A/N:
So Harrvel was a jerk and poisoned Bella in the last chapter! Let's see what happens next!
I'm gonna continue putting the disclaimer here just be sure that everyone is aware of where this story originated.
This story isn't 100 % mine. I have transformed it into a story from an interactive story app called Choices and the creators are Pixelberry Studios.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
{Chapter 6}
I awoke with a start and noticed that I was sitting in an overstuffed chair in a room crammed with objects from every time era I could possibly recognize. Piano music spilled from a boom box, and somewhere, a clock was ticking.
Edward was leaning against a wall with his arms folded. When he noticed that I was awake, he pushed away from the wall and crouched down in front of me. "You alright there, Princess?"
I gave him a reassuring smile. "A little groggy, but I'll live."
Nearby, a female Kaarii was leaning over a workbench. She set down her tools and turned to examine me through an elaborate pair of goggles. "Well, well … still functioning."
An onslaught of memories from before my collapse had me remembering what Harrvel had shouted out about me, and I hurried to defend myself to the Kaarii woman. "Look … I'm not the Endless! I didn't have anything to do with betraying the Kaarii or—" I stopped mid-sentence when her words sank in. "Wait. What's still functioning?"
"Your internal clock," she replied casually. "Woke you up at just the right moment." She switched off the boom box. "You'll find that most of us aren't too interested in the Endless or the Catalysts," she explained. "You had a hand in our story, certainly, but for us that was quite long ago."
I throbbing in my head had me reach up to rub the sore spot. "What the heck was in that drink?"
"Liquified time crystal. Harmless to us, but extremely toxic to others. Seems that shaman had it out for you." She leaned closer to me and flicked magnifying lenses over her goggles. "No symptoms other than drowsiness, though. You're very lucky, or perhaps … different." She removed her goggles and fixed me with her intense violet eyes.
It made me uncomfortable and I reacted with annoyance. "Hey, back off! I didn't come here for a physical."
She stared at me for a moment longer and then tilted her head to the side. "No, you came seeking help. Our help. With the Island's Heart. Your friend Rosalie told us."
I realized I had no idea where the rest of my friends were, and I looked at Edward with wide worried eyes. "Where is she? Where are the others?"
"They're close by," he said soothingly. "Just spent the night elsewhere."
"Fortunately, no one else consumed what you did," the woman said, still looking at me.
"And Harrvel?" I asked and frowned angrily. I never thought the old shaman would betray us like that. He had been a trusted friend.
She shrugged in a disinterested fashion. "On his way to Mount Suerte to stop the Endless, I presume. I pointed out to him that one can't be held accountable for the actions of an alternate self."
"Well, thank you for that, I guess," I said appreciatively. "By the way, I don't know your name."
"You can call me Clockmaster."
"What's Jumanji gonna do?" Edward asked. "Beat up Moon Man with his stick?"
Clockmaster's expression darkened and she looked troubled. "I'm afraid his words managed to inspire a few of us who'd grown restless."
"Restless about being trapped in the past?" I asked, but she shook her head.
"Restless while waiting for Kaanu to depart."
Edward and I exchanged a confused glance. "I'm not sure I follow," I said, and Clockmaster smiled patiently.
"We don't simply revel for hedonism's sake, you see. It's a farewell feast. At some point, an eventuality may occur where Kaanu is finally able to continue on its journey. Then, at long last, our feast will end."
I had a feeling Clockmaster wasn't speaking about the physical island of Kaanu, but of its spirit, but I had to ask anyway. "Does this have to do with that ghost?" Clockmaster looked at me surprisingly, and I continued. "We've seen some sort of spirit. A glowing figure that tries to help us."
Her eyes widened. "Indeed? Kaanu has rarely shown itself to us." Then her eyes narrowed as she thought of something. "Stories speak of a bright light, and visions. A faceless angel guiding those in need."
"Sounds like our guy," Edward told her.
I was still uncertain, though. "Okay, but I still don't understand why it would want to help us."
"Perhaps Kaanu is hoping you might help it in return," Clockmaster suggested just before the clock I'd heard earlier started to sound the hour with a loud gong. Clockmaster delicately turned back the hour hand on a small desk clock. "As for me, I can get you into Cullen's facility in exchange for an answer to one, simple question..."
Edward sighed. "This oughta be good," he mumbled, and I suppressed my smile.
Clockmaster took a seat in an odd-looking chair at the center of the room and casually folded her arms. "What is time?"
"Seriously?" Edward whispered incredulously, and I really had to keep myself from laughing at him and focus back on Clockmaster.
