The Scattered Archives

Event date: Unspecified, but around ~1000.

"AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHH!" The warrior let out a terrifying and blood-curdling scream as he lost control of the sword he was wielding. He struggled to keep control of its power during this mission, and had to focus all of his willpower on exerting control over the weapon and its power, but as he got caught off-guard by an ambush, the power of the weapon went out of control and turned against him! His eyes looked like they were replaced by orbs of light.

One of his teammates rushed towards him, but was stopped by another.

"It's too powerful. If you were to try to save him, it wouldn't be enough." The other teammate said with a pause. "You'd get hurt, and you'd also be drained of your soul. Any of us would if we tried."

The two of them and the rest of their team could only look in horror, continue the rest of their mission, and then grieve and report their loss when they returned to their hideout.

The Cursed Demon Blade Algol had many previous wielders, and most of them met the same fate as this unfortunate wielder. One of the most powerful magical weapons. Its power surges through the user, and is easy for anyone to wield without initiation, and allows the wielder to hit ghosts as well as cut peoples' souls from their bodies, but there's a catch. The former wielders that lost control of this blade's power had their souls drained... Each victim makes this cursed blade more powerful, but more difficult for its wielders to keep control of its power. Its current wielder is immune to this, much to its dismay.

Event date: 1873

"At least try to look less like annoyance has overtaken you! Our Majesty graces us with our presence, and she's expecting your best!" The photographer scolded at his subject. Avogadro just looked more annoyed. The line between boredom and annoyance was thin, but boredom was more acceptable, as photography, even for the aristocrats and royals, was an expensive and somber occasion.

Avogadro looked back at the photographer, who only got more annoyed. "We're going to have to redo this!" While the photo was being developed, and he knew he'd have to stay another 10 minutes for the redo, he thought about his situation. It was 1873. He recently turned 18 and enlisted in the royal military police, but enlisting wasn't his idea. "It'd be good for our family." His parents had told him. Memories of the arguments he had with his family...

He shifted his thoughts to the nights he spent in solitude in his house's spacious basement, surrounded by books about machinery and magic, and the contraptions that he was designing. He wanted to be an inventor and researcher.

He looked down at his uniform, and looked dismayed. Not that it mattered, because the photo that was being taken was going to be thrown out, and he was going to start over. He glanced at the two women standing by the photographer; his mother who was dressed in her finest afternoon dress, and beside her was the queen, who looked at him with piercing blue-green eyes.

"You'd make a fine suitor to Mildred. I hear you inherited your parents' talents for combat, so you should rise most quickly in the ranks!" The queen cheerfully said to him. Her reassurance made him more nervous. She showed him a photo of her eldest daughter.

"You should be a good match for her. She rejected each of her suitors." She added.

He was too scared to disagree, and nodded along. He was an aristocrat, but not a royal. The photo showed a stern woman of about 21 years of age. It was sepia-toned, but the woman in the photo had dark green hair with a short fringe above her eyebrows. Her hair was long, but tied back in a ponytail, and she was also wearing a royal military police uniform with extra insignia that indicated she was a few ranks higher than him.

Event date: 1875

It was another long day at the crafting table in the workshop but Avogadro didn't mind. It was exactly what he wanted anyways. The workshop in the basement of his family's estate was his refuge from his obligations and where he could do what he wanted.

A brass lamp illuminated the middle of the table. Brass and steel tools lied strewn around the pocketwatch he had on the table. Avogadro picked up the pocketwatch and gave it one last look for the night.

On its surface, it looked plain. He pressed the button on the top, and the lid of the pocketwatch opened, revealing that its inner mechanisms weren't used to keep track of the time, but had another purpose. The panel inside showed some of the gears, which surrounded a larger gear-shaped crystal. It was glowing, but steadily and not too brightly, and the pocketwatch didn't feel hot to the touch. These were good signs. Avogadro was cautiously optimistic that he found a winning formula to concentrate a lot of magic into it without it breaking down!

He put the pocket watch back in a lockable desk compartment that contained amulets that absorb excess magical energy. He placed the pocketwatch between the amulets, closed the desk compartment, locked it and took his key with him.

