A/N: Well, I got three reviews! I guess I'll give you guys the next chapter now. Keep them coming yo!
XP
There was fire, golden flames licking at anything they could reach, searing, burning. A fire of passion, of hatred, of ambition. Eyes of cruelty engulfed the golden flames, turning them black, turning them red like blood. The flames sank, becoming blood, becoming a sea of red that created a river-like pathway to a destination I was forced to follow. Slipping and sliding, trying to keep my balance while running, running towards one thing, and away from another.
There was an opening, a window, where the blood flowed freely into, a curved hole filled with light. I dove into it, and rolled along the hard smooth ground that did not seem to belong.
And then I looked up. Within the walls of a room which could only belong to a palace, a lone woman was shooting arrow after arrow at creatures that I knew only too well. Sand Raiders, coming after her, laughing at her fruitless attempts to fight them back. She was loosing.
My blades sang through the air as three Sand Raiders found their death at my hands in a matter of seconds. The rest jumped back to regroup, and then came after us once again. They were no match for me, and the arrows that were sent their way hit their targets dead center. The raiders kept coming, but they were loosing.
The woman and I stood back to back, waiting for more to come, but instead, laughter filled the room, and the familiar figure of none other than Shahdee approached us. "Come, Princess, come Empress, you will know both your fate." She said, laughing.
"Who are you!? What are you!?" Demanded the 'Princess' at my side, notching another arrow into her bow.
"Don't think you can scare us with that, Shahdee. I know that fate is not unchangeable. I changed Kaileena's fate, I will change my own." I told her.
"You only took her fate upon yourself! You will die!" She cried, and with a yell she came after us.
She was much stronger, much faster, and much more powerful than I remembered her being. I could not simply kick her back as easily as before, and she was somehow able to dodge most of the princess's arrows. Her eyes were glowing red as we battled, our swords clashing, shrieking, screaming against one another. Our blades locked, and we struggled to push the other back. But this was exactly what I'd needed to do all along. Shahdee allowed herself to be kept in one place for too long, and the princess's arrow shot straight into her temple, and I threw her back.
"One of you…" She gasped, "One of you must die."
"You're all talk." I said, crossing my swords at her neck and slicing it clean off her shoulders.
She exploded, turning into sand, black sand, red sand, and it flew high into the air to converge upon the ceiling. Golden eyes opened wide, bulging, staring down at us. The earth shook, and the world around us began to crumble.
"Run!" I exclaimed, grabbing the princess and dragging her out of the room.
"What's going on here!?" She gasped, her voice was, oddly familiar. "Who are you, who was that, and what was that?" She asked.
"Save your breath and keep running!" I exclaimed. "Oh crap!" I hissed, stopping dead in my tracks, and holding a hand out to stop her as well.
We were at the top of a huge room which went down, down almost like a pit. Mechanisms clicked and clanked, and familiar switches were all around us, along with broken down bridges and contraptions. The only way to go was down, and that was going to take some doing.
The earth rumbled, and I swore loudly. "Wait here, I'll find a way to get you down." I told her, and I ran across the wall, not thinking about whether I could or couldn't do it, I just did it, using the ropes that were dangling down in order continue, jumping across a gap to get to the platform that was on the other side. I stood on the button that was there, and flooring moved out from the wall itself, allowing the princess to easily run across and get to where I am.
"Look, a switch." She said, notching an arrow, and shooting it at the wall button that was a ways away from us. This time the platforms shot out and allowed us to go down, but a ticking sound made it obvious we were both timed, and on the last platform, I had to do a wall run and try to reach the next button before Farah fell to her doom.
Because I knew who she was, I'd gotten a good look at her, and there was no mistaking it.
Hearts beating, we continued down, down into the depths, because that was the only direction that we could go, and we had no time to think, no time to ask questions. The walls behind us were coming down as we passed them, we were only just avoiding being taken down with them. We had to think fast, both of us, and act even faster.
We were almost to the ground, almost there, but we didn't get near enough to it in time. A stone from above came down upon the platform we were standing, and we had no choice but to jump, or else be crushed.
