Love Beyond Time

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  to look at her questioningly. She began to shiver quietly,

  not wanting anyone to know if she was having some kind

  of post-time-travel attack. They would tell Kal and then he

  would insist that they call the whole thing off, at which

  point she would insist that they would not and they would

  end up fighting. She didn't want that—what she wanted

  was to feel warm again and at the moment she wasn't sure

  she ever would. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine

  Kal's arms around her keeping her safe. As if drawn from

  her imagination, Kal stalked into the room and looked at

  her questioningly. He immediately assessed the situation

  and threw his arms around her. She was extremely glad for

  his intuition even if it meant that they would be having that

  aforementioned argument later.

  "What's wrong?" he asked, deeply concerned. His

  body was tense and she knew he was keeping his voice

  calm for her but that he was about to explode. Just the night

  before she had assured him that she was perfectly capable

  of this kind of undertaking and now she was shaking like a

  leaf and they hadn't even done anything yet. Isabelle wasn't

  sure what to tell him but she didn't have time to dwell on

  the subject because she looked up and that was when she

  saw her. A young woman stood quietly in the corner of the

  room staring at all of them. She raised her arm to gesture to

  Isabelle as a salutation.

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  "Who is that?" Isabelle shouted, pointing and

  gripping onto Kal but she knew the answer before anyone

  could respond. They wouldn't be able to see her anymore

  than her adopted parents had been able to see the dead

  neighbor years earlier. This was one of her powers,

  speaking to the dead, and only she could see the woman.

  She was going to have to handle this on her own. She didn't

  remember if she had the physical reaction the last time she

  had seen a dead person but she wasn't going to dwell on

  that now.

  "Who?" Kal spun around ready to attack as Veli and

  Leonardo rose in confusion.

  "You can't see her. She's dead." Isabelle practically

  groaned. She had hoped to never have to see this particular

  phenomena again and the timing was very bad. Whatever it

  was that this woman wanted was sure to only throw a

  wrinkle in their already difficult situation. Spirits didn't

  travel from the great beyond for no reason, at least she

  didn't think they did.

  "Dead?" Leonardo croaked, spinning around again.

  "You really can see the dead? I guess if you can travel in

  time, it would make sense that time can travel to you." He

  seemed genuinely excited by the prospect.

  "Thanks for the analysis. You can write it all down

  later," Kal snapped at Leonardo. "What does this dead

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  person want with you?"

  "I don't know. Should I try to talk to her?" Isabelle

  looked at Kal.

  "Yes," Veli answered for Kal as if he had the right.

  "If she wasn't here earlier, then she must want something

  now. Something about this moment has called her here.

  Find out what it is."

  His words were spoken calmly but she could tell he

  was nervous. Evidently seeing ghosts was not something

  that was considered normal even amongst abnormal people,

  or not quite normal people she amended in her mind.

  "Can you talk to me?" Isabelle gently removed

  herself from Kal's arms and started to approach the

  shimmering woman in the corner. Up close, Isabelle could

  see that she looked very beautiful, ethereal, and that she

  must have been fair skinned with high cheekbones and a

  regal looking nose. Her hair fell to her waist in ringlet

  curls.

  "I've been waiting so long for you to come here,

  Horacia. Your mother told me that you alone would be able

  to see me after all this time. We've waited and waited and I

  started to fear that you would not get here in time." The

  woman smiled sadly at Isabelle. It didn't seem the time to

  correct her name. If this ghost thought of her as Horacia

  then Isabelle was not going to argue a small detail such as

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  her current name.

  "My mother?" Isabelle asked. "Which mother?"

  That seemed silly, she thought after a moment. If the

  woman was calling her Horacia then she must have come

  from the only mother who had ever called her that. Marina

  and Charma had arrived in the room sometime in the last

  few moments and Isabelle was sure she looked crazy, as if

  she was speaking to the wall. Leonardo was quietly filling

  them in on what was happening.

  "Not your human mother, dear," the apparition

  spoke quietly. "Your mother who was one of us. She too

  could see the departed. She watches you, we all do. We

  watch all of you. Tell them all that later. The four of them

  seem to need to hear that very badly."

  "Who are you?" Isabelle asked quietly. If the

  woman was watching them, always, then she needed to

  know who it was that was doing the viewing.

