Tales From The Kronos

Sepide was watching Eida work on the car. She didn't really know what the mechanic was doing but still found some peace watching the car being worked on. An hour passed silently until Eida broke the long silence.

"Hey, can you get me the wrench on the table over there?"

Sepide nodded and quickly went to get the tool. She wasn't sure what most of them did, but she recognized the wrench and gave it to the mechanic, still working on the car.

"Thanks." Eida continued working in silence for a few minutes under Sepide's attentive gaze. A bit bothered by the silence, the mechanic decided to talk to her spectator while still focusing on the car "Why didn't you go with your friends? It seems like way more fun than being stuck here."

"We're not really friends, we just work together." Sepide wasn't sure what they were. They knew each other only for a few days and she felt Neige and Silva both had a personality that didn't go well with her own.

"Really? That's a shame. Why aren't you friends?"

"It's not something easy to do, making friends is... Hard and complicated. And it's not necessary."

She couldn't see Eida's, but even without seeing her face, she could feel that she didn't agree.

"It's not that hard, we're friends, aren't we?"

Friend? It was a bit soon for that, Sepide knew her for less than a day, maybe even just a few hours. For her, it was not enough, and besides, they would never meet each other again.

Eida saw that Sepide was hesitating and answered her own question to break the silence.

"For me we are. Of course, we're not as close as we are with our other friends, but aren't we here to help each other?"

"That's... Not what friendship is." Sepide said, confused about Eida's words.

"What's friendship then? Isn't it just being happy together and being here for each other?"

Happy? Was Sepide happy with Neige and Silva? She wasn't having a bad time, but friends? Either way, it wasn't important for her, as her mission came first.

"You know how Neige and I became friends?" Asked Eida. "I was fixing his car, it was the first time he came here. When he saw my necklace with a cross he was surprised, since peoples around here aren't really religious."

Sepide looked at the woman's neck but couldn't see any necklace. She couldn't stop herself from asking,

"Where is your necklace?"

"Neige has it. He's not religious himself, actually quite the opposite, and yet he has a religious symbol, isn't it funny?" The mechanic chuckled lightly at herself before continuing. "I explained that even if no one believes in God, I do. Most people don't accept it and just straight up leave in general, I guess you know that it's kind of a taboo around here. I expected Neige to insult me and leave with his car like the others, but instead, he argued with me about how believing in God is unhealthy and that there was little to no proof of his existence."

"I thought you were friends? Is it really how the first time you met happened?"

"Yeah, it was nice."

Sepide was confused, she didn't understand what was nice about being in an argument but decided to just listen, hoping to understand more.

"For the first time, I was able to talk about it, about what was deep in my heart. I never had any friends, so I never had anyone to talk with aside from God. Even if we didn't agree, it's still a precious memory for me."

Eida seemed lost in her thoughts, even stopping her work to reminisce for a moment. Sepide didn't understand how a friendship could be born from that, weren't friends people you agree with?

"But that didn't make you friends, you just talked together, and you weren't even agreeing."

"That's not what friendship is for me. Friendship is like... a car. You take care of it, it takes care of you. You laugh, you cry, you get mad inside of it. You feel safe, it makes you comfortable to talk about everything. Of course, every friendship is different, but it's how I feel with Neige. And even if no one compares to him, you're still a nice person to be around, so in a way, you're a friend too."

"Feel... Safe?"

She couldn't say that she felt safe with Neige and Silva, but it would be lying to say that they never shared anything. She was with them long enough to see a side of them that most people didn't, and they did see a side of her too. When she thought about how panicked she was, it was kinda embarrassing, and yet she didn't feel bad thinking about it again. Even if she was scared and worried, it was still an important memory. Maybe she understood a bit more what she was saying now. Thinking back, Neige and their leader got into a small argument, but it seemed more friendly than really mean. Friendship sure was complicated for Sepide.

"But we don't need friendship in the end..." Sepide said in an empty tone, but this time with a bit of sadness.

"Well maybe, some people do well without it. But wouldn't you like to be comfortable with someone?" Eida stood up and stopped working on the car for a moment. She looked at Sepide in the eyes and put her finger on her chest, pointing at her heart. "Don't you have something deep inside that you want to share with someone?"

Sepide pushed her arm and put her own hand on her chest, like to defend herself.

"I don't need to share anything with anyone."

"Sure, but don't forget that you're not alone, you have your friends to count on."

Sepide didn't even know why she reacted like that, her heartbeat suddenly got faster and she felt offended for some reason. Maybe she wants to share what's inside of her with someone in the end. But how could she share it if she didn't understand it herself?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Neige and Silva coming back. They both seemed pretty sad for some reason. Sepide ran toward them and took them both in her arms, taking everyone by surprise. She didn't really understand it herself, she was pretty embarrassed actually, but she felt relieved when Neige and Silva gave her embrace back.

The moment lasted for a few minutes until she took a step back and adjusted her hair as if nothing happened.

"Did you... Find your friend?" Sepide tried to ask with her usual monotone voice, but she couldn't repress her feelings and sounded a bit emotional. Neige and Silva noticed her strange behavior but decided to not insist.

"It's a bit complicated, Neige and..."

"Snow." Said Neige, interrupting Silva before she could finish her sentence.

"Oh right, I forgot. So Snow and I found him, but he acted a bit strange. Long story short, he wants to kill us and destroy the world."

"Wha-What?" Sepide couldn't believe what she heard, did their old friend threaten them? It seemed like whoever he was before, he was now an enemy.

"So if we think about it, we have the anomaly, Silv that has Silva's watch, and Kairo with his own watch. And they all can travel to other worlds to cause trouble... We're not getting a break soon." Snow was worried about all the things they had to deal with now, but it didn't matter, since they had to fix the problems of this world for now. Their leader will probably know best anyway.

"I'm sorry." Said shyly Sepide "I don't understand why he is like that now, but it must be hard to lose a friend like that."

"Lose a friend?" Asked Snow. "We're still friends, we just have a different way of seeing the world."

Sepide was really lost now, he wanted to kill them but they were still friends? It was too much for her little brain to handle.

"He's going to be our opponent tomorrow, and he seems ready to do anything. He'll probably even cheat, so we need to be careful."

After saying those words, Snow yawned as if he hadn't slept for ages. It has been a while since they were here, and they needed enough rest for tomorrow. Snow turned toward Eida, and spoke louder so she could hear them.

"Hey, do you know a place where we can sleep?"

Eida looked at him surprised but still answered his question.

"Well, you can sleep in the room there." She said while pointing at a door in the garage "There are blankets there, But are you sure? It's a bit soon."

"It's fine, it was a long day for us. We all need to sleep, thanks for letting us sleep here."

"It's nothing."

The three of them got into the room, which was a mess inside. They were blankets, but no bed or anything like it. Sepide looked around, a bit confused.

"Are we supposed to sleep on the ground?"

"It's fine by me." Answered Neige "I just want to sleep, it has been a long day."

The group lay on the blankets and went to sleep, hoping to regain some energy back. Tomorrow they would need to find a way to make Eida win against Kairo, and it wouldn't be easy. The night and the rain were still here, accompanying them in their sleep.