This is a rewritten work of "The Chronos Contract". There's no need to read the original if you don't want to. There are a lot of changes from that one. It took me a while to rewrite the chapters, and I was trapped in Fire Emblem for a while, but I'm slowing working back into finishing this by chapter by chapter over time. So, updates will take a while as I'm doing the same for all of my stories. I'll be leaving the original version of Chronos Contract up so you can see the comparisons if you like.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Youngest Brother?

Balan was exhausted. As the head director and researcher of the Origin Project, he barely had any breaks. He worked from sunrise to sunset every day of the week, well, except Sundays. He never expected his workload to suddenly increase when the Schism between Rieze Maxia and Elympios dispelled a year ago. In fact, how he managed to become the lead spyrite researcher was a bit beyond him. While he had gotten the credit, he still a felt a little guilty for placing his name on a theory he only helped compose.

He looked over to his preoccupied desk behind him to see a young, sixteen year old teen lazily spinning a pen in his pale hand. His slightly messy raven hair partially covered the honey golden eyes as the teen stared out of the closest window. He wasn't dressed as a fellow researcher; a white button down shirt with a black jacket rolled up to the elbows, a pair of slightly faded jeans and sneakers were too casual for the uniform. It was an interesting combination to see the teen wearing a watch on one wrist and a multi-colored bracelet on the other.

The bracelet itself was a little odd. Its seemingly shining glass beads were strung together and clasped with a single cluster of clock gears. It was almost as if the teen wore two watches instead.

Balan smiled, half out of pride and some sort of contentment. The theory Balan introduced to the government was almost completely composed by the teen sitting at his desk. It started off as an off handed comment and it was quickly made into a theory that sat in the back burner for years.

It wasn't until the Schism broke did it spur the teen to completely finalize it. Balan wanted him to be part of the research team (he seriously couldn't pass up the opportunity to give the teen a full scholarship), but he was immediately shot down. The only reason the teen was at his desk was simply because he wasn't allowed to be left alone for longer than a couple hours.

Balan blinked for a moment when he reminded himself of an upcoming meeting. With a quick glance at the clock, he kicked himself into gear with a slight grimace on his face. Fifteen minutes was not very long to prepare. He picked up a file and shoved a couple others to the side. The yellow sticky note on one of the files nearly fluttered off, but he was quick to grab a piece of tape and reattach it to a file. He hadn't had the chance to look into it yet.

His sudden shuffling around the office had snapped the teen out of his daydreaming, who turned to watch him with curiosity. "Balan? Is something wrong?"

He tucked another file under his arm and shook his head, "Nothing's wrong, Jude. It's just a meeting." He suddenly paused when a thought came to him, "Wait, actually that might be a slight problem."

Jude only tilted his head, looking at him owlishly. Balan's eyebrows creased as he took one good at the teen. He seemed to holding himself well, if he ignored how Jude seemed to favor his left side a bit and his hands trembled faintly. It was one of those days.

"…This meeting might take a while, so I won't be here when Ludger comes to pick you up. Can you handle yourself until he comes?" Balan asked. Jude nodded as he picked up the math workbook in front of him with a smile.

"Yup! I finished the lesson Julius-nii gave me today, but I can always check it over again. So, don't worry about me," he said. Balan gave him a look before he plucked the book out of his hands. The teen froze for a split second and panicked. "Hey! Give it back—"

Balan didn't give him the chance to get it back as he held the workbook far out of reach. In all honesty, he didn't really believe that Jude had already finished his homework. As he flipped to the page marker, he was greeted with more than just finished work.

The borders of the page were covered with penned vines, complete with detailed flowers and tomatoes of all shapes and sizes. He almost spluttered when he caught chibi versions of Jude's brothers either holding tomatoes or the answer boxes. He even spotted a familiar round figure of a fat cat chewing on a tomato. There was even a chibi version of the artist himself cheering, "All finished!" at the bottom of the homework.

Despite the wonderful drawings scattered about the page, Balan took a few moments to quickly calculate the problems (how this teen did differential equations at his age would never cease to amaze him). He was half surprised that Jude had managed to figure them out correctly. With a small shake of his head, Balan snapped the workbook closed and handed it back to a guilty Jude.