  "I'm Veli's wife, Anahera. I don't have much time

  and I shouldn't be talking to you. The Fates won't like it and

  I'm sure they'll cut me off soon but since I have no direct

  children involved in this affair, I can communicate for a

  little while before they catch on. The others are monitored

  much more closely. I wonder sometimes if that's why we

  never had children, so that I could communicate now.

  These things are all very complicated, intricate and difficult

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  to decipher because they have so many layers. But I am

  babbling and as I said we don't have much time. There is a

  message that I feel that I must deliver right now. But before

  that let me just say that I don't want you to judge Veli too

  harshly by what you just saw in his own mind. He punishes

  himself enough, he doesn't need someone who has never

  had to raise children, let alone four children, in a constant

  state of trauma and upheaval to punish him."

  "I have no intention of judging anyone, Anahera,

  but I suspect that you didn't travel from the great beyond

  and risk the wrath of the Fates to tell me that, did you?"

  Isabelle repeated the name out loud for Veli's benefit. She

  heard him hiss behind her as if he had been struck. This had

  been Veli's soul mate and he had lived half a lifetime

  without her. She had only been with Kal for a heartbeat in

  comparison and she knew she would curl up and die if he

  disappeared. Veli was still functioning, mostly.

  "Ana!" He shouted to no one in particular with such

  anguish in his voice that Isabelle had to swallow down the

  emotions it made her feel. It wa
s not the time for weeping.

  "Veli's time is running out. He knows this, he has

  felt it every morning for the last year and soon he will be

  with me. You'll notice I didn't say rest as none of us are

  resting, desperate to know the outcome of this tale. Your

  arrival here as I have told you has caused us great joy

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  because it means perhaps things are moving in our favor.

  Or maybe not, as I said earlier, this is all very complicated

  and confusing. But enough on that for right now. I suppose

  that will all become resolved later on, one way or another.

  Tell Veli that before it is too late he must tell you the entire

  tale. He will know what that means. He must not hide it

  from you anymore before it is too late to tell you. I don't

  mean you specifically; he needs to tell all of you. Tell him.

  It's almost time and nothing good can possibly come from

  all of you not knowing. It would be like letting you fight a

  battle blind."

  Isabelle had no chance to react to that because as

  quickly as Anahera had appeared, she was gone and

  warmth came back to Isabelle's body. Her cheeks felt hot

  and she could feel her pulse racing. This might be her

  power to wield, but it wasn't a comfortable one.

  Isabelle felt dizzy and sweaty as she turned around

  and practically collapsed in Kal's arms. He held her like a

  baby and carried her to the couch gently.

  "You're burning up again," Kal remarked. "Is this

  going to happen to you every time a spirit feels like

  chatting?"

  "I'm hoping they don't do it that often."

  "Still."

  "Maybe I'll get better at it as I get more practice like

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  I am with the time jumping."

  "Is she still here?" Veli practically shouted,

  interrupting their light banter. Clearly Veli hadn't gotten

  that Kal was trying to calm her down by acting calm

  himself and even though Isabelle had recognized that as

  what was happening and therefore found herself unable to

  actually fall for the attempt, she was grateful Kal had made

  the effort. She took a deep breath that seemed more like a

  sigh and tried to see things from Veli's perspective. She had

  just spoken to his very dead wife.

  Isabelle could only imagine how frantic he must

  feel. She had been with her soul mate for only two days and

  losing him was inconceivable. Veli must live every day in

  pain and then to know that she was here, but that only

  Isabelle who was practically a stranger could see her, must

  have been awful for him to endure.

  "No." Isabelle shook her head. "She didn't have

  much time and she was pretty sure that the powers that be

  were not going to be happy that she had come in the first

  place. She felt compelled so she did it anyway even though

  she knew she might be facing some kind of trouble. She felt

  that she was the only one who could make the trip because

  she didn't have any children actually involved in this whole

  scenario."

  "That's my Ana." Water formed in Veli's eyes.

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  Leonardo and Charma looked uncomfortable as Marina

  placed a gentle hand on his arm. He wiped away the tear

  quickly. "She was always damning the consequences to do

  what she felt was right. She had scars across her back from

  her father's switch because she could never learn not to

  speak her mind. He was a mean old bastard."

