Eri's little footsteps echoed lightly down the corridor, each step accompanied by an energetic bounce as her hair swished side to side. She clutched Nyxia's hand, swinging it like they were on a carefree stroll instead of heading toward the Founder's office.
Nyxia's gaze stayed forward, their expression unreadable, though the faint flick of their tail betrayed a hint of unease. Dr. Wagner's tone over the call had been serious too serious.
The grand hallway leading to Zalthorion's office seemed quieter than usual, the air thick with that strange gravity that always preceded important meetings. Eri, oblivious, hummed a soft tune under her breath, glancing up at Nyxia with a bright smile.
"You think Zalthorion has snacks?" she asked innocently.
Nyxia sighed. "…That's what you're thinking about right now?"
"Mm-hmm," Eri replied, skipping ahead a step before being gently pulled back in line by Nyxia's grip.
The heavy double doors to the Founder's office loomed just a dozen paces ahead. The two were about to find out why they'd been summoned.
Zalthorion's office felt unusually warm despite the tension in the air. The soft golden light from the Cerian Sun streamed through the tall windows, glinting off the crystalline artifacts on the shelves.
Eri skipped in happily, the faint sound of her shoes tapping the floor echoing in the otherwise quiet room. Nyxia followed behind, their steps measured.
Dr. Wagner stood in the corner, back straight, holding a thick dossier against his chest. His eyes were sharp, scanning Nyxia briefly before flicking down to Eri. He didn't say anything yet, but his jaw was tight, as if holding back words.
At the desk, Zalthorion leaned back in his chair, the golden lines in his eyes bright with a calm, almost parental warmth. He smiled, the kind that was both welcoming and knowing.
"Nyxia," he said in that smooth, deep tone. "And Eri… come in. We have much to discuss."
Eri tilted her head, still bouncing on her toes, "Is it about something fun?"
Dr. Wagner didn't move, but the faint crease between his brows deepened.
Nyxia took the dossier slowly, the weight of Dr. Wagner's stare making it feel heavier than paper should. He flicked the cover open, scanning the neat but deliberately vague lines about "anomalous activity" and "localized observation" nothing overtly dangerous, at least not on paper. But Nyxia knew the MCU never made things this simple.
While Nyxia read, Zalthorion leaned forward with a warm, almost fatherly grin toward Eri."And what have you been up to lately?" Zalthorion asked, his tone rich with amusement. "I hear from Wagner you've been keeping Nyxia busy."
Eri giggled, rocking side to side in her chair, her legs swinging."Mhm! We found a shiny rock, and Nyxia said it's 'probably cursed'—" she made air quotes, "—but I think it's just pretty."
Dr. Wagner, still in the corner, let out the faintest sigh through his nose, adjusting his glasses. His eyes didn't leave Nyxia, silently urging him to keep reading between the lines of the dossier.
The paper's last page was especially innocuous a simple map, coordinates circled in red, and the word OBSERVE underlined twice. Yet, Nyxia could feel the trap coiled beneath the surface.
Zalthorion's smile never faltered as he reached over to pat Eri's head."Observation, Nyxia. Nothing more," he said lightly and Nyxia could almost hear the unspoken for now.
Nyxia left with Eri, the sound of hurried footsteps fading down the hall. On the table, the open dossier sat like an unspoken accusation.
Dr. Wagner's eyes scanned the pages, his expression darkening with each line. Then, suddenly, his fist slammed the table.
"Zalthorion! Du hast mir versprochen, dass du sie in ein Slice-of-Life-Universum schicken würdest! Das MCU ist kein verdammtes Slice-of-Life-Universum!"
("Zalthorion! You promised me you would send them to a slice-of-life universe! The MCU is not a damn slice-of-life universe!")
Across the room, Zalthorion remained seated, the faintest smile curling his lips."Have you checked that bracelet you gave to Eri?"
Dr. Wagner blinked. "No…"
The smile on Zalthorion's face grew sharper, almost predatory."Then you should," he said smoothly. "When you return to your laboratory."
Later, when Dr. Wagner stepped into his lab and reached for his monitoring console, the truth hit him like a blow to the chest. The feed from Eri's bracelet the device meant to track and safeguard her was nothing but static, its internal systems shattered.
An hour later, the faint shimmer of transit magic rippled in Zalthorion's office before solidifying into the figures of Nyxia, Eri, and the faint metallic click of Nyxia's boots against the polished floor.
Nyxia carried a small black briefcase in one hand though "small" was misleading. The enchanted case was much larger on the inside than its sleek exterior suggested, and the faint hum of the containment ward around it told any trained ear it was packed tight with their essentials.
Eri walked just beside him, clutching a plushie shaped like Nyxia's monstrous form all teeth and horns but rendered in the softest stitched fabric against her chest. The infant orowyrm, barely the length of her forearm, was lazily coiled around her neck like a living scarf, its scales a faint opalescent shimmer as it gave a soft, contented hiss.
Dr. Wagner was already there, holding a slim folder of documents. He handed them to Nyxia without ceremony.
"Your new names, dates of birth, fabricated records," he said curtly. "Period-accurate to your destination. Keep them on you at all times."
Nyxia glanced down at the paperwork the aliases, the forged papers noting the time period stamped on the cover page: 1943. The height of the Second World War. The year Steve Rogers became Captain America.
Wagner's eyes shifted to Eri. His voice softened unnaturally so and he even forced a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hey, Eri," he said, crouching slightly to her height. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good!" she replied brightly, bouncing slightly on her toes.
"Good, good…" Wagner's smile twitched. "Hey, you remember that bracelet I gave you?"
Eri beamed. "Yeah!"
"May I borrow it for a few minutes?"
She hesitated, hugging her plushie closer, but eventually unclasped the bracelet from her wrist and placed it in his waiting hand.
"Thank you."
Wagner straightened and immediately crossed the room with sharp, determined steps. He reached the far corner, knelt before the heavy case he always carried, and clicked it open. Inside, rows of precision tools gleamed under the room's lamplight.
He set the bracelet on the table and began dismantling it with deft, practiced motions.
Within seconds, his expression changed not to confusion, but concern. The damage inside wasn't from a physical strike or even elemental interference. The microfractures in the inner lattice and distortion in the chronal matrix… they were caused by time manipulation.
That… shouldn't have been possible.
He forced himself to push the thought aside for now, working quickly to repair the fractured channels and re-stabilize the chronostone core. His hands moved with mechanical precision, but his mind was already cataloging the anomaly for later investigation.
Once the repairs were done, Wagner reached into the case again and withdrew a tiny silver device. At its center sat a bead-sized chronostone, its glow soft and steady.
He used a fine tool to bore a pinpoint hole in the inner housing of the bracelet and gently placed the device inside. The moment it clicked into place, the chronostone flared with an intensity far greater than it should have flooding the table with pale, shimmering light before abruptly dimming back to normal levels.
Wagner's brow furrowed, but he didn't comment. He reassembled the bracelet, checked the seals twice, then walked back to Eri and knelt again.
"Here," he said, his tone returning to that strained softness. "Better than new."
Eri grinned and slid it back onto her wrist without hesitation.
Nyxia, however, caught the way Wagner's eyes lingered on the device just a fraction too long before he stood and turned away.