"Jude, you are an amazing kid and a great artist," he began, but quickly gave the teen a pointed look, "But there is a limit when it comes to drawing. It's not a very good habit to draw on literally every singe page and space."

Jude smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, "Julius-nii says the same thing…"

"With good reason," Balan agreed. He took a quick glance at the clock and blanched - just a little bit. "I have to go - Just remember to keep your GHS near you, okay? Ludger should be coming soon."

Jude patted the pocket of his jacket and gave an easy wave of his hand, "Gotcha! I'll see you around, then!"

Balan threw a relieved smile at him and returned the gesture with a wave of his own before he scampered out of his office.

Jude sat there for a moment and waited for the hurried footsteps to fade off. Once he was sure no one else would come in, he jumped out of his seat and walked around to stretch his cramping legs. He honestly hadn't meant to sit there for a long while, but he didn't want to bother Balan as he worked. The stack of paperwork that sat around the office only seemed to grow every time Jude "visited". He knew that paperwork was a monster that haunted everyone that had an office.

Speaking of paperwork, an innocent file with a yellow sticky note caught his eye and distracted him. Without much of a thought, Jude strode over to it peered at the words written on it.

"Balan, take a look at this. It's the 'Spirit Artes' research you asked for.

-Maki"

Curiosity nipped at him and Jude placed a finger to his head as he thought. He heard of Spirit Artes, an ability that Rieze Maxians inherently have, but he didn't understand why Balan would need something like that. If he remembered correctly, Balan was trying to figure out a replacement for Spyrix. Maybe the Spirit Artes could be a small hint for channeling mana?

Jude almost reached for the file but stopped when his GHS suddenly rang. He tore his eyes away from it and quickly dug in his jacket pocket to answer, "Hello? Ludger-nii?"

"Hey, Jude! It's Alvin. Sorry, not your brother. Ludger was about to pick you up, but he had to do some last minute shopping - something about dinner - but, he promised to meet you at home though. I'm here at the front."

Jude hummed in understanding and nodded, "Okay, that's fine. I'll be down in a bit. I'm in Balan's office."

He hung up soon after Alvin gave a quick "I'll be waiting" and grabbed his shoulder bag. He slipped his workbook into it and paused at the door. His gaze lingered on the file for a moment. Balan had never actually shown him the research that had been done in the Origin Project and only gave him a few details here and there.

Jude could understand the researcher's lack of information towards him. He wasn't actually involved - even though he was the one to come up with the theory and solidify it into a plan. Besides, Balan was just his neighbor that offered to take care of him and he had a lot on his plate with the Project. Jude didn't want to impose any further than he already had.

He shook his head and left the office as he shoved his curiosity to the back of his mind. In a matter of minutes, Jude showed himself out of the large research building with ease. He had been here so many times that he nearly knew it like the back of his hand.

He spotted a brown haired man and hurried over with a bright smile, "Hey, Alvin!"

The man dressed in a slightly informal business attire looked up from his GHS with a grin of his own. He casually slung an arm over the teen's shoulders, "Hey, Jude! Still bright and peppy as always, I see."

Jude laughed as his hair was ruffled and slipped out of Alvin's hold in a second, "How was work?"

"Ehh, well, it's been a little shaky, but we're getting there," Alvin said, turning on his heel for Jude to follow, "What about you? I know being holed up in Balan's office isn't all that fun."

"Hey, Balan's just doing his best!" Jude huffed, then easily launched into an easy chatter about anything and everything. Alvin nodded along and added in his own tidbits to keep their conversation going. It was a pretty usual routine for them to fall into.

At first, Jude only heard of Alvin as Alfred Vint Svent, the missing cousin of Balan's until recently. When he finally met the man by complete accident, Jude didn't expect to become friends with a person who had a hand in dispelling the Schism. In fact, Alvin offered to watch over Jude if Balan gotten too busy with a few things.

Alvin had his hands full with his merchant business, but he always managed to find some time to spend with Jude. To be honest, Jude enjoyed listening to the older man tell him stories of his adventures outside of Elympios, and the friends he made. Sometimes, Jude could hardly believe that Alvin had traveled with The Maxwell - well, according to the Rieze Maxians.

