Chapter 128 — What Time Takes
Nobody moved.
The second knock came from beneath the floor.
Then a third.
Slow.
Measured.
Brook stared at the stone.
Henry quietly took two steps backward.
"Not saying anything."
No one asked him to.
Sera stood beside Shoyo, her breathing uneven from the Word Magic.
Crowley remained near the centre of the chamber.
His eyes hadn't left the floor.
Shoyo slowly lowered her hands.
"It heard her."
Brook looked at her.
"You said that already."
Shoyo nodded.
"I know."
Brook frowned.
"What does it mean?"
Shoyo looked at the stone beneath them.
"I don't know yet."
Henry exhaled.
"Great."
Hades stepped forward.
His voice was calm.
"Then we should leave."
Shoyo looked at him.
"Not yet."
Hades's expression hardened.
"That was not a suggestion."
Brook looked between them.
The King of Remus wasn't shouting.
He didn't need to.
This was his city.
His people were above them.
And whatever was beneath the floor had just answered Sera.
Shoyo understood that.
But she didn't move.
Crowley did.
He walked toward the symbols.
Brook watched him.
"Crowley."
Crowley didn't answer.
He stopped beside the old marking where Sera had spoken.
His eyes narrowed.
Something was bothering him.
Brook could see it.
Crowley knelt.
His fingers hovered above the stone.
"Don't touch it."
Shoyo said.
Crowley looked at her.
"You've been saying that a lot."
"Because you're not listening."
Crowley almost smiled.
Then his expression changed.
He stared at the symbol.
Brook saw his body become still.
"Crowley?"
Crowley's hand stopped moving.
His eyes remained fixed on the floor.
Shoyo noticed.
She stepped closer.
"Do you remember something?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Brook looked at Shoyo.
"What is it?"
Crowley whispered:
"Fire."
The chamber became quiet.
Crowley slowly stood.
His face had lost color.
Brook moved toward him.
"Crowley."
Crowley shook his head.
"Don't."
Brook stopped.
Crowley pressed his hand against his temple.
His breathing became slower.
Controlled.
But his eyes were unfocused.
"I know this place."
Shoyo stared at him.
Crowley looked at her.
"I know this place."
His voice was different now.
Almost angry.
"You said I wasn't here at first."
Shoyo nodded.
"I wasn't."
Crowley looked toward the floor.
"But I came later."
Shoyo remained silent.
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"I came here after something happened."
Brook watched him.
A memory was trying to return.
Crowley took a step.
Then another.
He walked toward the broken chains.
His fingers closed around one.
The moment he touched it—
he stopped.
A child was screaming.
Crowley opened his eyes.
But the chamber was gone.
He stood somewhere else.
The stone was newer.
The walls weren't broken.
People were running.
Someone shouted his name.
Crowley turned.
He couldn't see them.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Fire crawled across the ceiling.
He looked down.
There was blood on his hands.
Not his.
Someone grabbed his arm.
Crowley turned.
A man.
Tall.
Wearing a crown.
His face—
Crowley couldn't see it.
The man was shouting.
Crowley tried to listen.
But there was no sound.
The memory was silent.
Crowley looked down.
A child was standing behind the man.
Then another.
Then a woman.
The man's family.
Crowley knew that.
He didn't know how.
The man was pleading.
Crowley looked at his own hand.
Something was written across his palm.
Words.
A contract.
The man dropped to his knees.
Crowley looked down at him.
Then—
the memory shattered.
Crowley stumbled backward.
Brook caught him before he fell.
"Crowley."
Crowley pushed himself away.
"I'm fine."
Brook looked at him.
"You're not."
Crowley stared at the broken chain.
"I saw him."
Shoyo stepped forward.
"Vaelor."
Crowley nodded.
Brook looked at him.
"What did you see?"
Crowley opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
The anger returned.
His expression hardened.
"I don't know."
Henry stared.
"What do you mean?"
Crowley looked at him.
"I mean I saw it."
His voice rose.
"And now I can't remember it."
Nobody spoke.
Crowley looked at Shoyo.
"You remember."
Shoyo didn't answer.
Crowley stepped closer.
"You remember."
"I remember parts."
"Tell me."
Shoyo looked at him.
"Crowley."
"Tell me."
Brook watched his face.
Crowley wasn't angry at Shoyo.
Not really.
He was angry at himself.
At time.
At whatever part of his mind had allowed this to disappear.
Shoyo finally spoke.
"Vaelor came to you."
Crowley became still.
"He asked you for a deal."
Crowley nodded slowly.
"I remember that."
"He was afraid."
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"Of the door."
Shoyo nodded.
"Partly."
Crowley stared.
"What does that mean?"
Shoyo looked at the floor.
