The light around me faded, slowly turning from purest white to a dull malevolent red, light filtering in from windows high above me. The light coming in from outside, that of an eternal twilight held in place by powerful magic, stole the beauty the room once had. I looked up at the window and furrowed my brow, the panes of ancient glass were shattered in their frames, something I hadn't seen before in previous arrivals. I lowered the blade and gave it a testing upward swing, my body drawn along with the arc of the weapon. It felt heavy, unnaturally so, not like it had in previous jaunts through time.
My contemplation of this was sharply interrupted by a voice, "What a rush!" I looked down, meeting eyes with a child, maybe six years old, dressed like the desert walkers. I gasped and recoiled slightly from her, and in that moment noticed myself. Like her I was in robes befitting that of the desert thieves, I quickly pulled at the arms of my robe, seeing my deeply tan skin and feminine arms. I let the clothes go allowing the soft cloth to cover me once more. My face went blank as I noticed the rest of me and lost my grip on the weapon I had pulled from the pedestal.
As the blade clattered I felt a tug at my skirt, "Mommy, what's wrong?" My heart jumped up and found a place in my throat, confirming the obvious, that this child was… mine.
"N-nothing, darling," I stammered out, my voice alien and familiar all at once. I looked down at her, forcing myself to smile, "Do you remember anything?" She hadn't been there when I pulled the blade, what would it mean for her now that I had. How had her time been spent? The first time I had gone through I couldn't remember anything, I had done things in there, my clothes had adjusted, I'd gained new skills, but while they came 'naturally' I couldn't remember the act of learning. Just like the skills, feelings came naturally as I watched the little one think, tapping the side of her head as she held a hand to her chin. She was beautiful to behold and allowed a feeling to well up deep within me, its source beyond me for a moment until it occurred to me in the bluntest way possible.
"I uhm remember… words?"
She sounded confused, scared. I knelt before her and put my hand on her shoulder, the glint of gold around my wrist almost drew my eyes from hers, "Shhh, that's good, words are good." It was a start, more would surface later, probably.
"But I don't remember anything!" She blurted out with urgency and no less fear than before.
I held my finger up against her lips, "Shh, it'll be fine, I don't remember anything either, we'll learn together, OK?" That seemed to calm her some, "Anyway, we need to go, it isn't safe here." I looked back up at the broken windows, it seemed that finally someone had thought to scale the wall and break in, it was too bad for them that I had already come and taken the blade.
I began to rise, but stopped in the middle, remembering the blade on the ground I retrieved it. As I finished my rise I looked it over, the edge remained unblemished from its fall, even the point which had landed first was sharp as ever, the very same enchantments that made it so that it could seal away great evils made it such that its edge would never dull or break. I would be lying if I said I didn't depend on that fact in combat.
I finished looking it over and made to put it away, reaching not for its traditional position over my shoulder but a sheath hanging off an already occupied sword belt. The naturalness with which I slid it into place was strange, it had felt natural over my shoulder before, but now it sat at my hip with the same feeling. I had to shake off the feeling of alien familiarity and pointed to the archway leading out of the great temple, "Go on ahead darling, mommy needs a moment to get her bearings." I watched as the girl nodded and hurried to the arch. Once there she promptly hid behind it only to stick her hooded head out from behind it denying me the privacy I had hoped for, I had a feeling that this was not unusual for her.
What I needed to do though didn't require a lot of privacy, I just needed to check, make sure that everything was in order. Pack and satchels, in place, they felt full, ready for a long journey as they did every time I emerged from the light. I looked over my hands, the palms were calloused, I had definitely been practicing with a blade in the time between, good. I slipped the cloth away from my arm again, noting the bangles around my wrist, but also taut muscles, not as heavy as they had been last time. I pulled the cloth all the way up to see my whole arm and nodded my approval, it seemed I hadn't slouched on training, good. Letting the cloth back down I left the rest of me for examination later, only one thing was left to check.
Gently I reached up and pressed my thumb behind my jaw. In doing so I felt the sudden dizzyness I knew to be the magic I'd learned from that damned salesman. Gritting my teeth I pulled my hand away before it separated the mask from me, I couldn't be sure what would happen if I removed it and I certainly didn't want to do it in front of my daughter. I caught her eyes with mine and she ducked back behind the arch, realizing she'd been caught staring. I smiled at this, it was cute, endearing, it only made me feel more strongly toward her. I couldn't name the feeling though, it was foreign to me in a way that even the body I bore wasn't.
I made final adjustments to myself and my gear before stepping away from the place where my artifact blade had rested for who knows how long. I looked back as I walked, how long had I been inside, why had I kept the mask on the whole time, this quest I was on, didn't it need me to be … me? I shook my head, I wouldn't find answers here, perhaps some answers would come with memories that resurfaced over time, the Goddesses only knew though if I would at all. My boots clicked smartly as I strode with a little sway in the hips across the room. If nothing else at least I had good boots.
The little one emerged from behind the archway, coming up alongside me as I walked, her cloak swirling behind her as she hurried to match my pace, "Where are we going?"
I looked out into the main hall of the temple, pews and tapestries rotted in the darkened space, the doors remained on their hinges at the far end. "We have to get out of the city," I said as kindly as I could, I didn't want to worry her, not yet.
We wormed our way toward the doors, "Why?" She asked with genuine curiosity.
"Because it's not safe here," I continued with my kind voice, trying to keep her calm. I stopped as we arrived at the door, looked back and held out my hand to her. She grinned and took it, her cool fingers were a balm on my soul, a deeper comfort than I had imagined I needed. With my other hand I pulled open the small door within the larger door into the sanctum.
Outside the sky was roiling, dark, the eternal twilight that we could only distantly see from within the temple. Beyond the grounds stood what was left of the castle town, just the skeletons of buildings after fire had swept through long ago and left only sparing beams and stone foundations behind. Those and the walking dead.