Reviewers:
Hope and Love: Thank you so much!
Starla Rose: I love reading and writing romance, but the muses I get for this hate romance. Your review has made my muses start on a prequel to this. I probably won't work on it until this is done, but I want to make one now. There's a lot about Cara that I don't want people to know. She's kinda learning about herself. As the story goes on, I want people to learn more about her.
Ryle Culler: Happy to know and hope I keep you wanting more!
Last Time:
His words shocked me. I was in a dazed state the rest of the night. When I was shown my room, I simply thanked the Master of Air and went to bed. I fell asleep wondering why I would be so important to the future Tiara wanted.
I woke with a start. I looked around following my usually silent instincts. I was floating in a dark room.
"No, not a room," I spoke aloud. My voice echoed. "My mind."
It was a place I had been many times. Tiara and I used it as a training place of sorts. It was usually filled with candles that glowed with strange colors. This time, it was devoid of the familiar rainbow of light.
"Tiara?" I called out.
I focused and grounded myself. I wasn't on a floor, just straight as I could get.
"Tiara?" I called again.
A bright light blinded me for a moment. When my eyes focused I was staring at the Golden Army's chamber room. I saw two statues; one was in almost perfect condition while the other was in pieces on the ground.
"Hey! Be careful with that!" I heard someone call.
Before I could pinpoint who it was, I was out again. I opened my eyes and noticed two BPRD agents looking at me.
"Well, don't just stand there, help me up!" I laughed.
The two laughed with me as they pulled me to my feet. Agents were working all around us.
"I remember this day," I thought. "It's the day I met Nuala and Nuada."
"Get back to work, you two," I smiled.
I walked away from them and towards the area I knew Nuala and Nuada's bodies were. I stood at the top of the stairs staring at the shattered remains of the prince.
"Manning said the threat was gone. If I remember correctly, Eric said Red left the bodies. That must be the prince."
Older memories began rushing back. My leaving the BPRD to become a teacher two years ago. Manning calling me and begging me to come back which happened one month ago. My call to Krauss that let everyone of my friends know I was back at the Bureau again. The memories were just small ones.
"I wonder if it would've ended differently if I had been there," I said aloud. Tiara didn't answer me like she did the real day. This was a memory. Tiara couldn't show herself in my memories.
"So Tiara's showing me this day," I thought. "Wonder why."
I walked towards what I thought was Nuada's body and tried to figure out what it was made of. I screamed when the pieces started to move. I stumbled back as four agents came running up the stairs, guns raised. They stared at me and laughed.
"I'm not doing it, you idiots!" I yelled at them.
My comment put them on defense again. They knew I didn't lie about moving dead people. Well, I didn't after getting yelled at by the professor.
I sat on the ground as we watched Nuada's body be pieced together. When the pieces stopped moving, the statue did a reverse elf death. I only knew it was an elf death because I had seen a total of one in my life. The stone-like body slowly started to turn into a fleshy one. It was amazing to watch. I couldn't take my eye off of him.
"Don't stand up," I thought to myself. I knew it would do no good. Memories were like watching a horror movie that you've seen before.
"Is that it?" one of them asked.
"I don't know," I said as I stood.
When I was finally vertical, I found myself staring into a pair of liquid gold orbs. I blinked up at the tall elf.
"You should be running," I told myself blandly.
"Um, hello," I greeted in the memory.
"You are so dead."
"Vile human!" the prince yelled. His voice made me jump back. "Do you know nothing of respect? I am your king and you will treat me as such!"
"Hey! I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I don't serve you!" I yelled at him. My usually light voice was laced with anger. "Get it through your thick head, buddy! I'm not some common wench! So shut the hell up!"
"You dare speak to me in such a manor," Nuada growled.
I moved my feet to stand shoulder width apart. I flipped the cap of my canteen open and pulled a generous amount of water out of it.
"Get it through your thick skull," I ground out through my teeth, "I am not some common human girl."
"And queue the fight scene," I mumbled in the quiet of my mind. This was one of the few times I used both instincts and strategy while fighting.
"Hollow beast!" Nuada yelled as he lunged at me.
I was slightly quicker, since I already had my weapon out, and shot a whip of water at him. The water wrapped around him twice before he jumped out of my reach.
"I told you to shut up!" I yelled at him.
He picked up a spear from the ground. I remembered faintly what Krauss told me about it. It was made of a metal that could extend and retract.
