That room was spacey but also stuffy. Boxes, gadgets, and many books stuffed into the shelves begging for mercy gave that room a touch of how messy its owner was. Scrolls and papers were scattered on the main desk, which had a huge, old book opened on a blank page. That place smelled of papers and wood, resembling an old, cozy library. The "librarian" was looking for a book among the messy shelves, almost tripping on a pile of enchanted books. The "librarian" was none other than the master of that place- well, that realm, the humble Master of Time.

That entity, who used to spend long periods secluded in his office, wasn't alone then. A young boy carrying a white flower sat on a chair, recently tidied by the Master of Time. The boy had long, ashy green hair and long lashes. He seemed depressed, looking down even if the entity cheerfully talked to him. Upon noticing the boy's odd silence, the Master of Time approached him with an old book. His expression was gentle but also worried.

"Mine," the entity called, lifting the boy's chin. "Have you decided about the mask?"

Mine's expression faltered at that statement, and he clenched his fists. "Yes, uncle…" he said, his jaw tense.

"Ah…" Rito exhaled. "The risks are far too many…" he muttered, worried. "We need to find another option. I've been researching old artifacts that can regulate emotions," he said, showing Mine the book he struggled to hold. "With this, I can look for other entities' help, and we can make a suitable artifact for you-"

"It's useless," Mine cut, his hair turning crimson in the blink of an eye. "I'm way too unstable to wait for another option," he growled, his eyes glowing in red.

Rito sighed and placed the book on the messy desk. He approached his nephew, taking care to not startle him further. He gently stroked Mine's head as if soothing him. The boy bit his bottom lips, and a muffled sob echoed from his locked throat. Rito sighed and carefully brought his nephew closer, hugging him.

Patting the boy's back, he whispered in a gentle tone. "It's okay… it's all okay… you don't need to do such risky things…"

Mine grabbed his uncle's shirt, burying his face on his chest as he sobbed. "I… don't want this mask… I don't want to lose my memories, uncle."

Rito looked at Mine with a pained expression and furrowed his eyebrows. He hugged the boy more, exchanging his soothing warmth with his chilling nephew.

"Uncle will find a solution for it… don't worry," Rito said, gently stroking Mine's back. "I'll do my best, okay?"

Mine weakly nodded, but he knew his luck wasn't on his side. Finding an artifact capable of doing such things to a Chronos was rare, not only because those entities were almost immune to anything, but their essence carried a strong sense of species' preservation due to their low probability of passing down their essence genes to offspring.

Rito knew it was a nearly impossible task, but seeing his nephew lost inside his own body and mind was way too painful to sit and watch. Mine's mother didn't know what to do, and neither did his father, so they resorted to Rito's help, begging him to find a way. When they heard about the mask, Mine's mother spent a whole night crying in her bedroom, and his older sister booked a flight to visit them. Mine was lost in the middle of the chaos, going havoc every once in a while, losing control of his mind and body.

Rito needed to do something. So, he found the old scripts about a specific way to imprison Chronos' beings if they committed Universal-related crimes: the Chronos mask. But it was way too cruel with Mine, and he was the first one to oppose its usage. However, Mine was the first one to be favored for its usage.

The Chronos mask was built especially for a certain variety of Chronos called "Papillon," known for being unstable and extremely vicious towards its own species and others. The Papillon Chronos was one of the four variances – eagle, owl, phoenix, and papillon. Rito was the eldest, and the eagle Chronos and his siblings were the other variants. The Papillon variance, Rito's younger sister, was a menace to everything. But, somehow, she took a liking to humans and ended up in the human realm for good. However, her pacifist façade didn't resist too long. When her husband and daughter were captured by contrabandists, she started a war with an army of one.

After that day, no one knew what happened to her or her family. But Rito knew. The Papillon Chronos was sent to prison and wore the mask. She lost all her memories and immortality, turning into a living statue lost in her own brain. The husband and child were found on a trafficking route to Hell by Rito's secretary's intense research. Rito managed to make a deal with the King's Consort so he could enter the domain and rescue the duo from being torn apart. The little girl's life was peaceful thanks to Rito's vigilance. He saw her get older, marry, and build a miracle: a family. The only child born from her marriage also grew older, married, and built a family. And that happened for a long lineage of half-breeds from the only Chronos known to approach humans.

