Prince of Persia 1. Drops and Ripples

_You ever wonder if you never met someone or they never met you... that it would change everything?

* * *

_

Nobody ever said what if you went back in time to change what made the meeting happen in the first place, but then the first time around I did not know her all yet by the time I went to go back, keeping her alive seem to be the only thing that counts most with this accursed dagger in my hand. It brought about what happen the first time when I let loose the Sands of Time, but of course the dagger is what kept me from truly dying except there is much that not even a time reversing dagger can erase or heal from a body, a mind, or one's heart. It also meant giving her up in order to save her life yet one does not question the sacrifices one must make not just for the sake of one life, but all the lives torn asunder by the release of the Sands. In reversing the flow of time back to the night before we made the assault, I did the thing I should have done in the first place except it took a trip down the time line that did happen for me, but not for everyone else in order for me to do what I should have done... so I love her even though she hardly believes the story I have told her. I did try to kiss her again in this time line except she pushes me away so reverse just a little and give her the dagger instead of the kiss.

The memories of kisses that never were except to me, the feel of caresses from touches that were not, the intimacy of bodies that did not come together, and all my deaths seem incomparable to only one of hers that I had been unable to stop because the dagger needs the sands to reverse time not just a user to do its costly magic. He had finally come out of hiding after I fought my way through hordes of men and women who had become mindless creatures made of the dagger's magic source.

* * *

I had almost made the twist to turn back time before we had our most intimate and vulnerable interlude so from the memory of that I'm left with the emptiness or maybe the loneliness that it had only happen for me now, but it had been all my memories or feelings when with her that had made me drive the dagger into the hourglass thus reversing time all the way back to the night we made our assault. The night I took the dagger and my father in the company of that nefarious Vizier took the Sands of Time, the hourglass. I made no mention of my intentions as I had awoken in my tent and all was it had been before the assault, the attack, and more.

It rains again as I write all this down for the very possiblity that in time I fear I'd forget what happen, forget her, but of course for those brief moments I thought we had something special, just me and her. I had never felt so driven or passionate about a task or daresay a woman in my life until I met her. I wonder if ever i feel that way again or that she might ever feel about me the way she had in the time line that no longer exists except like I said in my memories. The dagger had put a cost to my use of it, not only did it keep me from a lasting death, it also made me remember not just my near deaths or hers, but it also with her last death taken her out the flow, so that when I went back I had already known she would not know me. I told her what happen just as it did happen and of course she seem disbelieving at first, what else could I expect telling a woman about a time line that technically did not happen yet at his appearance her doubts subside and of course I had to fight him. It had been a hard fight yet in contrast to the mindless sand altered Palace denizens it seem mild despite his ability to replicate himself.

I did not let down my guard, I merely fought him as I would have fought those more heavily armed sand soldiers like the ones with the mallets or the staffs with blades on either end. They were among the toughest opponents and often it ook rebounding off walls to beat them yet it is not enough to knock them down, drain their sand so you have to fight them until they stop coming at you for awhile. The Palace's security system could do nothing to them as I had found out the higher up I went yet it made the Palace that much more a death trap to me aside from the fact that the interiors and later the exteriors would fall apart around me or under me or whatever other way it would crumble to dust. He had been easily killed once weakened beyond being able to cast any more spells plus his age and his health made him slower then I especially with the sand being back in the dagger.

* * *

The strongest peaks in my mind before the reversal were when we made love and when I saw her plunge to her death too quick for me as well as for the empty time dagger. There is no longer a pun or anything funny about the phrase timing is everything, at least not to me, and so I leave carrying only the sword I had begun my journey back to the Sands of Time's hourglass.

I would not forget her yet would she ever love me like she had in the time that is no longer?

I almost laugh at the thought only time will tell... it seem to change nothing for everyone else except the Vizier is dead, the Palace denizens remain human as does my father and the Sultan though most importantly as I said before that she is alive. The only person that it seems to change everything for is me though that seems a small price to pay for the sake of all those lives especially hers and for the assurance that the Vizier's plans for the Sands are never realized _this time_.

* * *

All the same the memories of the time is no longer linger as I depart into the thicket beneath the balcony. I must do more than simply retell my story because I must remember for the sake of all that I hold dear as well as it becoming the lasting scar for me. The one that won't heal and the one that carries consequences for me that I have yet to face aside from using the reversal to erase that time line from everything except myself.

I am the son of King Shahraman, the Prince of Persia yet I am not quite that anymore so I revisit the memories of what has led me to this moment.

* * *

A/N 1: Written after finishing **Prince of Persia: Sands of Time** and after reading Teukinin's _The First Time_. Teukinin's story quite literally nails the emotional/psychological/ and daresay spiritual intensity of what happens every time the Prince uses the time dagger to go back. Some of that carries over into my twist of the story line except for me I leaned more towards why he has in a way given her up to save her life and to defeat/kill the Vizier.

A/N 2: I also from time to time (no pun) got a crack out of the game over V.O. comments like no, no that didn't happen, which by itself is also kind of a pun or jab at the time reversals you can trigger in the game.

A/N 3: For once the romantic interest in the game doesn't die, I know there are plenty of games where the girl lives, but in my gaming experience its definitely rare yet her survival here is only brought on by you going way back further then you ever gone before to save her and to kill the Vizier before he can set this whole thing in motion by having you release the Sands in the first place.


	2. Horror and Guilt

My father and I along with our army had come from Persia to India. The pursuit of honor and glory is a singular goal that is driven into Persian warriors from childhood to adulthood or so I was taught by my teachers. There is often much more or less at work when undertaking assaults like the one set to begin with the coming dawn. I confess that I weigh much on paternal approval, but then even a prince is still someone's son, a son of King of Persia. This will be the first time I would walk among enemies or so I thought. I did not understand my father's confidence before the attack, but it appears his insider is part of it yet even I am wary of traitors.

Father and I rode horses as the army charges behind our backs. The gate is up by the time we make it to the walls. The insider had more than done his part of the assault and sure enough we come upon the insider, the Vizier. He looks frail and possibly ill, but appearances can be deceiving nonetheless. Father and Vizier briefly exchange words before gesturing in the general direction of the Maharajah's fabled treasure vault. The direction is all I thought I would need for the task of reaching the vault yet as I pass closer to an archway something looks wrong about it. It is about to collapse on me though it is likely too late to pull the reins to halt the horse.

"Forgive me girl," I whisper.

Mother always tries to impress upon me the importance of respecting life even though Persia royalty is often full of examples of cunning yet relentless leaders. My horse halts on command yet the collapse also startles her so I brace myself for a hard landing. The rubble buries any chance of returning by that route so I'll have to press on from here, but of course my head hurts considerably though apparently it did no lasting damage except to leave me sore. An annoyance to say the least on it and ahead I notice several soldiers from our army.

An officer is ordering his men to break the heavy wooden doors by using a battering ram against it. It is time for me to continue and of course some of the surrounding structure has also come apart providing me with a way up the walls. The ground shakes as an explosive round impact near the battering ram team. It looks unlikely they would survive that as the ground is now a smoldering hole where they once stood and they were likely to not be the last to die in this assault. It is best to expect that there will not be a direct route to the vault yet the proximity to the rounds impact sights is almost too close for my preference.

* * *

Father would be the first to remind me that one must rely on training to overcome obstacles no matter how dangerous they are for this is the kind of grooming a prince faces on his way to the throne. At times I often wonder what fathers and sons do when there is no royalty or throne in their lives yet this is the life I was born into, it is one thing I find unchangeable about my existence. It is not that I resent being a prince yet one can be curious by how life might be if the circumstances were otherwise.

The physical demands of training appear to pay off even though I nearly miss with jumps and no way to go back if I make a miscalculation with a jump. At this height it would hurt, but in other places it could be fatal. I will not off myself with any mistakes. Time to reacquaint myself with wall climbing without any tools and somehow I make that maneuver without much difficulty either. So far no enemy encounters yet this is likely to change before long.

Another boulder smashes the bridge before I can make it completely across, it appears this is to be another recurring inconvenience. Someone might joke to me 'Prince leaps of faith around every turn, across every bridge, and even when ascending walls' though I might have found it amusing other situations where I am not busy navigating through a fortress under siege. The bridge directly across from me is no better shape than the one I am on except the doorway is open into the interior.

A further leap brings me to the next bridge and no slip grab to find a crevice to latch onto like before. The distance between the jump point and the landing point is shorter, which could account for this. The architecture thus far is unimpressive in contrast with Babylon though I have seen little outside what is familiar to Babylon so perhaps I determine in haste. Indoor water works similar in principle to home though it makes sense if this is a royal holding and it appears they have been barricading once our arrival had become general knowledge.

* * *

A few hack slashes clear the way yet I have drawn the attention of a guard hefting a spear. He has had training as he dodges rather well in contrast to my expectation so best not to underestimate by appearance alone. He might presume me a poor fighter from my expensive looking attire though of course in some ways he can be right since I am fully confident of my own fighting skills yet it would serve me better if he cannot work that out. The staff is rather sturdy despite its appearance as well.

I slide back and forth messing up his aim until he makes a long swing, which is ill-advised with a staff despite having a sharp end. He stumbles back as one swipe slashes his thin shirt and another sends him to the ground. He did not have much in the way of armor even for a common soldier though how heavily one dresses for battle can have a few consequences in a fight. Too much means risking dehydration, too little means venturing easy kill for the enemy, yet again finesse and fitness do make a difference too.

