09/19/3122 YDB – September 19th, 3122
Archer Griffen woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. Inside his apartment room, he sat up from his bed and gave a quick stretch before checking his phone. Seeing the call was from Zoey, he picked it up.
"Hey Zoe. What's up?" Archer greeted.
"Archer, what the hell did you do?" Zoe called angrily.
"Oh, you didn't correct me when I said Zoe."
"Not important." Zoe snapped, "I heard the news! You went into a criminal bar and destroyed it?"
"It's mostly intact and how did you even know? I suspected that there wouldn't be a real police report." Archer asked as he headed to the bathroom.
"People still talk and don't forget I got access to every information source in this country. If I knew this was going to happen I would've waited another week to allow you to get your equipment."
"I didn't get my equipment, I got the prototype mask. Now hold on, let me use the bathroom first." Archer said before hanging up.
"Archer I swear-"
***
Sariel and Mariel, the two twin pink and green-haired goddesses, watched from their television screen as they saw the few recordings of Archer. From the school combat test to his debut with that mask.
"He really is the same person." Mariel said watching Archer destroying the bar.
"Yeah, but no helmet." Sariel said sounding a bit disappointed.
"He mentioned that it was new right?" Mariel asked.
"Yeah, I really want to see him in his outfit properly." Sariel said nodding her head.
"He'll need to considering everything that's happening. He's helping Rosaline right?"
"Yeah he is." Sariel said looking a bit concerned.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing… just that this is the first one that's involved with Ran and the other main targets in the future."
"He's also watching over Lilith."
"She'll only break out in the future. He's involving himself with Rosaline right now."
"He's giving Ran a chance to work on himself." Mariel pointed out, "It's more than what the previous WDOs did."
"But still, he had to deal with all those other anomalies. Like the swordsman Ryker. What if he overstretches himself?" Sariel said concerned.
"We picked him because we believe he can handle it."
"I know. It's just I feel like we're relying on him too much. The others too, it feels like they're throwing all their faith on people."
"Well, they can't really do anything else considering they're stuck here."
"But they could go down more often and help."
"How much can they even do?" Mariel asked before they could feel their room shake.
"What was that?" Sariel said looking around as Mariel moved to peer out a window.
"Who's that?" Mariel said. When Sariel was able to make it to the window all she saw was a blur shoot past them.
"I don't know but they're headed to Gadreel's quarters." Sariel said.
"We should check it out."
"Is that a good idea?"
"Come on." Mariel said dragging her sister along. The duo quickly navigated their way over to Gadreel's garden.
It was a large spacious area with a marble fountain sitting in the middle of it. A statue of a knight standing on guard at the center of it. Several trimmed bushes designed to represent various animals. Calming music played through the garden and the area had an air of sweet scent.
Sitting at a table working on a piece of sheet music was Gadreel, who was quickly joined by the blur. While the landing was soft, there seemed to be an absurd amount of shockwave erupting from it. The leaves and flowers swayed wildly and Gadreel was nearly knocked out of her seat.
"Talia? What are you doing here? You can't be here!" Gadreel said trying to recover from the shock of the preserver of power intruding into her domain.
"I'll be gone soon. What did you do to my son?" Talia glowered.
"You have a son?" Gadreel said taken aback.
"Well, adopted… inherited, it's a bit confusing." Talia paused as she considered the exact particulars of her relationship with Archer.
"Who are you talking about?" Gadreel asked. This had never happened in the previous timelines. Talia had always kept herself with the mortals since eighty years ago, never once returning before. What changed? Who in the world would Talia consider to be her son?
"Archer Griffen."
"Griffen." Gadreel said her face turning pale, "Griffen like…?"
"Yes that dumb idiot who you had the hots for fifty years ago."
"I did not have the hots for- wait so is this boy his son?"
"Adopted. Lucky bastard got him before I did." Talia said, still jealous of the fact that Archer didn't share her last name.
"So then you two never…?"
"Eugh, with that idiot? Please." Talia said with a scoff before pausing, "Are you jealous?"
