Summary: In an old antique shop Lettie and her brother, Kyle, buy a mysterious hourglass with a matching key. Upon using the two together they discover the hourglass is actually able to go through time after an incident in Rome, Italy. Kyle and Lettie use the hourglass to go back to the American Revolution for a report Kyle has to write. During each of the events from before and during the war, Lettie keeps running into a strange half-Native American boy. However, during one of the events the hourglass is stolen. Stuck in the 18th century the siblings must rely on complete strangers in order to return home before their present becomes their history's past.
Disclaimer for all chapters: I own nothing but Kyle and Lettie. Everything else belongs to Ubisoft and history itself.
Across Time
Chapter 1
History was always in the making. Every little event in a person's life soon becomes what their history is. Some events are the usual mundane and not really important while others are so important it impacts how people of the future can review it. But what if a person's history is made while reliving history of the past?
I wanted to cry or scream because I didn't want my history to be written like this. To remember in my future how I had to live in the past as my present. It wasn't entirely fair. This was all Kyle's fault! Why the hell did he have to drag me into this sort of thing anyway for something like a good grade? Then again, it was the temptation of that stupid hourglass that started it. And how our lives would be changed forever due to that one mundane afternoon...
In actuality I think it was my mother's fault our lives were changed forever. That afternoon on a cold winter's day Kyle and I decided to go shopping for our mother's birthday. Normally, we don't get her anything, but it was guilt she always got us gifts that prompted us to go buy one for her. We had decided to go look in one of the old antique shops in town. She has a love for anything old to decorate the house with and it seemed the most logical gift item to get.
However, we weren't having much luck.
"What about this?" Kyle asked, holding up an old oriental vase of white and blue porcelain.
"No, she's already got a dozen of those around the house," I said, taking the vase to place it back on its shelf.
"Oh, yeah. Then, how about that?" He pointed to a higher shelf where some creepy looking ceramic owls were sitting. Their painted yellow eyes peered down at us despite their varying shades of painted coats and with the shadows of the sun burning at our backs through the window it was creepier.
We shared a look.
"No," we said simultaneously. We went back to searching.
Man, looking for a good gift for Mom is harder than it looks. We loved our mother a lot but even we don't know what to get her. Dad says Mom would love whatever we buy her. If that's true, why didn't she use the Snuggie blanket we bought her for Christmas last year? All we wanted was to buy a good, practical gift she would utterly love. At home it seemed like a good idea to go shopping at an antique store. We thought we'd find a good gift. But standing in that cramped, dusty aisle with wooden shelves holding ceramic knickknacks and other miscellaneous things surrounding us, I wasn't so sure.
We spent about an hour looking through the shelves and we didn't find a single damn thing! Every weird ceramic animal, every oriental vase, and even some paintings, and we still haven't found anything! I frowned at a wooden cuckoo clock with a small orange bird peeking out its window. If we didn't find anything in a half hour, we're leaving.
Kyle obviously thought the same because he kept checking his watch. "Are we done yet? I have homework to do."
"Yeah, I guess we can leave." I sighed. This really wasn't getting us anywhere. Here I thought we'd find something Mom would love. I walked down the aisle intent on heading for the door. That's when something sparkled out of the corner of my eye. "Hm?"
"What is it?" he asked, hearing me hum. I barely noted him and went straight to what I saw.
I walked up to a shelf above me where I saw sunlight hitting something. Looking closer, I noticed it was a small hourglass. It was a pretty basic one that was made out of a light wood. I reached up for to take it down from its perch. When my fingers touched it I shivered. It was warm to the touch. Pretty reasonable considering the sun was hitting it. Ignoring the dust particles stirred up from the movement, I held it up to see the wood holding the glass bulbs were carved with tiny dark intricate patterns that almost looked mathematical in nature what with all the circles and lines interconnecting on another. The sand inside were a gold color, but I couldn't help but think it was glowing brightly. Must be my imagination. On both surfaces of the wooden bottoms I noticed how there were keyhole indentation. Weird.
"What's that?" The hourglass disappeared from my fingers as Kyle snatched them right out of my hands. He ignored my indignant cries to examine the small handheld piece himself. "Wow, cool hourglass! I always wanted one."
"We're not shopping for you, moron. We're trying to find a gift for Mom!"
"I know that. Keep your panties on. Just wanted to look at it."