A ladder leads me higher and up there are more of the recently dead soldier's comrades. There is another with a spear and one with a sword. I head towards the spear carrier except the one with the sword tries to catch me off guard, which by reflex alone prompts me to pull my sword out again. I spin around plunging the blade straight into his chest. His anguished cry is brief as I somehow struck a fatal blow in a single stab. The one with the spear staff is likely upon me now so I lean sideways as I hear the spear blade cutting through the air then I hand stand my way away from the spear carrier and reclaim my sword from the chest of his dead comrade.

It is a flurry of movements like earlier with the first spear carrier and soon he too falls with ease. It would not be the tally of dead that earn me praise, it would be the vault and its contents, it had to be for that is the glory of this assault and the honor of reaching it first would be mine. Another pass inside brings me to another walkway broken by bombardment and below are four of the Maharajah's men. Two spear carriers and two swordsmen. Their numbers multiply with each skirmish so I descend through the collapsed walkway.

The nearest is the first of two swordsmen so it is time to see if this vaulting tactic is really worth the effort. He looks surprised so it appears I again have the advantage best not to let up then. I am over him and he is dead before he can even make a sound. The last sound he'll ever make the sound of his death then I turn to the other swordsman. He is faster to die then either his comrade or the first swordsman I fought only moments before I went descending to this area.

The spear carriers continue to rely on blocking my feints, which is trying so I'll have to be creative again. Another vault appears in order and in its wake is another groan as that spear carrier is dead before he even hits the ground. The other won't fall for that trick so goes a straight up attack and eventually he is down too. It is time to move on so I appear to be weaving in and out of the interior of this place along the way to the vault.

The next crumbles worse than the others as again another wall run becomes necessary. Another ladder awaits me across this 'chasm' and another band of soldiers at the top of the climb.

"Didn't I just leave this party?" I chuckle.

"You'll go no further intruder!"

"Care to back that claim up with words," I retort.

A similar strategy to the one from before helps me finish this skirmish quicker and the only way forward from here is to climb along ledges protruding from the walls, but of course there is shelling against those same walls. One sounds like it broke through somewhere, which perhaps implies I'll have a way inside from wherever that is if it is there. This is decidedly proving to be more of a workout than I had been expecting from the start.

The next explosion is almost deafening as it lands within earshot. Further along I drop down and once back inside much to my annoyance the team dynamic took a twist where there are now four spear carriers, but such change ups should be expected. Vaults only halfway effective against these four so I'll have to be more on the defense as even vaulting off walls won't finish them all off. The body count keeps going up with each fight to the death yet on my honor I am triumphant once more. The only way out is up and these pillars look to be the way out.

* * *

It appears the healing properties of the water turn out to be true yet I had been taught the myths of these kinds of things since I was young. Mother was always such a story teller. Once up I am in a dark hallway that lacks solid ground in most visible areas except on the far side where I will likely have to go up further. It is a further wall run then bouncing back and forth between the walls on the path ahead. After clearing that I reach what appears to the vault, but it is still a way to go from here.

An enormous hourglass and above it appears to be the fabled Dagger of Time. The question now is how to get to it so more acrobatics to follow in due course except it cannot be taken out from this side. The tapestries on the walls in here look almost dark red yet well made except being in here had aged them some over the years perhaps. It is circuitous route to the other side of this chamber as there is no direct way across. The maze beyond this room reveals an array of traps, which is again an expected delaying mechanism.

Ordinarily hidden yet motion made by me has brought them out of their slots and to 'life' again. They are spinning poles with spikes on them, quite lethal, and probably fatal if one is hit by them too often or too frequently. It becomes a matter of timing and agility to bypass them without injury so that is what is done to continue onward only to arrive an interior chamber devoid of floors for the most part except far away except to reach the ground I would have to follow the wall to the towering pillars halfway across this spacious chamber.

The ledges in here are worse shape than others I have been on before coming in here yet it could also be part of the trap system where the system forces the adventurer to be work with his limbs as well as his thoughts. It next becomes a systematic series of leaps to move from one pillar to the next until reaching the ones nearest to the floor so I could drop down from there. A series of short wall climbs are the follow up before bouncing back and forth to reach the high area where the Dagger of Time rests on its dais.

It is an exhausting effort to repeatedly bounce between walls yet my reward is the Dagger except something surprises me when I first touch it. Everything slows down then I notice the ceiling is crumbling down on me yet just as quickly as it had happen everything felt like it went backwards to just after I took the dagger from the dais. Almost without understanding I took a few steps back and the ceiling piece that appear to be falling moments ago is now falling again or rather for the 'first' time. The Dagger had given me a way to avoid being impaled and killed by a collapsing ceiling.

A wonder to be sure so now I must exit this place before something else might off me. More traps await me beyond this room yet I must hurry as the place is falling apart literally. The usual timing and agility is the method for evading the traps and eventually I believe I have found my way back to the Hourglass chamber. It is a nerve wracking drop from the balcony, but the collapse is not far behind me at this juncture.

* * *

There in the chamber is Father and the Vizier. There are also our soldiers laboring by pulley cart to move the Hourglass. My distrust of the Vizier grows for only he could have known a quicker route to the Hourglass after the route I took was repeatedly cut off by traps or coincidental bombardments. Father turns to face me with a smile on his face for I had done well I am certain of that conclusion.

"Father, I have brought us honor and glory!"

I have shown him the Dagger of Time and notice the Vizier's look of greed.

"Your majesty, you promised me my choice of the Maharajah's treasures… that dagger!"

Father agreed to work with the Vizier, but he won't give into the Vizier's demands on all fronts.

"Surely you won't deny the boy a souvenir of his first battle? You may have your choice of the Maharajah's other treasures, except that hourglass! That will make a fine gift for the Sultan of Azad when we arrive at his kingdom. As well as some exotic animals for his menagerie, I want no animals or maidens harmed! Let it be known that King Shahraman is merciful in victory!"

Father is a king and you are just a vizier, nothing more, but I will not make the mistake of trusting you as Father had before this assault. I know I already had made a note of that earlier, but it is much sharper to me now that you would ruin us all for your own ends. Now our journey to Azad will begin with much of the Maharajah's possessions in tow.

* * *

Among the maidens we had taken, there is one that strikes me as particularly spirited yet there can only be one response to that for she must be the daughter of the Maharajah or at least the way she dresses implies that she is no mere servant or courtesan. Something about her has gotten my attention yet I also notice that the Vizier is ill, which confirms my suspicion that he relies more on treachery and deception to achieve his goals.

If he would betray the Maharajah then he is just as likely to betray Father as he has gotten neither the Hourglass nor the Dagger of Time yet what is the link between the two. He had known all along perhaps yet the mystery remains for me, at least for now. I hope I never know the answer yet I suspect I will find out before long.

The Sultan welcomes us warmly and takes Father's gifts in warm affection. Father is a leader and a diplomat for he knows when to fight and when to talk. I have yet to attain that kind of judgment though one could ask no more from a father than I could find in him.

The Sultan is overly curious about the Hourglass, which contains what Father calls the Sands of Time. The Vizier freely shares with us that only the Dagger of Time can unlock the Sands and also notes that I am now the holder of the Dagger.

"Inside the hourglass is a marvel that no living man has seen. Alas, only the dagger can unlock the sands of time, and it belongs to a greater one than I; a young prince, dearer to his father than all the wealth of India. Perhaps he would oblige..." suggests the Vizier.

I walk towards the Hourglass and slide the dagger into a hole apparently made for it. I can hear a woman's voice crying out from behind me. She sounds like she is warning me against this and I realize I just gone right into the Vizier's trap for us all. The room starts to rumble, the lighting in the room drops, and I can hear the Vizier laughing menacingly.

_What have I done?_

The Sands spill out of the Hourglass. 'Their' first 'victim' is Father and from there everyone else. The only ones left unaltered are myself, the woman, and the Vizier.

The dagger protects me, something else protects her, and assuredly the staff protects the nefarious Vizier.

The Vizier still tries to get me to surrender the dagger yet if I do I will become like Father and the others. I must get away yet how do I undo this despite the fact that Vizier knows exactly what to do?

I cannot trust him to do the right thing. It is not in his nature and so I run from him leaving the Palace of Azad to become a magically damned realm. This is my fault yet right now I must focus on undoing this.

* * *

A/N 1: Based on both early cut scenes and game play from Sands of Time. This is a continuation of the initial one shot _Not My Time_.

A/N 2: My interpretation of the Prince is that he is somewhat arrogant of his abilities yet he matures through this experience. The game narration already indicates that he is wary of the Vizier.

A/N 3: The Prince realizes the horror of what he has unleashed too late so initially only guilt compels to set things right at least that's how I see it.


	3. Beds and Visions

It is a narrow escape from the Vizier. I reject his offer both out of fear for what I would become if the Sands got me as well as what he would actually do with the Dagger. He would not do as he claims, for this much he has shown me without a doubt.

I am now in an adjoining hall and at first I am alone.

I hear things that at first made me think I am losing my mind.

The air literally hums then glows before my attackers begin to appear out of thin air. They carry the weapons of men for they had all once been men yet now they are slaves of a kind to the Sands. I am certain I cannot fight them as if they were still mortal yet it is the only way of fighting I know. My attempts to cut them are only temporary.