It took a bit of a while to get back to Trigleph, since they had to take a train to get there, but Alvin was pretty good company and he learned the ins and outs when it came to Jude. He kept his pace slow and always walked near the teen. He also learned to watch for certain signs, but Jude was very good in hiding those things. On the train, Alvin sat beside him since Jude's voice could barely be heard over the train.

"—I'm not too sure about how it really is going, but I know that the spyrite research is almost complete. Well, kind of. I mean, the research building is amazing and all, but I'm not really allowed to stray far from Balan's office or go to the higher floors. That's where all of the big projects are," Jude lamented. They arrived at Trigleph and made their way to Jude's apartment, passing the enormous building of the Spirius Corporation.

"Well, you are a little kid. Can't have them running around unattended, you know?" Alvin said (and continued on even as Jude quipped, "I'm sixteen!"), "Besides, when you get older, then maybe your big wall of a brother will let you join Balan."

Jude pressed his lips together and shook his head, "My brother is not a big wall. He's just concerned."

Alvin gave him a look that clearly said that he didn't believe him. He almost moved to say something until a new voice joined them.

"I'm a big wall?" Jude easily recognized the voice and spun on his heel with a smile. There, standing with a paper bag of groceries in his arms, was one of his older brothers. The man's white hair had a section of his bangs dyed in black and caring azure eyes that had a ring of yellow in his iris. He was dressed pretty casually, if not a little formal with that blue dress shirt, brown suspenders and a yellow necktie. It honestly looked like the man had just finished his errands and on his way home.

"Hey, Ludger," Alvin greeted with an easy wave, "How's the job hunting coming along?"

"Ludger-nii!" Jude greeted as he easily stepped away from Alvin and gave him a quick side hug.

"It's something alright." His brother smiled a little bit before looking over to Alvin with slight confusion, "What's this about a big wall?"

Jude took the moment to cut in as he looked up to Ludger, "You're not a big wall, nii-san. If anything, you're like a fence I can easily climb over."

"Hah?!" The face on Ludger's face was almost priceless with the mixture of disbelief and confusion mixed together, "And that's supposed to be assuring?"

"Well, would you rather be a cat post?" Jude joked. Alvin burst out in laughter in the background as Ludger ruffled Jude's hair in response.

"Alright, enough of your snarky jokes, Jude," he said with light amusement, and turned to Alvin, "Thanks for picking him up for me last minute. I really appreciate it."

"Thank you!" Jude echoed.

Alvin nodded and placed a hand on his hip, "Of course, no problem. I was around the area anyway. The kid's fun to be with."

They all shared a short laugh before the brothers disappeared toward the Residential Quarter, heading towards their apartment. Alvin stood there for a moment before turning on his heel with a slight frown on his face, "When he gets a little older, huh…?"

._._._._._._.

"Lulu!" Jude cried as he spotted his favorite fat ball of grey and white dozing on the floor. He dropped his bag in a chair at the dining table and proceeded to scoop the cat into his arms as he plopped on the couch. Ludger watched with amusement as the cat yowled in protest and placed the groceries on the table. While his little brother was busy with Lulu, he took a quick peek into Jude's bag and pulled out the only workbook inside.

He forced himself to stifle a laugh when he flipped to the page marker. All the little drawings that littered the page was certainly a sight to see. Vaguely, Ludger wondered if Julius would bother to scold him again, but at this point, it seemed a little redundant. Jude never did stop himself from doodling on every page. Ludger always let it pass because it was something that Jude enjoyed doing.

He looked up to see Lulu squirming in Jude's arms. If Jude was happy, then he was happy, too. Closing the book, he gravitated over to the kitchen and called over his shoulder, "Want to help me with a little late lunch, Juu?"

He heard his brother scramble off of the couch and Lulu plopping on the carpet floor with a cheery, "Yes!"