"This should be the safest way to handle it, in case its power spikes." He thought, looking back on an earlier experiment! Will this latest experiment continue to work?

Avogadro was excited to see if it would, but frustrated. The clock on the wall showed that he stayed up a bit later than he should have, and he dreaded having to continue his training with the military the next morning. In the afternoon, he'd also have to meet with other nobles for a diplomatic event, and then at night would he off-duty and allowed to check back on his experiment!

Event date: 1876

Avogadro held his latest completed pocketwatch prototype in his hand. The precision tools he used to put each piece into place lay scattered on the top of the desk. There wasn't daylight just yet. He stayed up late into the night and early into the morning to work on this, disregarding that he would need to do drills and a patrol session around the family estate around noon. The late night was one of the only times of the day he had time to himself, free from his obligations to his family and their peers. Still, he had his uniform on for what he knew would be ahead.

His hand trembled slightly when held it; he hesitated and thought of all of the possible outcomes. "It's now or never!" He thought, snapping himself out of his hesitation. He channeled his intent and an incantation when he pressed the button on the pocketwatch; it levitated into the air in front of him and the gear-shaped crystal in the round window in the center brightly glowed. This was the moment of truth; will this work or will this explode like four of his unsuccessful attempts? He had to be hospitalized on that third attempt that left burns, shrapnel injuries and collateral damage a year before. That almost spelt an end to this project and he had to continue it in secrecy from his disapproving family!

"I could tolerate these silly projects of yours until now..." His father said during part of a furious lecture in front of most of the immediate and extended family. Avogadro's hands were still bandaged so he couldn't salute, but when his father was finished with his lecture, Avogadro groveled "Yes father, I will not do those foolish experiments again! I will honor the rules and code of the Gagliardi family!" He sounded stern and spoke with conviction when he said this, but he was hiding how dejected he felt while the judging looks from most of his family were directed at him. They silently and sternly nodded in agreement with his statement, even his cousins that were several years younger than him.

He gave up the project for a few months before he was willing to try again. What changed his mind? Leaving this project incomplete bothered him and it became too difficult to ignore, but he also had words of encouragement from a relative that he considered a friend. The words of encouragement were given in a secluded area in the courtyard where they were sure no one was within earshot, least of all his older brother Galvani and their parents!

The last failed experiment that caused the pocketwatch to explode was small, didn't cause any other damage or injuries, and avoided any detection by anyone else, but the fear of another failed attempt and its consequences put him immensely on edge. Everything he worked for and was passionate for rode on the outcome of this experiment! His future rode on it too. He felt guilt for lying when he resumed his experiments, but the consequences of failure if he got caught would be exile! The Gagliardi family code prohibited helping exiles or defectors. His peers would all refuse to help a disgraced noble.

He focused on the present moment again. Streams of glowing magical energy radiated from the pocketwatch and circled around him. The pocketwatch became encased in light and started to change its form too. He noticed his outfit start to change; the grayish-green of his uniform turned into a brighter shade with the addition of some red pieces of trim. His jacket lengthened, and the white ascot of his uniform was replaced with a red tie that had an oval-shaped metal pin on it; the light blue and gray robe under his jacket was replaced by a white dress shirt and dark gray pants that had several pouches and pockets on it. His boots that were dark gray with light blue straps turned white with green straps.

The pocketwatch levitated above him and his outfit changed, the pocketwatch transformed into a metallic hammer that had a mechanical look to it. It was mostly a metallic gray with green panels and brass pipes. On the middle of the front and back of the hammer head was a star-shaped panel that was framed by brass with rivets on each inner point. The inside of the panel glowed! He looked into the panel and observed that the crystal inside the pocketwatch kept its form but was powering this larger form. A panel of lights along the shaft partially lit up. When he held the handle and focused his thoughts on casting a spell, the crystal glowed a bit more. Something was happening. This was a success so far!

He carefully focused his thoughts, magical energy of his own and that in the crystal to create a small burst of magic in front of him.