My cheeks grew hot. I opened my mouth to never even say that word in public again (even if its in a dusty antique shop) when we heard a voice behind us.
"Oh? You've taken an interest in that?"
We jumped and looked over our shoulders. It was a woman in her thirties with straight black hair and pale skin. Dressed in a light dress, she had an apron over it that bore the store's logo. She was smiling at us, her eyes on the hourglass.
"Um, yeah. We're just looking, though," I said in my slightly high voice that I only used when taking to strangers. I snatched back the hourglass and was about to place it on the shelf.
"You know, there's a very interesting story about that hourglass," said the woman. She plucked it back off the shelf and held it delicately between her fingers. "They say that people in possession of his hourglass have been able to change history for themselves. Whoever possesses this hourglass will have a pleasant future by peering into the past."
"Pleasant future? How?" Kyle asked, intrigued. I was as well, but I didn't peer down at the hourglass closely like some kid.
She smiled mysteriously. "I'm not entirely sure myself. The last person who owned this hourglass was said to have changed and created his own history."
Well, that doesn't tell us much about the thing. People can create their own history if they tried hard enough. I frowned. This was obviously some kind of marketing technique to sucker morons into paying a lot of money for something useless. Only an idiot would fall for that kind of scheme.
"Really? That's awesome! So it's a good luck charm?" Kyle exclaimed, awed. I wanted to slap my forehead. Of course. I was related to a gullible idiot. He reached into his pocket for his wallet. "How much for it?"
"You have good taste," the woman complimented. She walked down the aisle way and turned a corner. We followed her to see her get behind the counter near an ancient cash register. "It's not that expensive. The hourglass is nine dollars and ninety-nine cents."
"That cheap?"
"I dunno. It's kinda expensive for a useless paperweight," I muttered behind him.
"It's not useless! You heard what she said. This thing could give me an awesome future! All my dreams will come true with it," Kyle argued.
"Yeah, because your dream is to own a small hourglass that let's you watch time grain by grain."
The woman rang up the register as Kyle handed her a ten dollar bill. She gave back the appropriate change, then placed the small breakable hourglass into a small cardboard box filled with styrofoam. She suddenly gasped.
"Oh! Before I forget..." She went towards the other side of the counter where there. Was a glass display full of old jewelry pieces from necklaces to bracelets. I kinda liked how some of them looked since I happen to like antique stuff like Mom. She pulled out a key to open the display and plucked something out from the mass of jewelry. Locking up the display, she came back to us and held out something in the palm of her hand. We peered closer to see an old antique key. It looked to be made of gold (probably fake). The same pattern markings on the hourglass decorated the surface of the neck faintly in a dark color matching the color of the wood on the hourglass. "This key is often coupled with the hourglass. When my grandmother, the owner of the shop, originally found the hourglass fifty years ago she found it with the key lying next to it. She knew the two weren't to be seperated, so they're usually bought together."
"Your grandmother found this? Where?" Kyle, the history nerd he was, asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. All she said was she found it to keep it away from those who might abuse it. Only those who truly know what they want can fully use this. It's been awhile since anyone's actually used this, though."
Didn't that sound ominous?
"So, do we have to pay for the key, too?" I asked suspiciously. If this was a marketing scheme, I swear I'm gonna kill Kyle.
She shook her head. "Like I said, the hourglass and key are meant to stay together. Since you already bought the hourglass, the key is for free."
"Really?" Kyle asked. He reached out a hand to grab the key from her hand, but I was faster. I grabbed the key before he could, thus earning protest from him. "Hey! That's mine!"
"Nope! You know I like collecting keys." Yeah, it's a weird habit of mine. I had an obsession with keys ever since I played the Kingdom Hearts game series. I'm not usually an RPG player, but the main weapon in the game started my fascination with all things key shaped or key-like. I placed the key in my pocket as I headed out of the store. Like I'm going to stay here a second longer.
I walked out into the cold January air. The antique store was next to some fashion shops, so the street was busy with shoppers. Not many people glanced at the tiny antique shop in favor of the larger brand name stores. How does a tiny business like an antique store stay in business with competition like this? I started walking back to my baby in the parking lot. From behind, I heard hurried footsteps approaching me and Kyle appeared beside me with a small paper bag in his hand. He frowned at him.