"Really think that that's going to work?" I smirked at him. I let the water circle me as a shield while I prepared for another attack. He was a being of wind; earth would do the most damage.
"You think your illusions can foul me, witch?" he shot back.
I stared at him. "I'll show you an illusion."
"Oh really? I would like to see something so amusing." Nuada circled me, but I remained facing the way I was. When he had completed four circles he stood in front of me. "Well, human?"
"Look down," I smiled at him.
When he looked to his feet, I used the roots I had collected at the ceiling to grab him. I held him steadily off the ground. He hung six feet above me.
"Now, what were you saying about illusions?" I asked.
He growled at me. Instead of giving me another rude comment he struggled against the roots. I stared blankly at him.
"That won't work, Prince Nuada." I told him. That got him to stop. "Those roots are from the oldest trees in Bethmoora. They've been following me around since I got here. They won't let you go."
"An elemental blessed by our city," a female voice gasped.
I pivoted on my foot to find Nuala watching me from the higher platform. I smiled at her. The water I had used as a shield shot towards her.
"Harm her, you vile beast, and I will-"
"Shut up!" I yelled at him.
The water stopped at her feet and froze in place. I had created a ramp to let her come down from the platform. She smiled at me.
"Princess," I smiled back.
"You must be quite strong for the trees to bless you," she commented once she was standing in front of me and her brother.
"I guess," I told her. "I just noticed that I had roots following me. Took me a few hours to figure out they were the oldest trees here."
Bright light surrounded me and I was once again in my mind. There were small green candles floating around, giving off enough light for me to see the rim of the mirror that Tiara used to put me in my memories.
"Okay, I see the mirror. Now where's Tiara?" I asked myself.
The mirror swirled with another flash of bright light. When the spots disappeared I realized my past self was staring at the entrance of the Troll Market. Nuada was opening the lock. As the door started to open, I was looking through my eyes.
The market was new to me. I was wide-eyed and loving every minute of it. A few of the Faes bowed to Nuada as he strode past everyone. Word had already gotten to the Faes that he was alive. It had caused problems for us the past month and a half. Red followed me while Abe and Nuala were staying back at the base to take care of an eight month pregnant Liz. Krauss was in the van doing his thing, though we were supposed to have minimum radio contact. I followed Nuada as closely as I could, but between his speed and the crowd, I lost him within ten minutes.
"Well, this is just great," I mumbled.
"Just wait," I spoke. I knew what was going to happen. I did pay attention however, since Tiara had a reason for showing me this day. She always did.
I looked behind me and noticed that Red wasn't there.
"Just perfect. I lost both of them."
I sighed and started looking for the shop Nuala told me about. She had said to go there if I had free time. This was as free as ever.
It took me five minutes to find the shop. The outside had a large chipped blue sign. The sign said 'Potions and Brews' in one of the many Troll languages. There was one door and no window to show any of the inside.
"Weird, no advertising," I wondered aloud.
"You'll find out why another day," I repeated Tiara's comment.
I walked towards the shop, but stopped when I felt the air being cut. The object was heading straight for me. I did a quick duck and roll to avoid getting hit. When I turned around, I saw a curved dagger stuck in a barrel. I felt heat rise in my body and surround me. Fire flickered quietly across my skin. It was automatic.
I looked towards the direction the dagger came and saw Red fighting some Elf. I knew it wasn't Nuada, even back then I knew the difference between the prince and a regular Elf. I stood up and ran towards the fight. Red dodged another dagger while he threw a left hook. I looked around and saw Nuada arguing with another Elf. The Faes surrounding everyone slowly backed off until there were none left but Red, Nuada, the two Elves, and myself. I gasped when Red was thrown past me. Nuada caught my eye. I felt the heat rise again.
When it really happened, Tiara had told me that the Elves were of water. It was the only reason I had let lose my fire abilities.
"Next time you pick a fight," I looked up at the smirking Elf, "you should know who you're dealing with."
Fire leapt from my arms. I always wore fire-proof clothes so it wasn't that big of a deal to me. The fire would jump from wrist to elbow, elbow to shoulder, shoulder to shoulder; the fire went everywhere. The warmth of the fire surprised me. It had been awhile since I had used my fire powers. Liz usually covered the fire department.
"What in the world?" the Elf next to Nuada gasped.
