Cerydra's words came true. She looked at the two Coreflames presented to her, stunned.
Things do not end with taking a Coreflame. There must be a suitable Chrysos Heir to 'inherit' the Coreflame. Akin to a Herrscher Core, these Chrysos Heirs will possess the power of a Titan.
The next step is to return it to the Vortex of Genesis. It is said to be the most special place in all of Amphoreus, a sanctuary built to house the divinity of the twelve Titans.
Once all twelve are gathered together, the world will witness the Miracle of Genesis, entering the Era Nova that entails a new beginning—and the end of the Black Tide.
The people of Amphoreus must return all twelve Coreflames, lest the world ends by the hands of the Black Tide.
To return the Coreflames in the Vortex of Genesis, one must pass the 'trial' set by the Titan. Only Tribios has been able to do so, lighting up one of the twelve constellations in the said sanctuary.
'Two Coreflames…'
Cerydra glanced at Tribbie, and then Shi Tian. The former sported a look of seriousness; the latter lacked any semblance of seriousness.
"This Imperator will record your merits. Merlin."
"Yes?"
"It is time to fulfill your duties other than the court's entertainment."
Shi Tian subconsciously straightened his back. Never in his life did act below someone…
Well, he actually did.
Ahem, Kiana.
"I will entrust the Coreflames' safety in your hands."
For a moment, he froze. He pointed his finger in his face with a look of bewilderment.
Cerydra's next word sentenced him to something.
"You will accompany someone who can see you, from the beginning of the Entry Hour (Dawn) up to the end of the Curtain-Fall Hour."
"..?!"
And so, the Imperator's hidden trump card was laid bare.
*****
Cerydra is someone who is willing to use everything in her disposal to achieve her desired ending. That attitude is befitting to that of a chess master. Not to mention I taught her for years.
I know her so well that I saw this coming. But then, to see it actually happen is another thing.
My existence as a Memetic Entity requires the presence of a 'spectator' for me to intervene. That sounds so ironic, but it is what it is. Someone needs to acknowledge a memory (i.e., me) for it to exist.
"Yeah! It's my turn to watch over you, Goldie."
A few days passed since Cerydra's "verdict". Hysilens took up most of the time… sleep included. Strangely enough, neither she nor I felt something wrong about it. Sleeping together after that one night was enough to rid us of embarrassment.
Due to her duties in the morning, she has to 'escort' me to others. It is Aglaea at one time, but most of the time, I land upon Tribios' selves—Tribbie, Trinnon, Trianne, Trinnie, Trinna…
"Quick. Tell me a story!"
"Alright."
Scrolling through countless stories in my head made me feel like a human library.
I recalled Tribios' Century Gate and recalled an interesting story. It is not about a traveler, but it matches Amphoreus' "story" extremely well.
"There was once a mad scientist…"
"Mad Scientist?"
Trianne's accentuated tone made me realize something. This is a foreign term to Amphoreus.
"A scholar who is extremely devout to his field of study. It often causes him to cause great harm to others, experimenting on human lives and whatnot."
"H-human lives?!"
She stalled her footsteps as she looked at me in shock.
"But the one in this story is nothing like that."
"Phew…"
With her relief, the story's flow returned.
"One day, with his friends, he managed to create a device. One that can send a message to the past using his teleslate (lit. phone)."
"The future..?!"
"Mhm. What he did not expect was… he would change the present by using it…"
This was a simple case of someone messing with time travel and causing his own troubles. I kept this story in mind, however, because it is well-written.
"They went on to change some trivial things… until an evil organization caught wind of it."
The implications are easy to see. Changing the past meant one has the greatest power in the world.
"Consider them as city-states. They wanted to take hold of that power, just as much as they wanted to take hold of yours."
"..."
"In the end, the mad scientist's beloved childhood friend died due to their attacks. That was when he began using that power to undo it all. However…"
My intentional pause seems to have made Trianne breathless too.
"He reached a crucial point. He can choose to undo that action, but that would lead to the death of his beloved lover. If he does not proceed with it, his beloved childhood friend will die. A cross-road of choice presented before him."
She turned silent for a while before asking:
"Can't he save them both?"
"Perhaps."
"Mn…"
Seeing her anticipation building up made my story-teller side satisfied.
"Time and time, he tried his best to save them both, but to no avail. It was as if fate had told him he can choose only one. The other will die. When all hopes seem lost, a message arrived… from his future self."
In that story, there was a timeline where the mad scientist gave up on himself. It took a long time for him to come right back up—and to devise the plan to save them both.
"He unveiled a plan dubbed Operation Skuld. Its essence is to fool the entire world, even himself, in one single act. Only then would there be a hope to achieve his goals… and reach the Steins;Gate."
"Steins gate… It sounds very awesome."
"Indeed…"
It was noon when the story-telling session ended. It did not net any usable Memoria, though it left a huge impact on Trianne.
"To successfully reach the Steins;Gate… Isn't he just like a hero?"
I smiled at her comment.
"Perhaps, Lady Trianne, you will also have this moment."
"Hum? Operation Skuld? I can't see myself sending messages to the past…"
I let out a series of chuckles.
The entire story of the Mad Scientist, Rintarou Okabe, is where I got my answer from.
How shall I shatter the false infinity?
Simple.
Fool the world.
With the Remembrance erasing any memory of this cycle, this plan is already 50% complete. The remaining 50% lies on what I can do on this cycle.
Trianne…
Tribios does not need to send a message to the past. They have other roles to fulfill.
"You don't necessarily need to send a message to the past." I stated. "You only need to carry on our messages to the future."
"Ah..?"
"No need to think much about it now. Leave it to your tomorrow self."
She let out an exasperated sigh.
"You are speaking like a riddler from the Grove, Goldie…"
*****
A/N: The chapter title is definitely not linked to what will happen much later...