They do bleed except it is not blood nor do the wounds last for long.

I hear her voice again. I do not see her yet she must be near, of that I am certain.

"Prince, use the dagger," implores Farah.

I continue to fight them as I would any man except once they are down I slam the dagger into the bodies made of sand beneath me. They are rage driven or so their behavior implies so if not me, then it must be the dagger.

They vary between two sizes so far. The smaller of the two is closer to my height whereas the larger suggests him to be a Palace guard. There is no room to doubt that these Sands altered warriors possess the combat knowledge necessary to attack, defend, and kill whoever they are after, which includes only me so far. Their demented expressions are like faces out of nightmares yet if I had to imagine anything that resembles words...

....They would be condemning me for this especially if they were in the Sultan's throne room when I put the dagger into the Hourglass.

They move like men yet their speed is beyond that of men. The Sands also render them the ability to change positions without footwork. I barely roll out of the way in time when one of the larger guards almost impales me and so I must adapt a new trick to overcome them as a direct attack will only leave me open to a killing stroke from them. I run towards the wall and hope they do not transposition themselves before I finish the move.

The straight up the wall run enables me to vault over the taller guards then knock them from beyond. They can move faster then me on the ground yet not on the walls so an advantage to exploit against them. Each one that succumbs to the dagger's draining effect only finds a replacement quicker then I can initially compensate yet must ignore the numbers.

I must also remain mindful of their positions in relation to my own. There is a semblance of a pattern to which enemies I fight so I must bear this out in strategy as these are not the last ones I will have to drain to feed the magic of the dagger.

_I must kill them to save them? What kind of strategy is this? It appears the only way or is it? _

There is no other way to get through so it means killing yet if I kill every denizen between myself and the Hourglass who will be left to save when the time comes after reaching the vessel that once held the Sands.

* * *

I am sweating though with all the movements I have made already it is to be expected yet all this exertion is tiring too. This would be more than one kind of test for me. This is clear as I dagger slam the last one in the hall then I look to where I had seen a glow similar to the one coming off the dagger when it claims the sand from my attackers. I could dare to call them victims of the dagger yet if I am able to undo this then perhaps they return to life though some part of me holds doubts to the naivete of that notion. The absence of bodies makes impossible to settle whether I had slain them or saved them.

The hall shakes repeatedly before the ceiling starts to collapse in the corridor where I saw her again beyond the gate that locks down this hall. There is a glow coming from her necklace so that must be what protects her from the Sands yet I have almost no inclination to trust her though I cannot help being drawn to her as if believing that they were the last living people in Azad aside from the Vizier. I walk towards the gate except something instead draws me to the column glowing and swirling sand.

Mother would be the first to laugh at me if she heard of me chasing a woman yet it would not be a mean laugh, no, she would just be likely to ask me if I have feelings for a woman whose name I still do not know except there is a fire in her eyes.

The woman slips away before the falling rubble reaches the floor and in her position I would have done the same as there is nothing to gain by having massive stones as the cause of death.

I step into the light then my body starts convulsing uncontrollably before I feel myself lifting off the ground perhaps doing this had not been wise yet it is like the portal is calling out to me without a sound. The portal is showing me what lies ahead though not all of it so the gaps were likely to be parts where I would have to get creative, but this is a given to say the least. No direct routes to where I need to go though with the way the Palace is coming apart this outcome is not unforeseen.

_I was shown what I would do except I had not done it yet so someone or something is trying to give me an edge beyond the Dagger of Time, so could I trust it? Could I trust anyone? _

It felt like an out-of-body experience to see all this and I would wager this is not the last time I will get caught up in these visions. I had heard of oracles, prophets, and soothsayers yet I would not believe such talk. My teachers often taught me that is best to learn the ways of your enemy as well as your own.

* * *

The Gods that belong to the civilizations that dwelt where Persia is now bore one thing in common that they were not benevolent for the lands are not generous and overflow from the rivers is not uncommon. I had yet to learn if the deities of this land had anything in common with them, but something told me that I best not waste time trying to work this out.

My skull is pounding or it feels that way as if whatever I had been seeing did a number on my head and she is no longer behind the gate. The gate itself is breached so I head through the breach and up the carpeted stairwell. Once up the stairs I catch sight of her again.

"Wait!" I call.

The doorway at the end of this corridor is subject to another collapse, which diverts me to the adjoining room. I almost went down the corridor and likely would have met my death yet something I had seen told me not to go that route so instead I end up at the top of broken stairwell from the first piece of the visions. I wall run though it feels eerily familiar though this déjà vu is only likely to worsen the further along I go, but the visions could show me what to do or not do though again I am left to wonder should I freely trust them. Especially as I am so inclined to distrust people though some part of me wants to trust her because I know I cannot traverse this crumbling death trap alone.

Her suggestion about the dagger kept me alive so perhaps I could trust her. However my attempt to follow her only leads me to be behind her the whole way so far yet I must find her, she knows more about this dagger then me. I have no desire to join the ranks of the sand altered denizens for I can imagine nothing worse then to roam between these walls without escape from being what they are because of the unleashing of the Sands.

These are the quarters given to us for our stay by the Sultan of Azad within his palace. It would have made a fine room worthy of Father, but not for me, not now. The rungs I saw myself use are between the pillars and the wall diagonal from where I stand on the fallen down part of the stairwell. The break in the wall is exactly where it was in the vision so up I go again following the way I would go.

The rungs lead me higher and higher. A few wall jumps to follow up too. I remember what this room did look like before and it is now only a pale shadow of its former self like so much else within these walls. There will be no rest for me from here on out no matter how much I might need it, so no going back to bed, not with all that is at stake for everyone here because of the Sands.

At the same time, I should likely not share these thoughts with many should I live to tell the tale, but part of my mind shamelessly wonders what she would be like as a lover as well as between the sheets. Best not think I am actually growing attracted to her but of course she is a naturally beautiful woman to me aside from the spark about her that caught my eye on the way to Azad.

Once back on high I am on the other side of the collapse only to catch sight of her again only for a moment before another collapse blocks that way too. I take the only open path again to find myself in another room that looks identical to another from the visions. Another broken stairwell beneath me and so once on the ground I hear an all too familiar sound, the very same that preceded the appearance of my attackers in the Hall. I am no longer alone though I am being encircled like before by those would probably be the servants to this room as well as the guards.

* * *

The visions appear to anticipate where I would fight and where I would go with remarkable precision so

I take the other open direction, which leads to a lengthy wall run before swinging through more rungs yet then down again I must go if only to follow where the visions have shown to be the way for me to reach the next step. An all too familiar sound to the air alerts me to the fact that I am not in this room alone anymore as more of the sand altered guards pop out of thin air and as I battle them something strange happens with the dagger.

It is as if something I had done had given me another edge aside from simply draining the sand from my attackers and so my next dagger strike appears to immobilize my attacker yet by striking again I gain no sand. Like before I had to weather a certain number before they stop appearing as if granting me a reprieve until I would be sure to encounter more and have to repeat this process.

The next ascent leads to the break in the wall from the near end of the visions from the _first_ sand vortex.

Almost unsurprisingly another sand vortex is on the other side of the break. The same familiar sensations from the first encounter overrun my senses as it shows me whatever it is that it intends to show me, and then releases my body only for me to awaken once more on the ground. I know where I am going except the visions like before only go so far and show only so much.

* * *

There is another break in the wall along the drop down where I had seen myself go except I had not gone through there. It had gotten my interest so I went through it only to be walking along a corridor that appears to lead nowhere except into darkness.

I have already gone too far to turn back. There is suddenly illumination of enormous glowing blue lights, which are almost hovering above a series of bridges that all lead to the center of a cavern with a shimmering fountain at the center so I steadily make my way across yet unlike the Palace this place is devoid of everything. The exceptions being these bridges and the fountain.

I call out only to hear my own echoes bounce back at me and the bridges one after another all appear to be unbreakable so perhaps I am safe for a brief spell in here, wherever here is, and then as I near the fountain I decide to take a drink as I felt thirsty. The thirst is overpowering after all the fighting thus far yet there is something odd about this water in a way similar yet different from the sand vortex. I feel an eerie calmness and energy which feels like it is negating the drawbacks of the sand vortex's visions. The chamber dissolves around me and I am back to where I was before except the breach I went through earlier to reach the fountain is gone now.

I drop down further and continue along another corridor only to see an opening in the floor, which only mean I am going the 'right' way hopefully so down further I travel only to find hands pulling me through a doorway before I hear the slam of a gate.

It is her. She wears a necklace with an oddly familiar symbol on it as if it has a connection to the Hourglass just as the dagger does and it is her protection against the sands altering her.

"Who are you?" I demand.

I realize I sound anything, but happy to see her. Part of me is glad to have found her alive so that there is one less damnation or death on my conscience. She asks me to give her the dagger yet doing that would make me one of them. I wonder if she realizes that yet so far she had only given slightly more incentive to trust her as my distrust of the Vizier kept me alive this far. If I had to decide between them, I would choose her except we are not alone.

* * *

I tell her to find a way to get out of this corridor and of course she disappears through a crack only big enough for her. Self-preservation hand in hand with conscience naturally. Likewise I can no longer assume anything except perhaps for what the visions show me though I don't entirely recall fighting scarabs that were now the size of infant animals from the menagerie back home.

