Chapter Text
Prologue
From a short distance, he could hear her laughter. The sweet sound he had always known how to draw from her. How he adores the way she throws her head back and clutches her stomach in overwhelming mirth.
Warmth pooled inside his stomach.
She was his friend.
Then, his lover,
Now, his vice.
He doesn't remember how he have come to know, nor does he understand why he knew.
But, he knew.
He would find her at the top of the grand staircase. She would be wearing a smile and his ring on her finger.
Gladly, he climbed the stairs.
"Pen" He greets with a smile.
He opens up his arms fully expecting her to launch herself at him.
Yet, she does not move.
"Pen?"
She made a face of confusion before speaking up.
"Pardon me, Sir...but I don't believe we have ever met"
***
500 million light-years away from Planet Earth in a planet identified as Terra Nova 1816, at the tail end of the Betelgeuse Six Galaxy, of the Magrathea Super Cluster, Ishtar woke up with a jolt.
"Fuck" he muttered while massaging his temples.
He really could not live beside himself.
Somehow, no matter how many messes he fixes and no matter how many timelines he tampers with, another ( less striking) version of him manages to fuck shit up.
He cannot stifle the groan that escaped him.