"Uhm, do you mean, like … the abstract concept of time?"
She nodded. "Yes, What does it mean to you? Answer carefully."
I knew she wanted an insightful answer, and I tried to come with one in my still-groggy brain. Then, I finally remembered something my philosophy teacher had once said, and I hoped it would be enough for Clockmaster.
"Time is the soul of the universe. It touches everything and everyone."
Clockmaster hummed, and then a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "So you feel as I do." She looked between me and Edward for a second and then stood back up. "Despite the difficulty of surviving in an era ravaged by time distortion, we Anachronists believe that our universe is a benevolent one. It sent us Kaanu, without whom we would be adrift. It gave us time, without which everything would happen at once."
I nodded at everything she said as I thought it was safest to just agree. "I guess that is one way of looking at it."
"Yes. Now, regarding the Island's Heart..." Clockmaster opened a sliding metal door and beckoned us to follow her, and we emerged into hazy daylight.
The city was awake and buzzing. Anachronist Kaarii were carousing amid the outdoor platforms and walkways of Quarr'tel.
"Bella … hey!" Rosalie called for me and walked toward us, but her step was suspiciously unsteady. Peter wasn't far behind her.
I shook my head and laughed at them. "Have you two been up partying all night?"
They stared blankly at each other and started giggling.
Rosalie grinned. "You say that like you're surprised."
"I'm really not," I replied, and then saw Kate walk out of a nearby building, rubbing her temples wearily.
"How does anyone sleep around here with all the noise?" she moaned miserably, and a Kaarii man glared at her angrily, obviously insulted she called their music 'noise.'
Several of the others emerged behind her.
"Morning, Bella," James greeted cheerfully.
Emmett pushed past him. "Hey, doodlebombers!" he called and then promptly lay down in the sun. He closed his eyes and instantly fell back asleep.
Clockmaster cleared her throat behind me, and I turned to her. "When you're ready, I can open a rift here in Quarr'tel. It'll take you directly to Cullen's compound beneath the Observatory, going back to a time before he'd expect you to arrive."
"I like this already!" Peter cheered with a goofy smile.
"So you're going to help us?" I asked skeptically. "Just for answering a question?"
She gave me a patient glance. "That question matters much more than you may realize. As does the Island's Heart."
Garrett kicked Emmett gently to wake him up. "Well, we're ready to go."
Clockmaster nodded and took a stopwatch from her pocket. She adjusted a few dials and clicked the button on the top. The Kaarii in the area immediately began to step back.
The air in front of us rippled and imploded like a burning film slide, and then a huge, glowing rift opened.
"We'll try to maintain it until you return, but be quick," Clockmaster cautioned, and her violet eyes bore into mine.
Edward sidled up next to me and grabbed my hand to entwine our fingers. "Time for deploy. You ready, Princess?"
I nodded and looked at all of my friends determinedly. "C'mon, everyone. Let's go turn the tables on Cullen!" I started to run headlong toward the rift and the rest were right behind me, and then I stepped into an immense room lined with monitors and advanced tech equipment.
Rosalie's jaw dropped. "Dang … I could spend some time in here."
Edward motioned for all of us to stay quiet and then pointed at someone standing at a computer terminal. "Malfoy. Three o'clock," he whispered with an angry frown.
Alistair's back was turned to us, and he was carefully connecting a cable to a hovering drone, then gazed into a monitor expectantly. "Mother? Can you hear me?" he asked, his voice filled with despair.
Iris's face appeared on the screen. Her blank gaze seemed to stare right through Alistair.
"Mother, it's me! Please, I need your help," he continued, and his shoulders started to tremble.
"Access denied. User is invalid."
Leah gasped behind me. "Someone's coming."
A group of Arachnid operatives came rushing toward us.
"Intruders!" Jazz screamed, his bionic eye directed straight at us.
Alistair whirled around in shock. "Wha—!" He spotted us, and he quickly raised his hands at the soldiers. "No! Stand down!"
The soldiers held their ground, and Alistair hurriedly disconnected the drone, which caused the terminal monitor to go blank.
I glared at him. "Alistair, give us the Heart, and then we'll leave."
"You don't need the Heart!" Garrett agreed. "Cullen's gonna trash the island if he keeps using it."
Alistair looked devastated as he perused us all. "You shouldn't have come here."
An Arachnid stepped forward. "Sir? Permission to capture the intruders?"
Alistair whirled toward the soldier. "Just … leave! I have this situation under control," he gritted out angrily with a glare.
