Hey everyone, welcome to my very first story on this account! I've been a huge pirates fan for the longest time (probably since the first movie came out when I was a kid) so I'm pretty excited to share this story with y'all. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear any feedback you can provide.
Now, on with the show!
A young woman sung softly as she rocked a bassinet back and forth.
"Hush little baby don't say a word. Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don't sing. Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ri-"
"Your time is up, Clara."
Clara turned around slowly, leaving one hand on the bassinet. She placed herself between her baby and the newcomer: a very tall, thin man of about fifty holding an ornate golden pocket watch. He seemed to glow, filling the room with an eery, golden light.
"Chronos. How did you find me," Clara asked shakily.
"Clara, did you really think you could run from me? From time? I delayed your death to save the child, but you and I both know that I can't stop your clock forever. You will die tonight, Clara, I can't hold it off any longer."
"Please, Chronos, I just need one more week. Just one more week and I can give the girl to her father. One more week and I can stop her from being sent away," Clara sobbed, picking up her baby and holding her tightly to her chest. Almost as though she could sense something was wrong, the infant started to cry, her green eyes filling with tears and her terrible screams filling the room. Chronos's eyes softened as Clara tried to shush her daughter, taking pity on the young pair.
"I'm sorry Clara, but tonight you will die, and with you dead, I must send her to a time where she can be safe. I cannot risk this child's life in a time such as this, but when she is ready, and when the world is ready for her, she will return. She is the only one that can save the seas, but she needs time to grow, and in order for that to happen, my dear Clara, you must die, and she must leave."
Chronos then opened his pocket watch and set it on the floor. "I'm sorry Clara, but this is how it must be."
Clara started to panic, she put her child back in her bassinet and knelt down, begging the god to stop.
"Please Chronos, I just need a little more time. A week. A day. Even an hour. Just please I need more time," She pled. Her green eyes, the same shade as her daughter's, were ablaze with a frenzied mania. She wasn't ready to die. She couldn't just abandon her baby. Especially not when Chronos had such a terrible plan to keep her safe.
The god looked at her with pity, but it was too late. The hands started to spin, slowly at first, and then gradually faster. As it spun, a dark energy began to surround Clara. She started to scream, softly at first, merely whimpers, but then they grew louder and louder until finally, she collapsed. With a few shuddering breaths and her last bit of strength she turned to her child.
"Nova, I'm sorry. I love you, your father loves you. I will see you again my child. Goodbye." And with a last shuddering breath, Clara was dead, leaving her sobbing infant alone with the god of time.
Chronos approached the baby slowly, looking more conflicted than he would have liked. He picked her up gingerly and turned to leave the room before something caught his eye. Around Clara's neck was a thin chain. He bent down to examine it, and at the end was a small bird. He carefully unclasped it and put it on the baby.
"There now, young one, your mother is still with you," the god told the infant, a gentle smile on his face. Almost as though she understood, Nova cooed happily and stuck the pendant in her mouth. Chronos grimaced in disgust before facing away from the baby, turning on his heel, and leaving the room. As he walked, he continued his one-sided discussion with the girl.
"Now Nova, I know you might be scared, and I'm sorry I had to take your mother from you, but her time was out. I may be the god of time, you see, but that doesn't mean I have control over it. I can, however, bend it, and that is what I must do to keep you safe. Do you understand?"
The infant blinked up at him, green eyes twinkling emptily.
"Of course you don't, you're a baby. You don't understand a single word I'm saying. But anyway, my dear Nova, you will do great things. You're destined to save us all one day, but I'm afraid the world isn't ready for you just yet. I'm going to send you away, Nova, very far away. I'm sending you somewhere, or rather, somewhen, where no one can touch you. And when this time is ready for you, I will bring you back. But I'm sorry my dear, but this is going to be very confusing, and very lonely. Now, here is where I must leave you."
The pair now stood in the middle of a forest, thousands of miles away from her mother's cottage in the caribbean. Chronos gently placed the infant on the floor. She gargled angrily at the sudden loss of warmth, but was more curious than angry.
"Welcome to New York, dear Nova. This is where I shall leave you, but not when." The baby watched Chronos curiously as he placed his watch on the ground yet again, Nova watching confusedly. The hands began to spin again, but rather than a black cloud surrounding the girl, a golden shimmer began to cover her. The baby began to cry as the world spun around her. Her screams grew louder as the spinning got faster, until it slowly began to halt.
The infant's cries continued as she took in her new surroundings. Where there was once nothing but trees, now there were buildings taller than Nova could comprehend, and harder too. The soft ground below her was now cold and rigid, and it was entirely too loud and bright. She cried louder and louder until a woman finally came out of a door into the night. She looked down in shock.
"Jonathan! Jonathan come quick!" She screamed The woman bent down and picked up the child, bringing her inside. Nova fell asleep in the arms of this stranger instantly, not knowing the life she had just been forced into.
"Nancy, I'm calling the police in the morning, they'll take the baby off our hands. I just hope we're doing the right thing."
"John, it's all we can do, I just wish her the best in her life."
Despite their best wishes, little Nova did not receive the best in life. After failing to locate any living relatives, the police placed baby Jane Doe in a girls' home. Jane changed her name to Nina when she was five, as she refused to be called the same name as so many other girls in the house.
Growing up, Nina was about as scrappy as scrappy could be. With big green eyes, a face full of freckles, a thin wiry build, and quintessentially messy brown hair, she looked to many people like a little woodland elf. Despite her innocent appearance, Nina was feisty, and picked fights with more people than she probably should've. She also loved to play pranks on her caretakers, and was wily enough to get away with any mischief she got into.
However, as she grew older, Nina grew more and more curious. Rather than wanting to fight the world, she wanted to know everything she could about it. While her grades were a tad abysmal, she was incredibly passionate about learning and didn't care who knew it. She spent hours in bookstores, or locked in her room researching anything that caught her eye. Nina was especially interested in numbers, particularly time, and spent ages in the library learning as much as she could about it.
Despite her passions, Nina was lonely. She'd grown up in a girls' home her whole life and just wanted a family of her own, the one thing she'd never be able to have. But, like any other scrappy orphan, Nina kept a stiff upper lip and dealt with her life day-by-day, secretly yearning for a family, but outwardly fighting the world and learning whatever she could.
"Nina Doe, you are a strong, sensible woman," she'd whisper to herself in her room at night, "And you can do whatever you put your mind to. Parents or not."
Seventeen years after being whisked away to the future, Nina Doe woke up from the same nightmare she'd had for as long as she could remember. A scream, a watch, and spinning. Checking her phone, she saw that it was only three am and rolled over to sleep some more. Around her neck, a silver chain holding a bird gleamed in the moonlight. A reminder of a time long gone, and a time that would soon call her back again.
