Mistica Chronicles


Welcome to Issue 26

Darkling280 Winning Entry

A Trip Gone Wrong



"Lustrum, will you go pull Tarou out of his room?"



I sighed. I seemed to always be the one drafted for this kind of thing and, since it was my owner asking, I didn't have much of a choice.



"...Okay. I'll go grab him."



Tarou never left his room (well, willingly at least) and so, occasionally, the closest non-homicidal pet available was told to take Tarou out of his room for some air.



And, in this case, that pet would be me.



I wandered upstairs and knocked on his door, honestly not expecting an answer. Sure enough, after a minute or two, no answer.



Well, it was locked, but the doorknobs in our house are pretty cruddy, so I just jiggled it a bit and it popped open.



Tarou was on the floor reading, and glanced up at me with a surprised look.



"C'mon, Tarou, we're going for a walk."



He looked at me with a 'why are you making me do this?' kind of expression and resignedly moved from his position.



None of us really talked to Tarou much, so it's no surprise that the ensuing walk was a little awkward and silent. Very silent.



"Hey, would you like to travel through time with me?" I asked him, really just for the sole reason of lifting the somber mood.



He nodded.

"Okay, then... let's see... we'll start off with five minutes into the past."



A split-second passed and...



.... I gasped. Instead of being at the front door of the house where we were five minutes ago, we ended up in front of an empty lot.



"Er... maybe I went too far back...?"



This hadn't happened before, so I was fairly surprised.



And, attempting to travel again, my efforts landed me in front of the same exact desolate lot.



Though Tarou always wore a calm expression, I could tell that he was pretty upset at our current predicament.



"Um, let's look around a little," I suggested.



.... It wasn't like he was going to disagree, anyway.



Right now, I was trying to figure out what time period we were in. Normally, I can only travel back five years at the most, but this seemed farther back than that.



There was something off about where we had ended up.



And then, it clicked. There weren't any pets or people around at all. No life.



I shuddered at this sudden thought, and Tarou looked at me quizzically.
A newspaper blew past the scenery.



Wait, a newspaper... it'll have the date on it!
I snatched it before it blew away, and looked at the title.



MISTICA TIMES: APRIL 7TH, 2044



And, using my excellent math skills, I quickly came to the realization that we'd gone 35 years into the future.



This "future" was right out of a horror movie- a post-apocalyptic wasteland.



I took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. Tarou was looking worried, and I had to find a way to get us out of here.



Suddenly, I whipped around. I could have sworn I saw some sort of movement... maybe pale, greenish fur?



Out of nowhere, a greenish grey and blood red blur came at me.



It appeared to be a Gourix, but its eyes were bloodshot and crazed, and its skin an unearthly pallor.



Marau had taught me some basics to fighting (hey, even a ghost can be helpful) but, honestly, I wasn't incredibly skilled at it.



I threw it off of me, and tried to dodge its attacks... and, in the process, forgot about Tarou.
The Gourix went after him.



Inexplicably, Tarou's entire demeanor changed- his personality did a complete switch, and he attacked the Gourix furiously, driving it away, whimpering.



He returned to normal. I'd heard he had a split personality, but... was it really this extreme?


Still shaken up from the Gourix, I decided to try and use my time traveling abilities a second time.



Miraculously, Tarou and I found ourselves standing on the front steps of our house.
Not some dilapidated lot, but our house.



I knocked, still in a slight stupor, and my owner opened the door.
"So, how was your walk?"



"It was certainly... interesting."