  The room was strangely silent and Isabelle wasn't

  sure what she should say next. Should she try to comfort

  Veli or continue on to tell them what Ana's message had

  been? She looked at Kal for some kind of guidance but he

  was looking at his feet. No help there, she thought

  suddenly, and continued on with the message she needed to

  relate.

  "She said she had to come to tell you that you had

  to tell us the entire tale before it was too late. She said your

  time was coming to an end, which you already knew, and

  that you had to tell us whatever this tale was before you

  couldn't tell us," Isabelle said, relaying the message. She

  hoped that there weren't too many other ghosts out there

  waiting for her to relay messages. She had seen, and

  enjoyed, the movie where the young hero had been able to

  talk to the dead but she wasn't anxious to actually live it on

  a day to day basis. She deliberately didn't tell him Ana's

  aside about not judging Veli too harshly. It didn't seem the

  time and she kind of thought that had been for her ears

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  only.

  Veli suddenly went very still.

  "What tale?" Leonardo questioned, looking very

  suspicious, grim, and daunting all at the same time. He

  turned to Veli, facing him and looking him right square in

  the eyes. "What have you been keeping from us that is so

  important that your dead wife had to travel over from the

  great beyond to remind you to tell us?"

  There was ferocity to Leonardo's voice that Isabelle

  had never heard before and suddenly he didn't seem so very

  different from Kal. She could imagine them in battle

  together. Leonardo was obviously a man of secret strength.

  He must have aggressive powers that she hadn't seen yet

  and Veli's automatic reactions to him made much more

  sense. Somehow Leonardo was as intimidating to Veli as

  Kal was, maybe more.

  "After." Veli threw up a hand like he was done with

  the conversation. "It's not time yet. After we find the books,

  then you'll understand everything." Veli obviously felt that

  this was the final word on the subject and he stomped from

  the room. Isabelle couldn't help feeling sorry for him—

  even if he was being obtuse, he looked shaken and

  distraught.

  "What did she look like?" Charma asked quietly.

  "I've always wondered what kind of woman could melt

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  Veli's heart. It's not like he's had pictures around for us to

  look at over the years. She's been like this faceless,

  constant presence in our lives and he's never even described

  her to us."

  "Did any of us ever ask him what she looked like or

  did we all assume that he wouldn't tell us?" Marina asked

  suddenly. "I certainly never asked."

  "Why would we ask when it was so apparent that he

  didn't want to talk about the people that had been lost

  except to catalogue them like ice cream flavors? Name,

  rank, power skill, child." Leonardo sounded bitter.

  "Besides, I personally don't care what she looked like. Any

  woman that could really love him must be seriously off of

  her rocker."

  "Leonardo!" Charma chided. "We don't know what

  Veli was like before he lost her, before he lost everyone,

  a
nd got saddled with us."

  "Saddled?" Leonardo whirled on Charma. "He

  wasn't saddled with us, he was given us to protect. That

  was his job, to protect our society, to keep us all safe. He

  was Abraxas' number two, the chief warrior. He was placed

  in a position of responsibility. Maybe he never thought he'd

  have to do exactly what he was given to do but that doesn't

  excuse that he did a very bad job at it. We're still like

  children in our abilities and we may never be any better.

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  We're fighting a cosmic battle and he won't even give us all

  the details on it. Isabelle didn't even know she had powers

  and this great Darkness that we have been running from our

  entire lives found her anyway. Probably the other children

  are dead or locked up being experimented on by

  governments all over the world. I personally don't give a

  shit if he misses his wife or he doesn't miss her."

  "You are so hard on him!" Marina turned, stepping

  in front of Charma to face Leonardo. "Did you ever go

  hungry? Did you ever go without anything you ever

  needed? You have a PhD for goodness sake. You landed in

  Veli's lap and you know what, you were lucky that you did.

  I spent years starving in a Russian orphanage. I was dirty

  and hungry and so lonely that I thought I would die and I

  was four years old. As far as I'm concerned Veli is my

  guardian angel and you're just an ungrateful child."

  "I'm so sick of you sticking up for him. You don't

  know what it was like for the three of us. He was so

  grateful to have found you, it made him not a complete

  failure but we all know who really found you." Leonardo

  stopped his ranting long enough to point at Charma. "She

  did. He's babied you from day one. We don't even know

  what you are capable of doing yet. Oh don't bother poor

  Marina, he would scream at us. She had to live in an

  orphanage. So what if she can't and maybe won't ever be