"I have to do this just right. I can't let them know." He nervously thought. These thoughts detracted from his focus and he could feel the magical energy he was trying to channel dissipate, but these thoughts were necessary. This wasn't the time and place for an extravagant demonstration. Not during this time of the day, and certainly not within the family estate!

Carefully, quietly, a tiny fiery green burst of magic flashed a few inches away from the front of his weapon. He channeled a bit more energy and intent into it to make the flame grow and to sustain it for several more seconds. The flame started to flicker in hues of green, yellow and blue with smaller star-shaped bursts. "This could be the start of something new; a new class of mage!" He thought, trying to contain his excitement. Channeling a little less, the flame diminished to its initial size and color, and after a few more moments it dissipated when he stopped channeling any energy and any intent into it.

He put down the hammer and started writing down his observations into a small notebook. Several pages in it were notes about the steps he tried and the outcomes of each experiment. "Success!" He wrote down about his latest experiment. He sketched what the hammer looked like and what his outfit changed to, and wrote down notes about how he created his first spell. As he wrote, his excitement over his success started to turn to worry.

The power meter lights on the hammer dimmed slightly from the spell he cast. This magical weapon needed more magical energy to keep running before it ran out, which was a very concerning drawback. He'd have to figure out if he could use his own power as a mage to provide that extra power, or if he needed to find more of those crystals to power it. There looked to be a hatch on the hammer that opened up. "An external source may be needed to fuel the weapon before it runs out of power." He wrote down in his notes.

His family had a small stockpile of them since the crystals are used in classical mage arts, then just called the "mage arts", for bursts of power, but the stockpile became small enough that if he swiped a few more to test his new weapon, the shrinking size of the stockpile would likely be noticed! This was risky but faster than trying to find them on his own. He had to swipe several for his previous experiments, and his nicer relatives gave him a few. If any were taken during this time of the day when no one else is up, he'd be assumed to be the most likely culprit since no thief from the outside has gotten past their security!

He quickly picked up the circular handheld mirror on his desk and held it up to his face; his appearance also changed and not just his outfit! He looked nervous when he saw that his hair was down to his shoulders, and his eyes turned from purple to red; the change to his eye color was the most terrifying because he feared that if someone saw him, they'd think he was a demon who intruded and snuck past security! On his head he had a green top hat with goggles. He put the goggles over his eyes, but didn't feel safer when he realized he still needed to hide and revert back to his normal self before anyone saw him!

"If they recognize me, I'm as good as exiled. If they don't, then they and their guards will attack me as an intruder..." He thought and looked around the basement for any potential hiding places or ways to escape while he was in this form. "I should've programmed a cloaking device into this." He regretted.

There were small windows that peeked out just above ground. He opened the curtains to the closest window which also had a wall clock next to it. The clock read 4:30 AM, and the window was locked. He quickly tidied up his desk of all of his tools, put them in the drawer and locked it. When he returned to the window, he opened the latch and it unlocked. Bushes and shrubs mostly blocked the view of the window; they could help him hide, but could also be a hindrance. If they were damaged then the family would investigate!

He looked at his weapon again and looked at each surface for a power switch. Was there one or a phrase he could use to revert his weapon and himself to their normal forms? He opened the hatch to see if anything inside could be removed. The crystal in the center of the star-shaped panels was soldered in, but another smaller crystal slid out into his hand. The lights on the power meter dimmed; some of them turned off but there was still a bit of power. It was time for another experiment.

He stopped channeling any of his own magical energy into the weapon, and silently said phrases to focus on returning to his original form. Just as there were incantations to activate the weapon there was a way he programmed in to switch it and himself to their normal forms! The lights on the power meter all turned off and within a few moments, he was quickly surrounded by streams of light again. His outfit turned back to his uniform, and when he looked in the mirror he saw that his eyes were purple, and his hair was short again, and the top hat and goggles he had disappeared.

