Monarch of Gluttony: System of Sin

"I wonder why it's that we rarely have what we need when we need it."

From his tone, Raphael could feel just how down Azekiel was regarding the past. Even though it happened long ago, it was still troubling him. Then again, he also understood why that was. The things that happened in his past also troubled him even now. He didn't judge Azekiel.

"I don't think even gods will have an answer to that question."

All three of them had a complicated childhood. Amongst them, only Lia was the one, who knew her birth parents, and even she lost them to tragedy.

"You know Raphael; I was planning to use the Stone of Time to go back in my own time. I wanted to help my mother... I wanted to protect her."

"After that, I was planning to go back to your past to stop you from taking that apple, and then I was to go to Lia's last to save her family. Who knew that the stone was only a one-time use item."

Azekiel hadn't told Raphael and Lia about his real plan. He never really told them why he wanted the style. They believed that it was because he wanted to finish his quest. But only now they found out what was going on in his mind at that time.

"Then again, I've not lost hope yet," he further continued. "The old man... He was able to travel back in time with me. I'm sure he has ways to go back in time. Maybe there are more time stones? Or something more."

" Whatever being the case, I'm sure he'll lead me to what I want to achieve. He will lead me to the past where I can correct everything."

"I don't think it's a good idea." Raphael understands why Azekiel wanted to change the past, and even he wanted to change his own past, deep inside, so he could be back to his old life. But when he thought objectively about it, he realized that they were wrong.

He didn't believe that going back in time was the right plan.

"Why not?" Azekiel asked.

"Because the past has been set already. If you change the past, you change the future as well. By changing the past, you'll just destroy yourself in the process. You might save your mother, but then what?"

"If you go back in time and save your mother, you'll change the set of events that made you what you are. In fact, it's quite possible that you'll only lead your younger self to death's door."

"How? How will I lead my younger self to death?"

"Because if you save your mother, you'll create a paradox. If your mother didn't die in the past, you would never travel alone to the Tower. Your past self will travel with your mother, which will slow your past self down. Your past self might get caught in the process, which gets it, and your mother the death that you had managed to avoid because you were traveling alone."

"You still die instead, and the current reality will be destroyed. And if your past self dies, your future self will be destroyed on its own. That means you'll die."

"That's just one of the scenarios. Let me guess. You're thinking that you'll help take your old self to the tower safely, and make sure the two enter the tower alive? Even that isn't the solution to the problem. I've already considered that possibility as well."

"In any case, the future will be changed, and you won't become a King. And if you don't become a King, then you can't go back in time. And if you don't go back in time, you can't save your mother. It'll be an infinite loop, where your mother will have to die again and again, and multiple realities might be destroyed."

Raphael had already considered the possibility, and it didn't make sense, since both possibilities made sure that a paradox was created. And that was just the Paradox with Azekiel. He didn't even consider the paradox that could come when his own past was changed.

In essence, changing the past was a really bad plan, no matter how much he wanted that to happen himself. Partially, he was also glad that the stone of time was a one time use item. That made them avoid the complicated choice that they would have to make with the stone.

"What if I destroy all the monsters in the past instead? No one will need to go to the tower?" Azekiel tossed out another possibility, trying to get Raphael's analysis.

"Same thing. It'll lead to the same paradox. In that case, your past self won't become a King. And then, it can't go back in time to save anyone. No one is there to destroy monsters, then. Monsters kill your mother. We end up exactly where we are. As I said, you can't change the past without destroying the future, and even then, we'll end up right here."

"It's quite possible that you already tried to go back in time in some reality. And then, because of that, you didn't become a King. And that's why no one came to save your family this time. And here we are, back here. Time is complicated. It's impossible to understand. That's why time is said to be the supreme power that is impossible to control."

"So I can't save my mother..." Azekiel muttered. He understood what Raphael was trying to say, and it made sense. "So even after having all this strength, I still can't save anyone..."

"Not anyone in the past. I am sorry for having to crush your hopes."

"You didn't. You just told me the truth. Don't worry about anything. I should thank you instead for warning me. I'll still try to think of a way where I can find a way without creating a time paradox, but until I do, I will not go back in time," Azekiel promised.

Even though he still wanted to do it, he decided to wait until there was a way that he and Raphael could agree on. That was the only way to succeed since he believed in Raphael's advice.

"Raphael, can you carry us?" Azekiel asked. Now that his mind was finally distracted, he decided to get to the city as soon as he could.

If he couldn't go back in the past, then at least he could still get his revenge on the monsters that decided to attack their earth. He needed answers! He wanted to know who their leader was, and why they attacked earth? He wanted to understand more about the tower as well, and he had a feeling that the answers were lying outside the tower…