Within a good amount of time, they had a steaming pot of mabo curry (with a healthy dose of tomatoes, of course) sitting on the set dining table. Ludger generously filled two matching bowls with many faces of Lulu painted along the rims. As odd as it sounded, the bowls were custom painted by none other than Jude. Of course, both Ludger and Julius didn't mind. They liked their customized set of Lulu dishes and it added a bit of a personalized touch in their house.

"How was your day, Ludger-nii?" Jude asked half-way through his bowl. Ludger shrugged his shoulders.

"It was alright. I checked in with Spirius to make sure I got all the applications filled out. Also, got that back-up job as a chief," he said. There was a slight frown on his face, but it was quickly dropped for a smile. "How was yours?"

"It was okay. Balan was pretty busy today, so I just sat in his office all morning," Jude answered. He glanced at the clock and seemed to debate over something. Ludger waited patiently and ate at his curry until his brother finally spoke up.

"…You know, since it's early, and you're here," Jude began hesitantly, "I was thinking we could probably do something together?"

Ludger already knew what Jude implied, and hummed, "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

Jude bit his lip and tried again, "Actually, I was hoping that you could, you know, train with me? I haven't practiced for a while now."

"How about a game of chess?" Ludger asked. While he would love to train with him, Ludger could see the tell-tale signs of Jude's exhaustion with the stiff movements and slow blinks. It almost twisted in Ludger's gut when Jude sighed, and reminded himself that it kept Jude from straining himself too much.

"Again? We just had a couple games yesterday."

"Exercising the mind is good for you."

The smile came back on his face just as quick as it fell, "…Never mind, I'll just stick to the other workbooks for that!"

They shared a moment of laughter to ease the slight tension they had with each other and finished their lunch in a comfortable silence. Jude excused himself from the kitchen after he set aside a wrapped bowl of mabo curry in the fridge and played with Lulu to pass the time.

Ludger busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen and hummed a melody he grew up with. He could hear Jude humming it along in the background, and it made him smile. Both of them had learned the melody through Julius, but there was never any lyrics added to it. Only Jude added a few of his own and it always changed every time.

Ludger was just about done with the dishes when he heard Jude call out to him, "Hey, Nii-san?"

Ludger gave a curious hum of acknowledgement at his nickname and looked over his shoulder to encourage Jude to go on. His brother didn't hesitate to sit back down at the dining table before continuing.

"Why can't I go to school? I mean, I don't mind being homeschooled and all, but - wouldn't it be a little easier for me to go? I know Julius-nii has work, and you're getting a job very soon. Balan has been pretty busy, and Alvin has his own matters. I'm also getting old enough to learn how to manage myself on my own."

Ludger dried his hands as he turned to face Jude.

It was true.

Jude was pretty much old enough to manage by himself. Not only that, Jude's condition had improved over the years. In all honesty, Ludger had no idea why Julius had been so adamant about Jude staying home. Since Julius was the oldest of them all, they didn't question his decisions often.

"Well, you're right about being old enough," Ludger started, "but I'm not sure if Onii-san would allow it. I honestly thought it was because your illness, but now that I think about it…"

Ludger took a moment to really look at Jude. The teen's complexion was still pale, if not a little too much (but that was a given since he barely stayed under the sun for long), and he was thin. Not paper thin, but thin enough to cause some concern. Jude had a healthy diet of eating, but there were days he couldn't stomach anything. He sat up properly, but Ludger could see the slight slouch in his posture that favored his left. The white jagged scar that peeked under Jude's shirt was pretty noticeable if he moved a certain way. There were more, but Ludger was just happy that the teen didn't have any scars that couldn't be covered with clothing.

"…You are generally healthy enough to go to school. It's been ten years. That, and the fact that you've been training under Onii-san for self-defense for a few years proves a lot," Ludger concluded. It was funny how Julius was against teaching Jude to fight out of complete concern of his health, but once Jude turned ten, it changed his mind completely. Monsters were always a good motivation to know some sort of self-defense.

Ludger placed a hand on his hip and shifted his weight to the other leg with an uneasy smile, "But even if you go to school now, you'd probably a little too far ahead for kids your age."

Jude shrugged his shoulders, "It can't be that bad, can it? I mean, I'm only sixteen doing a bunch of workbooks."