This was a relief to him since if any of his family walked down the basement now, nothing would appear too out of the ordinary. The pocketwatch was also back in his hand. He put the crystal and the pocketwatch in the pocket of his jacket and walked to the next room over in the basement; a reading room with a couple of couches, end tables next to them along two of the walls across from each other, and a pair of bookshelves along the opposite wall.

The subject matter of the books on the shelves were a clue that Avogadro wasn't the only person to stop by the basement. Books on history, combat, cooking, and etiquette with some fiction books mixed in. He was the most interested in the fiction books but before he considered picking one up to read, he lied down on one of the couches to contemplate the results of his successful experiment and what they meant for him, and for the world!

He promptly dozed off from his exhaustion from staying up so late and slept for a few hours when the light that peered into the small window above and the sound of loud approaching footsteps woke him up!

"What do you want?" Avogadro grumbled. Galvani walked downstairs and was in front of him with a judgmental expression. He was also in uniform of a higher rank. His uniform showed that he was a sergeant.

"That's no way to talk to your superior. The nerve of you, a cadet who has never been promoted, and a cadet I supervise." Galvani grumbled back. "Not this again." Avogadro thought to himself. They briefly had a civil conversation over a book series they both liked that they saw on the shelf, but it ended when Galvani then lectured Avogadro about how he has about 4 hours to prepare for the drills and the patrols.

Galvani soon walked away and back upstairs, but Avogadro was still feeling frustrated. He knew he was unprepared and being lectured about it didn't help! They could've kept at the more civil conversation they had! Avogadro sat with these thoughts for a few minutes before he went back to his desk to write down his earlier thoughts about the results of his experiment while they were still fresh enough in his mind.

"The magical device I created gave me a new form when it was activated. The spell I cast from it felt like one that did not come from my own power so I infer this device and magical weapon could be wielded by anyone. It does not require the wielder to possess any inherent magical ability. I would have to be careful this does not fall into the wrong hands, but this is a wonderful breakthrough! Humans with noble goals and character could be initiated and wield this without the bureaucracy of the Magestablishment! The playing field can become level!"

"There have been humans who I believe would be worthy were rejected from initiation by instructors merely by not scoring well enough on the tests even when the instructors said that these humans had the potential, but the point of the instructors is to help cultivate that potential! These humans feel more worthy of being mages than my family and our peers, many of whom flaunt their power without any pretense of duty. My family has a code and tradition of duty, but who and what do these truly serve? Among the worst of my peers are the charlatans who took advantage of the rural human villages during years of droughts and floods! These mages cared more about harvesting money and appearing heroic to their peers and reporters when they were lying about helping. I feel ashamed that I believed them as a child, but I was stuck only seeing their perspectives for so long."

"Some of these mages may have harvested souls, though that is still an urban legend of uncertain veracity. If this legend is true, I believe these mages would look down on demons who do the same! At least the false heroes got their desserts in the Farmer Revolution of 1872; another year of drought and they were arriving in the villages. Humans equipped with iron tools banded together across villages and successfully drove the false heroes out to bilk no more money and offer no more false hope!"

These were some of the notes that Avogadro wrote down in his notebook about his magical experiments. He wrote down how to revert the pocketwatch and the wielder back to their normal forms, but left out the steps to activate it in case it fell into the wrong hands. There were other details he also kept in his head because writing them down felt too risky.

He thought about how he needed to find other people who agreed with his goals and accepted the risks that came with them. How he would craft more of these magical devices, set up an initiation process and training regiment. The irony of being a cadet in his own training was not lost on him, but he considered a different strategy for any group he were to lead. He wanted a different strategy and vowed to be unlike his own instructors! Another rule he had for himself is that while he was in his other mage form, he'd only use the powers that his device granted him except as a last resort to save his or others' lives.

Humans were his top priority to recruit, but he'd accept any mage that shared his goals. He envisioned that everyone would have something to contribute and pragmatically thought about what he could help with, and the help that he'd need; he planned for his first recruit to be someone who owns a workshop so they can work together in the safety of it. Designers would also be sought out to refine the crafting of the devices, but having a place away from his family for this had to come first!

"Bye bye, Academy!" Aurora sarcastically said and waved when she walked out of the Academy for Time Travel front door.