Mother's fondness for animals is second to none and she would even hurt an insect if she could avoid it yet I on the other hand have an aversion to them though this is the biggest I have ever seen in my life. The Sands did much to alter the presumably natural state of all it had come into contact with and so I am about to defend myself against bugs as big as the cubs of the tigers back home.

Sorcery, science, and spirituality rarely got along, but here I thought I am up against all three in some way or other. I have no idea what could happen if one of the scarabs actually bit me so I must drain them or kill them. I was taught about how insects can spread disease just as easily an animal or a human could so with that in mind aside from other things the scarabs become more sand vanishing dust in the air.

The water is still retaining its healing properties so time to make use of that and then onward to wherever I am to go from here.

So far I had not seen her in any of the visions, which is why her appearance had caught me off guard. My hostility was not intentional, but of course I had not been sure I had seen her at all since what happen in the throne room.

The infinitely larger bedchambers ahead must be the Sultan's bedroom and it fits almost like a glove to the visions of it. I felt unready to trust her yet I have been so trusting of these visions.

I make my way across the broken upper levels then out to the exterior. I remember seeing the balcony start to crumble at some point so I would have to keep that in mind during my walkabout outside. As I make a wall run, the exterior balcony crumbles under me so once more the visions are increasingly uncanny then I circle back inside to see the pillars that once rose from the floor to the ceiling are gone. The only exceptions to that are the uppermost portions, which I utilize to make my crossing before again beginning another trip down to the ground level of the Sultan's bedroom.

It is decidedly among the biggest bedrooms I have ever seen except for the ones back home in Babylon, but then royalty often affords itself the living quarters such as these within royal residences.

The way this Palace is falling apart begins to remind me of the Maharajah's vault, but of course the effects are much more widespread as if the pitfalls and the dangers are waiting for me everywhere.

Broken pillars are repetitiously part of the route to the ground floor. Although I am heading for the ground there is again no direct way to do that so first down then up and then down again. Scarabs in the Sultan's bedroom are again not difficult yet I again hear my once human attackers before they appear except now they are soldiers and courtesans. The surprises do not end yet now I am facing those who were once women who now seek to kill me.

The male attackers are familiar in attack style though the dance effect commonly known for courtesans is distracting even though I mentally remind myself they are not women anymore. It is one thing to fight the soldiers on the battlefield, but to fight courtesans in the bedroom there is much that sounds wrong about that though again my only recourse is to follow the visions' pattern of the fight. If not I must attempt to duplicate it.

The courtesans sway back and forth as if dancing with their weapons. The howls and screams are not as deafening as they were before yet I am unlikely to ever drown them out. The noises make me feel like I am killing them in order to survive to save them from this fate. Each drain makes the dagger more powerful, which feels as if ought to be my advantage though to increase its capabilities and powers then it must claim sands from those altered by it.

It appears that I will have to learn what this dagger can do on my own as I keep finding myself separate from her, from Farah.

The onslaught ceases and all is quiet again. Another portal awaits me so time to find out what it is going to show me about what I am to do next. My body convulses for the third time since I sought to use these things, but if I am to survive I must know what lies ahead or at least as much as the portals will show me. I am not ready to make 'leaps of faith' despite Mother's insistence that much about life is out of my control, that there is a reason for what happens to all of us and I can find no reason to why this indescribable misfortune has befallen those within the Palace of Azad.

_**A broken bridge, a wall run by rope, a platform with glowing rods, and a corridor with spinning spike pillars.**_

I feel myself drop again except I am on the bed unaware of how I got there though I had gaps in my memory after the other portals. Once more thoughts of being with her, with Farah, with Farah in bed enter my thoughts, but I must press on, so I leave this even more luxurious bed behind yet I cannot get Farah out of my mind.

_A mystery to be sure, but what woman is not this?

* * *

_A/N 1: This chapter starts at the first fight with those altered by the release of the Sands of Time. I am not sure what to call them, but in a review of the game I referred to them jokingly as Sand Zombies. Here I identified by what were probable positions in the Palace's hierarchy. The soldiers in orange tunics are likely the Sultan's guards while the blue ones from later are probably Persians though this is only a guess on my part based on the garb styles in the opening cinematic for Sands of Time.

A/N 2: Prince has misgivings about how he must keep the dagger powered and about what happens to those he drains to keep it filled. I remember being spooked by the sounds they made when draining the sand from them. So I have him internally act perturbed by the sounds. Though now he must steel himself against letting the drain shrieks bother him further.

A/N 3: Prince's interest in Farah is somewhat deeper then it appears or means at least in my version of the story. Of course I attach suggestive fantasy thoughts about them together because he frequently is in bedrooms at this point in the game. She frustrates him and interests him at the same time.

A/N 4: Eventually he'll grow out of his self-pity he has because he clings to the view that what has happen to Azad is mostly his fault even though the Vizier had a hand to play in this mess too. The Vizier in this game is now starting to remind me Iago from **_Othello_**.


	4. Costs and Issues

I dash towards the wall where I saw myself pushing the bookcase aside and it reveals a passageway beyond it. The stairwell like others before it is broken so the usual to bypass it and then through a door that opens by stepping onto a marked stone. The bridge in the next room is cut off by ceiling fragments crashing down on it and so to wall run without a floor under me, just a chasm. I cannot solely rely on this dagger to avoid mistakes because it only holds so much sand, I know that much already. I sigh with relief when I land on the other side after bounding off the wall.

"Another marked stone… how to keep the door open?"

A heavy stone block is nearby so the idea is likely to use it as a counterweight. It feels strangely lighter than I am expecting though size can be deceiving as I have heard of philosophies and marital arts that retrain the mind to realize things that are not bound by physical perception. Once through the doorway there is a central platform with turnstiles and glowing rods just like the vision. This is the only way up, but how does the mechanism function is the next question in mind.

Nothing to hold the faintly glowing symbol into the wall, but if I must run, then I must. All in the timing, if there is such a thing as fate, it is not without a sense of humor as there is no irony that timing and a time dagger are the best weapons in my arsenal. A retractable bridge shoots out from beneath the cobblestones and now to run then leap across the gap. I am not alone as I hear someone shouting above me.

Another man not yet remade into one of those Sand altered soldiers.

"I was afraid you were one of them. Can you help me activate the internal defense system?"

"Just tell me what to do. I fear we do not have much time if they are lurking about."

"It'll take both of us to do it. I will reset the axles for you. The man who is normally in charge of this got… "

He need not finish the explanation for the usual operator is now one of _them_. He initiates the reset mode so that I might align the rods in order to activate the Palace's defenses. Something from the vision tells me that doing this is necessary yet only the dagger so far has been able to harm them so what good would a defense system do against them. There will be consequences as there are always consequences, but deal with them as they arise for I must focus on the task at hand. A combination of rotating the turnstiles and stepping on the glowing stones eventually latches all the rods into place.

The stone pattern is similar to the lunar phases and as usual solving the puzzle is no more direct than any of the others so far. It would take as much mind as it does will to prevail, but then I am only reminding myself of the obvious that stares at me like watching Father be the first to be taken by the Sands. It is nearly ready to lock into place except one further instruction is that the rods must be set to slide into the slot that matches the lunar position for each one. A minor adjustment and then I am sure to be on my way once more.

"One last thing, we must simultaneously throw the levers," says the guard.

I ascend the ladder, which for once I am glad is stable. The lever is weight driven so naturally my own weight as well as his should be enough to trigger the system. The light spills in from the ceiling then passes through the reflective panels and he calls out in praise for our success. My own satisfaction at this minor feat is short lived when I hear his screams. The Sands have taken him to so I must be on my way lest I have a fight in this room. The system did not save him, he just happened to be on the outer edge of the Sands movement across the Palace. The traps made me think back to the Maharajah's Vault so naturally one had to expect that security systems were perhaps made by the same individual maybe.

_I believe I was mistaken again, but then that was the only way to advance to here. As for with one eye for minding the traps and the other for minding those warping sand… demons, to borrow that the unfortunate guard's last rant._

"The only way to open the door was to turn the system on, but it feels as if the system poses more danger to me than to them."

The guard that sought my help to activate the system is now one of them attacks me in tandem with one had already been one of them. The fact that I can almost distinguish him from the other is almost saddening to me. He had given me a way to reach to this juncture and I even for working in tandem with him to activate the system, still not could prevent his transformation and now I am about to become the instrument of his demise in order to prevent my own. The scrap is brief due to wall vaults and those same vaults actually knocking them down so that I dagger drain them.

The guttural sounds they made when they disintegrate or die distinguish them from each other though only by rank in the palace hierarchy, not by who they were or what they had been.

* * *

A familiar glow swirls in my path to the corridor beyond the lunar based security system that is now on thanks to me and a guard that is quite possibly no more. The Sands had taken everything except their… his ability to die, only I could kill them in order for me to stay alive for the sake of at the very least undoing what is happening now.

I merely walk into the vortex as I had done before, the usual onslaught of moving images, myself draining my attackers, myself immobilizing them, and then like before as it soon as it starts, it is over yet the work is still ahead of me, and now back to my feet. The bed annoyingly so was more comfortable than the cold stone beneath me now. There is a control mechanism not far me and as I had seen me operate in the vision before the most recent one. The cobblestones are not covering the whole floor. I cautiously walk over the metal with minuscule holes in it.

