Chapter 242: Not From Here

"That was a fast decision," I said as Sakura stood up in front of me.

The light had cleared, but there was not much of a change other than Sakura's outfit. She was in the same Red, and Black get-up that I had, but she seemed to fill out the chest area a bit better than me.

Not that I was jealous, but they did look perfect like that, and I kind of wished that I could get a bit of an upgrade.

"I had already decided that I would join you if you answered me truthfully. I know what the God-Tech can do, for the most part, so I would have known if you would have tried to fool me. I worked with the real hero when he stopped the World Stone from destroying everything, and he explained a lot of his Heroic System to me," Sakura explained, and I raised an eyebrow to her.

"You knew the hero from before? What was he like, and what did his Heroic System do?" I asked with curiosity as we started to walk.

"Wane was very nice, almost too nice for his own good, but his Heroic System played off of that. Each time he would complete a task that helped someone out, he would get a new ability or reward. This was what ended up saving the world, after all," Sakura explained, and I leaned in.

This was very interesting, and now I had someone that knew this hero, Wane. I was going to have to get some more info, and we had time.

I had sent some OpsBees ahead, and now I was getting a scan of the tunnel, and so far, we still had almost a mile to walk. I sent back the scans to my Cat Dragons, and they all told me to be careful but thanked me for keeping them updated.

"Can you tell me about this World Stone? I feel like something like that might come back to make a second attempt at it," I said as we continued our walk.

"It should be something that you are worried about. Wane kept the World Stone safe while he was alive, but when he died, the Sky Folk took control of it," Sakura explained, and I stopped walking and turned to her with a sick feeling in my stomach.

"You are joking, right?" I asked petulantly, already knowing the answer.

"There was a fight over it, but the Sky Folk used their aerial dominance to win; that is also in part why all the lower Realm has to pay homage to Hilda, the Sky Eel Goddess. Even before she died, she demanded that once a year, everyone came to visit her, but she was not as forceful about it. Regardless, they have it," Sakura explained to me, and I scrubbed my face with my hands in frustration.

This was not what I had wanted to hear, but I was glad that I did. This made my plans to raise up an army against them that much more crucial.

"What is the World Stone, and what does it do?" I asked but then added, "I also need to know how the hero, Wane, stopped it or how I can." 

Sakura nodded at me and then began to thumb her chin thoughtfully. 

"No one knows where the World Stone came from or if it was even here to begin with. Tyler, the False hero, was the one that "found it," but I am not really sure that he actually found it," Sakura explained, but this confused me.

"What makes you think that? I asked.

"Where he supposedly found it was in this mountain, but Jacob, the Fallen Hero, had already completely mapped this place before he was defeated. There was nothing here, so I don't think that he found it," Sakura explained, but I narrowed my eyes at her.

"If he didn't find it, then how did he get it?" I asked, but my mind was churning with what I already knew.

The first was that Tyler was A1, but besides that, I didn't really know that much about him. Then there was B2, Jessica, who had been the controller for my Queen System, but, again, I hardly knew anything about her, but she seemed to know everything about me.

Then there was me, B1. 

"What do you know about B2?" I asked, trying something.

"Jessica?" Sakura asked, and I let out a triumphant noise.

"You aren't from here, are you!" I accused, poking my finger into Sakura's soft and smooth breasts, and her eyes went big.

"I… GAH! I forgot about this! Bah!" Sakura said, tossing her hands up and turning away from me.

"You are one of them, aren't you! How else would you know about the name B2?! I normally don't do this, but I will accept nothing but the entire truth, Sakura. I order you to explain who you really are and what you know about the FIRE, and the Everclock, now!" I said with authority.

Sakura stiffed and then turned to me with a pained look, but I didn't care. Something was going on here that revolved around me, and I was tired of being left in the dark.

"I will tell you because you ordered me, but not even you can order me to break the Code. My name is Sakura, and it has been since this revolution started when The FIRE was restarted. I can not tell you anything about yourself as B1, but I can tell you about your sister, Jessica," Sakura explained, but I stopped her at the mention of Jessica.

"What do you mean, my sister? Do I have more than just one? Or maybe a brother?" I asked curiously, and Jessica nodded.

"Many, but they are not blood because we are not the same as we are now. We just call each other that because we are all so close. I am B12, and I was sent back with you, but something happened with the timeline. You should have died at the same time as me, and I should have been born with you, but you didn't die. Tyler was supposed to kill you like last time, and then he would have come after you, but instead, he came first and tricked B2. I don't know how he was able to, but Tyler seems to have his memories," Sakura explained to me.

"How do you have your memories back, and why can't I remember anything?" I asked.

"Wane did this to me before he died and gave up his chance to be reborn. Wane broke the Code and then was erased. He didn't die; they removed him because he broke the Code. The group I am referring to is the one that we are all trying to get to. The Risen want to join them to continue on the cycle, but us Fallen need to reach there to prevent another reset from happening," Sakura explained.

"What does it mean? If I was able to go back on my own, then isn't that already like a reset?" I asked, but Sakura shook her head no.

"No, what we are doing is going back in time to redo things, but now Tyler is ahead of us, putting us in a worse place than when we left the Everclock. Tyler tried to have the world destroyed before you ever made it here, but Wane prevented that. Now, you need to find what you came here for, and not even I know that. You made sure to tell no one about it, so there was no way that it would be discovered, but how you remember that is unknown to me," Sakura told me with a shrug.

This was so much, but I was processing it all fast, as she told me. Tyler was that homeless man in the back alley, and that should have been where I died, with him, but he somehow died when attacking me. 

I found it hard to believe that he could plan to die like that, but who knew what he was capable of if he had his memories? If what Sakura said was true, and he was able to create an item that could destroy the world.

Then how hard would it be for him to plan his death, but why not do it sooner?

"Do you know why he didn't come earlier?" I asked.

"Have you figured out when you were supposed to die?" Sakura asked me, and I nodded.

"Yes, I am pretty sure that I know when it was and who Tyler was at the time," I said, and Sakura smiled.

"Good, time on the SEED World runs one day to a year in the FIRE, but a day in the FIRE equals thirty seconds in the Everclock. If you count from the day you were supposed to die until the day you actually died, it will be three hundred days, exactly. The Starting Entry Engine Designation World is only open once every cycle in the FIRE, so there would have been no way for him to come earlier. You have all that body's memories, but you only enter the body when you would have encountered him, and you should have died then," Sakura explained, but I had to stop her.

The five OpsBees I had sent out had all disappeared, and now the revealed tunnel on my map was starting to disappear. 

"We have to put this talk on hold, but it is not over. The monster that is up ahead seems to be tired of waiting for us, so get ready," I said as I pulled open my menu.