"What? N-no! Of course not." Gadreel said turning a shade of pink.
"My god you still love him, you know he died right?"
"I-I know. I grieved for him." Gadreel said sorrowfully.
Talia gave a small sigh, she couldn't be mad at someone still grieving from heartbreak. But then remembering why she was there gave her the rage needed to question her, "Why is Archer at Trinity Academy?"
"It wasn't me." Gadreel said as she saw Talia bristle again.
"Was it them then?" Talia asked jerking a thumb towards the direction of a bush, which gave a surprised yelp when being called out.
"Sariel!" A voice from the bush hissed.
"What? She scared me!" Another voice said.
"Mariel, Sariel, come out please." Gadreel requested recognizing the voices.
Awkwardly the two sisters shuffled out from behind the bush and gave hesitant greetings to the two very opposing beings before them. Talia studied them for a moment.
"I don't recognize them." She said.
"They were promoted after you left."
"What do you mean left?" Sariel asked.
"I am a former member of their council. Left after I decided to live in the world of mortals." Talia said flashing a smile.
"You can do that?" Mariel said surprised.
"Exceptions are made in some instances." Gadreel explained, "Besides she had enough power and annoyed enough others that no one complained when she left."
"Hmph. Not my fault idiots run this place now." Talia gave an unimpressed grunt before looking at the twins, "Why did you pick Archer?"
"How do you know that we chose him?" Mariel asked.
"The old guard is still around correct? Not many changes?" Talia asked Gadreel who nodded. Shaking her head she then replied to Mariel, "That's how. No one in their right mind would ask for the WDO to help unless they were new."
"Why did you think that we sent him? The WDO always sends someone." Sariel asked.
"Always?" Talia said narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"If this Archer was part of the WDO why is it a shock that he was sent?" Gadreel said quickly.
"Because he would never volunteer normally." Talia said still suspicious of what Sariel had said, "Unless someone advised him to go. But I wouldn't imagine anyone in the WDO would be able to. So it would have come from a source with a good reason. I understood that Trinity Academy had the potential to be a powder keg, but I thought you all had it handled."
"Well, I suppose the two wanted to try something different." Gadreel said with a cough.
"What did you mean by always?" Talia said now looming over the two twins.
"Huh? Uh…" Sariel trailed off, realising she had made a mistake.
"It's just that we wanted to help with something new." Mariel said getting in front of her sister.
"To actively search for a WDO member like Archer takes a lot of extra work and time, considering that the council would keep all the information from you young ones. It would be easier to find a local, there are a few local to Trinity Academy that could do what Archer does on paper." Talia paused as she thought for a moment, "Unless it was attempted once already."
"Now don't be ridiculous." Gadreel said getting nervous.
"You used it didn't you?" Talia said eyes widening, "I was wondering about the déjà vu."
"No, no, you're mistaken-"
"You irresponsible idiots!" Talia roared, "Do you not know how dangerous something like that is!"
"Are you talking about the time key?" Sariel asked.
"Sariel don't tell her that." Gadreel said cringing.
"You actually did it." Talia said in disbelief, "You actually relied on the time key. You're an idiot. You really are."
"It wasn't just me!" Gadreel said getting defensive, "Everyone agreed."
"Then you're all idiots."
"The device makes it so that time resets without consequences, it's perfectly safe!"
"Exactly, that's where the problem is! It completely turns the universe back in time. Not only that, everything else outside it also perceives it as if it's the very first timeline."
"Yeah, I know, a clean restart."
"No it's not, you can just change the reality of multiple universes without consequences. People will notice. Things will notice that's where the consequences come from. Seriously how bad does it get to have you even consider using the key?"
"Astron is all but destroyed with the armies of darkness breaking out from Trinity Academy." Mariel said.
"And you don't think a couple of them might notice the feeling of déjà vu and actively seek out the reason for it." Talia said shaking her head.
"But they can't involve themselves directly, not everyone is like you." Gadreel pointed out.
"No but they can influence things." Talia said pinching the bridge of her nose out of frustration, "How many times have you guys used it? Twice? Three times?"
