Relentless

Chapter 64

It's all my fault, he thought. I should have seen the signs sooner but I was blind and Enzo has to pay for my mistake with his life.

Peter had no choice. He has to travel back to when Lydia first infested their camp: the night Enzo returned to base with Ashton's location. And he has to kill him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Enzo before he took a step back from Celeste through a portal.

He was back to that day. He and Celeste were in the middle of training and a kiss when Enzo arrived. He decided to stop Enzo before he even got the chance to be on base so Lydia couldn't possess anyone.

He watched from the trees until Enzo arrived. He stopped and watched them as they kissed. Peter knew that Enzo had seen them but watching them kiss himself made him blush.

He was about to tackle before he even had the chance to interrupt them but he was stopped by a snapping sound behind him. He jumped and spun around.

It was Skylar. That's right she was also watching from the woods that day, Peter concluded. Wait, Sklar. It just hit him that he was looking at a dead girl.

It wasn't until he heard Enzo's voice that he realized he made a mistake and he missed his chance. Peter jumped out of the woods, he wiped his dagger out. He stabbed his best friend in the stomach, tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, brother." He whispered.

Enzo's eyes grew wide and Lydia's reflection faded from his eyes. She let him go. At least he'll be able to die as himself, Peter sighed.

He gasped as his chest began to seize and golden sparks began to dance across his skin. He faced his past self and the same thing was happening to him.

"No, not yet! It's too soon! Too soon!" he made out between gasps. When he travels back to his own timeline, his body becomes unstable. He just traveled back in his own timeline twice. He needs to go to the Time Core in order to stabilize himself and merge with his past self but he doesn't have the time to do that now. Saving celeste is the priority.

"What's happening?"

Peter expected it to come from Celeste but instead it was Enzo who spoke. He laid on the ground bleeding out, the original Peter standing over him.

"What?" He asked. The other Peter only pointed to Celeste.

"You weren't listening." Lydia said through her borrowed voice. "Once I activate a seed they can't be erased by time. Celeste retained my impression through her memories."

"They can be erased if she doesn't remember the one who passed the seed to her." Enzo said as one last act of retaliation. He reached his hand out and grabbed her ankle and erased her memory with the last of his strength.

Celeste tried to kick free of his grip but he held on. His eyes closed in concentration. He meant to only erase Enzo from her memories but he instead erased all of her memories containing him and a few more. The memories around their meetings and interactions would be blurred. She probably won't even remember any of today, he figured, but it was the best I could do.

Celeste collapsed, her mind feeling scrambled.

"I tried my best but I might have taken a few extra memories." Enzo began to cough up blood. "But she's safe."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Peter stammered, holding his friend's hand. He felt the strength in his grip failing.

"It's okay. I forgive you. Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself."