will be the given sacrifice to bring about hope," the woman intones.

"We are the avatars of time and space, though the faces we have chosen are borrowed."

"We have taken forms you can grasp so that we can speak, though it limits us."

"We can no longer see the consequences of what it to come and can only offer counsel."

"But that..." Sarada begins, "that doesn't answer. Who are you?"

"Don't you know, little one?" the woman asks her with a motherly smile. "Did your Papa never tell you our story?"

Sarada tenses, and a memory surfaces from so long ago she had forgotten until now, her father's voice washing over her.

"...Indra was wounded in battle and used the last of his strength to bring himself far away from Asura and his father. He found himself lying on a shore in a distant land, weakened and unable to heal himself. It seemed, for a time, that he was meant to die."

"Did he die, Papa?"

"No. He was found one day by a very young girl with a kind heart, who took pity on him."

"What was her name?"

"...Shachi."

Sarada's eyes widen. "Then you're...!"

"The progenitors of the Uchiha," Teisōko says, her fists clenching. Rage and hatred spark in her eyes, but being insubstantial, there is nothing she can do about it.

Not that she could, anyway, Sarada thinks vaguely, staring up at the tall man with renewed unease. The stories about him are terrifying, and she can see why when he levels a cold glance at Teisōko.

"By your actions, you have destabilized time," he says flatly. "It ought to have corrected itself, the way most time loops do, however your battle broke through many times and caused more damage than expected."

"Everything is unravelling," the female avatar—or, Shachi—laments. "All of time and space will soon cease to exist, if not for you two. The forces of Hope—"

"—and Despair."

"I don't understand," Sarada says. It's the second time they've used those words, giving them some reverence that she can't parse.

"Every living creature has a destiny that contains infinite possibilities. Those have been all but erased now."

"Your presence outside of your time frayed the web of time; travelling through so many, you might as well have cut the threads completely," Indra continues. "You must both make a choice, which will determine the fate of this world and where you go from here."

"You mean we're not dead yet?" Sarada questions, something like hope flaring in her stomach.

"You are beyond the state of life or death," Shachi tells her. "For now. But your choices may change that."

"Choices?"

"Will you walk the Path of Needles, or the Path of Thorns?" Indra asks.

Teisōko sneers. "Is that meant to be a riddle?"

"These are the paths that remain to you both," Shachi explains. "But know that even if you choose to walk the same path, your eventual fate will not necessarily be the same."

"You may also abstain," Indra says, "but then you will remain in this realm for eternity, never able to move on." He frowns. "I do not recommend that option."