"Spikes in the floor, just wonderful!"

I clear the first ones yet off to the side near the next set is a familiar spinning spiked pole. The shortest way is to a short wall run yet the spikes in the floor are sensitive to even the slightest motion if one is not simply inching along. The spikes shoot out as I pivot along the wall and I can feel the very tip of one almost rip the fabric of my pants. No sense is wasting sand over something that is not even a scratch, but still I could imagine it being worse like impaled through the leg or worse the spikes in various parts of my back side.

Another variant of the symbol I had seen repeatedly since the Maharajah's vault appears once more behind the handle in front of me. As I pull the handle, there is a constant sound not unlike a timer and my guess is that would be it though I am sure if I am wrong I will be met with visual proof.

It is a string of rolls and dodges through four spinning spike pillars that appear to have come out of shaft holes in the stone floor, which merits the idea that some of the traps are on timers while others are simply there. The floor along the corridor beyond them is gone and all that remains are wooden ledges and spinning blades that protrude from the walls. I leap across the gap and pull myself up then rapidly move myself along the wall until leaping with my back to the gap under me then while in midair rotate rapidly so that when I land on the wooden ledge opposite my face is against the wall. However the blade is above the ledge this time so in a barely calculated move I step off the ledge then drop while grabbing the ledge with my bare hands. Fortunately the wood is smooth not rough as I already had enough turns with splinters back home.

* * *

Patience and agility are proving to be words that echo in my ears now. My most patient yet agile teacher is also blind yet many insist blindness opens one to things that the eyes fail to see though to lose sight after having it for so long, I wonder how he ever manages to cope with it. Although every time I have spoken to him, he appears to know I am there before I have done or said anything to him. He also often emphasizes not relying too heavily on any one sense or trying to use all in concert.

His words on the subject of senses are 'the ears for darkness, the eyes for silence, the touch for movement, the smell for visuals, and the taste for understanding'. It is not until the past few hours that the words begin to make eerie yet practical sense.

* * *

It is clear to move so I launch myself up then scurry along the ledge before doing another jump turn and round the corner to find the next corridor in the same condition as the previous, with the exception that one ledge has blades above as well as below. The door at the far end beyond the ledges is getting ever lower so I must with hasty precision. I bound across the gap then move across the ledge as the blades spin towards me from the other direction so as they draw closer I jump turn across to the other ledge and again scurry to the end of the ledge before bounding back to the opposite ledge.

The blades are already gaining on me as I land back on the ledge I was on only moments before and somehow I make it to the door as it is almost three quarters shut. I had no intention of trying to repeat what I just did, but that did not mean it could not happen at some point later on this deadly walkabout. I dive under the door only to find myself outside again and the parapets along the exterior are just as broken as the floors on the inside.

My pulse quickens at the familiar rumbling whoosh as the sand 'demons' attack me again with both clubs and spears. The ones with clubs are little trouble, but still when they start to swarm, I must rethink my attack despite what the visions appear to indicate as the way to go in this fight. The immobilization tactic works, but I suspect there's a limit to how many times I can use it against their numbers. More appear in a single cluster of them with each encounter, which indicates that the skirmishes with lengthen, but again not a surprise, just a further annoyance.

The ones with clubs outnumber the ones with spears, which is relieving though it makes the fight no less deadly. Rebounds and vaults follow in short order along with the familiar drain howls as they disintegrate upon contact with the dagger. The skirmishes turn into blurs not unlike the visions, but even so the slightest mistake could be fatal… would be fatal… was fatal… is fatal. These visions are affecting me more and more at least my thinking at any rate. The tenses are scrambling between past, present, and future.

Once more I step quickly towards the vortex at the far side of the yard.

The familiar symbol is the first in the chain of events that lead me higher again. First I go to the rungs for me to use in order to traverse the broken parapets. More spikes, sharp turnstiles, gaps in the wrap around balconies, spinning blades again in the walls, and spike floor plates too, but of course the traps are active.

"Now if the 'demons' don't kill me, the Palace defense system surely will finish me off," I snort.

* * *

The center stone rises up after I do a straight run up the wall to tap the symbol. Dust billows out then settles as it rises from the ground and another vertical run takes me to the first rung. The bladed turnstiles appear right on cue and so a wall run is in order with a second to follow to cross over the break in the first wrap around balcony. The spinning spike poles mix in with the turnstiles so I observe their pattern before acting unless I want to experience either a painful slash or worse. I tumble roll my way pass the turnstiles then slip between the poles before coming upon another symbol. This time it is in the floor and there is a weight rung like the one from the defense system chamber above it.

When my hands grip it, the door across the gap shoots upward so I loop over it a few times then I jump by use of momentum to land on the other side. The grid of floor spikes is just ahead of me and I remember wall running to reach the ladder so need only duplicate it except in the jump I barely manage to get my hands on the last rung of the ladder. The spikes are less than a few feet under me so I slowly pull myself up before making a quick climb then pull myself around to finish that ascent. The second balcony is no worse shape than the one below it though during my crossing of it there is a break in the wall.

Déjà vu compels me to investigate even though I know I am going the other way entirely. The corner below the break has a spike patch yet a fallen stone gives me leverage to wall run towards the ledge made by the break.

* * *

"I feel like I have been here before…"

Once inside the hallway after the break, my conviction that I had been here before deepens as the hallway darkens until I hear a familiar thump and then the blue glow ahead is back. The bridges, the blue lights, and the dark ceilings is all too familiar yet not unsurprising.

"I have been here before…"

My voice sounds rasp as I am thirsty and so I recall there being a fountain at the end of the bridges. My footfalls echo against the wooden planks beneath my boots. Soon enough I am standing over the fountain and I lower my arm into the water and with my palm I gulp down the water. I feel lightheaded once more except like before I feel no intense skull screaming pain as the visions typically bring me. These fountains counteract whatever the visions do to my brain and maybe even my mind. Whatever or whoever brings the visions appears to balance it out with these fountains though at the same time I come away from the fountains feeling healthier than I have ever felt in my life. It is strange though as one of Mother's stories often goes never look a gift horse in the mouth.

On a separate note, it almost pains to me imagine what happen to my horse, to Rana. Her name befits her breeding yet also her lineage, which is full of examples that persists a history of elegance. Her name after all means elegant stature in my language. Likewise Farah, in my language means joy or happiness, which when I think on it matches with the indescribable feelings I get around her despite having not really been near her all that much.

* * *

I'm now back where I was before going into the break just like the first time and now to the rungs yet again.

After several minutes before I reach the door from the end of the last string of visions. There are sounds from below. The sand 'demons' are on the move and someone is fighting them. The sounds register as the noise that follows the firing of arrows. I look down from on high.

"Farah!" I shout.

She sees me yet quickly returns to firing as if to trying to drive off her attackers yet as I already know, regular weaponry can hurt them, but it cannot truly harm them… or kill them for that matter. She needs my help and only the dagger can finish them off. All my footwork and fighting so far only brings me back to the hall that I left earlier with one exception. The tallest of her attackers is unmistakable to my eyes.

"Father!"

I said it without thinking. I did not know I would be fighting him.

The sand soldiers, both in red and blue tunics start swarming into my vicinity. Farah's arrows can stun them, which is advantageous given their numbers. However no matter how many I knock down and drain, another takes his place, and the skirmish lasts in an eternity from dagger slam to dagger slam. My breathing starts to run ragged, my throat rough from dehydration, my skin clammy from sweating, and soon I left with only one imposing sand 'demon'.

None of my strikes appear to damage him though his ability to remain on his feet is weakening until he finally topples over with his face to the ground.

* * *

_No time to hesitate Prince, strike now, before he gets up, kills you, and then turns to finish off Farah!

* * *

_

The insistence shouting within my skull is strange yet I couldn't deny the possibility that utterance could be right, that hesitation would lead to my death and hers as well. I slam the dagger down into the middle of the back. My eyes feel as if they are moistening as I heard the howls from the one that looks like my father, what disintegrates before me is not my father, the only way to keep slaying these 'demons' is to ignore what they used to be, and focus on getting to the Hourglass.

It is only after the skirmish ends do I notice my sleeve is cut and my blood is dripping through the tear. I rip the sleeve down to my wrist then use the fabric to bandage my arm.

"I'm sorry about your father," says Farah softly.

We look at each other for a moment yet then I break the silence with a statement I would likely come to regret in some way.

"That was not my father," I snap.

There is a vortex near the water pool at the far end of the hall so I run towards it willing as if longing for the head splitting pain of the visions to close of the feelings that are coursing through me at the moment. I am angry with myself, full of loathing, swelling with hate, and unsure if I had only made things worse between myself and Farah. My thoughts are cut off by the blinding pain of the visions just as I so desired only moments before, but when I would rouse from the visions; the feelings would remain, just as the pain would until it dulls for awhile. I could no more escape the visions' after effects then I could escape my own emotions or the attachment I am beginning to feel for Farah.

* * *

The visions relate to the tower ahead of us, where we must go to find the Hourglass, and now it appears the visions show more than just the immediate events ahead of me. It is where I am going, where I will be going, and so I must use any foreknowledge I get to make it to my ultimate destination without delay.