Jazz narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."
Edward took a step forward, but Garrett put out his arm to hold him back. It didn't keep him from speaking, though.
"Jazz! Fight it, dammit!"
Alistair entered a series of commands into the terminal and Jazz froze in place. "I said leave," he ordered with a determined voice, and Jazz looked at him blankly for a second before giving a curt nod.
"Yes, sir," he replied and turned stiffly to walk off.
One of the Arachnid started to protest. "Wait, we're just gonna—?"
"We're moving," Jazz told him coldly. "That's an order."
"Copy," the soldier replied, but it was obvious he did not agree with what was going on, and they all filed down a ramp behind Jazz.
Edward gaped as he stared from Jazz's retreating form to Alistair. "You're controlling him?!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Alistair huffed. "I merely adjusted his memory of the last few minutes."
As little as I liked to hear that information, I knew we had to stay focused on the mission. "Where's the Island's Heart?"
"There," Alistair sighed and pointed across the room to a towering, robotic form surrounded by wires and scaffolding.
"Good god," I gasped and tilted my head back to take in the height of the humongous thing.
"Inside the Omega Mech," Alistair continued needlessly.
"We … are … screwed," Peter gaped.
Emmett's posture slumped. "It was nice knowing you, dudes."
Benjamin gasped from where he was leaning over a surveillance monitor. "Bella, look!"
Several camera feeds were shown on the screen. In one of them, I saw Jacorel restrained atop a lab table.
Victoria looked over my shoulder and then clasped her hand over her mouth when she saw what we saw. "They captured him! Are they experimenting on him?"
I suddenly recalled I'd seen this once before, in the vision shown to me when I touched Benjamin's idol. "Oh no..." I breathed out since I knew what would happen if Benjamin tried to save him.
My best friend turned pale and wrung his hands. "Please say we'll help him, Bella," he said and looked at me pleadingly. His begging was unnecessary, though, because I would never leave Jacorel here.
Kate hugged her midsection with a worried expression. "Tanya has got to be here too … Can you see her on any of the monitors?"
I turned back to look but shook my head at her when I couldn't see anything. I glared at Alistair over my shoulder. "Where are they keeping Tanya?"
He shook his head. "You should leave the way you came, Bella. This is only going to end badly for everyone."
I strode up to him and fisted his shirt. I didn't care he was a lot taller than me. "Tell me!"
His gaze fell to the floor in shame, and he didn't even attempt to remove my hands from his clothes. "She's in a cell next to Father's office. It's in the aboveground portion of the Observatory."
I pushed him away from me with enough force to make him stumble. "We'll get the Island's Heart first, and then we go after Jacorel and Tanya."
"It's right here," Edward agreed. "We gotta get it."
Garrett nodded. "If what the Endless said is true, we're all dead if we don't."
Alistair's hands moved back to the terminal keyboard. "I warned you," he said, but his attempt to sound threatening fell flat. "Now you've left me no choice but to—" He was cut off by the thump to his head, and slumped forward. Behind him, Leah stood and brandished the hilt of a knife.
She took a moment to pop tension out of her neck. "Been wanting to do that for a while now," she said and looked at Alistair's unconscious form with disgust.
Peter grabbed a loose power cord and tied Alistair's hands together, and Garrett sighed.
"I can't believe we have to do this, but it's better to not take any risks at this point."
Once Alistair was securely bound, we made our way toward the gigantic mech. Rosalie stared up at it in awe.
"It's … everything."
"It's somethin', alright," James commented behind her, and I wondered what he made of all this technology. He was from the 40's after all.
Edward only scowled. He wasn't impressed. "Leave it to Daddy Weirdbucks to paint his doomsday device Mid-Life Crisis Red."
Erratic flashes of light came from a compartment near the Mech's torso, and I pointed it out to the others. "I think the Heart's up there."
"Cool. I'll check it out," Rosalie said and climbed onto an elevating platform. She started it up and began rising.
"Rose, wait!" Peter stopped her and jumped up to laboriously hoist himself onto the platform. "We used to watch Gundam together, remember? It was our tradition."
Rosalie chuckled and grabbed his hand. "I remember, ya doofus."
They hurtled upward and finally came to a stop next to the compartment with the flashing light.
Kate whirled around and stared at a cluster of desks. "Did you guys see something move over there?" she asked the rest of us.
"I see it!" Benjamin gasped. "I think it's the ghost!"
