Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 4. The Golden Watch

"You see my watch?" Santa Claus asked as he lifted his wrist, tapping the golden wristwatch.

"Yeah, I'm not blind."

"I know, I know," Santa Claus placated. "You see, this wristwatch can allow you to travel in time and even stop it. Although you have to follow a few rules to use it, it's still the most powerful device that has ever existed in this world."

"Rules? Like what?"

"Well, for example, you cannot go back in time before your birth."

"Why?" Misha scoffed. "It's boring if you can't, get rid of that rule! I wanna visit the Seventies and sing a duet with Elvis! I'm a good singer, ya' know?"

"It sounds exciting, but you can't."

Misha responded with a pout, taking a sip of his hot chocolate—Santa Claus had been refilling his mug as soon as it was empty, making it so that he never ran out.

"Do you know the butterfly effect?"

"Well," Misha frowned, suddenly deep in thought. "I guess it has something to do with a butterfly...?"

"Yes and no. It's the name of a scientific theory. It is said that the smallest occurrence can change the course of history. So, if you go back in time before your birth and what you do changes your own fate, resulting in you never being born, then how can you go back in time in the first place and make those changes? It's a paradox that the device won't allow."

"Oh... And what's the link with the butterfly?"

"Let's not talk about the butterfly."

"Ok," Misha lowered his head to take another sip. If Santa Claus didn't want to talk about butterflies, they wouldn't. They were cute things, though.

Santa Claus continued, "But then, there's still a paradox if you go back in time to change a particular event in your lifetime. If that event never happens, you won't have any reason to go back in time in the first place, and then you won't change it because you can't remember something that did not happen. As a result, you'll resume your life once more, everything going back to the way it was before your intervention. Following which, when that particular event happens again since you did not change it in the end, you'll want to go back in time and repeat the same process, creating an endless circle."

"Gosh, my head hurts. Keep it simple, will you?"

"I'll try," Santa Claus chuckled. "To resolve that problem, when you go back in the past, it's your memories that travel, not your body. The device will protect said memories inside your brain, and they won't be erased even if you change the course of your life. So, you'll remember the first timeline, whatever happens. Also, it cannot transfer the current physical envelope because it cannot exist simultaneously as your younger form. I won't explain why, it's a bit complicated, but in the end, that's another reason why only the memories travel back in time."

Misha's brain shut down.

Seeing his blank expression, Santa Claus added, "In a way, it's like a memory card that you transfer from a computer to another one."

"Then why can't the device do the same if you want to travel back before your birth?"

"And where will your memories go? If you are not born, there's no receptacle available to receive them. It's already hard enough to adapt one's memories into a younger self since the brain did not go through said memories, so let's not talk about doing it with a stranger's brain. The original host's personality and memories would clash with yours, and you would most likely lose your mind."

Misha nibbled the rim of his mug, pondering over the grampa's words. Indeed, it'd be hard to keep his sanity if his memories mingled with another's. It'd turn into a mess, not knowing what was his and what was theirs.