The floor disappeared, Farah screamed beside me as we fell, fell down into blackness, grabbing each other's hand and holding on for dear life, trying not to get separated, at the very least. But we were falling almost in slow motion, we couldn't see anything to tell us how fast we were going, but it somehow felt as though something were stopping us from falling too fast.
Suddenly the darkness disappeared, and in its place was an ocean. "Dive!" I told her.
"What?!"
"Like this!" I turned head down in the air and made an arrow out of my hands. Not a moment too soon Farah mimicked me, her bow forgotten for this purpose, and we hit the water like spears.
I used the momentum to curve at an angle, sending myself upwards and kicking towards the surface. I looked around, and saw Farah at my side, doing the same, but it was obvious in an instant that she didn't know how to swim.
I grabbed her around the middle and kicked and beat at the water as hard and fast as I possibly could. It was, perhaps, a miracle that we were able to reach the surface.
A large piece of wood had floated near us, and, looking around, I saw it had come from a wrecked ship which was burning up and crumbling into the sea. We were in the middle of a storm, and anything we could use to stay afloat, we grabbed. I pulled Farah onto the wood, and scrambled on top of it myself.
The two of us were panting hard, watching the ship burn down, the only light we had other than the occasional flashes of lightening in the distance, striking the water and visibly forking out across the sea. We pulled our legs up onto the wood, balancing as best we could, and trying our best not to get caught by those electric streaks that came after us beneath the water.
"I don't understand any of this, what's going on!?" Farah exclaimed, "How did we get here!?"
"You're guess is as good as mine." I answered. "I'm starting to think this isn't even real."
"Not real!?" She demanded, "How can this not be real!?"
"Sometimes dreams can feel a lot like reality, especially the nightmares. But if this is a dream, this is no ordinary dream." I said.
"Are we sharing this dream then? Are you real?" Asked Farah.
"As real as you are, which isn't saying much." I said. The storm seemed to be calming, and we were having an easier time of keeping our balance. An island seemed to pop out of nowhere somehow, and our piece of wood suddenly scrapped onto it. We looked at each other, and scrambled onto it, running for shelter which seemed to appear in the form of a cave that had an odd, sinister illumination to it, allowing us to see in the darkness.
"If this is not just a dream, if you are real, then my name is Farah. I am the Princess of India, the Maharaja's daughter. Who are you?" She asked me.
"My name is Kaida, and I am the Empress of Time." I said without hesitation. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open, and she stared at me in awe.
"You, you are, are the Empress?" She breathed, and when I nodded, she actually fell to her knees before me, "Then I know!" She cried, "I know why you are here! Even if you don't! Empress, forgive me, forgive my father, and forgive my people!" She exclaimed.
I stared at her, what was she talking about? "Wh-what? What do you mean? Forgive you for what?" I asked, alarmed by this behavior.
"The Dagger!" She exclaimed, "The Dagger of Time, your dagger, which my father swore an oath to protect, it has been stolen! Taken right out from under us. Please, please forgive us! We know who took it, but our armies are not strong enough to take it back! They will not return it!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a minute. Are you saying you think the Persians stole the Dagger of Time?" I asked, and her eyes shot up to my face.
"You know?"
"I know that India and Persia are at war because India thinks Persia stole from it, but are you sure about this? From what I've heard, very few people even know what this treasure is suppose to be, much less that they stole it from India. How do you know it was Persia?" I asked, "And please, stand up, I'm not use to this sort of treatment and you're making me uncomfortable." I told her.
She did so, and stared at me as though she were trying to figure me out, "We, we know that a Persian prince visited India at one time 2 years ago, and we found out that the dagger had disappeared roughly the same time that he had left. Zervan is positive that he himself saw that same prince near the castle at the time, having somehow managed to get past the guards, but he didn't think much of it because the prince was caught and thrown back out. Now we realize that he had the dagger with him, and somehow concealed it from the guards." She explained.
"He…did visit India then…even though…" I chewed on my finger, and I could see, in my mind, a vision of the Dahaka chasing him through the city at night, him finding himself in the castle, finally able to loose the Dahaka. I saw him staring up at the balcony where he knew Farah's window was, and then getting caught by the men, the vizier watching, and smirking, something sinister flashing through his eyes.
