CW: Nothing. Tbh the closest thing is hopelessness

     The soft rays of dawn touched the world, purifying everything in a gentle light. Trees swayed in a light breeze. The rustling of their leaves combined with the whimsical sound of birdsong created an enchanting melody.

     A river bubbled, happily gurgling as the water ran its course. Fish leapt from the surface like graceful dancers, their scales flashing, before sinking back into the water's depths.

     Gold remembered a place achingly familiar to this one that mirrored the sights and sounds around him.

     He sat beside the riverbank with his oldest friend next to him. Karan sighed, dipping his fingers into the water.

     "When did everything get so complicated?"

     Gold shook his head. "It always has been, Karan. The first election, the trials, the Mafia, the meteor, us being the Johnnys, rigging the election, and so, so much more. It was never peaceful. It probably never will be either."

     "Way to be positive," Karan said, flicking water at him.

     Gold stared at the current. He'd kill for this to be his life- where his only worry was making sure he had enough firewood. Yet he knew just beyond the boundary of his house, chaos would grasp the campers with its deadly claws.

     "You ever think about how water is kind of like time?"

     Karan sighed again. "Here we go," he mumbled, turning towards Gold so he could continue.

     "It flows and it flows and it flows. It never stops. And everyone needs it. Just like time."

     His friend tipped his head, leaning back to rest his palms on the earth. "That's where you're wrong. The river will reach an ocean. And when it does, is it really flowing anymore?"

     "Time stops too. Individuals die. Their time is up while others keep going."

     "Gold, I thought we agreed to be positive today."

     Gold faced his friend with wide, hopeless eyes. "How can we be positive at a time like this? You heard Jerome's and Alxton's story- Ambrew, Biffle, Cheri, Mr. Chang, and Garry are all dead. Dead, Karan. And no one trusts anyone anymore- partly because of us. Jerome jumps at every noise, Alxton has burrows everywhere, and it's pure luck Henwy and Sigils haven't seen each other yet because one of them would be dead by now."

     Three weeks had passed since the arrival of the presumed dead. Superficial wounds had healed, but the scars of the past haunted the camp members constantly. Jerome and Alxton had told the tale of their escape, but it was broken and jarred. Jerome would stutter and repeat his words, his voice tainted by horror, while Alxton would zone out and silently recall the terrors he had faced. The hybrid's ears flattened, his eyes went black with fear, and his tail curled around his leg. He would be quiet for a good minute and a half before gasping and stumbling through another sentence.

     The settlers- Zud, Kate, Lookumz, a man Gold forgot the name of, Frost and his two friends Rafessor and Florian, were clearly struggling under the weight of the news. After all, how are you supposed to act when a bunch of strangers crash-land into your town and all of them want to hurt each other- and sometimes for good reason.

     "I'm surprised Sigils hasn't come after us yet," Karan said, breaking Gold out of his train of thought.

     By us, you mean me. Gold shrugged. "I think he's forgotten. I hope it stays that way."

     "Me too.... Did you tell him about the machine?"

     Gold stiffened. All of his fears and problems came from that machine. Okay, most of them. Some of them came from the idiot with the dragon-wand. He'd tried his best to hide his worries, but it was clear from the looks he'd received he was doing a poor job.

     "I was going to. But he- he's different, Karan. There's the obvious: he doesn't talk. But it's more than that. Besides, the machine fiasco happened in the old land. Surely it won't cross over."

     Gold had made the time machine as a precaution when the dragon egg first started becoming an issue. Turns out, he was right to do so. The only problem was its stability. That was Karan's fault. His friend had used the machine too early, causing a rift. Afterward, strange things started happening- strange even for a group as odd as them.

     At first, there were only slight changes. Changes that could easily be lied about. Apple shops turning into orange shops, pets ending up in other people's houses, stuff like that. Things that were easy to convince that what was in front of someone was true and had always been like that.

     Then Karan's dog was Karan's army of dogs. And no, he didn't breed them. They were all the same dog.

     Then Alxton's fur fell out. That was impossible to explain, especially once his muzzle turned to a human nose and his fluffy ears to furless human ears. Everyone started asking questions, and all of them led back to Gold and Karan.

     In the end, Gold managed to reverse the changes by changing the coding in the machine. It was a very, very delicate system that, if given even a miniscule amount of damage, the rift would reopen.

     Time... its power is undeniable. Gold had been worried about being found out- if the time machine was made known to camp, what was stopping people from shutting it down- or even worse, using it? Yet after the rift was sealed, no one brought it up. Everything went back to normal, leaving only Gold and Karan to deal with a world that was only in their heads.

     They had spent hours deducing what happened. Sigils should have been interrogating them while pacing the floor. Biffle should've been leaning against a wall nearby, pretending to pay attention while in reality he was thinking about honey. Alxton should have been furious or distraught or worried about losing the fox part of him, even if it was temporary.

     Yet none of that happened.

     When the world was corrected, everyone became an amnesiac. Sort of. They remembered everything save the anomalies.

     There had always been something about that period that bothered Gold. Around the time Alxton lost his fur, Sigils began wearing a hoodie. Now, Gold didn't have much ground to stand on after wearing shorts in winter, but it was summer when the former Mayor changed his sense of style.

     "Gold. You heard what they said."

     Gold was silent.

     "The dragon smashed into the machine. Unnatural energy combined with the natural energy of the pad. Face it, Gold. The anomaly is back."

     "It's been three weeks.... Surely it would have-"

     Karan rolled back his sleeve, revealing orange scales creeping along his forearm. "The anomaly is back," he repeated softly.

     Gold buried his face in his hands. So that's why you're wearing that. When he spoke, his tone was dull and bleak. "I can't fix it this time.... The machine is in the future, not in the present. I don't know if...."

