Chapter 30: September 25th, 1983

Theo made a series of deep breaths as she gripped the crystal in her right hand. Her other hand held Renenutet’s hand to the best of her abilities.

“Focus...” Theo said out loud. “Renenutet, you will watch everything change around you. Stay close to me, and we should appear at the respected timeline. Don’t think about anything else until I tell you to.”

She nodded her head in response.

Rex, as he lay on the ground, watched as a glowing light emitted from the crystal that Theo held. It shined brightly as Theo closed her eyes. She began to chant a few words as Anubis and Kali stepped back.

“Well...” Rex said quietly to himself. “Let’s hope this works ... otherwise, it will suck being on the cold ground staring at the night sky waiting to vomit to death from the radiation ... please ... no rats in my future.”

Theo opened up her eyes as she chanted one word. “Revert.”

The entire scene turned to the negative image of the surrounding environment. The snake goddess said nothing as she observed the whole scene around her. Everything went still as she looked at everything.”

The entire environment began to start moving backward slowly at first as if somebody hit rewind on a tape player. Theo watched as she kept her mind focused. She watched in amazement as everything was moving backward. She felt the surge of energy in her body. She pushed beyond the 15-second mark as seconds were reversing. A minute went back, then two minutes, then five minutes.

Suddenly the scene sped up in reverse as they watched the entire battle take place with Typhon. It was quick as they saw him turn back to his Devil form then his human form. Then he vanished with his group as they turned their heads to look at their group. Before anything else happened, they saw the darkness began to light up again. It was working. They were traveling back in time further than she ever knew.

Time was reversing faster and faster as Theo kept her mind focused. She watched as the morning light turned to dark, then the sun was moving in reverse, going in the opposite direction.

“It’s working...” Theo said with a grin. “We are traveling back ... we are ... ah!” Theo yelped.

Suddenly it seemed as if she was in pain. She felt a surge of pain as it hit her body. The crystal felt like it was burning her hand. The scene began to change rapidly all around her. The snake goddess was gone as the place turned hazy.

“No!” Theo yelled. “What happened?

The scene collapsed around her. She was in the form of panic. The entire environment turned white around her as the crystal seemed to lose its glow. The scene around her collapsed as everything froze.

She was alone ... trapped in a sea of white. Theo was alone as she gripped the crystal in her hand. She shook her head.

“What happened? I have never seen it like this ... Why? What the fuck?”

Theo walked around her. It was as if it was purgatory. The sea of white turned to a hazy gray around her. It was evident to her that she was alone.

“Ren!” she called out to her. “Can you hear me?”

Silence ... She was isolated. She walked and headed to nowhere. She was in a panic. Theo clenched her fists as she turned her head and saw nothing. To her left was nothing. To her, right was nothing.

“Renenutet, can you hear me?” she tried to call out again.

Her voice traveled the sea of gray, but nothing happened. No one heard from her.

“No ... no ... what did I do wrong?” she shook. “It was supposed to be good. I risked ... we risked everything to get this far. Why is it like this?”

She was in panic mode now. The isolation and nothingness made her shiver and shake. She was unsure of what to do.

She slammed her hoof down as she heard nothing. There was no sound coming from the ground. Above her was the same gray.

“Help me... , “ she begged. “Somebody help me ... I don’t know what is happening. I ... had everything working. It was...”

She turned her head. She gripped the pendant that was on her neck as she closed her eyes.

“Maybe ... maybe this in my head somehow, and I will wake up, and everything will be fine, right?”

Theo opened up her eyes, and the place was the same as before.

“Anybody! Is there anybody there!”

Silence... , she fell to the ground on her knees as she began to cry. She put her hands to her eyes.

“I tried ... I tried ... maybe I screwed up somehow. I feel the crystal but nothing. What am I doing wrong? Somebody, please answer me!”

The minotaur curled up into a ball as she cringed her teeth. She felt helpless.

“Help ... help me,” she whimpered.

There was a faint light that appeared near her. She immediately began to slow down her panic as she watched the soft glowing light.

It was a glowing black silhouette that was appearing before her. She began to calm down as she looked at it. It formed into the shape of a man that had no depth but form.

“That is ... no,” Theo felt calmer. She turned to look at the pendant she wore. It was the pendant that her father gave to her for her fourteenth birthday. The silhouette of the pendent and the man before looked the same.