I heard Farah gasp, and from the look in her eyes, she had seen that vision as well. "Is that, is that what really happened?" She asked, looking horrified, "That creature…that thing, what was it?"
"The Dahaka." I answered in a low voice, "The Guardian of the Timeline." I told her.
"So it wasn't him? It couldn't have been him! He never had time! Oh gods, but if he didn't take the dagger, who did?!" Farah exclaimed, pacing around the cave, looking agitated, guilty, and angry.
"I think I can answer that question for you." I said in a dark voice. And A vision of Zervan waving a hand over the eyes of the guards, of them freezing in place, enchanted, and walking right past them. Then him, taking the dagger from its hiding place, a sinister smirk on his face.
"Zervan, Zervan!?" She shrieked, her fists raised in fury, "When I get my hands on him—"
"You'll do nothing!" I snapped, and she looked at me in surprise, "Just think about this for a minute, Farah. If you try telling your father that you had visions of the prince being chased by a guardian beast of the timeline, of Zervan taking the dagger, what is he going to think? Have you ever had visions before? And what do you think Zervan will do if you accuse him of this? He's not a fool, he'll tell your father that you had too much wine or whatever the night before and that you're sun-sick or something. But at the same time he's going to know that you know exactly what he did, and exactly what's going on. You're not putting yourself in danger like that!" I told her.
"But what do I do?" She asked shifting in frustration, her hands in such tight fists she was actually drawing blood with her nails. "I can't just sit by and let Zervan get away with whatever he's planning! There has to be something!"
I began chewing on my thumb, thinking hard about this, "If Zervan's only intention were to create war between India and Persia, he would have made sure that the dagger found its way into Persia. But I doubt that's all there is to it. I think that it's just a setup. I know Zervan, not personally, but I know who he is and I know what he wants." I began pacing around the cave, agitated.
"What does he want?" Asked Farah.
"What every greedy stupid son of a b(beep) wants, immortality, to become a god, to become superior to other humans, to dominate them like animals. Let me ask you something, when Zervan went to the Island of Time, do you know that he found anything there? Anything of particular interest?" I asked.
"I don't know. I know that Father found many treasures there…but I don't know that Zervan found anything himself." She answered.
I began to pace, "There was a mural telling about the Mask of the Wraith, but I wouldn't have any idea how he could have found it, nor what purpose it would serve. I'm pretty sure I took everything that might cause problems from the island…but what if there were other murals that I didn't see? I wish I knew…" I said, trying, working almost furiously to call forth a vision, but nothing came, and I let out a cry of frustration, "What the hell is the good of having visions if I can't control them!?" I demanded, throwing my hands in the air.
"I may be able to ask him…" Farah said, considering, and I rounded on her.
"Are you insane?" I demanded.
"Perhaps if I were to appear mildly interested…he wouldn't tell me everything, I know, but perhaps something, something that you might be able to properly interpret." She said.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, "If you can do it without arousing suspicion…by the way, you said your father found treasures on the island, was the Dagger among them?" I asked.
Farah stared at me with surprise, "No, no we were given the dagger by your followers." She answered.
"My followers?" I asked, surprised, "What, I've got followers that I don't even know about? How does that work?"
"I'm not sure of all the details, but I think they told us that prophets predicted your return, and that we should keep the dagger safe until you arrived. You didn't know that?" She asked.
"No, I didn't, but then, I went from a few hundred years in the past to the present day, that's a long time to disappear from the timeline. If that makes sense." I said.
"Where are you now? How can I find you?" She asked.
"Me? I'm in Persia, in Babylon no less. And you're not doing anything. You let me find you." I said, and I chewed on my thumb, considering, "I'm going to search for the dagger in Babylon, if I find it, I'll come to find you in India, and perhaps we can expose Zervan together. How, though, I'm not entirely sure. For now, just lay low and don't do anything rash. I know you can take care of yourself, and hopefully we'll be able to connect with one another again like this." I paused a moment, thinking, and then summoned the other ring out into my hand, and looked at it.