It was a long time coming, but it happened. She enthusiastically followed the rules and official philosophy of the Academy for her first few years there; research, but don't intervene unless a student successfully jumps through a lot of bureaucratic hoops to get approval. With approval, there are still a lot of strict rules to follow.

Bureaucracy is woven into the culture of the Academy, but the rules and official philosophy sound reasonable. One of the first lessons Aurora and all other time travelers are taught is that changing the past will change the future, and there's always a risk of unintended consequences, and the most reaching effect everyone! Some consequences can change the course of history for the worse, but if there's no damage to the space-time continuum itself, the Academy's highest-ranked staff members and their supervisors, the Magic Gatekeepers have the power to reverse the damaging changes.

The most extreme are incidents that damage the integrity of the space-time continuum; they can't be reversed easily, if at all! Severe consequences from time travel would get a student in trouble with the Academy; detention, probation, or expulsion and a removal of a student's powers. The most extreme that threaten the space-time continuum itself would also put them in trouble with the Magic Gatekeepers, feared as the enforcers of the highest cosmic court!

Aurora looked back at the front of the Academy, which was by then in the distance, but just close enough that its butterfly emblem was still recognizable to her. She thought back to how she used to be, and to her 5th year when she started to question the official philosophy. It wasn't over one event, but several. "Why didn't anyone go back to stop this?" and "Couldn't a mission have been approved to change this?" She sometimes thought in class. Her frustration started to grow because the answers the teachers gave didn't feel helpful, and when another student asked this question instead of her, they were also given unhelpful answers.

"Do you want to get in trouble with the headmaster and our supervisors?" Some teachers answered. They were assuming the worst. Remembering this frustrated Aurora as she thought about how didn't feel like she could continue an argument after a teacher or classmate used that question as an answer. Were they expecting her to continue the argument, or was this a thought-terminating cliché that developed within the Academy to steer students and staff back to the official stance? Aurora could never feel certain, and tried to put that aside.

She thought about the event that changed everything. The one that was the final straw that would shake her views once and for all! In her 7th year, she was taught about the assassination and overthrow of the S.O.C's royal family in 1884, and the short but brutal rule of the Minions of Nemesis. They ran the country to the ground in pursuit of the sealed away magic weapon that they sought, but they were thwarted by one of their own recruits! "How did she do it?" Aurora thought. She eagerly read ahead in class, and sought out the full biographies of this rogue recruit.

As Aurora read more, she wanted to meet her. "This human became a witch and joined them in desperation, and climbed the ranks for the perfect opportunity to overthrow the leadership at any cost... She changed the course of history, but could've achieved even more greatness without a terrible cost to herself if the situation had been different." She thought wistfully. Some of the details she read brought tears to her eyes. These thoughts sparked the beginning of a plan, but she needed more clues for how it could work...

It took her two more years of study, and a lot of negotiation with the Academy's Research and Mission department to get approvals to go back to 1881 and to 1884 shortly before the Minions of Nemesis would take over. She kept her explanation simple "Going back to these times would let us examine more of the civil unrest that was brewing. Although the monarchy was despised, stopping the Minions of Nemesis from overthrowing them will spare so many lives, promote peace, and spare large swaths of the landscape from degradation." The heads of the department nodded, mostly convinced, but requested that she presented the risks of unintended consequences and her mitigation efforts. She diligently presented it to them, and her mission was ready as a 9th year student!

Little did they know, she'd overstay and didn't plan to return any time soon!

"My only regret is that you couldn't join me..." She wistfully thought, looking back at the Academy again. She held back tears and thought about the friends she still had there, and the one who dropped out. Only if she could've taken them with and helped the friend who dropped out to experience the full potential of time travel. Grief was visible on her face for a few moments and she stood there for several more before she took a deep breath. She looked stern and determined, and turned her back to to the Academy.

"I hope we can meet again, but there's no turning back now. This research was years in the making. When we meet again, it will be in a better timeline." She quietly said and walking towards the sunrise illuminating the path ahead!