"Vaelor did not open the door alone."
The room became silent.
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"Not willingly."
Crowley's expression changed.
A fragment.
Something moved behind his eyes.
"His family."
Shoyo looked at him.
Crowley stared.
"They were there."
Shoyo nodded.
Crowley's breathing stopped for a moment.
Then continued.
Brook watched him.
Crowley looked away.
"Why were they there?"
Shoyo didn't answer.
Crowley's voice hardened.
"Why?"
"Because Vaelor believed he could protect them."
Crowley laughed bitterly.
"By bringing them near the thing he was afraid of?"
"No."
Shoyo said.
"By keeping them away from it."
Crowley stared at her.
Shoyo continued.
"He didn't know where they had gone."
The room became quiet.
Brook felt something click.
The people who had disappeared.
Vaelor's family.
Crowley looked at Shoyo.
"Something took them."
Shoyo nodded.
Crowley's eyes closed.
The memory returned.
For half a second.
The child.
The woman.
Vaelor's face.
Crowley opened his eyes.
"That was the deal."
Shoyo watched him.
Crowley whispered:
"Immortality."
Brook looked at him.
Crowley continued.
"He didn't want to die."
Shoyo nodded.
"He didn't want his family to die."
Crowley looked at his hands.
"So I made him immortal."
Shoyo's expression became sad.
Crowley laughed.
"I remember that."
Then his smile disappeared.
"What did it cost him?"
Shoyo remained quiet.
Crowley's head snapped up.
"What did it cost him?"
Shoyo took a breath.
"Everything."
Silence.
Crowley stared at her.
"No."
Shoyo looked at him.
"You don't remember."
Crowley stepped forward.
"Tell me."
Shoyo didn't move.
"Vaelor believed the deal would save them."
Crowley shook his head.
"I don't—"
"The immortality was for him."
Crowley stopped.
Shoyo continued.
"Not his family."
Crowley's expression changed.
Brook understood.
Vaelor had made himself impossible to kill.
But the people he loved had remained vulnerable.
Crowley whispered:
"No."
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Crowley's face twisted.
He looked away.
For a long moment—
he didn't speak.
Then:
"I should remember that."
Shoyo's expression softened.
"You've been alive for too long."
Crowley looked at her.
"I remember wars."
"Because they scarred you."
Crowley's jaw tightened.
"I remember betrayal."
"Because you carried it."
"I remember becoming King."
Shoyo nodded.
"Because it changed you."
Crowley stared.
"Then why don't I remember them?"
Shoyo looked toward the darkness.
"Because some memories don't disappear all at once."
Crowley remained still.
Shoyo continued.
"They fade."
Brook watched him.
"Names become difficult."
Shoyo said.
Crowley's eyes lowered.
"Faces lose their edges."
Her voice was quiet.
"Conversations disappear."
Crowley closed his eyes.
"And eventually?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"You remember that something happened."
Crowley opened his eyes.
"But not what."
Shoyo nodded.
Silence.
They left the chamber.
Not the ruins.
Just the room beneath the floor.
Hades ordered his guards to seal the entrance temporarily.
Brook doubted stone would make much difference.
But nobody argued.
They moved into one of the upper corridors.
Henry found a place against the wall.
Sera sat nearby.
Rick stood watch near the entrance.
Crowley remained away from everyone.
Brook watched him for a while.
Then walked over.
Crowley didn't look at him.
"Going to tell me I'm not fine again?"
Brook stood beside him.
"Probably."
Crowley nodded.
"Good."
Brook leaned against the wall.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Crowley said:
"Do you know what's strange?"
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
Crowley stared ahead.
"I don't feel old."
Brook almost smiled.
Crowley continued.
"Not inside."
His voice became quieter.
"I remember being young."
Brook waited.
"At least, I think I do."
Crowley looked at his hands.
"But sometimes I realize I can't remember how old I was when something happened."
Brook remained quiet.
Crowley continued.
"I don't remember how many places I've lived."
He laughed once.
"I don't remember everyone who has died."
The humor disappeared.
"That's the part that bothers me."
Brook looked toward him.
Crowley finally looked back.
"People talk about immortality like it means you get to keep everything."
Brook listened.
Crowley shook his head.
"It means you outlive things."
His eyes moved toward the corridor.
"People."
Brook nodded.
"Places."
Crowley continued.
"Versions of yourself."
Brook thought about that.
Crowley leaned back against the wall.
"I was someone before I was this."
Brook looked at him.
"This?"
Crowley gave him a tired smile.
"The man you know."
Brook's expression changed.
Crowley looked away.
"I don't remember who that person was."
Shoyo approached.
Crowley saw her.
Neither spoke immediately.