* * *

I awaken again on the carpet. The dagger is just out of reach and her hand moves towards it. I snatch it back on reflex and a staring match ensues from there.

"You are making difficult to trust you!"

"You don't trust me anymore than I trust you!"

"This is the thanks I get for saving your life?"

"You don't understand, I need the dagger to undo all this!"

"I made this happen, I will undo this."

_What was it that you always said about arguing with a woman Mother? _

Farah's countenance softens and she places her hand on my shoulder.

_She's always right… I believe that was how you put it._

"You are right to be cautious, but fight as bravely as you may, you cannot defeat this enemy! The Sands will spread! They will consume everything!"

_She cares about more than herself, which is more than can be said for me at least until she made me stop talking except to myself._

"I have heard it said that you are kind as well as brave. Please, help me find the hourglass," pleads Farah.

"It is in the Treasure Room, atop the Tower of Dawn."

The confidence is my knowledge to its location surprises her.

"I just know."

She accepts it for now, but somehow she'll be looking for answers eventually. Farah leaps out of the hall through the broken window leaving me to chase after her again.

_She'll deflect your overtures until she switches to trapping you by feelings felt by both of you. It sounds like something Mother would say about the way things are going between us.

* * *

_A/N 1: The major plot events in this chapter are the Palace Defense System activation, another Deja Vu trip to the Fountain, and the 'Death of a Sand King'.

A/N 2: Prince shows increasing cynicism and suspicion as events unfold from the start of this chapter. The defense system is quite well useless against enemies made of Sand, but it can kill you if you mess up.

A/N 3: Physical and psychological side effects of the visions are offset by the mysterious properties of the water in the Fountain. The way I see it is there is a trade off for the prescient glimpses of what lies ahead, but the Fountain is a kind of rejuvenation against those effects.

A/N 4: Tension between Prince and Farah heightens with her attempt to take the dagger from him while he's knocked out from the visions. Likewise Prince struggles to to come to terms using the dagger and what happens to who he uses the dagger on. He tries to make it impersonal, but having to fight his father upends the effort.


	5. Allies and Motives

"Come with me if you insist," I tell Farah.

She looks as if contemplating an alliance because so far neither of us has had much success against the 'demons'. It would be within our mutual interests to partner up if only to expedite the journey to the Tower of Dawn.

"But I warn you I move pretty fast."

Before I can even finish my next words she dashes towards the broken screen beyond the water pool at the far end of the hall. Some things never change with her. I follow her out the window and she takes off again while I pause to drink more healing water. Fighting enemies made of sand always leaves me thirsty. It is like dueling in a desert that's everywhere. Two quick wall runs bring me back to her, it appears she is quite fit for a Maharajah's daughter though given her skill with the bow I should have seen that one coming earlier.

"And you were worried about me keeping up with you," quips Farah mockingly.

Familiar noises cut the conversation short so a third wall run lands me on what looks like an outdoor garden, but not quite.

"I'll cover you," calls Farah.

"Please don't - you're liable to hit me instead of them."

Courtesans and clubbers appear in pairs. It is a reprieve from fighting only guards not so long ago. Not much of a challenge unless I am off my guard, which I intend to not be. Slashes and drains whittle down the enemies with ease and at first it looks as if we were in the clear until more appear once Farah comes over from the perch of the roof just above this patio. Now they divide their numbers between us like they had back at the hall so I double back to cover her once they start to close in on her no amount of marksmanship will keep shield her from a circling attack pattern.

It is the courtesans that are attacking her so I knock down several of those hefting clubs so that I might redirect their attention from her to me. Our survival means working together because the visions imply that our partnership is the only way either of us getting through these long winded encounters. At the same time however my growing attraction to her similarly pushes me to save her from death.

The skirmish ends sooner due to the fact that I kept taking advantage of all the enemies she knocks down with her arrows, so as irritating as it gets trying to cover her, at least she can knock them down long enough for me to drain them.

Another sand vortex materializes near us so I walk straight towards to glimpse what lies ahead though it as I already could tell there are gaps in the glimpses that are widening with each vortex encounter. Either because I cannot retain the memory of it or perhaps I cannot see beyond certain decisions because I don't understand them because I have yet to make them.

More puzzle solving, more of that which falls apart, and a three way brawl beyond a door with the familiar emblem on it. She stays away from me when I awaken undoubtedly due to my outburst at the hall though she still emphatically asks if I am alright. My head isn't pounding as badly as it had before, which is a small mercy, either I am getting used to the side effects of the visions or maybe Farah is something else to focus my attention on when I rouse from the visions. As we circle around the walkway that protrudes from the tower, the path ahead crumbles, which explains why I saw myself land on a lower rooftop below us.

After all who I am to argue with my own moves, at least not ones that save me from wasting sand to reverse back to try over because it appears by way of the visions that I'll need the sands to freeze my attackers at some point in the future.

It looks as if we are to separate again because this door is lock shut. I tell her to wait here and she thankfully obliges despite offering to follow me across. Considering the acrobatics that come with these sidetracks, I rather go it alone with the knowledge that once back with her I know that somehow something I had done had kept her alive instead of her ending up like everyone else in Azad save for the dastardly Vizier.

* * *

I wall run then slide down the wall to half circle roof before going into another wall run to the tapestry rods hanging off the wall ahead of me. It is a rather long dash so starting from the ideal spot means starting near the far edge of the half circle. Rapid swing jumps from one rung to the next take me to another half circle roof. It is always the long ways between harrowing skirmishes or so it appears to me. Regardless of how repetitive these maneuvers get, timing is still my no longer ironic technique for making it from here where I am to there where I must go next.

There is a bridge below or was a bridge as it had fallen apart save for the section closest to the locked door and fitting enough there is a turnstile besides so I quickly turn it in the necessary direction before dropping down to make my way inside. In the corner of my eye, there is another glowing 'puddle' so I use the dagger to drain it into the dagger like I would with downed enemies. Another ability is open to me, likely what I saw myself do in the vision, I could now freeze the sands within my attackers, but there is obviously a drawback just as there is with rewinding time when I am about to die.

I also have these phantom feelings from cuts that I got yet are not there now. The act of rewinding does more than send me back through time. It also reverses any wounds done onto to me by the sand 'demons'.

The familiar warping noises surround me, which means a fight is imminent as usual. The first wave is a clubber, a courtesan, and a spear carrier. All the enemies so far save for the Sand King and those I fought back in the hall are of Azad though any enemy wearing blue was once of Persia, but not anymore. If I am to reach the hourglass many more will disintegrate at the touch of the Dagger of Time. These three unlike the ones in blue are vulnerable to my ability to vault over them and in the process of doing that knock to the ground making it quicker to drain them of their sand.

Vault after vault, topple after topple, and soon they cease to warp in at this location. Their numbers are massing - each wave is bigger than it was before, which means the closer I get to the top the longer these skirmishes are going to take. It is almost as if there is a pattern to their movements aside from them warping around during the fighting to catch me off-guard if they can. I had the means to rewind back if I make mistakes, which I will though I can't blatantly rewind back because eventually the sand tanks will empty even with constant replenishment from sand draining my attackers.

Another sand vortex appears directly at the center of the chamber where the last string of visions had come to a stop. These vision portals almost seem to be connecting to each other though with each one I am shown less and less though by now I have already noted that yet my sense of time is slippery than ever so I can't be truthfully sure of how many times I have done this only that it has been more than once. There is no logic in tracking how many times I have died either in a fight, from a jump, during a wall run because as infinite ways to die exist in every possibility since my first use of the dagger while escaping the crumbling vault only a few days ago.

"Has it been only that long? It feels longer, I feel like I have lived weeks or even months during these past few hours."

The point is I must not grow too dependent on vision portals within the sand vortexes. It already left me unready for the fight in the hall and for the fact that my father, the King of Persia, fell in an unnecessary fight with me. Certainly I believe one day I might succeed him though not like this yet it is done though with the Hourglass all this could be undone. As to how to accomplish such a feat remains a mystery to me. Likewise I wonder if there are consequences beyond knowing for those who open the Hourglass because already I am met by the visible consequences every step of the way in this ascent to the Tower of Dawn.

I step into the vortex yet mentally brace myself for the onslaught and soon the familiar body jerking motions are in play.

I see us operating an intricate network rotating stairwells, which are movable only by body weight shifting pulleys. There is also no shortage of booby traps along my part of the route though I can't see any getting in her way, maybe she'll be fortunate to only to have shoot any sand 'demons' that appear once we get where we need to go with those stairs. The chamber where the stairs are look like a warehouse, but again it is head up to go down to move onward.

No Farah to greet me once I rouse and force myself back to my feet. The stone floor is cold, what else to expect from it. It appears as if a whole section of a walkway above me had fallen down to my present location so it would some times the crumbling can be advantageous so it is the moment to get going again. I climb the broken walkway then turn my attention to a narrow ledge above me and walk along it until centering my position to spot that is diagonal to the horizontal pole nearest to me. The aim is to use to a vertical wall run to launch myself to the horizontal pole, easier than done as I tempted to say even with the ability to rewind back if I miscalculate the bound off point.

