The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 2 - Introductions... sort of

           What in the world was going on?! Joey had been in his jungle empire one second, ready to put on Xornoth's crown, and the next second he was somewhere... else. He didn't know where. But he knew someone had to be blamed for this. He fiercely gripped his sword and held it at the ready, glaring around. That's when he noticed that there were twenty four other people there with him. Eleven he knew, they were his fellow emperors and empresses, but the other thirteen were unfamiliar. There was a short cowboy, a pirate, a crazily tall man dressed up in a toga, a goblin, a witch- They were all so strange. One even appeared to be a humanoid cat that reminded him of his cat people, then that just reminded him that he had lost his empire. 

           "What's the meaning of this?!" He demanded, holding his sword out even further, preparing to swing. Those closest to him backed away, and the thirteen unfamiliar people jumped backward, surprised. Wait, not unfamiliar. The pirate looked just like him. That was weird... 

           In shock, the witch fumbled out a splash potion and threw it at them. A second later Joey could feel himself weakening. "How dare you hit me with a weakness potion!" Joey roared, moving towards her. The witch gulped and held out her wand, shaking but ready. A girl in a pink dress stepped in front of the witch, producing a giant battle ax from somewhere. "Stay away from Shelby!" She said, glaring. All around him, everyone tensed, ready for a fight. Hah! Joey didn't care. He could take them. He swung his sword and metal met metal. "Wait!" A voice that sounded like Sausage protested. He didn't listen. Soon almost everyone was fighting. Potions flew through the air, spells met other spells, weapons flashed, the giant man was even calling down lightning somehow. But before the fight got too serious, everyone stopped moving. 

           But not of their own accord. A bluish energy surrounded them all, keeping them in place and preventing them from fighting more. Actually, on second thought, not all of them. A scarred boy with his staff held out and glowing was still moving normally. He was the one who had cast the spell. 

          "Sausage?!" A couple of people shouted in surprise. Lord Sausage of Mythland, still frozen in place, looked around confusedly. The scarred boy cleared his throat and spoke carefully. "Look, you can't fight each other!" "Why not?!" Joey demanded. "And why should I listen to you, weird man who looks just like Sausage-" then he stopped, thinking about what he had just said. All around him, everyone else was too. They all came to the same conclusion. For whatever reason, almost everyone looked just like someone else from the other party. 

           "Why is there a witch who looks just like me but with white hair?" Shrub pointed out. Sausage chuckled nervously. "Um, that's because you're the same person." Everyone stared. "What?" Sausage explained further. "Uh, look, half of you," he waved at half of them, "are from a thousand years into the past. When they die, they become the rest of you." Everyone looked at each other, still confused. "I'm not doing a very good job of explaining this, am I?" Sausage sighed. Everyone nodded. "Hey, uh, I'll let down the spell that keeps you in place if you all promise to not fight each other." Joey growled under his breath, but he didn't want to stay frozen in place forever. He'd have his revenge later. "Promise," everyone said. Sausage waved his staff and they all were capable of movement again. 

           "Wait, I remember you," Wizard Gem said, staring at the Sausage who had cast the spell. "You're that other Sausage who came from the other timeline that I gave a gem crystal to." "Yeah, the same one! And that crystal's being put to good use, it's in this staff here," Sausage proudly waved his staff. Lord Sausage of Mythland looked at him curiously. "You're not evil Sausage, right?" "Evil who?" A couple people asked. "Uh, explanations later, introductions first," the Sausage who seemed to know everything said. "Pix, you have a history book with you, right?" A figure who looked like Pix dressed up in simple garb and was petting a dodo looked up. "Yes, of course." He pulled a book out of his pocket and passed it to Sausage. Sausage flipped it open, looking for a very specific page. "Found it!" He said triumphantly. Everyone crowded around to look. 

           There was a two-page picture of the twelve emperors, with captions beside them telling their names and what empire they ruled. Joey quickly found himself on the page and enjoyed how it made himself look regal. "So that's us?" Lady Katherine of House Blossom asked tentatively. "Yes, and I knew you looked familiar, but the book says this is a thousand years ago," Pix wrinkled his nose, trying to make sense of what happened. "Well, that is a thousand years ago. These people ruled these lands a thousand years ago. It's just that somehow, through someone's magic, they were teleported into the future, in other words, our present. And we're their future selves that they reincarnate as." Everyone looked at each other again. Ocean Queen Lizzie began to sputter. "Wait, you're saying I reincarnate into a cat?!" "What's wrong with cats?" Mayor Lizzie protested. "Also, you're seafood. And I'm hungry." she looked very, very disturbed at that fact. 

           Wizard Gem looked at the book that she was still holding in her hand. She gave it to Sausage of Sanctuary, saying, "I used a spell from this book to take us here, but I didn't know this would happen." Sausage flipped through it until he found the spell Gem was talking about. His face clouded. "Gem, please say you didn't use this spell." 

           Gem gulped. "I did." Sausage facepalmed. "Ugh, this is old magic, very old magic. I don't think this kind of magic even has a counter-spell anymore. You have to be very specific with what you want this kind of magic to do, because it will follow to the letter and won't let you change anything about it afterward. Now I can't send you all back home!" 

           "But we can't go home, it's kind of... destroyed," fWhip said. Sausage nodded understandingly. "Yes, the Rapture, I know. But you can't stay here. Best I can do is find a counter-spell, if there is any, and then send you all home as soon as possible and wipe everyone's memory that this ever happened." Around him, people began muttering. 

           "Excuse me?! What gives you any ability to wipe our memories?" Joey demanded. "And how do you know so much about what's happening anyway? What gives you this kind of authority?" Everyone looked at Sausage, who took a step backward. "You know, Sausage, he has a point, and I want to know," the giant man who looked like Joel said. Sausage sighed. "Okay, I have multiversal magic, and I can remember all my past lives." Everyone stared. "And I thought I had a dramatic secret," Mayor Lizzie said. "Just when I thought Sausage couldn't get any weirder," a girl who looked like Gem wearing sunglasses said. 

           "But why do you have to erase our memory?" False asked, tense. "Because," Sausage explained, "them being here when they're not supposed to be breaks a lot of the rules of the multiverse. For all I know them being here could erase this whole dimension entirely." No one said another word.