"I don't think its fair you're keeping the key. I paid for it," he justified sullenly.
"Does it look like I care what you think is fair?" I retorted. I walked up to the beat up old Harley motorcycle next to a handicapped spot. It was old, but its my baby. I spent three whole years working part time jobs to buy it on my own. I grabbed the black and red helmet and placed it on my head, reaching out to toss the white one to Kyle. He grumbled, placing it on while hiding his new purchase in the storage box I put in the back. Swinging my leg over over the huge machine, I started it up.
The engine roared due to its old age that made several people turn their heads toward the sound. When Kyle climbed behind me with his hands barely touching my hips to stay steady I kicked off the stand and steered my baby to go and leave. For one moment I faced the antique store we had just left. My eyes lingered on the store sign hanging near the door.
'Eagle's Nest,' it proclaimed proudly. An eagle eye was next to the name with its pupil a peculiar symbol. It was the tiny symbol that caught my attention. Huh. That's weird. It looks like a stylized A.
The next moment I had to turn out into the intersection, yet that symbol lingered in the corner of my thoughts all the way home.
Later that day, I was inside my house's computer room on the computer. I was doing some research on some Renaissance history for my art class. One of my classes in college was based on the history of art and, as you can guess, we were currently studying the Renaissance era. It really was a great era where people were then discovering their independence and opinions. The art was okay. Just because I'm taking an art history class doesn't mean I was actually interested in the class. Hell, I'm only taking the class so I can have enough credits to transfer to the University near my town! As I was looking up some of Leonardo da Vinci's work, Kyle entered the room.
"Hey, sis! Whatcha doin'?" he asked.
"Research," I answered monotonously. I was too absorbed in reading about how Leonardo ended up working as some kind of engineer for Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander the IV. I find it interesting how Leonardo was the original Renaissance man. The guy did everything from inventing to painting to music. The question what most people wondered was what DIDN'T he do?
"On what?" I felt Kyle come up behind my chair to peer over my shoulder. "Oh, you're researching Leonardo da Vinci?"
"No, I'm researching art styles. I just happened to read the guy's biography. Was there something you needed?" I asked, spinning around in the black leather swivel chair to face him. Kyle knows I hate it when people interrupt me when I do homework. I lose my train of thought. He has the same pet peeve when I bother him when he's doing homework. Facing him, I noticed the hourglass in his hands. It looked tiny in his large guy hands. In mine earlier my fingers were able to barely circle it.
He shrugged. "Not really. Just wanted to see what you were up to."
"Oh. How's your paperweight?"
"It's not a paperweight! And I happen to like it. It's pretty cool for something so ancient." It really was, I had to agree. He held it up to where the fading sunset's light shone through the window on my right to hit the glass of the hourglass. Again, it seemed like the yellow sands were grained from gold. It shone so bright I swear it should have been made from gold. He turned over the hourglass so the full sand at the bottom was suddenly on the top, little grains beginning to slip down the tiny hole to the new bottom. "I don't regret buying this. Something about this thing makes me feel like time is standing still."
"Obviously not," I said. I reached over and tapped the glass with my fingernail. "Each grain that falls is telling us every second time is passing. Time stands still for no one."
"I guess." Kyle seemed distracted. I had noticed his eyes were focused on the keyhole indention on the wooden end of the hourglass. His thumb ran over the indent. "Hey, Lettie? Do you think what that lady said was true? About people making their futures the way they want with this?"
I snorted. "Of course not. People can make their own futures the way they want without the help of something like that thing. It's the will of the person that decides how their future will turn out."
"Isn't that the same as what she said? Remember she said something about her grandmother's words? Only those who know what they truly want can fully use it."
"And what does that mean? It's an hourglass. It doesn't do much but be a timer."
He bit his lip, trying to think of an explanation. I went back to reading about Leonardo. Poor guy. How could anyone accuse him of being gay? Yeah, art can be a bit gay but that's good! It's a way for people to fully express themselves without doing something destructive. It's too bad he had to be commissioned by a guy in charge of the military. His inventions were to mark the start of new technology. He seems like a cool guy if he hadn't helped this guy, Cesare, in a war. Especially like the Borgia family.
"What about that key?" he asked. "Don't you find it weird how an hourglass is bought with a key? Why would it need a key?"
"Maybe it's an accessory?" I answered distractedly, eyes skimming over the biography.
