Relative Earth date; Monday, October 12th, 1998. In a luxurious mansion seated off the coast of Cape Cod, a sharply dressed couple and blue smudge could be seen conversing separate of the various housekeepers outside, each fixated on their respective duties.

"Avante, I have completed your assignment."

"Thank you, Irene. You may return."

With a simple head bob, the translucent figure diminished.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Asked Eva.

With a light melancholic expression and table-hunched figure, Avante dramatically pronounced, "Death."

Mrs. Akakios elegantly wrapped her right arm around his shoulder in one motion as she sat beside him, "Love, I already know of the task at hand, I'm asking about us."

"That's the thing, soon there might be no us. I have been given ample warning from Nerive by way of prophecy."

"What do you mean?"

"So you know of the task passed down me, yes? Well it appears to carry with it certain stipulations. I've always wondered how that perfect contract has persisted for so long, and the reason is actually quite simple. The 'demon' which created the contract all those years ago obviously must have done so with malevolence. The longer the deal stands, the more nebulous energy it collects. It was never a question of who would complete it, or even how, but rather when—that's why the soul count stipulated is so high."

He carried on after crossing his arms and wiggling his foot, "And if that wasn't enough, we have a nice little pebble the size of China heading our way as we speak. She's seen it—an asteroid, frightening in size. Many will die, and the contract will have its pittance well in full either way—the worst of it coming if we wait.

"We're lucky that our family has amassed such wealth and fortune throughout the ages, always looking beyond of veil of the material world and into the spiritual—gathering gifts of otherworldly origin beyond ourselves and the wisdom of others... Though now, I think we might've just been better off without them at all..."

"Ok, so what if half the world ends? She knows where it'll be safe, won't she? Let's just go there and send word to anyone who wishes to live. They'll come to their senses sure enough, and we could even profit off of it!"

"No, a prophecy isn't fortune-telling, it's truth-telling. In every conceivable future she's seen thus far, both of our families are dead, including you and me. What's more, my sister's sight includes the fact that we now know this..."

"... How much time do we have?"

Avante sighed, "A decade or two at best. Largely, the factors leading towards and after the event are indeterminate, but I'm almost certain it's that pesky rock's doing. Only the fact that we die within that time frame remains consistent."

The duo sat in contemplative silence for a time, brainstorming the full implications of what could occur.

Giving up, Eva broke first as she crossed her legs and sat back, "Can't we just use magic or jump on a rocket?"

"That's the question. But the thing is, I believe the prophecy assumes the idea of us using those as well... Which would mean that even if we were to use the family resources, we'd still fail. Could be that the mediorite hits us, or that the fallout thereafter becomes our undoing; could even be the contract itself. I wonder what would occur if we manage to stop it... Do you think we can save the world, Eva?"

With a risible pout, the black-haired lady turned her head away towards the window, "Hmph. It can wait."

Simultaneously that same evening, a sharp man dressed in a slim-fit suit carrying a brown suitcase found a piece of mail wedged between the doorframe in front of him. Plucking it out, and examining it, he asked aloud as he walked into his house situated on the mountain, "Suzu, you home!?"

No response.

Looking at the envelope, it was apparently clear of any lettering whatsoever, though still sealed well.

Placing his handled weight on a nearby table, the man eagerly began the process of carefully opening it, careful not to rip it. Sliding out came a letter written in elegant Japanese which read,

"Dear Kaoru Knox, you will soon come to know me, and you will be ever grateful that you did.

My dealings with you pertain to that of futures which will cross.

I ask not for much save a small signiture and portion of your time.

Sign on the line provided below in black ink only, if you're interested."

Knox recoild with confusion after reading it, flipping the paper around before peaking out his house in different areas to look outside.

What do you mean, "Just sign on the line"?!

"This some kind of prank?! You didn't even include a return address or name you imbecile!"

This is trash, but since they went through the work of at least mailing it nicely, I might as well humor myself.

And so humor himself he did.

After he returned with a large brush, he wrote in equally large font his name, such that it covered all of the above text but barely skimmed the signature line below.

Placing the brush down and holding the letter out in front of himself, he smiled... For a few seconds...

The very moment he began to smile, the space around him produced an invisible dark-magenta hue and the air itself began to release an increasingly higher-frequency sound, all the which halting the local environs.

Knox snapped his eyes open!

His surroundings had changed.

"Whuh..."

He looked around the room he found himself in, speechless. A colorful cloud of specially charged particles petered out of existence, revealing him and triggering Avante to act soon thereafter, "It appears our guest has arrived! I know you don't like it, but this one is secret; you know, the whole, 'knowing the future changes the future' bit."

"You mean the same future we just spoke of? You know there are easier ways of banishing me—without begging for my wrath." Eva said as she shook her head and stood up.

"Deeeaaar, it's not tha-"

"-that you don't trust me, it's just the way the magic works. I know."

The mistress spoke one last line before she turned and left, "I'll be in the garden when you finish."

"Thank you, I'll be right there!"

As the magician signaled for the businessman, the suit meekly asked, "Uhh excuse me... Where am I?"

Oblivious to the man's question, Avante turned and withdrew a wooden box from behind him on a shelf before placing it on the table before them.