I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't do anything unfavorable to Farah, and I also wanted it to protect her. I considered hard on these two things, and willed them into the ring, not entirely sure this would work, but wanting to try anyway. Golden sands converged from my hands into the ring, making it hover in the air as they sank into it. "Here, take this." I said, dropping it into Farah's hand. "I have no idea if you'll wake up with it in your hand or not, but if you do, wear it. It'll protect you, at least, and be careful. It is extremely powerful, and dangerous if in the wrong hands. If you start to feel as though you're someone else, take it off, but otherwise I want you to wear it for the time being."
"Thank you." Farah said, and she slipped it onto her middle finger. "How do we wake up?" She asked.
"The normal way, I suppose. I guess we'll just have to wait and—" Something exploded deeper into the cave, and the two of us jumped to attention as a shrill scream pierced the air.
"Kaida!!!" A voice that I knew screamed.
"K-Kaileena!?" I called, "Kaileena what—"
"Kaida! You're—It's just a—Zervan is—RUN!!!" She screamed.
I grabbed Farah, and we ran out of the cave, something dark reaching for us, trying to catch us, it nearly touched me, and then…
XD
I awoke with a start, gasping, heart hammering in my chest, in my throat, my ears. My own sweat chilled me as the night air blew mercilessly into the room through the balcony entrance and the windows high above. The slightly translucent curtains around the bed did little to stem the brush of the air upon my bear flesh, goosebumps crawling up my skin. I stood up, slowly, arms around my chest, shuddering. Kaileena's voice was running through my head, a garbled warning I couldn't make sense of.
"Zervan is…" Zervan is what? Was he already immortal, was he already a god he was just somehow able to cover it up? And what was I? I was the Empress of Time sure enough, but was I something else too? What? What was Kaileena trying to tell me?
And then, from far away, I heard Shahdee's pronouncement, "One of you must die." How, exactly, did that work? Other than that dream, neither Farah nor myself had any connection…well, there was the Prince. But what did Shahdee know? Or was that even Shahdee?
And who were these supposed 'followers' that I had and didn't even know about? I somehow didn't like any of this, because, aside from that, there was the question of the Dagger…and where it had come from in the first place. Because I knew that if it had been on the island, one of my inner demons would have found it and brought it to me. But since it wasn't, where was it? Who had made it? Had Kaileena crafted it and sent it away? Did she know about these 'followers'? Were they followers of hers? And if they were, how did they know that the 'Empress of Time' was going to come back when she was fated to die? Who were these 'prophets', and had they seen me in their visions, or Kaileena?
If I had never come to this world, it would have been Kaileena, but she would have died, so what would be the point of being the 'follower' of a woman whom you were never going to meet and who wouldn't have the chance to become any great icon?
And if it was me, then what?
I rubbed my face with my hands, and felt a familiar cool touch upon one finger. I looked down, and I saw the ring. I remembered giving the copy to Farah, and I checked to see if I still had it. I didn't, she had it, and that would be proof enough to her that what happened in our dream, had happened.
A familiar arm snaked around my middle and pulled me back onto the bed so that its owner could snuggle closer to me. I grabbed the sheets that were nearly falling off him and pulled them back around us, half for modesty purposes, half because I was cold. I snaked an arm around his neck and ran my fingers through his hair, and I kissed his forehead.
I remembered the prince from the Prince of Persia games, remembered his less-than-charming personality, his selfish attitude, and wondered where it had gone these past weeks. I wasn't complaining but…I don't know, perhaps it was simply the way he was around me that made it seem as though that part of him wasn't there anymore. I did see glimpses of it here and there, but it's hard to be prideful, self-assured, and a selfish git when you can't seem to act your age for very long around a woman with whom you feel comfortable enough to do and say things you never would in public. Perhaps this was the side of him that you simply never saw in the games, because he was never around a girl that could get him to argue with her as though they were both twelve again.
I also remembered the endearing way he'd been falling head over heels for Farah in Two Thrones. He'd made a complete idiot out of himself around her, one of the biggest reasons why I liked Two Thrones so much.