I focus on the spot they were speaking of, and I immediately saw that it wasn't our friendly ghost. "No, it's not the ghost," I said and a second later, Fiddler appeared out of thin air.
"You should've asked permission before dropping in, sweeties!" she said with a sugar-sweet smile. "Now I'm gonna have to kick you out!" She sent out a dark katana whirling through the air toward my lower body, but I grabbed a monitor off a desk and crouched behind it.
I was nearly thrown off balance when the blade crashed against the heavy plastic and slid to the ground.
Fiddler pulled the weapon out of a pile of shattered glass on the floor, and I realized it wasn't the blade she had before. The old blade would have melted the glass with its heat, but this one didn't.
Edward had noticed as well, and he smirked. "What's the matter? McKenzie replaced your toys with hand-me-downs?"
She gritted her teeth at him. "Shut up, Wolf!" She whirled toward him, both her blades raised.
High above, a flare of light caught my attention. Rosalie was holding the Island's Heart over the edge, preparing to drop it on Fiddler's head.
Edward glared at her. "You missed your opportunity to backstab me a second time, Jane," he told her with a dark voice. "But if I get half the chance, I'll make you pay for what you did to me and Jazz."
She grinned. "Business, Edward. Just business. But then, you always did mix up work and pleasure..."
Her words made me itch to ask what she meant, but I swallowed down my sudden spout of jealousy because it had no place in this situation. Instead, I placed myself in front of Edward protectively. "Leave him alone, Fiddler!" I snarled at her.
"Princess?" Edward said in shock. He hadn't expected me to defend him against her when it was so obvious they had history of more than just working together.
Fiddler turned to me instead. "That's our Wolf. Always a hit with the ladies."
I heard Rosalie and Peter arguing, but I didn't take my eyes off the bitch in front of me. Fiddler heard it too and stared up at the elevated platform. Garrett took the opportunity to tackle her to the ground.
"You're not hurting anyone today," he said as he pinned her down.
"Get … off..." she groaned under his weight and used her ability to become invisible to confuse him.
"Huh?" Garrett looked around because he couldn't feel her underneath him either, and he lost his grasp.
I heard footsteps running away, and I knew she'd escaped yet again.
"Get back here!" Edward called after her and made a move to follow. "I ain't done with—" He suddenly doubled over, coughing hard.
I ran up to him and stroke his back. "You okay, baby?"
Kate joined us with a troubled expression. "It's his lung." Her hand also stroke his back. "Nice, slow breaths, Edward. In through your nose, out through your mouth..." she instructed, and soon Edward managed to stop coughing and stand back up.
"I'm alright," he rasped out, and I touched his cheek gently.
Once Rosalie and Peter were back on the floor with us, the Heart in hand, we made our way back across the room. We passed Alistair's computer terminal, and he was still unconscious.
"I can't believe him," Victoria huffed and glared at him.
"I know how he feels," Garrett said unexpectedly. "Really thought he'd see the light, though."
A folded piece of paper under the base of Alistair's desk caught my eye. I crouched down and began to delicately unfold it in hope of keeping it intact. By gradually taking pressure off the pinched spot, I was able to remove it without tearing it apart.
I read it with a frown.
My Dearest Tanya,
I know we will never speak again, but I wanted you to know how much I regret everything.
I've caused you so much suffering and for that, I'll never ever forgive myself. I hope only to live long enough to redeem myself in your eyes.
Yours respectfully,
Alistair
I gaped at it, but when Peter asked me if I was coming or not, I shook my head to clear it. I quickly refolded the paper and put it away before glancing sadly at Alistair.
"Let's go get Jacorel now, okay?" Benjamin pleaded with desperation showing in his eyes.
"Of course." I nodded at him and we all headed toward a bank of elevators.
We arrived in the Observatory lab a few minutes later. Jacorel was lying on a large surgical table, his arms and legs pinned down by mechanical restraints.
Benjamin rushed to his side. "Jacorel? Can you hear me?"
Jacorel blinked and then found Benjamin's eyes. "Benji," he breathed out with a smile. "I'd hoped to see your face one more time. They ambushed me … Too many … I couldn't—" he stuttered to explain, but Benjamin hushed him.
"Shh, I know. We're gonna get you out of here."
Edward struggled to open one of the restraints, but it didn't budge. "Damn thing is sturdier than it looks."
Garrett also gave it a try, but he was only able to create a tiny gap before the shackle snapped shut again. Benjamin turned toward a workstation, and he and Rosalie peered at the screen. She hummed.