“How is that?” Theo asked as she thought about it. “I know you. You are Se:he, but how is that possible? My father isn’t here.”

The silhouette was quiet as he pointed towards her.

“You never spoke. My father said that you guided him through World War 1.”

The silhouette continued to point at her as she thought about it some more.

“You show up now. I was achieving it. I was going back in time, but it collapsed somehow. Why?”

The silhouette continued to point at her. She felt no fear staring at the man before her.

“You keep pointing at me, but I don’t ... wait ... you are giving me the answer right now, aren’t you? I created this somehow. I got separated from Renenutet, and now I am in this empty environment. Is that what happened?”

Theo could tell that the silhouette lowered his hand as he nodded his head at her.

“I created this by accident ... what by ... how?”

The silhouette bent down as it began to shake. She noted it as it stood up to look at her again.

“Me bending down in ... fear ... are you saying that my own fear put us in this?”

The silhouette stood up and gave a slow nod to her.

“It is the first time I have gone this far. You are basically telling me I need to have more confidence in this. Is that what you are telling me?”

The silhouette once again gave a slow nod to her.

“Thank you ... I will try to clear my mind. With you here to help me, I am sure to make it.”

Theo watched as the silhouette lifted its arms to the air as it slowly faded into nothingness to her.

“Se:he ... he is a part of me as he was a part of my dad. I must focus again and compose myself. I am in control ... I am in control.”

Theo closed her eyes. She slowly stretched her arms as she tried to clear all the doubt she had in her mind. She took a deep breath.

She felt the energy course through her system. She opened up her eyes and looked at her hand and saw the crystal glowing. It no longer hurt anymore as she smiled.

The environment shifted in her view. The scene reappeared again as she could see the wrecked city again. She could feel Renenutet’s hand gripping her other hand once again. Her face looked at her, but she seemed utterly unfazed at what had happened just earlier. Theo looked ahead as she could watch the scene continue to move in reverse.

The sun would race across the horizon. The sun would fall, and it would become night. Then it rose again from the other side of the horizon and then set on the other side. Day would become night, and night would become day as the days were reversing faster and faster. Theo knew what she was doing. Her mind was pushing the envelope as she was pushing the boundaries of time travel. She no longer had any doubt as she simply watched in amazement at the show she was watching.

As the sun and moon would rise, and fall days were going backward. Slowly, however, the cycles began to slow down in rhythm.

“Ren!” she called out to her. “We are nearing the one month mark! Once it reaches the day and time, we will be sent to the place where the event that causes this mess occurs!”

The snake goddess nodded as the reversing day began to slow more and more. The sun moved slower and slower until...

Implosion. A bright light emitted from the surrounding landscape. It was the sight of the nuclear bombs that were detonating almost together. As they saw the massive shockwave close into the epicenter of the explosion, they watched as the buildings reassembled themselves. Streets, cars, and people were put back together as the shockwave ultimately became nothing. In the sky, they could see one of the missiles that caused the explosion to fly backward farther and farther away. It was a spectacle to see. It was as if they were healing the environment even though they were just watching the events in reverse.

They looked at the environment. They could see human beings walking around in the streets of San Diego like it was just another day. Traffic was busy as individuals would talk to each other and carry out day to day business.

Theo made one last look at the sun, continued to move, and finally, it stopped. There was a bright flash as both of the goddesses closed their eyes.

They felt the scenery change around them. The bright light finished as they began to reopen their eyes.

“Ah...” Renenutet hissed. She had her hand to her head. “Thisss ... we made it?”

Theo looked around her. They were inside some staircase with a set of stairs that led down. She stepped forward as her hooves clicked the hard tile floors. She peeked over the wooden railings. They were about five stories up and on the top floor of some sort of building. There was a door that led outside to the roof. The staircase itself was nothing remarkable to look at with only a dry, ugly wallpaper to add any detail to the place as it led to the square staircase downward.

Theo felt something from the crystal she was holding. She looked at the crystal to see it glow one last time as it fractured apart and crumbled to a powder. It sparkled and disintegrated into nothingness.

“The cryssstal’sss power wasss usssed up,” Renenutet commented to her.

“We are here,” Theo nodded to her. “We need to find him. He will be around here somewhere. We need to find him now, or he will do it, and we will have to do all this all over again.”