He began small motions with his fingers and hands before withdrawing a singular green leaf carved with runes out of his breast pocket. Placing it flatly upon his tongue and swallowing, he commenced speaking in fluent Japanese not long after and directed with his hand, "I see you've signed the letter, come, have a seat. I'll answer all of your questions soon enough."

Hesitantly taking the wife's former spot in silence, Kaoru looked at the paper before placing it on the table before him; suspensefully waiting for Avante.

"Excellent! You are now currently at my beautiful house in America situated ten-thousand miles away from Japan! If you ever wish to return, then at any time you may press THIS button!" He explaind, as he took out an incredibly generic square metal box with a rather large red button on top from his pants pocket.

He placed it on the table in front of the being opposite of himself and started unpacking the wooden box he brought over while he advanced further, "I'll let you in on something, my services do not come cheap, but they are sought by nearly everyone. I am a real magician who performs with real magic. No, this is not a dream.

"You are here because of what I stated in the letter,"

Briefly stealing a glance at it before sustaining, "In the future, you will play this here game I am setting up with my child. All I'm asking from you, is that you manage his or her finances, say some things, and give a gift when the time comes, nothing more."

The sorcerer rolled up his sleeves, and started dealing cards back and forth while describing the game to Kaoru's disbelief.

"This game we're about to play, is a little something I call, 'Glumbin'. Just made it up today, actually—really makes me want to create another. Anyway, rules of the game are pretty simple... Or to completely destroy or debilitate each other's respective wood golem."

"Did you catch all of that..?"

Holding his forehead, the man in black responded quietly, "Umm, no, sorry—I don't think I did."

Smiling with jest, Avante tried his best not to laugh while saying, "Mhm, well, don't worry about it. Doesn't matter if you win, anyway."

"Huh?"

"Hahahaha! We have plenty of time! My child has yet to exist!

"Did you think that this would be the only time we'd meet? You're still free to leave and never come back, but I certainly wouldn't."

After a cursory glance at the button before him, Kaoru gently slid it away from himself and asked, "So I wasn't kidnapped and brought here as a joke then? It's still Monday? How did you bring me here? How can I be sure of any of this?"

"One question at a time. I'll try to explain more when I can next time, but I can't keep the wife waiting. After we're done here, you'll return to where you were with a souvenir to prove it. Ask someone the date when you return."

"So, besides this souvenir, why should I care? I mean you're asking a bit much out of nowhere..."

"Well what do you want, my hostage? I either have or may acquire anything you can ask for, within reason."

"Well, some tea might not be a bad start. You could also warn me next time—or a be a bit more serious with your letters. This is all so very strange right now, and I too am also missing my wife..."

"Hmmm."

Avante grabbed the dice and placed them in front of Kaoru while he spoke with one eye open, his other hand poised upward infront of his chest, "Here, take your mind off of it for a second and play with me."

Now joining his hands together in a prayer-like fashion he questioned with a raised brow, "Any particular type?"

With a "Click-Clack-Clack" of dice, the answer came,

"Sencha."

Nodding his head and shutting his eyes, he finished his activity with a dull flash. Two cups of fresh golden yellow-green tea on a floating dish eased it's way onto the end of the table, courtesy of a familiar spirit.

They both grabbed the cup closest to themselves and took a sip.

Avante peered at the dice while Kaoru looked towards the outside.

Snake-eyes, huh. Incredibly unfortunate. Hopefully he accepts my offer, poor guy...

"Chaaaaaaah. Looks like a nice place you have here!"

Stealthily signaling his familiar to nudge the six-sided die towards a different number, Avante frowned from the slight bitterness of the tea before looking out the room's large side window himself.

"Hmph. Yea. It'll be a real shame watching it get destroyed..."

"What do you mean?"

"Hm. Information could be a reward too. Can't say."

"Ha! Not like it'll reach me all the way on my mountain though, huh?"

"Clever, but your fall is only greater. Yes, it will."

"... What, do you have some sort of crystal ball, too?"

"Might as well be one, I suppose..."

Some time passed as the two conversed through ironically normal conversations, finally stopping once Avante lost their game on purpose.

"So, what did you think?"

"It's definitely an interesting sort of game, but I feel like it'd be better if you could ascribe some sort of meaning or practicality to it, no offense."

"Bah, not everything needs to, to be enjoyable. Ignorance is its own form of bliss, after all. But if you must know, then I might be convinced to tell you if you're lucky."

"Well it most certainly has been a strange day. Can I expect another 'message' from you anytime soon?"

"Hm? Yes. Of course."

Avante got up from his chair and stretched while Koaru eagerly pressed the button on the metal box.

Nothing happened...

Kaoru waited in apprehensive silence while Avante allowed an inkling of a smirk to play upon his lips.

The button was pressed again...

Having consumed his fill, the ever mysterious man eventually capitulated by walking towards the room's exit without concern, stating and lazily waving in tow as the letter went up in flames, "Until next time, then!"

The buzzing and strange temporal anomaly started once more, and Kaoru was at home sitting again—but this time, with a wooden box subconsciously held between his arms...