Perilous Past

The Secret of Time stood upon his tower, having just shot himself back a few generations, expecting the Balance-Keeper Karma and her fairy friend to come bursting out of the portal any minute. Indeed, he had only been with them for such a short period, part of it fighting them, albiet, he feels as if these two can create a great impact on anyone anywhere. He sighs, also understanding that they must be cautious of the past, as it isn't always the nicest thing to return to.

Over his thousands of years alive, he'd never expect a Balance-Keeper asking for help, he always thought them to be snobby or rude, as was his first glance generalization, but he came to understand them, but this one, this girl, was different, he was curious about her, and wondering what powers she had, as she did not fit the general description of a Balance-Keeper, well, in his book anyways.

The portal nearby him spat out both Karma and Hecate, and turning to them, he greeted the duo, "I hope that wasn't too rough of a ride for you, was it?" He questioned.

"A cyan-colored Secret attacked us." Hecate said. "Other than that, we are alive and well."

Time's eyes widen slightly, "The clear one, I presume?" He asks, "When not clear, he has that kind of color. Though, I saw him only for a split second before he got his grubby tricks into my head." Time shakes his head, "Never mind him, for now, we shall find Arbiter, shall we?" He looks to Karma, "By the way, what exactly is the problem you need to know so much about?"

Karma frowned sadly. "I need his guidance. Four secrets threaten the very foundations of Balance and I... don't know if my power is sufficient... I need to hear his voice of wisdom once more, to figure out how to control myself and the Balance."

"Four?" Time asks, "Could you, perhaps, tell me which ones they are?" He waves his cloaked arms around for opening the tunnel that leads down to the land, and stands on it, waiting for Karma.

"Disease. War. Bad Luck. And the clear/cyan one." Hecate said.

"Bad Luck, up to his antics once again?" Time moans, "He's got his best buddies too. Though no one even knows much about the clear one. He's mysterious, even I don't understand his powers." He states as the platform activates, travelling downward. "I'm hoping I can help. In any way." He mentions, going a bit ahead of Karma, "You better hurry, or you'll fall behind. Time will not stop for you, only you will stop for Time." Time mulled over and talked to himself about the clear one, obviously annoyed by him.

Karma and Hecate followed.

"How far back in time are we?" Hecate asked.

"A few generations, in Thyrian years." Time states, "I'd like to point out, your energies may not work the exact same as they have during your time." He merely chuckles, "But of course, your powers have been out of whack for a little now." He points out at Karma, reiterating the fact of Strata.

"It'll be best if I try to call upon the powers of Balance as little as possible." Karma said.

Time nods, eyes narrowing slightly, as if sensing another presence nearby as the floating platform takes the trio down to a peak of one of the Demonfang Mountains. "Just be careful." He states.

"Wait... we can screw up the present- I mean, the future if we aren't careful, can't we?" Hecate asked.

"Not while I'm here." Time states, "Besides, there's not much to worry about."

"Oh yes, there is much to worry of." A voice speaks aloud as the floating platform lands on the peak of a mountain.

"Who's there?!" Hecate cries out.

"Relax, loudmouth." War appears, yet seems different, "What are you two doing here on Thyria?" He asked, pointing to Hecate and Karma.

"They're with me, War." Time seethes, angry to see his fellow Secret.

"I did not ask you, Time." War retorted.

"We're with him." Hecate says.

Time waves his arm out, War's eyes twitch, and he is silent for a few moments, and the shakes slightly. "Fine, go about whatever you were doing."

Time leads the duo far away from where War was, "Sorry about that." Was all he could express to Karma and Hecate, "I had to stop the communication from your present."

"...with our present?" Karma asks. "What do you mean?"

"Your present, the time you came from, that exact moment." Time states rather flatly. "It appears another being was powerful enough to try to communicate with the past's War. I had to stop it." Time finished, a bit of worry in his voice.

"It seems someone's got it in for us." Hecate said with equal worry. "We'd better hurry."

"Where would this Arbiter be, my dear?" Time asks Karma. "Because I need at least a somewhat accurate spot to teleport us to."

"I need to think." Karma said. "Locating particular people takes time... Arbiter showed me how it's done, but I'm only his student..."

Everything suddenly stops moving, save for Karma, Hecate, and Time. "It will be easier now. you have time." He states.

Findings
Time sits on a rock nearby, thinking to himself, looking to Karma every so often to see if she's found Arbiter.

"I think I've found him." Karma said finally.

Time began to move once more as the wind picked up, "Good," The temporal Secret states. "Where would he be? About?"

"Take us to the Starborne Tower on Terralius." Karma said.

"Before we go, I must explain something to you." Time begins, "In your present time, he is dead. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT tell him he is going to die a certain way, in fact, don't even tell him he will die." Time continually repeats, as he teleports them there within seconds.

