A Flutter in Time

Chapter 1 - Blast from the Past

Etho looked at the crumpled slip of paper in his hands before looking back at the tattered door in the alleyway. His fox ears flattened against his head as he nervously stared at it. Well, this is the address. It's now or never. He cautiously walked up the step and knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again and waited. He could hear a slight buzzing inside. Then there was a voice beyond the door.

"Busy. Come back later." Etho shifted on his feet, still staring at the door.

"Uhh... Doc? It's Etho." There was a pause.

"Oh E! I'm a bit preoccupied. Let yourself in! Door's unlocked." Etho took a breath and slowly pushed inside the lab. He had never actually seen the lab, only heard about it. And he was enthralled at the sight. Gadgets and redstone were scattered across the room. Tubes crawled up the walls. And at the back of the small space was Doc, twisted up under a machine tinkering with it. He pulled himself away from it and walked over to where Etho was standing.

"Just the man I wanted to see! Step into my office." Doc mimed opening a door before leading Etho to a set of chairs in the corner.

"Dang Doc I knew you were a mad scientist but this is just bonkers." The creeper hybrid chuckled.

"Eh, side hobby. Now let's get straight to business. You said you had something important to tell me?" Etho nodded and adjusted his mask.

"Doc, yesterday something happened... something bad." Doc tilted his head questioningly, willing Etho to go on.

"I... I coughed up a petal." Doc's eyes grew wide.

"No. No no no not you too. I am not going through this again. Who is it? Because I swear to void Etho if you don't tell the person you love them right away I'm gonna-"

"It's Bdubs." Doc stopped, horror filling his face. Under any other circumstances, Etho being madly in love with Bdubs would've been amazing. But this time, it was grim and could only end in pain. Not because Bdubs wouldn't love Etho back, no no no. Bdubs loved Etho! But that was the problem.

Bdubs loved Etho enough to contract hanahaki himself. He died last year. Bdubs wasn't alive to reciprocate the feelings.

"Etho I-"

"I know Doc. I know." Etho looked sadly at his feet. He had to get the procedure done to get the flowers out of his lungs, but that meant he couldn't love ever again.

"When are you gonna, you know?"

"Whenever the flowers get painful enough. I talked to stress and she said I had about a month to live if I didn't get the surgery." Doc cringed. This could have all been avoided if Bdubs had just listened to Doc and told Etho how he felt. Now, because of stupidity and love, Bdubs was dead and Etho was dying.

"Doc... don't look at me like that..."

"Like wha-"

"Like I'm a kitten left on the side of the road. I'm gonna be fine. I don't need your pity." Doc sighed. He knew Etho was capable of handling this on his own, but some part of him felt very wrong just letting Etho go through with it. Life had never been kind to him and now having to lose the ability to love? Doc couldn't let that happen. There had to be another way.

Doc stood and walked back to the invention he had been previously tinkering with.

"Doc don't walk away please. This is importa-"

"No Etho. You already lost the person you loved once. I'm not letting you lose the ability to love anyone else. You deserve love Etho."

"If there was another way you know i would have done it already. The only other way is to die!"

"Then I'll find another way."

"Wha-"

"You heard me." Etho stood and walked over to Doc. Doc pressed a few buttons and flicked a few levers on the machine. It whirred to life, sparking neon blue lights. The white walls of the small pod glowed.

"What is this?" Doc smiled.

"This is my baby. I've been working on her for years. With some help from Grian of course."

"What does it... do?"

"This, my friend, is a time machine." Etho's jaw dropped.

"Wha- how did yo- HUH?"

"Now I've only done a few tests, but it's functional. You can't exactly choose the time you travel back to, but you can get within a close range of the time you want to go to. It can also safely come home as long as you remember where it is."

"Doc... you're a mad man."

"Thank you!" Etho ran his fingers along the smooth quartz walls.

"This is cool and all, but how is this supposed to help me?" Doc chuckled sadly.

"I... don't know if it will. But if you go back to when Bdubs was alive and tell him you love him, maybe it can save you? Maybe it can even save both of you!" Etho looked conflicted. Yes, he wanted Bdubs to be alive still. And yes, he wanted to be cured of his hanahaki. But at the same time, messing with the past could be dangerous.

"I don't know Doc... seems a little sketchy. What if I mess something up in the present while I'm in the past?"

"It'll be fine Etho. All you gotta do is get Bdubs to say he loves you! Easy peasy."

"And if I can't?" Doc smiled sadly.

"Then you come back here and tell me you love me like a brother before you go get the procedure done." Etho contemplated the options. He could stay and let fate end love, or he could go and possibly bring back his lover from the dead. When weighed side by side, the choice was obvious.

"I'll do it." Doc smiled and set the machine's clock.

"Alright. The closest time I can send you is 3 years ago right before You met Bdubs. Your best course of action might be to find past you and warn him of the future. Do it discreetly though, the butterfly effect can be brutal. I've only ever gone back to times before I was born so I don't know what will happen if you run into people you know now. Keep your head down, don't talk to anyone, don't mess with anything. Oh! And I'm guessing you'll land in past Doc's lab. Tell him his time travel works and his future self says hi. Got it?"

"Got it." Etho didn't fully actually get it, but he understood enough. Don't cause problems, Avoid talking to people other than his past self and past Doc as much as he can.

"Stress told you you have a month to live you said?"

"Yeah, but she said the hanahaki will get almost unbearable in 2 weeks."

"Ok. Then that's your time frame. 2 weeks in the past. Once your time is up, return to the lab and get in the time machine. Flick the lever to the left, press the button on top of the door, and you should come back here. Hopefully when you come back your hanahaki will be cured." Etho took a deep breath. This was really happening. He was going back in time.

"You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Etho cautiously stepped into the quartz pod, his fox tail swishing eagerly behind him. Doc pulled a few levers and Etho was officially locked inside.

"Last chance, are you sure you want to do this?" Etho smiled.

"I've got nothing to lose."

"See you in 2 weeks Etho, good luck." The machine buzzed with life, lights flashing, floor shaking. Etho felt nauseous. His vision clouded. It was so loud! Everything was moving and shaking!

And then it was still and quiet.

Etho's vision returned. He carefully pressed the button to open the door to the pod. The iron door clicked open and white fog rolled out of it. He stepped out into what seemed to be an older version of the lab and came face to face with a very surprised looking creeper hybrid. Etho chuckled.

"E-Etho?"

"Hi Doc! Congratulations! You invented time travel!"

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This is the start of a very crazy, fun, angsty, happy, sad, enticing, exciting fanfic. You have been warned :)

(1361 words)