It is relieving that it works on what I believe is the first try, but the after effects of the vision are causing a lapse in my ability to distinguish one attempt from the other, almost as if the attempt that succeeds overwrites the fails except I don't remember falling here. Next a string of flips from one horizontal pole after another brings to me another bound off jump. The last one however leaves grabbing for finger holes as I feel myself slipping though somehow I pull myself up and then there are two directions before me. The first is a mysterious doorway leading to a featureless hallway - save for sheer tapestries and wall mounted candles whereas the second is a ladder that likely leads me closer to the warehouse.

* * *

The earlier calming déjà vu is back as I make a wall run only to smack into a spinning blade then start to plummet towards the floor and while I am falling I can see the floor below getting closer so I grip the dagger and think back before the wall run. The air rushes backwards around me, the slash across my shirt and the cut on my chest literally vanish yet there is a lingering feeling as if all that is still there, but visuals tell me otherwise when I run my fingers down my chest. Every rewind leaves me with memories of what happen next, but all of it did not transpire except for me. The second attempt of a wall run from this spot succeeds so I head into the hallway. The lighting from the candles gradually lowers the further in I go so I had to wonder is there any correlation between the number of visits I made to this hallway or it is just coincidence for me to try to assign meaning to something that appears meaningless.

If only the Old Man could hear me babbling now, he'd say to me I am too young for philosophy, but then I doubt he has ever been a position quite like this one.

The bridge to the fountain is longer this time at least that's what my eyes are telling me and the thirst is upon me as I stand before it again so I down a mouthful only to experience the relaxing sensations the previous visits had given me to offset the sand vortexes. Everything around me glows for mere seconds before it stops and I am back outside where the open doorway had been only moments before. I touch the wall only to find it rock solid with no signs that there was ever an open doorway in this spot rather than debate the origins of the hallway or for that matter the fountain I make my way back to the ladder.

Several wall runs are necessary to unlock another door with the self-same symbol as I had seen many times since the vault or since working my way up to this location. I can hear Farah calling out to me so I make my way to her, step on the stone to let her inside and together we head back up the stairs I had just come down to reach her.

There is a crack in the wall, which is again only wide enough for her.

"You're a skinny little thing," I say to her.

She slips through and steps on another stone giving me a way to follow her and within seconds we have made it to the warehouse.

"What are we to do now?" she asks me.

"Wait here while I throw that switch," I answer her.

At least she is listening this time I think to myself.

The stairs rotate giving her passage to another body weight lever on the platform down the first rotating stairwell. Her lever shifts the stairs on the other side of the room closer to me so I drop down then work my way up to another horizontal pulley.

"I'll just wait here then - shall I?" says Farah haltingly.

She seems less aggressive for the moment so I look towards the pulley knowing what to expect when I backpedal away from the wall while holding onto it.

It could only mean a timed dash through booby traps and probably a doorway given the vision flashes. All I had to do follow the footsteps I am going to make so I roll about dodging the spinning spike poles and sidestepping the floor spikes before sliding sideways under the closing door ahead of me.

I had come full circle though like all other circuitous turns it brings me to where back to where I am going and where Farah is again waiting like she said she would so perhaps I can count on her help maybe even learn if she has feelings for me as I do for her. It is a quick dash down the stairs to her position then I make way towards another body weight lever.

"Are you all right? I heard strange noises," exclaims Farah.

"No permanent damage – thank you," I assure her.

I head towards the other corner as if already aware of her impending suggestion.

"There's another lever in that corner – do you think you can reach it?"

I know I can therefore I must if we are to continue advancing and to reach solid ground below us. The alternating between her and me on the levers only proves why we must press ahead together. Two stands a better chance than one, but it is steadily becoming more than just survival to me though as to her only time would tell on that account. I chuckle inwardly thinking only time would though I must continue on my way – no time for jokes.

We had in tandem move from body lever to body lever turning the stairs as we go lower and lower to the ground just like I saw we would though the only thing that worries me now is what awaits down there yet I feel as I already know somehow. I know something that she does not, which is not always the case, she had known more about the dagger than I from the start though who her father is where it made sense that she should whereas my advance knowledge comes from head splitting visions of the future.

The final set of levers reunites us at the elevated high ground at the center of the warehouse floor.

"Wait here," I recommend to her.

She is at the ready as if aware of approaching enemies though maybe it is instinct because often when we are together and I go ahead of her it usually means enemies are near. As I drop down to the lower floor they start to appear, they were soldiers save for these ones hefting massive hammers undoubtedly for the Palace's Forge though one warps in behind me only to knock me across the floor with the hammer. If only to spare myself the injury and the pain of taking one of those things to the back side of my skull I rewind back to less than a minute before I believe the Hammer man appears behind me so that I might roll out of the way in time.

The rewind to dodge maneuver appears to work as I am able to instead vault over him and drain him where he had once hit me hard against my skull. Best not to get caught in my own elation because there are still more swarming in and so a-vaulting I go towards them. Each time they fall flat on their face or their back, which only leads them to a drain in rapid succession. It is getting less hard to ignore the howls when they become nothing more than sand in the dagger. I am not an insensitive warrior, but they were all in a sense dead from the moment I open the Hourglass. The only way to restore them is to fight my way to the top and no matter how many 'die' for to fill the dagger's power – only by doing this can I hopefully find a way to undo all this – I must believe in this outcome.

* * *

I need to believe in more than myself to ensure it so I look to her and find a growing cause to survive for together we have come so far in only hours. I must live for more than my redemption, live for the feelings we both appear to share though maybe it only the mutual danger that this quest holds is drawing us together. It is a plausible interpretation and maybe I read too much into her eyes or words.

* * *

As if on instinct I find the crates necessary to weigh down metal tiles to the left and the right of the doorway ahead yet once more this is where the vision from the last cycle had come to a halt.

The crates feel strangely lighter than I was expecting though as the 'Old Man' said to me many times all that stands in your way appears so only in your mind so maybe in thinking these crates weigh very little – perhaps they have become so to my thinking. What should be heavy is now almost weightless.

It is easier to spot the one on the right for the floor stone's symbol is visible from my position so I move quickly to push and pull it into position before turning to retrieve the left, which is tucked away in a corner on the floor thankfully. The puzzles in the system are less elaborate than the traps though it is only by the visions that I even have the slightest idea how to solve them. I am not incapable of solving puzzles on my own though I'll confess to my own impatience to keep moving forward.

I finally get the left one into place except instead of it opening the door, it raises a section of the floor near the elevated platform where Farah is standing directly in front of the sand vortex so I wonder should I consult it or continue on without peering into the future. My head is still smarting from the hit that technically never happen in the first place. It appears phantom cuts and injuries are to be the aftereffect of these rewinds. I'll think I'll skip it once because the solution to the door looks too obvious from where I am standing.

Two up wall runs and two tumble downs should get me there.

Unsurprisingly I was right and soon we are in the adjoining corridor beyond the warehouse. Two wall runs get us to the next area, which turns out to be the Sultan's menagerie. I fear what may have become of his dead majesty's prized pets, in particular his flock of vultures.

It is only upon sighting a group of Hammers that I start to consider that going ahead without consulting the Sand Vortex might have been a grave error on my part. Of course considering the fragmentation of the visions – I might not have been shown everything like the previous visions.

* * *

_Now is not the time for second thoughts Prince._

_Who are you?_

_Your inner self- you real think talking yourself wouldn't have a side effect?_

_So what is causing these head pains?_

_Noise that you can't decipher in the vision is your own voice – multiple versions of you – all that are dead or will die during the course of visions' foretold events._

_So if there are versions of me that are dead how am I alive?_

_Because you exist outside of time – at least when you rewind you are- that's the dagger's doing – by moving backwards- this version of you avoids the injuries or deaths of the others- there's even one of you that never made it out of the Maharajah's Vault._

_What happen to his time line?_

_It no longer exists – just like all the others – see you avoided his death by rewinding where he didn't – he marveled too long at the dagger and got impaled for it._

_What became of the dagger in then?_

_It doesn't matter because that past never happened for you or for me._

_Then what do you represent?_

_The you that went and goes on without Farah – she's dead – well she died countless times before, but each time those deaths were averted at least for the version of Farah who is with you now. So you may have to learn how to solve this problem without her at your side._

_I should hope not – though I suspect you might be right though having avoided my own demise this far it could mean I could keep avoiding hers by avoiding mine._

_By the way – the Hammers are closing – now move.

* * *

_

I snap out of that inner chat at the sound of Farah's arrows.

"Prince – watch out – that one nearly took your head off," murmurs Farah.

"Sorry – must still be feeling a little off from the visions and getting hit back there," I reply.

"You weren't hit – I saw you dodge it – something did seem strange about that though considering that you know where the Hourglass is – maybe you know more about what lies ahead than me."

She is catching on – maybe I can trust her with the full extent of what I have seen ahead.

Together we dispatch the hammers by arrows and drains – the skirmish is briefer than the last. I'd hate to fight this type alone – I wonder how the other I had done it – I suppose if I had to – I would do the same because it would be only me against a wave of them.

Near the overlook several paces forward is a lamppost and a vortex so I think this time I'll have a look ahead despite the gaps and side effects that await me.

"Maybe you should try to climb over this wall – there's a weight floor stone on the other side," suggests Farah.

"An up run won't do – I'll have to go higher ground like the palm tree and use its branches to get me over," I respond.

* * *

I step into the swirling vortex like I had done several times before the warehouse and got head pounding flashes as before though the noise is clearing up as I listen for my own voice. Comments about defending against the vulture's swooping strike, using round wall runs in the enormous cage, and so on as if the conversation with that lonelier me had actually proven beneficial.

