Chapter 2
Going home
Talia's POV
"Who's there?" Elisa asked.
"It's me, Talia." I rubbed my head.
"What're you doing in my bathroom?" She opened the door.
"Puck made me practice an escape spell." I got up.
"C'mon, I'll take you back. I don't want anything to happen to you. It's bad out there." She said.
"That's what I said." I followed her to her car and got it.
She drove us back to the Eyire Building and parked in the structure. We walked in, going to the elevator. It was quiet ride up. Puck and David were waiting for me.
"Talia, are you alright? Lighting struck the castle." Puck looked me over.
"I'm fine. Just fell out a mirror is all." I waved him off.
"If you're sure…" He frowned.
"I wanna go to bed now." I yawned.
"Alright, little trickster." Puck teleported me to my room and sang me to sleep. My room smelled little different. Cleaner? I woke up as Owen called me for breakfast. I got dressed and followed him to the dining room.
"…What kind of sick joke is this?! Did you tell him to this?" I shrieked, turning to face Owen. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
"Talia?" Owen frowned.
"Tai, what's wrong?" His voice so close to his father's.
"I promised, I promised to visit! I'm trying to make up for I did and then, and then-" I choked. "You hurt me like this?!"
"Talia, what's going on?" Owen asked.
"I already apologized for running away! I suffered too!" I sobbed openly now, crying for Sarah and our unborn child. Owen led me back to my room and comforted me.
Talia's POV End
Alex's POV
"I think something happened during last night's lesson." I said.
"The question now is how do we fix it?" Dad frowned.
"I dunno." I shrugged. "Maybe she'll be able to tell us more when she calms down."
Alex's POV End
2022
Talia's POV
Elisa and I rode the elevator up. She looked different, but I wasn't sure how. Hair dye? Puck, David, and a little boy were waiting for us.
"Tai!" He tackled me. I frowned. He had magic and it felt familiar somehow. He realized I wasn't hugging him. "Tai?"
"Who're you?" I asked.
"It's me, Alex!" He grabbed my shirt.
"Alex Xanatos?" I frowned.
Alex started crying. Elisa picked him and tried to calm him down. "Alex, she must have loss her memory during the lighting strike or when she fell out of my bathroom mirror."
Puck hummed and used his magic. "This isn't our Talia. She's just turned 17; her eyes have brown splotches in them, and that burn on her right hand."
"There was another me in the portal when I used it. Maybe that was your Talia." I said.
"So, what happened?" David asked.
"We must have synchronized with the other, um, dimension during the magic lesson." Puck thought.
"Alex was born in 1996 where I'm from. He's 20 now." I shrugged.
"Other timeline." He amended.
"I think we have to send her home before the storm dissipates, but it has to be tomorrow night, at the exact time she originally did the spell." David said.
"That sounds right." Elisa nodded.
"What year is it here?" I asked.
"2022." Puck told me.
"So, other me is 23?" I asked.
"Yeah, c'mon, let's get you to bed." Puck took Alex.
"Tai story?" He sniffled.
"Uh, sure." I followed them.
Talia's POV End
2017
Alex's POV
Owen returned after awhile. "She's asleep again."
"You have any idea what happened?" Dad asked.
"I believe we must have synchronized with the other timeline during the magic lesson. We have to send her home before the storm dissipates, at the exact time she originally did the spell." He explained.
"Why was she so upset?" I asked.
"We weren't good parents to her. I, I allowed you to neglect and keep neglecting her. She had run away when you were a baby. She must have met someone and gotten them pregnant as well…" He trailed off, struggling with their anger and grief. "It ended in worst possible way."
"No." Mom breathed. I felt a little sick.
"We're not her parents, Owen. We're their counterparts." Dad said softly. "Our Talia is fine."
"I know, but… it hurts. She is still our daughter and to know that our counterpart failed her on such a basic level." His hand clenched into a fist.
"C'mon, Owen, let's go get some air." Dad led him to the elevator. "If she wakes up while we're gone, stay away until she's reoriented, Alex."
"Ok." I frowned.
Alex's POV End
