Against Time

 

I was seven years old when I discovered I was different; I discovered that I could freeze time. My mom told me that much like her, I was a witch, and that time manipulation was a special ability of mine. Mom asked me to keep my abilities a secret—even from my closest friends. However, with the events that unfolded in my time, it became more and more apparent to me that I would have to break my code.

It was the year 2043. The world was on the brink of catastrophe, with war about to knock on the doors of every country. Mom had passed away by then, and I was living alone. Mom transferred her powers to me when she passed, saying that a time would come when the world would face another war—and that I was the only one who could stop it. My mind went back to the day she died, and the cryptic message that she left this world with.

“Tressa, you must stop the war from happening, but beware: there will be someone who’d try to stop you.”

“Someone who’d try to stop me? Are they another witch, or maybe a demon?”

“No, far from either. They are—”

Mom didn’t get to finish her sentence. I wasn’t sure who or what would stand in my way, but I wouldn’t let them stop me from preventing such a cataclysm. Whoever they were, I would never back down. A month passed as tensions built up around the world. The time had come. I stopped time as people were panicking on the streets. I was on the road when I noticed a figure moving in the frozen sea of faces.

“Who goes there? Show yourself!”

A man stepped forward from behind a crowd of people. I didn’t sense any malice or malevolent energy from him, but something about his energy was off-putting. I had never sensed that type of power before.

“I’m here to ask you to stop what you’re doing. This war needs to happen.”

“What do you mean it ‘needs’ to happen? Countless people will die because of it.”

“Your mom prevented two wars from taking place during the past three decades and, as a result, I was unable to acquire souls for Purgatory. This war must happen for Purgatory’s sake.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let millions of people die just so you can have their souls.”

“Then you leave me no choice,” he said, raising his arm and sending a surge of lightning at me. I redirected it to him, but he cancelled it with his magic. He formed a transparent pocket dimension around us and continued his attacks. I could see my hold on the world wear off as people resumed their struggles. I knew I had to defeat him quickly, but he kept pushing back no matter how hard I hit him. Too much time was passing and we were both becoming desperate. He urged me to stop, but I refused. However, I knew I couldn’t keep fighting for long.

I mustered all my might and cracked the ground below him, sinking him into the depths of hell. I quickly covered the ground and fell to my knees to catch my breath. The pocket dimension around me collapsed right after, and I was able to freeze time once again—it was just before the missiles were launched. I used all my strength to travel back in time and change the major events that led to the war. I had to manipulate the minds of all the arrogant politicians involved. It didn’t guarantee that things wouldn’t spiral yet again in the future, but if it were to, I would be ready.