Sempiternity (COMPLETED)

V

Nothing seemed to had changed for Arend after he met Klaytaza, and yet to him it felt like his entire world had been turned on its head. The same feelings of nihilism and melancholy contemplation he always felt were still there, but they were constantly being spurred on by a rush of confidence and pride. What was before an eternal observation had become a plan of action with a clear blueprint, visible to all the world that once doubted his every move. There would be no doubting the power she had.

He took her words to heart after they eventually returned to his house and slept that night. They would be coming for her – and him as well, considering he was her host. The other Keys to Eternity, all 998 of them. (Despite the name, she asserted that there were only 999 shinra beings that were created at the dawn of time – perhaps God thought himself one of them, making the old “humans created in God’s image” adage one of unintentional accuracy.) Klaytaza had told him that every Key had their own unique ability, one that set them apart from the rest and had a crucial role in the death and rebirth of the world. They would no doubt be using them to not only save humanity but to eliminate the rogue Klaytaza and Arend, her master.

That was what the two of them had to prevent.

Klaytaza had never learned what the abilities of her other Keys were, and all she knew of her own was that it was related to time. Titled as the All-Seer, Arend theorized that perhaps she had been meant to endure all of time and would gain some sort of control over it as a result, but there was no possible way of confirming this. They would find out what it meant when the time came.

For now, he couldn’t think of any other possible path to walk besides continuing the empty existence he had going on now. Klaytaza had gone home with him, and slept in his bed, but he hadn’t the courage to take their relationship any further than that. He wasn’t even sure if her pseudo-humanoid body had the proper functions to relieve his teenage urges, and the fact that those desires existed in him only increased his self-resentment.

Neither his parents nor his sister had anything to object with her living with them; after all, she looked like a human, and after revealing that she could revert out of her slick black bodysuit and red armor, it was impossible to tell that she wasn’t. Klaytaza enrolled in the city’s school and the two went to the social construct together. She became his only friend, and every day after classes were over, she had him explore some part of the gigantic school grounds with her. The school and everything in it was pointless to them, completely irrelevant even, but just being together was enough to make living in the world somewhat tolerable for the two of them.

Their way of life continued in this fashion for a week before the Keys began to manifest themselves to the two.

*****

The two of them were sitting in Arend’s classroom, as they always did. School had been out for hours, and the both of them sat in desks next to each other, watching out the large window. In the horizon rose the cluttered cityscape, as dark and formless as ever, but from what they could see was a peaceful and empty courtyard flanked by the school’s constantly changing buildings.

She stood, silently but with enough tension to draw Arend’s attention to her. He knew what the reason for her haste was, and had been dreading the arrival of this moment since they met, but it was here and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Still, he asked her if his thoughts were true. The confirmation was pointless, but he needed it nonetheless.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I can feel my heart resonating. They come – one of the Keys have found a host, and are moving to our location now.”

“Well then.” He stood, removing his hand from his pocket and holding the pen in a tight fist. “It is time for us to prove our resolve. Come.” He walked out of the classroom with her following and the two went towards the stairs in the back of the hallway. It led them to the roof, and he continued to walk down a pathway connecting the top of the building to another. They walked silently through the hallways of more buildings, each different in size but identical in color and makeup, until finally they arrived at the observatory, the tallest part of the school. Any enemy that was looking for them would have a hard time finding them up there, if they didn’t have some way of honing in on Klaytaza’s location. Not only that, it would be easy for them to fight here, for it had no obstacles to clear and was a place that pleased him. If he had to die, he’d prefer it happened right here, at least.