"Uh." Gadreel clammed up.
Talia's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull, "Don't tell me you used all of it?"
"Yes…" Sariel answered quietly.
"And you failed all those times." Talia said and was given a response of ashamed nods, "First off, you're pretty hopeless, second you realize how many people are going to be pissed off that you did it. Once or twice would have been safe but ten times? Do you know how hard it's going to be for you to avoid utter catastrophe?"
"The world was ending anyways!" Gadreel shouted.
"Have you ever watched what happens after the armies break out?
"No, because everyone would've died."
"You don't know that!" Talia yelled back in anger, "You don't know if others could've beaten them back. You don't know if everyone could've recovered afterwards. You could've gone for outside help earlier, but did you? No you didn't. You panicked and used what you thought was a safety net. Now you have nothing and the situation is going to be worse. What do you have now?"
"Archer." Sariel said, "He's new and he's from the outside. We have him."
Talia slowly drifted her eyes over to Sariel who looked upon her boldly, "Yes. Yes you do have him." Talia said looking a bit troubled.
"Is something wrong?" Sariel said looking worried.
"He's a kid." Talia said before shooting the twins a dirty look, "He'll do everything he can to help people, even if it means walking into hell and back. I couldn't be more proud of him. But him doing so for you lot. That bothers me a lot."
"I'm sorry, we just- I just wanted after so many failures I wanted to find someone who might be different." Sariel said head bowed.
"We know it's greedy but thought that he could do it." Mariel said apologizing as well.
"You placed your belief into the right kid." Talia said with an annoyed huff, "I can't blame you, besides someone needs to fix this mess."
"Is… is he like Cosmo?" Gadreel asked.
"You really are a lovesick hag aren't you?"
"Who are you calling hag?" Gadreel fumed.
"Different, but the same in the right areas." Talia said explaining Archer before she looked up to the sky.
"I should get going before someone gets too fussy with me being here." She said as she was ready to fly away.
"Are you going to help Archer?" Sariel asked.
"Not directly no. Me knowing about 'the end of the world' means that I can't be as hands-on as I would like. But I'll still keep my eyes on things. Especially since now it looks like I'll need to spot for any anomalies happening around the planet." Talia said before looking directly at Sariel, "Don't get him killed." Before turning her eyes onto Gadreel, "You already messed up with a Griffen once already, don't do it again." Before disappearing into the sky.
***
Back at Trinity Academy it was lunchtime, and while the lunch period was normal for most people. There were two people currently having a very different day. Both principal Electa Cowen and professor Phil Doyle read the report Archer sent them today. Neither is quite sure how they feel about this.
"Did he really go into a criminal bar and cause a scene?" Electa said.
"I think it was a bit more of a scene. He declared war on crime." Phil said nervous as he watched for her expression.
"Bolder than most full-fledged superheroes." Electa said breaking into a hearty chuckle.
"You approve?"
"Well maybe not wholeheartedly, but I like the display." Electa said with a shrug, "Still, will this cause an issue with him?"
"Depends on how busy he gets involved, but Archer will always make sure to put the school's issues first."
"He is a hero in training, he should be allowed to play a bit." Electa said, "Does his persona have a name?"
"No, not yet he was never a real costumed hero before joining here."
"Hmm." Electa said nodding her head, "He's dealing with the Bents currently correct?"
"Yes, mainly focusing on Rosaline."
"Good." Electa said nodding her head, "Siblings need support from each other or they aren't family at all." She said as she glanced over towards her desk and looked at a small framed photo of Mercy and her smiling happily at the camera. That photo was ten years old now, what had happened since then?
***
Archer Griffen meandered his way into the dungeon. It was currently time for his class along with several others, to go dungeon diving. Normally that just meant Archer would sit in the first level and do nothing for a couple of hours. But this time was unfortunately different.
He was currently roaming the fifth level, as that was where the Bent's party was currently located. With Rosaline still recovering from her injury and delving down to level five, while everyone else stayed on the fourth level.
