The morning sunlight shown down on the neon city, reflecting off the shining skyscrapers. As he had promised to do the day before, Krux dragged his brother to the nearest doctor’s office. He acted fine, but his wound was clearly still bothering him. Acronix and Krux sat in the waiting room, looking bored. Krux reluctantly flips through a digital magazine while Acronix watched the wall mounted TV intently. Some kids show was on, so that meant moving colors and annoying noises; which, unsurprisingly, Acronix was glued to. It was like a baby and jingling car keys; he was enamored by it. Actually, it was kind of funny. After a little while, the doctor called them both in. She was a perky looking young woman in her 20s. Her curly red hair was up in a ponytail, and her glasses were a pretty purple. According to the name tag on her coat, her name was Sarah. She instructed Krux to sit on the chair in the corner of the room, but it had some weird futuristic hovering thing going on that he wasn’t comfortable with, so he just leaned against the wall. Acronix sat on the exam table nervously. Krux had almost forgotten that he had never been in a modern medical room, let alone a future one, so of course he’d be a little freaked out. The older brother gave him a reassuring nod as the physician started Acronix’s checkup. “Breathe in deep, please,” the doctor instructed as she placed her stethoscope on Acronix’s chest. “Seems like your heart rate is a bit high,” the doctor continued, scribbling notes on her clipboard.

Krux glared at his brother. “See, I told you to cut back on the coffee.” He whispered.

Acronix rolled his eyes, “Don’t blame me for us being late.”

The doctor continued his exam, soon getting to his main problem. Sarah looked it over for a moment before turning to Krux. “Luckily for you, this isn’t as bad as it looks. But it’s still somewhat concerning. The infection could spread or flare up again if you’re not careful. We’ll need to start you on a course of antibiotics. Just in case.”
The color drained from the younger sibling’s face. He didn’t know exactly what that meant, but if it involved needles, he was NOT there for it. He never liked getting shots, even if it was good for him.
“Other than that,” She continued. “You seem to have fractured a few ribs, but they seem to already be healing. We’ll wrap those just in case, alright?” She left the room to go get something, leaving the twins alone. Acronix stared at the notes that were hung on the clipboard. Everything sounded so much worse in writing…

‘Ribcage fracture, infected wound, malnourished, heavy blood loss, low blood sugar…’
Plus several other things that made him feel like he was falling apart. Krux walked over and read through the notes himself. He also looked worried, but reassured his twin that everything would be fine. Once Sarah returned, she hooked Acronix up to an IV; much to his displeasure. But at least he got to sit in the pretty hovering chair now, because it was his brother’s turn to be humiliated. He, unsurprisingly, was in worst condition. Krux’s wrist and hand were just a pure mess. He got it put in a cast, and he too had to sit with an IV in for a while. After they were let go, the younger sibling was intent on exploring the city. They didn’t exactly have any money, so they couldn’t buy anything, but Krux supposed it wouldn’t hurt to wander around for a while. As they walked through the streets, Acronix was in absolute full glory. They ended up running across a few food stands with free samples, so you bet they took that opportunity. The twins tried their best to camouflage in the crowd; the neon city’s digital displays guiding their path. The city’s architecture mesmerized them as they wandered around in awe. A hovercraft whizzed by them top speed through the streets, causing Krux to almost fall backwards. “Even in the future teenagers are inconsiderate jerks…” He growled.

“Of course they are, but you’ve got to admit that this place is truly amazing! I mean, the technology here is something that we couldn’t have even conceived of back in the Serpentine War. Imagine if we had all of this back then! Those snakes wouldn’t have even DARED attack us!”

Krux rolled his eyes. “Well, no reason to fantasize about changing the past now; we’re stuck here. And without our powers, probably forever.” He meant that in a bad way, of course.

But Acronix-

“That’s the spirit! Embrace the future!” The younger sibling smirked. Then, he raced of to marvel at the advanced technology that surrounded them. The frantic energy of the people scurrying about reminded Krux of the busy hours at the museum. He almost missed giving the school kids field trips around the different exhibits. So many young faces exited to learn about the past… it was pretty great. Acronix looked up at the towering skyscrapers. It was beautiful the way the sun reflected off of them. As they continued to explore the city’s colorful streets, Krux began to realize that maybe his brother was right. If they were truly stuck here forever, then there’s no reason not to except it. Even if he hated the idea completely, stuck meant stuck. No leaving, no going back, no retries or do-overs. He peered down at his broken wrist and hand, then at his brother’s bandages. They got hurt… Like, REALLY hurt… Usually elemental masters heal rather quickly due to their element flowing through them, but them right now- it had had been weeks. They aren’t elemental masters anymore. Wielding the time blades wouldn’t fix that either. It wouldn’t undo the fact that they were just two ordinary men now. They were fully mortal. It was extremely painful to admit it, but, do to the situation, the best thing to do was to act like it.

They were no longer the Hands of Time…

Krux sighed as he stood by his brother who was standing on a bridge looking down at the lower level of the city. “Acronix? I think you’re right. Maybe it’s time to except that we’re not elemental masters anymore. And… maybe we should consider that we might have to try living a normal life here.”

Acronix, to Krux’s full surprise, looked on almost excitedly. “Really?! I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be normal! All my life I’ve been so focused and reliant on my powers, not having them has actually been kind of exciting!”

Huh. The older brother never thought about it like that…

“Maybe it’ll be fun!” He continued. “I’ve always wanted to try doing taxes! You’ve done it before, how fun is it on a scale from one to ten?!”

“Well, I- wait. What?”

“This just might be a fun little adventure! Just you and me-”

“Acronix.” Krux cut him off. “Listen to me. That’s just it… I think you might have to start trying to be a little more…… independent.” He said it while trying not to look too deep into his younger brother’s hopeful eyes. His sibling dismissed the statement, saying that he was perfectly independent, as long as they were together of course. Krux mentioned that that was exactly his problem. Acronix’s smile slowly faded as he asked what he meant.

“Look. Brother, I love you, you know I do. But, it’s just that… well, it’s the topic of mortality. I’m getting to the age where I don’t know how much longer I can be with you. I’m worried that you won’t be able to hold your own when I….. *sigh*
I’m 65…
But you... you’re only 25. You have the whole rest of your life ahead of you! You still have a chance to get a job, meet someone, settle down, even have a family if that’s what you’re into. I wasted my life plotting revenge, locked in a museum basement. You have a chance to do something meaningful and important; and NOT what I did.”

Acronix’s eyes began to form tears as he took in what was said. “You’re not suggesting that we split up?... I can’t lose you again… not yet…”

Krux hugged his brother tightly. “No, no, I didn’t mean it like that! We could still stay together as long as you want, alright? It was just a suggestion!... I’m not ready to let you go again either.”

The younger sibling melted into the embrace. “I love you.”

“I love you too… Now, let’s get back to Eva’s house. You should get some sleep.”

Acronix stared protesting, but was interrupted by a yawn. Wow. Defeated by his own body. He was definitely tired, he admitted it. So, they headed back to their temporary home.