"Jude, I'm twenty years old, and I can't even do half the stuff in those books," Ludger deadpanned. The teen gave a sheepish laugh before scratching his cheek in slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, you got a point there…" Jude said as he got up. Lulu trotted up to him and meowed loudly until the teen picked her up. He didn't look up as he hugged their fat cat to his chest, "Maybe staying home isn't so bad."

._._._._._.

Ludger looked up from the T.V. when he heard the front door open. There, entering the house, was his older brother, Julius. The eldest Kresnik ran a hand through his messy, short brown hair and his blue eyes were tired, but there was a relieved smile on his face.

"Welcome home, Onii-san," Ludger quietly greeted from his place on the couch. Julius responded with the customary "I'm home" with a quick wave of his gloved hand.

"What have you been up to?" he asked as he set his bag to the side and hung his coat.

"Just watching a bit of news," Ludger answered as he waved vaguely to the shared bedroom behind him, "Juu and I were watching cartoons until he fell asleep."

Julius nodded to himself as he peeked into Ludger's shared room. The lamp in the room provided enough light to see their youngest member of their family. Jude was curled up in one of the beds pushed up against the wall with Lulu half laying on his neck. Julius wasn't surprised to see a book slowly slipping off the edge. He quietly stepped in and saved the book, placing it on the night stand. His bother didn't stir as he pulled the blankets over him. With gentle pat on Jude's arm, Julius turned off the lamp and left the room, closing the door with a soft thump.

On the dining table, he spotted Jude's math workbook and the answer key waiting patiently for him. He grabbed them and took note of the tabs sticking out of the pages. With a heavy sigh, he sank into the couch next to Ludger.

"Busy day?" Ludger asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Pretty much," Julius said vaguely and quickly changed the subject, "What time did Juu fall asleep?"

"Uhm, not that long ago - couldn't be more than an hour, though. He said he wanted to wait for you, but he has been pretty tired lately. Not sure why, though."

Julius hummed as he flipped open the workbook. The amount of drawings that filled each and every page made his eye twitch, but the most recent page made him scowl, "…He's never going to stop, is he?"

Ludger didn't even have to spare him a glance to know what his brother meant. Instead, he shrugged with an easy smile on his face, "This is Jude we're talking about."

"Right," Julius begrudging agreed and checked over the answers anyway, "He hasn't skipped out on any of the medications, right?"

"Not any that I'm aware of. It might just be one of those days again," Ludger said. The concern was clear in his voice, but he didn't show it much. Over the years, the brothers had learned not to panic over the smallest signs. They took note of it, and kept a closer eye on Jude just in case something did happen, but it had been pretty unusual lately. In fact, Jude had been spacey for several months, hence the reason why the brothers hadn't allowed him to really train for a long while. Ludger just hoped that Jude would still retain that muscle memory when they got back into it for him.

He got up from his seat and slipped into the kitchen to heat up Julius's missed dinner. By the time it was ready, Julius placed the answer key in the workbook with a proud smile before relocating to the dining room.

"Let me guess," Ludger began, "he got it all right?"

Julius only gave him one look after a bite of his curry, and that was all the answers Ludger needed.

Anyone notice the changes I made? Ahahaha, it's been so long. As you might've already noticed, Jude is OOC from both the orig Chronos Contract and the game, but he's a bit closer to his personality in the actual game yet not at the same time. It's weird. As for how Ludger and Jude address each other and Julius, I stuck with Japanese because it felt stifling and impersonal when using "bro" and "Big Brother" when they spoke. There's other ways, but yeah.

I finished the next four chapters already, but I'll attempt to update this story monthly.

Attempt.

Preview!

Jude looked at the dumpling in his hand and blinked. He didn't move to take it as he looked back at the man slight confusion, then at the dumpling, and back again. He did it twice.

Jude eventually gave the man the straightest face he could manage.

"They look like you," he stated so bluntly. The man didn't seem to falter at all.

"Yes, but I am Erston Outway," he seemed to correct Jude.

That only confused Jude even more than he already was, but he just settled with the strange answer, "If you say so, Mister Erston."

Later~

-CloudyLightning