"That is the woman I warned you about," I heard Nuada comment. I looked over to see him smirking at the man. "I suggest you have him apologize."
"A-Apologize! He did nothing wrong, my lord!" the Elf argued.
I felt the fire leap from wrist to wrist in a high arc. The Elf in front of me took a defensive stance.
"I can fight with your prince for fifteen minutes straight before even feeling tired," the Elf's eyes widened, "do you really think that you'll survive?"
"He is dead," Nuada told the other Elf.
"I have not fallen yet, my lord," the Elf in front of me commented. His face was smug, but I knew he was shaking. I could focus on the details since it was a memory.
"Yet." Nuada crossed his arms with an even smugger look on his face.
"Keep your eyes on me," I stated. I used water to travel through the air. The fire stayed where it was, still jumping. I put my body back together when I was behind the Elf. "Boo."
The fire jumped towards me, burning the Elf in the process. He wouldn't die that day.
The light flashed again and I was back in front of the mirror. There were red candles floating around me with the green ones.
"So you're showing me times when I used certain elements," I stated. It felt like I should be talking to Tiara, so I did. "Which one's next?" My question echoed out as I was blinded by the light again.
I opened my eyes to see my first high school. The red brick building was only two stories high. The windows were covered with old blinds and students flowed around me.
"Come on, Cara!" my friend Jennifer called. She tugged my hand and pulled me through the crowd towards the building. There were Homecoming banners all over the hallways.
"No," I gasped. I knew this day all too well. "Tiara, send me back! Come on, Tiara! This isn't funny!"
I watched the world around me speed up as the past me went through my day. I kept screaming as time slowed down to lunch. My past self walked with Jennifer to our old spot for lunch while I tried to ignore what I was being shown. Unfortunately, I knew when a group of older boys came up to the two of us.
"So, which one of you lovely ladies wants to go have some fun today?" one of them asked, seemingly smooth.
"Neither," Jennifer and I stated as we ate our home cooked lunch. We knew them as the guys who took girls behind the school. They did what they wanted when they wanted. We wanted nothing to do with them.
"Aw come on baby, you know you want some," another commented. The third moved closer to Jennifer. I caught sight of him and repressed a hiss. "Just a quickie before lunch is over."
"I don't believe in sex," Jennifer stated. The three boys stared at her with their mouths hanging open. "I believe in a man making love to me in a soft bed, not a boy trying to be cool behind the school gym."
"I bet you're game," they turned to me next.
"Sorry, but I'll only give myself to my husband," I grinned at them. It was a lie. Jennifer knew it too.
"Call me a preacher then," the second boy smirked. He was closest to me; it had creeped me out back then. Now I was more worried about what came next.
"Funny," I faked a laugh.
"Come on ladies, just a little fun. We'll be gentle."
"Like you know how," Jennifer mumbled.
"What was that, bitch?" one yelled.
"Like you'd know how to be gentle and make love to a woman," Jennifer told him.
"How about I show you just how rough I can be instead!" He grabbed Jennifer's hair and pulled her up.
I rose to my feet to try to stop him, but his friends held me back. He started to push Jennifer's skirt down when my instincts took over. The wind picked up, but no one seemed to notice. I knew my eyes were unfocused on the scene in front of me. I had been more focused on creating the tornado around us. This time however, I could see everything that happened to Jennifer.
The guy stuck his hand up her shirt and wasn't going to stop. His other hand kept her pinned against one of the blue painted poles surrounding us. Jennifer tried to kick him, but he stayed in-between her legs. He started to kiss her when I lost it.
The wind I had been controlling whipped the two boys away from me. They flew back, but I stayed standing. I walked easily through the wind and pulled the boy off Jennifer. The wind kept him hovering in the air. I stood right in front of him and smiled. The wind lifted me into the air and I stared into his eyes.
"Touch her again, and see what happens," I growled. My voice was carried over and over through the wind, making it sound deadly and far more threatening than I was alone. (It's a comparison between her voices. I wasn't too sure on the wording myself.)
The light blinded me before the next scene played out. I remembered it though. Jennifer was so scared that she stopped talking to me. The three boys stayed silent, but it was like everyone knew what happened. I soon transferred schools.
I opened my eyes and realized I was in another memory. This one was far more recent; it was a few months ago at most. I knew because I was crying and the plant in the library wasn't blooming yet. The twins were playing on the floor. Liz was sitting on my right while Nuala was on my left. Abe was pacing on the floor. Red was slumped in his chair. Nuada wasn't in the room at the moment.
