Paradox Interluder (Usurper #2)

1.

Time. She used to hate it.

With every passing month, time had withered her memory. She could hardly close her eyes anymore and envision her mother. The best memory of her was looking in the mirror and seeing a near perfect image of herself and her now radiating red hair. Her last memory of her father was a mere drunken sleep. The only thing she had remembered was a sharp gasp for air, air that Jessamine Kruzika herself had removed from his very lungs. She could barely remember her brother. Time had taken away the imagination of what he could look like presently. Time had removed all hope for her family.

Yet time had given so much hope for herself.

It had been over two years since the Time Paradox. That's what the Continent had decided to name the atrocity forever to be notated in the history books, the reversal of exactly twenty-four minutes. Ironic number, twenty-four. Religious figures believed twenty-four to be a symbol of religious prowess and perfect foundation. Harmony. Others believed it must have more to do with time, as there were a perfect twenty four hours within a day. So much speculation, so much fear, so much destruction.

So much love.

The Time Paradox had been an act of love. It was the flutter of the heart, a once in a lifetime experience so few were chosen to experience. And Jessamine of all people, felt most fortunate to have suffered its poisonous kiss. Most of the population didn't see it as such. The blight of time had created chaos and most of all fear. It was common knowledge most people feared what they didn't understand. And the Continent was not ready to understand. They saw the Time Paradox as a catastrophe, not realizing its mere existence had prevented an even greater calamity.

Some truths were made certain, much against Jessamine's will. Kaid Al-Yami had been the perpetrator of the Time Paradox. Lungor made certain in all their literature, journals, and empirical gossip that someone would have to be blamed. Emperor Bashir showed no ounce of remorse in denouncing his name, a name he once tried to sweep under the rug with a lifetime of imprisonment. Yet still, the Paradox had become almost a blessing in disguise for Lungor, as its amazement silenced the never growing Caladin scandal. Hardly anyone had cared about escaped prisoners, or the faux story of a prison riot gone wrong. It didn't affect the normal population, but a reversal of twenty-four minutes certainly did.

While love was a healing agent, Kaid's actions certainly fragmented the Continent, an unintentional consequence. His reversal of time went against the laws of nature, and the earth certainly didn't know how to comprehend it. Twenty-four minutes was enough to mess with the science of the tides, the moon too far out of place, the sun just a bit wrong. The oceans grew stronger, the weather disjointed, causing hurricanes and floods. Vitross lost half its harbor. Skale lost a tenth of agricultural production due to the floods. Arilla had been constantly bombarded with blizzards and avalanches. Lungor had earthquakes lasting minutes, collapsing mines or rocking the foundations of their fortresses. Oddly enough, the only place that seemed to flourish from such was Uhkhtar. The desert grew with greenery, water returning to rivers, a new civilization sprouting up from the ruins.

But, after two years, the world had seemed to heal. The wounds created with Kaid's existence were only now jagged scars that held no ounce of pain. There were no more eclipses, no more fear the stars themselves would crash into the atmosphere and bring about an apocalypse sure to happen. No. Kaid had stopped an apocalypse, nearly at the cost of his life.

"The Council is ready, Lady Jessamine," a soft voice arose, Jessamine lifted from her thoughts as she glanced over at her assistant.

Kassandra had a new glow about her, a confidence borne from this struggle of the past two years. It was a struggle everyone seemed to grow from, a uniting force that Vitross used in a decision to band together, to become a stronger Empire and most of all, a compassionate community. Kassandra may also just be in a more glowing mood because of the new engagement ring nestled comfortably around her finger.