Then Shoyo sat across from him.
Crowley looked at her.
"You knew me then."
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Crowley looked down.
"Tell me who I was."
Shoyo's expression became complicated.
Brook almost walked away.
But Crowley spoke again.
"Please."
The word stopped Brook.
Crowley didn't ask people for things.
Not like that.
Shoyo looked at him.
"You were angry."
Crowley raised an eyebrow.
"Helpful."
Shoyo almost smiled.
"You were arrogant."
Crowley nodded.
"Getting better."
"You were lonely."
Crowley's smile disappeared.
Shoyo continued.
"You hid it well."
Crowley stared at her.
"But you were lonely."
He looked away.
Shoyo continued.
"You thought being powerful meant you didn't need anyone."
Crowley laughed quietly.
"And?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"You were wrong."
Silence.
Brook watched Crowley's face.
He didn't reject it.
Didn't joke.
Shoyo continued.
"You cared more than you admitted."
Crowley shook his head.
"About Vaelor?"
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Crowley frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you made his deal."
Crowley stared.
Shoyo continued.
"And then you stayed."
The words meant something.
Brook saw it.
Crowley looked toward the darkness.
"I stayed."
Shoyo nodded.
"You tried to help."
Crowley's expression tightened.
"And?"
Shoyo looked down.
"It wasn't enough."
Crowley closed his eyes.
The silence remained.
Nobody rushed to fill it.
Sera finally spoke.
"So you remember him."
Crowley looked toward her.
"Pieces."
Sera nodded.
"That's more than before."
Crowley laughed bitterly.
"Not enough."
Sera stood.
She walked toward him.
Brook watched.
Sera stopped beside Crowley.
"Maybe memories aren't supposed to be complete."
Crowley looked at her.
She continued.
"Maybe you remember what you need."
Crowley stared.
"That's an optimistic way of saying my mind is failing."
Sera shrugged.
"You're immortal."
Crowley frowned.
"Yes."
"You've been alive longer than almost everyone."
Crowley waited.
"Maybe forgetting is the only reason you haven't gone insane."
Henry looked over.
"That's actually a good point."
Crowley stared at him.
Henry raised his hands.
"Sorry."
Crowley looked back at Sera.
She smiled slightly.
"You're welcome."
Crowley shook his head.
But the anger in his face had softened.
Brook stepped away.
Rick joined him.
"You alright?"
Brook looked at him.
"That's becoming annoying."
Rick smiled.
"You get it from Crowley?"
"No."
"Sure."
Brook looked toward Shoyo.
"You knew all of this?"
Rick shook his head.
"Not all."
Brook frowned.
"What did you know?"
Rick looked toward Shoyo.
"I knew she had history."
Brook waited.
Rick smiled.
"Still not enough?"
"No."
Rick sighed.
"I knew Crowley had forgotten things."
Brook looked at him.
Rick continued.
"Not specific things."
"Then how?"
Rick shrugged.
"You see it."
Brook waited.
Rick looked toward Crowley.
"He hears a name."
Brook understood.
"And sometimes nothing happens."
Rick nodded.
"Sometimes."
Brook looked at him.
"And other times?"
Rick's expression became serious.
"Sometimes he looks like someone just died."
Brook looked toward Crowley.
Crowley was sitting alone now.
Looking at his hands.
Brook thought about Vaelor.
Someone Crowley had known.
Someone Crowley had helped.
Someone Crowley had failed.
And someone Crowley had forgotten.
Brook understood why it hurt.
Crowley stood.
Everyone looked at him.
Shoyo frowned.
"What?"
Crowley looked toward the sealed chamber.
"I want to go back."
Brook immediately stepped forward.
"No."
Crowley looked at him.
"No?"
Brook folded his arms.
"Not alone."
Crowley almost smiled.
"I wasn't asking."
Brook looked at Sera.
She stood.
Henry sighed.
Rick adjusted his sword.
Shoyo looked toward the corridor.
Hades's guards would not be happy.
But nobody cared.
Brook walked toward the chamber.
Crowley followed.
Sera moved beside Brook.
Shoyo watched them.
Then she smiled slightly.
Brook looked back.
"What?"
Shoyo shook her head.
"Nothing."
Brook narrowed his eyes.
"That's never true."
Shoyo's smile remained.
"I know."
They walked toward the darkness.
Behind them, the sound beneath Remus returned.
One knock.
Then another.
Crowley stopped.
Brook looked at him.
Crowley's expression had changed.
"What?"
Brook asked.
Crowley looked toward the floor.
"I remember something."
Everyone went still.
Crowley swallowed.
Then he whispered:
"I wasn't the only one who made a deal."
Shoyo's smile disappeared.
End of Chapter 128