"Cara, I'm sure it'll be okay," Liz cooed.
"What does this day have to do with anything?" I wondered.
I knew I hadn't used my powers on that day. I cried, sure, but my powers were dormant. It was the whole reason I was crying. Nuada and I had had a mock fight and during that fight I realized I couldn't use my elemental powers. I kept fighting until Nuada had me pined. He was just as shocked as I was when I couldn't dodge or make a distraction.
The light flashed again and I was in my mind. White flamed candles floated past me. The room was lighter but not up to its usual glow.
"One more than, right?" I called. "Water's next." I closed my eyes right as the light began to build.
When I opened my eyes, I was already in my past self. I was looking at the sky. I could hear birds and other forest animals moving about.
"Oh, it's the camping trip," I realized. "But which year is this?" Every year, until the year after my father's death, we would go on a camping trip as a family. Sometimes Eric and I would bring friends, but that made it hard for me to mess with my powers.
"Hey, sis! Come help me with the fire!" Eric yelled. "I can't find the matches!" From that comment I narrowed it down to five years. There were only five years where Eric and I didn't bring friends and Eric's hair was just a little buzz. I could narrow it down to four if I was picky since Eric's voice wasn't changed from puberty yet.
"You can never find the matches!" I shot back. I jumped off the tailgate of the truck and walked over to where Eric was building the fire. "You just like to see me use fire."
"Can't blame him," Dad called. "You hardly ever use it."
"It's dangerous," I stuck out my tongue. Mom stopped setting up the tent and turned to watch us. "Fine."
I felt fire leap from my fingers to the dried twigs Eric had been using as kindling. The fire started immediately. My mom was smiling softly while my father was grinning like an idiot. Eric looked similar to my father at that moment.
"Gees, you guys are weird," I smiled with them. It was nice to not have to hide.
"Well, how about you and I go for a walk, Cara?" Mom suggested. I smiled and nodded. Our hike was an every-day-of-camping thing. Since she asked it meant she hadn't had her knee surgery yet. That narrowed it down to three years.
We walked down a small deer trail before going off the path and up the hillside. We took an even smaller game trail towards the cliff. The cliff was our spot. It overlooked the entire lake. There was a small tree standing near the edge. That narrowed my years down to two. Mom and I had planted that tree.
"Looks like he's still growing," Mom grinned.
"Yeah, I wonder if he'll ever be chopped down," I stated.
"I doubt it. Not many people know about this spot. And if they do, they don't know how to get here." Mom walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked over to watch the water.
I stood next to a tall pine tree watching her. I was smiling at how peaceful she looked. Mom was usually so stressed out over our lives, money, and my powers. She never really looked peaceful unless we were away from the world.
"How long do you think he'll last?" I asked quietly.
"As long as our family does," she smiled. "We'll teach your girls and Eric's girls about this place. It'll be our family tree." I laughed at her joke.
While we laughed, I felt a slight disturbance under our feet. Unfortunately, in this memory my powers were too raw for my past self to understand the feeling. The rumble got loud enough for Mom and my past self to hear.
"That answers that question," I sighed. I knew which year this was now. There was only one year that Mom and I had been disturbed. "But why is she showing me this?"
A large brown body shot of out the ground and into the air. Mom and I had stared at it. I could now tell it was a troll, what kind, I wasn't sure. The ground under our feet started to slip down the cliff and my line of sight was changed. Mom, who had been closer to the edge, started to fall down towards the lake's surface. I only stumbled as I gained my footing. When I realized what was going on, my past self froze the world in a light pink hue.
"Wait," I thought, "I don't remember using Time. I thought I had used the trees and water to catch Mom. I'm completely in tune with my instincts. What's going on?"
I then used several different trees to grab Mom and pull her to where I was standing. I had the trees release her before starting time again.
"What in the world?" Mom asked in a daze.
"Um, can we not tell Eric about this?" I asked quietly. I didn't know what Eric would do when he found out about what happened.
"Yeah, we'll tell your father when we get home," Mom agreed.
The scene faded into the familiar white light before I was back in my mind. There were small pink flamed candles floating around. I stared at them for a long time.
"Now I'm lost," I stated. "What does Time have to do with anything? I thought you weren't ever going to give it back. Has that changed?"