Archer did not like the pattern, first Dominic led the group all the way to level three before being stuck there for the next couple of runs. Then they only just reached level four the last time and seemed to have tried to run straight into level five this time. It was a sloppy run that left a trail of angry monsters in their wake.
Archer was forced to do cleanup duty, though at least he collected quite a few gems. What he was going to do with them was another matter entirely. He couldn't help but feel frustrated by this group's lack of organization and greed.
A decent team could have made it down to level six or further already, but doing so meant missing out on lots of opportunities to challenge monsters on the previous levels. Archer guessed that the team planned to go deeper to attempt to get the bigger prizes. But the team was a mishmash, from bad cohesion to just not being strong enough.
Run into too large a group or a really dangerous monster and they would be in trouble. Though at least down here with teacher supervision they would be able to use their alarms in case things got too hairy. Still, it took time for them to arrive, and Archer would rather play it a bit safe.
Down in the fifth level the place was different from the fourth, whereas in the fourth it looked like a vast forest in the middle of the day, down here it was black, rocky, and hot. It was as if they were underneath an erupting volcano. Occasional pieces of exposed magma rock glowed red from the heat.
The dungeon was a relatively small one with only twenty levels deep. Archer was sure that they wouldn't try to get all the way to the bottom, but the sixth level, maybe. There was a section where you could mine for valuable items. But again, they lacked the ability to safely get down there.
As Archer pondered this, he realized that he was getting very close to the group. Quickly he hid behind some rocks as he saw the group currently battling a fire salamander. Fire salamanders were creatures that could withstand intense heat and were the size of a pickup truck and, of course, breathed fire. Though just ten seconds' worth in a single day. The most deadly aspect was the claws and teeth.
Which one of Dominic's teammates was finding out. Screaming in pain, he backed off as blood began to pour out of his arm. Fortunately Dominic took that opening to slice through the skull of the salamander killing it.
"Damn it my arm!" The wounded student screamed as his teammate helped bandage it.
"Good it dropped the tail." Dominic said seeing the body of the salamander dissolve into a gemstone and a large salamander tail. He then looked back to his teammate, "You good?"
"Do I look like I am?"
"Fine, let's go back, getting tired anyways." Dominic said annoyed, "Rosey, go get the tail."
"Got it." Rosaline said rushing to stuff everything into her bag.
"How about we hurry and leave? This hurts." The other student complained.
"Alright, we'll go up first." Dominic called back.
"But I can't make it back."
"Whatever just use your alarm once you're done."
"Can't you wait and then use the alarm?"
"No way, that's embarrassing, besides they don't like me." Dominic said, "Don't worry this place is clear." He said as he and his other teammates exited back up the dungeon.
Archer hidden behind the rocks let them pass by him as he watched Rosaline struggle to stuff the tail into her large bag. The thing was as tall as she was and she was not having an easy time doing so. Though the bag apparently was a large storage unit as it was able to swallow up the tail easily enough.
Archer then frowned as he thought of the tail. Giant salamander tails from all kinds of monsters were valuable, not only were the scales useful, but the meat itself stayed good for weeks and was apparently delicious. It also had benefits depending on the salamander's element type, fire gave resistance to fire and so on and so forth. Of course, for most dungeoneers and explorers, selling the thing for an exorbitant amount of money was a far better deal. Though this one likely wouldn't be of the best quality, should still fetch a decent penny.
But he was forgetting something about that tail. What was it again? Archer took a sniff, and through the brimstone he smelled it. Blood, a weird smell of meaty blood. The tail, right, it's not just people who find it to be delicious, it was also used as bait to try and lure rare monsters.
"Damn it." Archer said shutting his eyes as he heard something roar and heavy footsteps approach the room. Opening them again he saw a large Komodo-like dragon approach, forked tongue tasting the air. Rosaline whipped around staring at the thing in horror.
So much for staying hidden. At least I get to show off to Rosaline. Archer said as he pulled out his mouthguard case from his jacket pocket and equipped his mouthguard. I better get some of that salamander tail.