Getting up, I meandered over to my room and fell onto my bed. It wasn’t all that comfortable, but I had grown used to it, so I fell right asleep. My dreams brought me once again to the Realm of Stars. Sela was all sprawled out on what I assumed was a giant bean bag chair. The child-like body was so small in comparison to the bean bag that it was sort of comedic. Like a medieval monarch being painted in an incredibly slouched chair.
“What do you want? Are you here to ruin my fun again?” Sela asked with an annoyed look from their reclined position as they seemed to sink even deeper into the bean bag. Where did Sela even get a bean bag chair? Why did they get a bean bag chair? Is there something I’m missing here?
“Are you still mad that I killed myself?” I asked as if that was a completely normal question, refusing to voice my questions about the chair. There was undoubtedly the desire to ask, but I didn’t want to dive down that rabbit hole. Not yet, at least.
“What else would I be mad about?” Sela asked with a frown, before shifting back to the position they had been in before.
“Okay, that’s fair, but I came on business,” I replied. Sela rolled their eyes before rolling to their side on the bean bag, resting their elbow on it while holding their head, as if pouting. I couldn’t tell if this was supposed to be a terrifying god that could kill me at any moment, or a pampered child who just got told no.
“Jeez, you're always so uptight. Even when you joke around it seems almost forced. Lighten up a little,” Sela stated with an annoyed groan. Despite saying this to me, Sela still stayed facing away from me in the center of the bean bag.
Seeing this as a chance to poke fun at Sela, I gave a smug look and spoke in the most sarcastic tone I could muster. “So… should I also be sprawled out on a bean bag chair that is nearly triple my size.”
Turning toward me, Sela gave me as stern of a look as a child could give, before grabbing the side of the bean bag. With a full body tug, Sela tried to pull the edge of the chair over itself in a way similar to a blanket, but instead, pulled so hard that it flipped the bean bag on top of themselves. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I heard muffled curses from under the chair, which wobbled about for a moment before Sela popped their head out from under it like a turtle.
“Anyways, what is your so-called business?” Sela asked. The pint sized deity looked like they were about to break down, but still held firm. Maybe I shouldn’t tease the time god?
“I want to know more about time travel and how it works,” I asked, refusing to bring attention to the fact that Sela was acting disgustingly adorable.
“Okay, do you have any idea how little that narrows it down? Understanding time travel is basically the same as understanding the universe to a human,” Sela stated as if I were stupid. Though that didn’t have that much of an effect on me, because the being who said it did so from under an oversized bean bag.
“What happens to my body when I go to a time in which the future me already exists?” I asked. It was on my mind since I had just gone to the future and had yet to even see my future self.
“Well, how do I put it? Your future self is sent here as a sort of limbo state until your past self has returned. Basically, you fall asleep and either you come here or dream normally.”
“Okay. why?”
“It makes it easier. Rather than a bunch of time travelers getting stuck in the same time, you can be dispersed and not cause a paradox. However, I know I’ve told you that you can’t go anywhere that your past self already exists but there is an exception,” Sela explained before getting out from under the bean bag and resetting the chair to the way it was before.
“And what might that be?” I asked curiously. If there were some kind of loophole, then I was gonna abuse the hell out of it.
“You can go anywhere that your past self is, so long as what you do there doesn’t affect you in the future. You may also go to any period in which your past self is here, in the Realm of Stars as you have called it. Although your body is still on earth, your mind is here, so it isn’t really affected. Really, any time that your past or future self is asleep,” Sela explained further.
The time god's explanation wasn’t very helpful, as I was still trying to figure out what I had just been told. “So, if I wanted to do something that would help someone in the past… I can do it, so long as it doesn’t affect what I’ve already done?”
“Yes, basically. It doesn’t really matter if you change the past so long as you do the same stuff that you have already done. For example, if I eat an apple but go back in time and do something that would make me not eat the apple, the universe would correct this and I would end up eating the apple either way. Nothing would change. However, if I altered the past so that I ate the apple but at an earlier time, then the universe would have nothing to correct,” Sela explained in a way that I could understand. I was still a bit confused but I was starting to understand based on their other explanation.
“I get it. So as long as the events stay the same for the earlier version of myself, then everything else is fair game?” I thought aloud.
“Exactly, but don’t try to cheat the system. I have seen too many people try to come up with some workaround and end up facing defeat,” Sela warned, as the undersized deity crawled atop the beanbag and tried to get comfortable once again.
“What? Did they just give up their power and go home?” I asked, as I didn’t understand how they could give up. Did they just not care enough to keep going, or did they run out of ideas?
“No... they killed themselves, or died from sleepless desperation,” Sela answered solemnly. The Realm of Stars was quiet. Neither of us bothered to speak, until Sela sat up from the bean bag chair, “Time is a cruel mistress, bound only by fate, and no one can control her. Those who believe they can bridle it are in for more suffering than you can imagine. It will push them to their limit and break them with no hesitation. So let me ask you. Do you still want this power?”
“...” I couldn’t speak. The warning was fair, and I could tell that Sela had spoken from experience. I didn’t know what was in store for me, but I had met plenty of people here who counted on me now. The old me was worthless, and was just some random person keeping to themselves. I couldn’t help but reply with the only answer I could think of, “Of course. I mean, I still have to sate your boredom, don’t I?”
“That’s right,” Sela grinned, perking up a little. “Well, I guess I better send you back.”