I didn't receive an answer, though I really didn't expect one. I looked back to the mirror. There was already a memory playing. Before I could figure out which one it was, I was blinded.
I hadn't closed my eyes so I saw the memory as soon as it appeared. I was sitting next to the tree Mom and I had planted. However, I wasn't a teenage anymore. My hair was only as long as my shoulders. That narrowed my time window to a year to six months ago. Since I was at the old camping site, it was around eight months. I could feel soft silk-like material forming a dress down to my mid-calves.
"How long must you stay in this place?" Nuada complained from behind me.
"Leave her alone," Liz told him. She sounded tired and annoyed.
"So it's that day," I thought. "The day Dad died." Of course it was a few years later, but it was still the anniversary. The team had gone with me to visit my home and the place we spread my father's ashes. It was nice to have them. We were staying at my childhood home with Mom. Eric was on a mission with Krauss somewhere in the Artic.
"Sorry, you guys," I apologized as I stood up, using the tree's tall trunk to help me. "I just got lost in thought." I smiled, but I knew it was fake. I knew they could tell it was fake, but it didn't stop me from trying.
"Shall we head back to the house?" Abe suggested.
I nodded before turning to look at the lake once more. The sun was setting over the forest to the left. I started to turn back to my friends, but stopped. There was a rumble beneath our feet. I recognized it from the day so long ago. The one I now knew the truth about. The one I had repressed for some reason.
"Something's coming," I stated quietly. Everyone stared at me.
"Like what?" Red huffed.
"I'm not sure," I sighed, "but I don't like it."
I hurried away from the tree and stood in between Abe and Liz. Red moved forward to stand in front of all of us. Nuada was not a step behind him. Nuala moved to stand behind Liz, Abe, and myself.
"Come on out!" Red yelled. He pulled out his gun from its holster.
"It's coming," I told him. I could feel the creature navigating through the roots and other underground objects. It never touched the roots; it wasn't hurting the trees. "Five seconds," I whispered. Nuada's long bladed lance slid into place in his hand. I knew the move well enough to know he wasn't considering the threat serious. "Four… Three… Two… One…"
As soon as I finished, the creature leap from the ground. It was a troll, though if it was the one that attacked my mother, I wasn't sure. It was tall and had a bulky build with hard edges and angles. Its skin was covered in moss and dirt clogs, but I could see a dark tan color as its normal skin tone. It wore a simple cloth of moss and vines around its legs, marking it as a male. There were several troll tribal markings on its arms and chest. From these I could tell it was one of the local ground trolls; they rarely came to the surface.
"Who trespasses on this most holy of land?" the troll called out from the shadow of the family tree's leaves.
Nuada moved to speak, but Red beat him to it. "None of your business!" he called out.
The troll's face twisted into a snarl. "I will not ask again. Answer me!"
"Great, another Nuada," Liz commented. Nuala giggled quietly. I rolled my eyes. The troll growled at us. Nuada, however, turned and glared at Liz. This caused her to start laughing. None of us were really taking the troll seriously.
That's when I felt more movement under us. I pinpointed it to be directly behind us.
"More are coming from behind us," I whispered quietly. Liz turned around and pushed Nuala to be between the space Red and Nuala left between us. I turned around to face the oncoming trolls as well. "They're ground, earth. Wind and water will do the most damage."
"Yeah, well, I have a gun. Metal against Rock. How'll that work out?" Liz asked as she took out her gun. She sounded a little too smug about the fact she was holding a gun. I listened as she checked her ammunition.
I laughed. "Not as well as you'd hope. And they're ground, dirt, not rock. They can heal a lot faster when surrounded by dirt. Soft usually works best for them." Liz huffed and hesitated before moving two steps behind me. "It rained two nights ago," I commented before she had finished moving.
"Who are you? And why are you protecting this land?" Nuada asked harshly. He wasn't always happy with his people and their actions. At least, he didn't like it when they were against him and Nuala.
"I believe we asked first," one of the new trolls stated. There were two in front of me. One looked the exact same as the one in front of Nuada and Red. The other one, the one who spoke, looked older. His skin was almost completely covered in moss. I could only see a small spot of light tan skin over where his heart would be, the right of his abdomen area.
"We're simply visiting," I answered.
"This is holy land, ma'am. You and your friends should leave," he told me. He seemed calm, but I knew troll tempers better than most.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before," I told him. He raised one moss covered brow. "I've been coming here for years. My mother and I planted that tree."