Karma is deep in thought at Time's words; so deep in fact that she stood in place for several moments even after they had arrived at the base of the bronze-colored tower that led to Celestia City.

Time smirked, "Here we are. Celestia City. Almost." He spoke alouds, "When you think of it, the name is very beautiful."

Karma nods, heading beneath the archway at the tower's base and touching the bronze doors that sealed it's entrance. The doors slid open, revealing a large, circular platform at the base of the tower. Karma stepped on the platform, and Hecate perched herself on Karma's shoulder.

Time followed the duo, ready to find Arbiter so they can head back to their actual own time. He felt a bit regretful for taking two beings out of their own time, fighting for their survival in another, yet, it was to happen sooner or later.

Blue, maze-like lines appear on the platform, glowing faintly, and bars rise up from the side of the platform, blocking off all sides. The platform suddenly shot upwards like a rocket into the blackness above.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Hecate screamed the whole way up.

Time, on the otherhand, was simply enjoying the recent turn of events dealing with Celestia City's entrance, enjoying every moment of it, almost ignoring Hecate's screams.

There was a bright flash of light, and the platform began to slow down, gradually coming to a complete stop inside an enclosed room with only glowing blue runes lining the walls for light.

Hecate fluttered weakly on the floor. "Never... again..." she groaned.

A door suddenly opened up, leading outward into an empty city-square.

"That was interesting." Time states, "Now we can go search for Arbiter, the exploration begins!"

The trio stepped out into the square to be greeted to an incredible sight; they could see the dead world Terralius in the sky, surrounded by colorful nebulae that twinkled with countless stars.

"Kind of reminds me how small we really are," Karma thought aloud, observing the cosmos in the sky.

"Don't talk to me about 'small'," Hecate said, pouting.

"We may be indeed, small, but what really matter is how big of an impact one may make." Time states, "Back during my day, we didn't have desolate lands or dead worlds, we did deal with our rouges, but we had more life." Time rambles on, as if speaking like an elderly man.

Karma had already strode forth into the metallic streets of the city. "This way... I think," she said.

Time, unknowingly follows without even knowing at Karma, who's obviously far ahead with searching for Arbiter. "I hope you know where you're going." Time states after finishing his ramblings.

"I hope so too." Karma said, turning a corner and finding herself in front of a shrine. "This seems like the kind of place he would be, I suppose."

However, as they entered the shrine, there was no sign of Arbiter. There was, however, a silver-haired male with golden eyes exactly like Arbiter's. He wore frayed cloth pants, no shirt, and around his neck hung a metal tag.

Time stares at whoever this person is, before he begins to chuckle, and then laugh uncontrollably. "THAT'S NOT ARBITER!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!" He laughs, seemingly completely unaware of anything that could come to pass any minute.

"I know you!" Hecate exclaimed. "You're Arbiter's son! Thirteen!"

"...son?" Karma asked, bewildered.

"Yes." Thirteen said. "But who are you three?"

Time calms down seconds later, and wipes whatever energy came pouring from his eyes as he laughed unconrollably a few minutes before. "I'm Time, simple, straight, to the point."

"You know me." Hecate said.

"I am Karma," Karma said.

Thirteen's eyebrow raised momentarily as Karma introduced herself, as if being reminded of something, but he said nothing of it.

"What brings you three to Celestia City?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Time advises, eyes looking at Karma, "She was the one who needed me."

"I am searching for Arbiter, my master in the ways of the Balance."

Thirteen frowned. "I can't help you, then."

"I sensed Arbiter here in Celestia City, is he not here?" Karma asked.

Thirteen shook his head. "No."

Karma stared at Thirteen, as if trying to dissect him with her gaze. "Are you lying to me?"

"No."

"Yeah, I'd be careful as well, if there was some raging mad Secret, clear as the ocean, running around." Time states, "Who can mess with your mind and destroy plenty within your head."

"Arbiter is occupied." Thirteen said.

"With what?" Karma asked.

"How should I know? I'm not his keeper."

"You're not telling us something." Hecate said.

"He won't have enough time to be occupied." Time states randomly, "Like I said before, soon enough, that clear guy is going to come here. If he followed you and Karma, then he got spat out of the....which means he's here, somewhere, in this, you know. And technically, he could be very dangerous, as he can affect your..." Time suddenly stops talking, hoping Karma and Hecate understand.

"Wait a moment..." Thirteen said. "Secret of Time... time... You travelled through time, didn't you?!" Thirteen said. "That explains why you're looking for Arbiter instead of being with him... what happened to him that made you resort to coming to this time?"

"...Arbiter is occupied." Hecate said quickly, echoing Thirteen's words.

Time chuckles, then laughs once more, "Done in by your own words!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Time laughs. "Ah, how old school yet it just works. Yes, time travel, now that you know. We've got one, apparently, BIG problem on our hands, back in their present." Time mentions.

"You mean my future." Thirteen said, before turning away, deep in thought.