* * *

I climb the lamppost then once high enough I change my position with my back to the stone ledge and jump while turning again in midair. I grab tightly to the grass and pull myself up though I also see her watching with apprehension.

"I made it – I'll be over the wall shortly," I assure her.

She smiles weakly back at me. It must have broken the lonelier me to lose her though how did he continue on – maybe it is the hope that by undoing all this that she'll be alive once more even if he had to lose her to ensure her livelihood. I wonder if he is that selfless or selfish – he can't be that different from me – so I wonder if I have to make that call though it does little good to ponder future decisions with so much to be done in the present.

Up twice then down twice before reaching the palm tree branch to swing myself towards the wall. I land on the wide ledge above the door, which like so many other doors bears the familiar symbol so similar to the one on the dagger as well as the one on her necklace. I suspect there's a link to all of it as if they were all made by same individual – so who is responsible for their existence and what has happen to them – that I may never know though I am content with that acknowledgment.

Another drop down and a short step to the stone unlocks the door bringing her inside with me except now is the descent of the vultures so I head forward with my sword high as if anticipating the path of their downward strike. It works like a charm so then I lash back after every block and the vultures disintegrate after a few blows.

Inside a nesting ground off to the side is a crate with the same symbol as the one on all the other crates I had seen so far, which meant I have to move it. Behind it is a crack where the wall meets the ground and likely only wide enough for Farah.

"Look a crack!" exclaims Farah.

I pray nothing attacks her in there or wherever it leads – I don't want her to die like she had in those other time lines – though I couldn't always be there to protect her. I vow to never her out of my sight for too long even if we face multiple separations from this point onward.

She soon reaches an adjoining area where a lever opens the way to the menagerie's interior.

* * *

_The Fabled Menagerie of Azad – the Sultan's pride and joy – one of the wonders of the world – as a child I had dreams of looking upon with my own eyes – now it is a place of terror – now it is abandoned – wasted by the Sands of Time.

* * *

_

I utilize the rungs to bring myself of to what is left on the circular walkway one level up from me. I walk a few steps before using the next set of rungs to gain another level before turning about to a third set of rungs takes me to the third level. I recall a ladder, which I find shortly and up to the top level. A wall run takes me to a horizontal pole that spans half the circular width of the menagerie. My body weighs heavily against the muscles of my arms as well as my wrists so a few loops over the pole before launching myself across the gap between myself the platform that will lead me back outside. The elaborately forged metal exterior is broken open – most likely by the vultures though it is my way out too.

I jump once more across a gap to the stone outcropping then an up the wall run to a branch of tree protruding from the rock face. Now I am top the menagerie and near the turnstile from my last vision series.

The moon is full tonight – an omen perhaps – if it means anything I don't know for sure though the view from here is beautiful though not nearly as beautiful as Farah I almost wish she were up here to share it with me among other things. I miss her already even though she is not far from me at the moment.

The door opens and I look to my way down by the stone outcroppings though it is only in mid lunge that I notice I am going towards a forming sand vortex. All the other times I went into those willing yet it is the only thing to stop me from smacking head long into the rock wall beyond it.

My body convulses, my back arches like it usually does in these things, and then my head starts pounding as it typically does in this position.

* * *

_Wooden plank bridges with missing sections and I slip she looks to be coming to pull me back up though she is too late. I fall to my death or so it appears – it happens again – it shows me my own death so that I might avoid it?

* * *

_

Something is behind why I am seeing these things – I just don't know what – not that I question why – just wanting to know what or who is responsible for showing me these events that always have yet to happen when I see them like this.

A few drop downs bring me to rods with lamps hanging from them so I use them to reach solid ground and move pass the open doorway to a glowing symbol on the far wall, which lowers a ladder for Farah to climb up to rejoin me.

"Thanks" she calls out.

As we continue, I hear another familiar – the one that belongs to those unnaturally large scarabs.

* * *

_If my tale remains believe up until now – so perhaps it'll be believable when I say – I am more than grateful to have her at my side – though just as well I wouldn't allow her to come to harm.

* * *

_

I hack slash my way through them before she could risk being stung by them as I had been. It hurt though the dagger appears to protect me from the poison though not the injury itself. No point in rewinding over a brawl with these things.

The lever above us is too high up for her though not for me so I am quick to pull it down. Once inside another crack for her to crawl through is found so she goes into it while I look for my own way forward. Elsewhere she finds a switch that enables me to pass through the lock door before me at the end of the path I had taken away from where I fought the bugs.

Another horizontal wall pull lever could only mean the typical timed booby trap passage to the next marked door. It might be timed, but no sense in getting me killed trying to reach her since she is undoubtedly on the other side by now.

A tumble here and there mixing with slow walks over spike plates in the floor is the way to move ahead if only to not get multiple stabs from below – whoever made this system made it too well.

"The door is closing – hurry!"

She certainly sounds worried though I am nearly there so once over the last section of spike floor plates I slide my way under the door and made it before the door hit the ground. She looks at me as if I am taking foolish chances with timed doorways. I had to wonder how much she really knew of such things though it is not really practical to question her worrying at least not here.

The plank bridges ahead are missing sections and it looks like the place where I felt to my death in the visions I saw during my time in one of the previous sand vortex jaunts.

There are more towering palm trees so I'll use them to navigate the high ground in this area yet I am not alone – there is no warping sound – only flapping wings – meaning there are sands altered vultures circling about up there. The first one comes at me from the high ground near the palms I used to climb my way up. After dusting the first, a second descends and easily dealt with too so it seems a well timed blow finishes the vultures quicker than a human sized opponent. As I move to make a wall run I can see a horizontal crack in the rock wall ahead of me, which thankfully takes me directly behind the next set of palm trees so I use the closer of the two to lower myself to the middle ground.

I use the dagger to absorb the glowing sand patch nearby before going back to the palm tree and turning around to the other side to make a short aerial jump to the palm tree across the way. The fifth palm tree is instead tucked away in the corner before the waterfall so alter position and launch myself towards it while once more turning in midair. Shortly after that I am at the waterfall as more vultures descend on my advance. Pesky annoyances, but like scarabs – their bites do damage just not as severe as a human weapon would in the hands of those who were once human within these walls.

A stop to drink the water and find it holds the same regenerative properties as the fountains both in the palace and in that ominous chamber where the water glows a shimmering blue.

* * *

The narrow ledge is the only way to reach the broken plank bridge further ahead and below my present location so off I go with the wish that I won't be attacked at this juncture – not that I couldn't fight them off, but these intermittent skirmishes are taxing on me even with the water to rejuvenate me or the sands to rewind back a 'bad' move on my part.

After I drop down, I prepare jump only to realize the size of the gap so I backpedal so I can run before jumping and manage to land on the middle part of the bridge only to see a similar gap ahead of me. Another jump puts me a little short of my target so I am gripping on the wooden plank that I missed landing on in order to pull myself up. The wood marked my hand, but I am unhurt except for soreness in my ribs from impacting the plank in such a way.

Turnstile to open the locked door below – unsurprising for me since virtually every locked door so far has been bound to a turnstile, a pull lever, a weigh button, or some other kind of activation mechanism. I can hear it opening and Farah likely upon seeing it open went straight for it just as I must do since I have no idea how long it will stay up.

A wall run followed up by two palm tree hops gets me to the ground directly across from where the open door is so I wall run again only stopping a few inches short of smacking into the door frame. After that I walk through to find Farah shooting arrows at scarabs so I bring the sword out of the scabbard for another skirmish with the bugs. The birds and the bugs on a whole look less disturbing in appearance than my once human attackers – not that's something to be positive about – just something I notice from looking upon them before I drain them.

* * *

As we continue on there is another group of easily dispatched scarabs before I spot a bright glow ahead. Most likely from a heavily illuminated room and I am entirely sure where within the palace I am now.

A new kind of enemy awaits us beyond the breach. They are ones carrying spinning weapons. I had rarely seen this kind of weapon outside the training sessions I had back home and even then they were seldom used due to the close range damage they could do to both wielder and opponent.

There are also the dancing courtesans and we had come far without encountering many of them.

Farah starts flinging arrows as I knock those that are hit by her arrows so by that method we whittle their numbers, but this number is smaller than the last attack force. It only could mean more were coming soon and then I heard it before I saw it.

The new enemy type with the swinging blade appears behind Farah and the blade kills her right there.

I feel something impale me too. The blood starts to stream from my mouth – it can't end like this.

_The only way out of this one is to rewind... must concentrate before its too late. _

The ground comes up too fast and then nothing.

* * *

A/N 1: This covers from "I'll Try To Find A Way In" to the beginning of The Baths. Hopefully the way I went about describing events didn't get dull or recycled. The enemy types I describe by way of their weapons still except for the courtesans or non-human attackers such as scarabs.

A/N 2: The Old Man that he refers to again in this chapter is the Blind Old Man first seen in **Warrior Within** - sequel to **Sands of Time**.

A/N 3: Further commentary on the origins of the visions and a kind of fourth wall thing about how they are getting fragmented, which is something I'm sure anyone who played the game noticed. As for the alternate Prince he mentally meets that's a bit of time travel mumbo.

A/N 4: Cliffhanger ending to this chapter - based on a double death experience from the game.


End file.