"Ah, so it is you who has made such a sprout strong enough to survive this rocky cliff," he smiled.
"Yeah, she is. Now why don't you all leave," Red asked none too nicely.
"I suggest you keep your," the old troll paused, "pet on a shorter leash, ma'am."
Red growled at him but I spoke before he could. "He is no more a pet to us than this land a simple pile of earth to you," I stated. The troll's eyes widened at my description. I had heard Nuada snort at my 'us' comment. "I am familiar with you trolls. You almost killed my brother years ago. I will not pretend that I trust you." I fought against the upcoming memory of two trolls attacking Eric while he was gathering firewood so I could focus on the conversation.
"You speak too much and too freely for a human," the younger troll in front of me ground out.
"I have been telling her that from the beginning," Nuada commented as he laughed. I rolled my eyes. This day had actually been pretty funny after we got back to the house. Nuada even laughed at the events.
"Ah, yes," I smiled sweetly, having finally figured out how to shut the trolls up, "I believe you had that silver lance at my throat and told me you'd cut out my tongue if I insulted you again." I turned to face Nuada. When I did I saw he was already facing me. "And yet, here I stand, still able to speak. How strange is that? I have insulted your fighting abilities, among other things, multiple times. How am I still standing?"
Liz and Nuala were giggling quietly. Abe looked thoroughly amused. Red was full out laughing, not holding anything back. The trolls looked stunned; they already seemed to have realized who he was. I had hoped my comment about his weapon would help them. Trolls were sometimes such silly creatures.
A flash of gold flew past me. I turned towards where the flash went. In the split second it took my body to do that, I felt liquid hit my face. Once I was facing the trolls, all I could see was Nuada's back and an iron sword that scraped his shoulder. Nuala gasped as the injury hit her.
"While she does speak too often and too freely, I will not allow someone to take her life," Nuada pushed against the sword and I noticed it was the old troll that attacked me. "Her life is mine to take, not yours. Do you understand me?" he growled.
I had fought back a giggle those months ago. However, since I was in the privacy of my mind, I laughed to my heart's content. Nuada had always started our training with comments about him taking my life. It was funny to watch him defend that 'right'. I focused back on the sad excuse of a fight when I heard Red fire his gun.
"Shit! Cara, where is he?" Red yelled out.
I felt the first troll move to attack Nuada from the ground. I knew he could feel it too, but he couldn't move with the first iron sword and the newest one being blocked by his lance. I moved three large steps to the left and grabbed ahold of Nuada's already ruined dress shirt. When I felt the troll only meters away, I pulled Nuada towards me. Surprisingly, he came without hesitation. As soon as he moved, the troll popped out of the ground and his comrades' blades slicing through his hard skin with ease.
I watched in amazement as they lifted their blades and his flesh healed instantly. There were two long cuts of pure troll skin where he had been cut. The three turned towards Nuada and myself and leapt. I instantly pulled the water from the ground and formed a shield in their path.
"Now that was just silly," I teased. More water collected in a large circle around them. Ground trolls hated water, especially clean water.
Nuada chuckled darkly as he walked towards them. Liz and Abe pulled Nuala away as Nuada walked right through the ring of water. Not a single speck of dirt entered the water; I wouldn't allow it. Nuada got ready to strike the old troll. When he did, he struck him right in his heart, an instant kill. The other two quickly followed him.
"Well," Liz started but stopped not finding the right words.
I put the water back in the ground, sending a little extra to my tree. I grinned at my friends. "That was fun," I stated sarcastically as I wiped Nuada's blood from my face.
Before I could hear Nuada's laugh, I was blinded and back in my mind. Small blue flamed candles floated past me, along with the other strange flame colored candles.
"So, learn anything?" Tiara's voice called softly. She sounded tired.
I thought for a moment. "There's more to this than controlling just Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. I have to control Time as well."
"Very good," Tiara called as she appeared in the mirror. "Now, it's only been a few hours. You should get some real sleep. Say hi to your friends for me, squirt."
I smiled at her. I had a very strange feeling that this would be that last I saw Tiara for a while. "I will. Take care of yourself, where ever you're going."
Tiara laughed. "Can't keep much from you, can I? Well, honestly, I'll be sleeping for a long time."
And with those final words, I was encased in the true black void called sleep.