When the Papillon essence genes seemed to be lost for good, one of the half-breeds gave birth to a perfect human and, later, to a healthy half-human. The firstborn was a girl with fiery hair and long lashes but no traces of Chronos genes in her constitution. The second born was a small boy, also with long lashes, but almost no humanity was found in him.

When Rito got a call from Mine's father, he was dumbfounded at the description and immediately rushed to the hospital. Mine's mother was exceptionally weak due to how much Chronos' offspring demanded from their mothers. Rito had to perform a specific spell to stabilize Mine's mother's health and Mine's conditions.

At first, Rito found it odd that a Papillon Chronos was born a boy and not a girl, which was predominant for that variant. But that thought barely had time to settle in the man's mind when he saw the sweetest toothless smile from the small baby boy in his mother's arms.

Reminding all that made Rito's heart pound painfully while Mine finally settled down in his arms. He needed to find another way to stabilize Mine's essences, and he didn't want to resort to the Chronos mask.

He didn't want to see that bright boy turn into a catatonic statue like his deceased sister.

Rito caressed Mine's hair, pondering about the mask's properties, when Mine lifted his chin, showing his puffy eyes from crying too much.

"Uncle… I don't want to forget him…" Mine sniffled, showing the rainbow bracelet on his wrist. "I don't want to forget anybody… especially him," he pleaded. "We made a promise to find each other, and I want to fulfill it at all costs."

Rito painfully nodded, knowing it would be an empty promise. "I'll do my best," he forced a smile and patted Mine's head. "Why don't you go take some biscuits with my secretary? She brought the ones you like the most and- oh! Take more to give to your mother."

Mine's eyes brightened cheerfully, waving away the clouds around his eyes and head. "Okay, uncle!"

Rito chuckled and pinched his nephew's cheek. That smile was worth fighting for.

｡𖦹°‧

"Mr. Rito? Are you still awake?" A short woman opened the office's door.

Inside the dark office, a man was sitting on the desk. His expression was grim, and he had dark circles around his eyes. As it seemed, he had been there for a long time in the darkness, unbothered at that.

"Mr. Rito…" the short woman approached the desk, carrying a tea set.

She turned on the table lamp, illuminating her non-human features and long bunny ears. She placed the tea set on the desk and tidied the scattered papers, throwing away the torn ones. Her boss's face was even uglier under the light, but she wasn't bothered.

Putting some sugar into the tea, she faintly smiled. "You did a great job," she complimented, tapping the cup's edges with the teaspoon.

"It wasn't enough," Rito confessed, his voice was raspy and tired.

The short woman, Rito's secretary, looked at her boss and sighed. She tidied her boss's hair and clothes before she gave him the cup of warm chamomile tea. "Maybe, but he still has his memories, the most important ones."

Rito took the teacup with trembling hands from fatigue and placed it on the desk again so it wouldn't fall. "He… put the mask on… and I barely had time to stop it…"

"You did good, boss. Who could guess the boy would snatch the mask under our noses and wear it on his own?" the secretary said, lifting the teacup on Rito's mouth so he could take a sip.

"It wasn't supposed to happen… I couldn't finish the research in time…" Rito said with his voice full of melancholy.

"It's okay… he'll have his memories back when the mask breaks," the secretary wiped the tea dripping from Rito's mouth. "With that, we should start planning for when the time comes! He'll need assistance in assessing older memories."

Rito looked at the secretary, his eyes lifeless. "He's way too much like my sister… it worries me…"

"Wasn't she the one who broke the mask prison by herself?" The secretary pondered out loud, covering Rito's shoulders with a blanket.

"Yes," Rito nodded. "There are two ways to break the mask. Number one... stabilize the essence usage and testify to its stability. Number two… break it by force like a berserk."

"Eeeks, let's not think about the second option," the secretary noted.

"… I hope so," Rito mumbled.