I gave myself a small, but painful smile. We were going to see Farah again, there was no getting around that. And I wondered…How would he react?
X3
"Farah!" He exclaimed.
Farah stared at him, and so did I, trying to keep the smirk off my face. "How do you know my name?" She asked.
"Yeah, Prince, how do you know her name?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "Because I'm pretty sure that I never told you."
Nice going, Prince. Said the Dark Prince in his head, Now they're both going to kill you.
"I ah, er, I heard of a, that there was a beautiful, princess of—NO WAIT!!!" He exclaimed, turning to me, "That's not what I meant to say! I meant—er, that is—"
She's laughing at you, Prince. I think she's enjoying this. Said the Dark Prince.
"You're laughing at me aren't you!?" He exclaimed.
"Are you going to answer the question?" I asked, grinning at him, all the while trying not to bust out laughing.
"The what?"
"How you know her name?" I pressed on, "Come on, I think we'd both like to know this."
"Uh…you know you're the only woman for me, right Kaida?" He asked, grinning nervously.
"You know if you keep stalling like this, you're going to need a doctor to come surgically remove your foot from your mouth." I informed him.
"You ARE enjoying this!!!" He exclaimed, and I then started laughing so hard I had to hold my stomach.
X3
Okay, probably not, though I'm not sure where the Dark Prince came from.
Still, I knew I was eventually going to have to face this. I had no idea what would happen when the prince saw Farah again.
And, if I was honest with myself, I really didn't want to know.
XP
Prince: Okay, I would NOT be stupid enough to say THAT.
Kioko: Yeah, suuuuuuuuuure. Prince, you are male, and as a male, your foot will always get stuck in your mouth at least 20 times during your lifetime, that is if you are an extraordinarily intelligent male that knows how to work the 'shut up' radar in your brain. Just count yourself lucky that Kaida is one of the few of us who understand that it's not always your fault and finds your times of foot-in-mouth rather endearing. Because many females, I'm sad to say, tend to fly off the handle at the smallest things.
Rhea: And sometimes we do it on purpose because it's just so much fun to watch you guys squirm.
Prince: Yeah, I sort of gathered that from the LAST chapter! -.-
Kaida: Get use to it, Princy, you're too hot not to torture.
Prince: Gee, THANKS.
Keilic: What about me!?
Kaida: Mmmm, you're a bit of a pretty boy, but you're also an OC so I'm afraid you're not going to have that big of a part.
Keilic: But you're an OC too!!!
Kaida: I'm the main character you dork.
Keilic: T.T
Kioko: Aw, poor Keilic, here have a cookie.
Keilic: Ooo! Thank you!
Kaida: Er…
Keilic: (Eats cookie and turns into a cat)
Kaida: Yeah, um, we forgot to tell you, Kioko is a witch.
Keilic: 0.0
Kioko: Well you have to admit, that is pretty funny.
Kaida: Okay, it is, but why a cat?
Kioko: I like cats.
Rhea: Um, we WILL need him later on I hope you know.
Kioko: That's fine. Just tell me when and I'll change him back. But for now, he shall be cute.
Prince: GAH!!! TURN HIM BACK YOU VILE WOMAN!!!
Rhea: Hey, princy! Do the FAQ!!!
Prince: Huh wha—oh, okay!
Q: Wow, so did Farah and Kaida both have the same dream? Why?
A: I have no idea why, but yes, they did have the same dream.
Q: Why did Shahdee tell them one of them would have to die?!
A: Um, well, Rhea hasn't let any of us know what the connection between Kaida and Farah is, so I guess we'll all just have to find out.
Q: Who are these 'followers' suppose to be and where did they come from?
Kaida: With my luck? They're a bunch of crazy cultists that saw me in the Timeline and decided to worship me because they had nothing better to do.
A: Er, yeah, what she said.
Q: What was Kaileena trying to tell Kaida about Zervan?
A: Dunno that either, wait and see.
Rhea: Well, that's all for now! I know it was a short FAQ but these end-of-chapter notes can get pretty long as it is. So, see ya! And remember to review:D Another three reviews and you get a third update today!!! (Bribe, bribe, bribe)