"Why would an hourglass need a key as an accessory? I find it kinda weird."
"Well, the woman did say her grandma found the hourglass with the key."
"But still," he paused, his eyebrows furrowing. "Wait, don't you think it's even weirder how her grandma found this thing fifty years ago? Why hasn't it been sold yet? The thing was covered in dust when you found it."
"So what? It was an antique shop. Of course something's going to be really old and still be there. The place looked like it didn't get much business."
"Why wouldn't anyone was this with a story like having the possibility of making the future the way they want it?" he further questioned.
"I don't know! Stop asking all these questions already!" I spun back around, glaring at him. My irritation flashed through my brown eyes. He flinched back. "I don't know any of the answers to your conspiracy theories, okay? It's just a stupid hourglass that came with a key. It doesn't do anything except be a timer. Just stop."
"Then, explain the key. Why have a key and a keyhole marking on the hourglass?" Kyle challenged to my irritation.
"I don't know, decoration? It probably opens the lid of the thing to add more sand to it." He gave me a skeptical look. "Look, I'll prove it. Hand it over."
He did so without complaint. Holding the hourglass in one hand, I used the other to dig into my jeans for the key. I pulled it out, the metal as warm as the sun on a breezy day. It felt rather pleasant on my skin. I turned back to the desk to place the hourglass on its flat end so I didn't spill out any sand when the lid opens. Kyle, being the annoying jerk he was, came up behind me to place his forearms on my head and peered over the top of my head. Did he want to keep annoying the crap out of me? Brothers, I swear.
"Look. The lid will open and be nothing but to add sand," I said, lifting the key to insert it in the keyhole. It was a perfect fit. I began to turn it as I said, "This thing was a worthless buy. Now, stop bothering me so I can get back to reading about Leonardo-"
I was interrupted by a distinct click. I expected the lid to open on the hourglass. What I didn't expect was a sudden bright flash of light as a warm tingling sensation crawled up my spine. I gasped sharply, and by the gasp in my ear Kyle must have felt it, too. The bright flash of light was too sudden. I was forced to squeeze my eyes shut quickly so I wouldn't be rendered blind.
I wasn't entirely sure how much time passed with my eyes squeezed shut. All I knew was that by the time the light faded into a faint gold shimmer behind my eyelids I felt like I wouldn't see again. I opened my eyes, flinching at the spots dancing in my vision.
"Fuck!" Kyle shouted behind me. I turned to him at the sound of his voice, looking past the spots to see him rubbing his eyes. Blinking rapidly, the spots vanished to allow me to see Kyle properly. But that wasn't the only thing I saw properly. "Shit! What the hell was that? I think I'm blind!"
My jaw dropped. To be honest I thought for a second I had read way too much about the Renaissance and that I was dreaming. Because instead of seeing the computer room with its dull, drab painted walls, I found us standing on the roof of some building. It must have been a house because of the tiles of the roof beneath my bare feet. Off in the distance, I saw more more of the buildings as well as what looked liked a familiar coliseum in Rome. The sun was just setting, casting its orange glow across this unfamiliar/familiar setting.
"Um...Lettie?" I vaguely heard Kyle say quietly beside me. I met his eyes in a shocked and utterly confused glance. "Where are we?"
Where are we, indeed?
Okay, I'm actually starting another fanfic since one of my other stories is coming to a close. I decided I needed a break from anime writing and focus on one of my favorite franchises: Assassin's Creed. I wanted to write a fic for this series for so long but I had to focus on writing for my other story. I'm writing for it now since I've been having Assassin's Creed 3 withdrawal and I'm currently reading Forsaken. For some reason I can't write for either Altair or Ezio because I can't connect with their characters very well. I don't know why I'm giving Connor this privilege, but it's because his game is the most recent I've played from start to finish with all his side missions completed fully. Seriously, I spent two hours on a single mission to get full synch and replaying it over and over until I got it right before I continued the main missions. Anyway, I hope no one kills me for the over used idea of 'Girl travels back in time, meets so-and-so, becomes an amazing Assassin, and/or fall in love with main character.' I hope its not like that since its not just a girl, but her brother trapped in time, too, and they can choose when and where to travel.
Wish me luck with this!
Reviews of all kinds are welcome! Tell me what you like, what you hate, anything! Just review!