The man asked. Kimsung's eyes widened incredulously. This man looked exactly like Achilles, but he must be a bit older than the Achilles he saw in the train station. He felt powerful, and Kimsung could tell by looking at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words to say. The Achilles lookalike, as if sensing his trouble, spoke again.
"It's ok, just ask me who I am, and where we are."
Kimsung took a shaky breath before asking.
"W-Where are we? Who are you? Why do you look like-"
Kimsung couldn't finish his last question, being interrupted by the powerful and mysterious man.
"To be straightforward. We're in the River Of Time, you can call me Q, and I am a different version of the man you know. To be specific, the Water version of him."
Kimsung's eyebrow raised as he stood up and looked around. He'd never actually seen the river of time, but he always knew it existed. And what did that man mean by "Water version of Achilles"? Was that multiverse thing Jamal had told him about truly real? If it was, it meant there had to be many versions of that… monster, just out there.
"What do you mean, 'water version'?"
He asked. The man calling himself Q smiled before blinking a couple of times.
"Well, the multiverse thing that Jamal guy told you about was real. With just a few key differences. For instance, in my world, Pangea never split, remaining as a single continent."
Kimsung processed the information, very shocked at the possibility that there were numerous versions of Earth, all with the same Ten Disasters as this world, and with similar versions of Achilles. Q spoke again; his voice was a bit more cheery.
"I, as stated before, am the Water version of the man you know as Achilles. There's also a Fire and Air version of him, but you don't need to worry about that at all. The one you have right now is the Earth version, meaning he'd got an affinity to the element of Earth."
Q spoke calmly, if a bit amused at how confused Kimsung was. Well, of course, Kimsung would be confused. He always thought it was just their world that had to suffer. Now that he knew there were other versions of Achilles, there had to also be different versions of himself.
"Excuse me, but are there also versions of myself in other worlds?"
Q smirked, looking amused.
"No. You simply are not the same as I, for reasons you'll learn later."
Kimsung felt confused. Surely, if Achilles existed in different worlds, and extremely similar to other versions, he should exist as well, right?
"Why not? What makes you different from me?"
Q keeps his smirk and looks up, or what Kimsung assumes is the direction "up".
"Well, I am a Bound Existence, and you aren't. It's quite simple, honestly. It just means I have to exist in every world. Not can, but have to. It's actually not that bad now that I think about it."
He chuckles, making Kimsung confused. So what it meant was he had to exist in any and every possible universe? Well, now that he thought about it, he was quite lucky not to be him. Having to exist in horror stories as well would be a terrible thing. Not to mention fictions in terrible realities would be torture.
But it didn't explain something Kimsung was also curious about. If this were the River of Time, how did this man get here, and how did he bring Kimsung out of it? The River of Time was literally meant to be inaccessible, unless one had control over Time itself, which only a very select few had. Who the hell is this guy anyway? The whole time Kimsung had been here, which must not been long, this man has only told him vague things, with few specific details.
What's his purpose in bringing him here in the first place?
"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why am I here? What's the reason for being brought here by someone like you?"
He asked. Q's expression lowered, instead becoming a small frown, annoyance too obvious on his face.
"You've been doing some shit, and it's fucking up Time. It wants you to control yourself, or It will do it for you. Remember this, little salmon, you were granted Its blessing, but not Its kindness. You are favored by the gods, not what they represent. So get it together, little salmon, or I'll do it for you."
He warned, his tone clear, devoid of the cheery kindness from before. Clearly, whatever Kimsung had been doing wrong was bad enough for an Embodiment to personally remind him.
"Alright… I'll be sure not do anything bad…"
The curly-haired man smiled, but his eyes still held promise of a painful end within them. Clearly, he wasn't satisfied, but accepted the apology Kimsung had given.
Good. I'll be sending you back now, if you don't mind, little salmon. Bye bye!"
He said in a happy tone as he grabbed Kimsung's shoulders and pushed the man down into the water. Kimsung's eyes snapped open. He was still in his sleeping bag, in the museum, in the United States. He was alright, but couldn't shake the lingering nervousness. He looked around the room, people still moving, still trying to comfort each other, trying to help each other move through this. He considered what he'd said to Keido about leaving these people behind in three days.
For decades, or what he considered decades, he was used to leaving people behind when they were unable to keep up with the times. Those who stayed weak, and those who did not, were different. In a time where strength and skill mattered more than kindness, millions died, no matter what he did. Empathy never got anyone far in the new times. It always resulted in betrayal, loss, or regret.
Of course, this was a chance to make up for it. He could help these people, evacuate them to Europe, and save as many people as he can this time. Right?