     "I know."

     They had never truly understood the power they played with. They managed to stop it, but how long would it have continued? How long will it continue now that the rift was back? Karan was turning into Fishsticks against his will, but what's to say time would stop there?

     ...Would it kill him?

     What would he do if he lost Karan? He couldn't lose Karan- he'd be losing a part of himself. They were glued together. If you lost one, you'd take part of the other one with you. He'd- he'd-

     And that's when it hit him. Time. Such a cruel, cruel concept. Time's consort, history, always repeats itself. Is that not why someone learns their past? To learn from their predecessor's mistakes, so they won't make the same ones? Try as they might, they always seem to fall back into the cycle.

     In this cycle, one duo had been torn apart. Time was playing a sinister joke. It had given Gold the path ahead through his friends. He already knew the outcome.

     After all, when was the last time an aspiring scientist lost his best friend?

     Time is a merciless concept created by those oppressed by it. There is no escape for the ones bound by its will. And yet... the hourglass was breaking. Could the cycle break too?

     "We have to stop it," Gold turned towards Karan, determination flowing through his veins. "We have to break the cycle."

     "You just said-"

     "I know what I said. I don't care. I'm not letting this world become corrupted like the last one."

     Karan studied him for a moment. His brow was furrowed in thought as he mulled over Gold's words. Eventually he nodded. "Alright. I'm with you. But where do we start?"

     He took a deep breath and stood, motioning for his friend to do the same. He walked back into the wooden cottage, drinking in every detail. Who knew when it would change.

     It was simple, yet infinitely more elaborate than the first base he had in the old land. It wasn't hard to do considering the first house was a dirt hut filled with a disproportionate amount of barrels. Smooth walls melted seamlessly into wooden floors. Lanterns flourished in corners and on tabletops, their light making shadows dance across the ceiling. Wooden chairs faced a fireplace, meant to be used by company, meant to be a place of comradery and joyous times, but the only ones to settle there were ghosts of the past.

     Barrels filled with gold- he had a reputation to maintain- sat in a bunker underneath the house. The basement was only accessible by a secret lever attached to a wall. Only he and Karan knew about it.

     He went over to a table on the far side of the house, sweeping off scraps of paper and leather. Small papers riddled with ink were pinned into the wall by cactus spikes. Some had strings wrapped around the needles to connect them to other papers.

     Some information cards had facts about his friends. Others had questions. For example, there was a long train of string connecting campers affected by the anomaly. Notes were scrawled on the pieces of parchment, organized and scattered at the same time.

     Taking a lantern, he dipped the flame onto the wick of a candle. The candle burst into flame, illuminating the workshop.

     Karan studied the wall for a moment. "It'd be a lot easier if everyone wasn't so determined to keep their secrets," he said. "But then again, that's coming from us. You know, the pyromaniacs."

     "I'd rather not remember the time we both called ourselves Johnny and created a cult in the nether." Gold muttered.

     "You might have to, if we're battling time itself."

     Secrets... everyone has them. No one will give them up. Time is breaking. Things are going to get weird. We need to have a united front, but no one trusts anyone anymore! Gold looked at a particular notecard. The broken scientist.

     "He won't help us." Karan said.

     "He has to. As much as I hate to admit it, we need him."

     Karan grabbed his arm, his eyes flaring. "Gold- if he remembers the role you played, you're dead. I'm not letting that happen."

     "And I'm not letting you become a ragdoll for time." Gold shot back, yanking out of his friend's grip.

     Karan darted in front of him, blocking his way to the exit. "At least- at least come up with a plan first..?"

     He sighed. "Fine. But we better be quick, because we're literally racing against time."

     Hours later, they still had no plan. Gold sat in front of the workshop table, staring blankly at a paper before him. Karan sat to his right with his head on the table.

     They had listed plenty of problems though. The dragon broke the machine, causing a rift in time. To fix it, Gold needed to fix the machine. Said machine was in the future. Time would continue tearing apart their world until the foundation of reality was all that remained. Maybe it'd tear that apart too.

     The only possible solution he could think of was to build another time machine. The calibration had taken an excruciatingly long amount of time the first go around... but if he could snare the help of Sigils, he just might be able to get there in a month.

     Like Karan said, if Sigils remembered even an inkling of the role Gold played in the dragon's hatching, he would turn all of his efforts from presumably killing Henwy to killing Gold.

     Speaking of Henwy....

     No. Don't you dare. You know what happened last time you asked him for help. And yet... he did have connections. In fact, if he could get everyone on board, which was very, very wishful thinking, their chances of success would skyrocket. It would also bring everyone together....

     "Hey Karan?"

     "Hm?"

     "What do you say we get the team back together?"

     "...What?"

     Gold turned to look at him. "The team. Everyone. Like it was before the meteor. Where we all helped each other."

     "Forgetting the Mafia I see."

     "Okay, the very beginning, then. When we all banded together to turn Ssundee's house into dirt."

     Karan grinned. "Those were fun times. But what does that have to do with anything?"

     "There's ample reason for everyone to help us. Even the settlers. We're all bound by time. No one wants to suffocate in the sands of time when the hourglass breaks. We can bring them together, Karan. We can kill two birds with one stone. This affects all of us- they have to help."

     "There's only one problem with this 'breaking the cycle' plan of yours." Karan said, turning to look at the bulletin board of information cards.

     Gold frowned. Sure, it was in the early stages of a plan and was unstable at best, but it was the only chance they had. "What's that?"

     "This is exactly what Sigils and Biffle did when we first landed in the old land. We're still in the cycle, Gold. We're still trapped."

     "We're not them. We won't end up like they did."

     "Are you sure about that?"