"Piece of cake. All we need to do is release the—"
The workstation went dark, and Iris's hologram appeared at the center of the room.
"I'm sorry, Rosalie. I can't let you do that."
The words triggered my memory again, and I knew we were screwed if we stayed. "Guys, we need to leave. Fast."
Benjamin ignored me. "Iris, you've got to let Jacorel go!"
"Negative. This specimen will remain in custody for the duration of the procedure."
A series of panels slid open near the ceiling. A camera and robotic arms connected to machine guns emerged from the wall.
"Are you kidding me?" Peter exclaimed in shock at the sight of the heavy machinery.
"Defense sequence initiated. Final warning."
Her sinister expression flickered, and I followed the light of the hologram to a pedestal on the other side of the lab from where it was projected. The camera was right next to it, and I understood it acted as her eyes. This wasn't the Iris with her own conscience. She was much more of a machine.
I wondered if she would see us as a threat if she could not see us.
It was worth a shot, and I gestured for everyone to take cover under a table with me. They all followed, except Benjamin.
"Benjamin, C'mon!"
With tears in his eyes, he gazed remorsefully at Jacorel, but then he finally joined us underneath the table.
Iris flickered again, and then her expression morphed from sinister to confused. "No hostiles within range. Defense sequence suspended."
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Edward, who was next to me, and leaned my forehead against his shoulder.
"We need to do something about that camera," he said, having made the same connection I had.
James grinned. "Eye in the sky need taking out? Leave it to me." He pulled a slingshot from his pocket, took aim, and sent a rock flying. With a crash, it sent the broken, smoking, camera to the floor. "Bingo."
I peeked out from under the table, and Iris was frozen. "Coast is clear."
Benjamin rushed back to Jacorel and put his arms around him while sobbing heavily. "We're gonna get you out of here," he repeated over and over again.
Victoria leaned over. "How?" she whispered in my ear, and I shrugged because I didn't know.
"Surveillance lost in Cloning Lab. Alerting proper channels." Iris started flickering and I knew she was about to disappear when an idea popped into my head.
Her first priority was to protect Cullen. She could not see us, so if we made her believe Cullen's life was in danger, we could perhaps convince her to let Jacorel go.
"Wait!" I called for her, and she stopped flickering immediately. "We've got Cullen at gunpoint," I told her coldly.
Edward met my eyes and nodded when he understood what I was doing. He then turned toward the hologram. "If you don't release Jacorel, Cullen here gets a bullet in the head. What's it gonna be?"
Iris scanned the area blindly. "Data inconclusive … Carlisle Cullen was not seen entering the Cloning Lab."
"Just try and test me, Hallie 9000," Edward snarled with the right amount of anger and threat in his voice.
"Threat level too high. Complying with hostiles' demand."
All of Jacorel's restraints came open, and Iris vanished. Kate examined Jacorel with concern, giving special care to his wrists and ankles.
"I don't see any wounds, but they may have sedated him," she observed.
A blaring siren suddenly sounded out, and I knew that was our cue to get moving. It was most likely Iris's doing and it wouldn't take long for Arachnid to storm in. "We need to move! Now!" I told the others unnecessarily.
Benjamin and Peter carefully propped up Jacorel's much taller frame, and we all hastened toward the elevators.
"Tan..." Jacorel attempted to say, and Benjamin looked at him worriedly.
"What, Jacorel?"
The siren sounded again, and it put my nerves on edge. Jacorel gestured toward a door on the other side of the lab.
"Tanya."
Garrett immediately stopped walking. "We should check it out."
We exited the lab at the meeting point of three hallways, and Jacorel pointed to the left. The siren blared a third time, and as it began to fade, I heard heavy footsteps approaching.
"Found youuuuu!" Tetra taunted with a grin as he and a group of Arachnid soldiers rounded a corner in the central hallway, and I couldn't believe the nuisance was still alive.
"Give yourselves up or we'll use force," one of the soldiers threatened.
"Eat my shorts!" Edward retorted as he placed himself subtly in front of me.
Tetra honed in on him. "Hey, Eddie-boy, wanna hear a good joke?"
Edward rolled his eyes. "Do I have a choice?"
"Why did the wolf cross the road?"
Edward inclined his head toward the group. "On my signal … Princess, Ariel, Short Stuff, and Drax, you take Papa Smurf and head left," he mouthed to us, almost inaudibly.
James looked confused by the nicknames, but he nodded anyway, having understood he was not one of the people Edward had referred to.
Tetra clenched his jaw, annoyed by Edward's lack of cooperation with his joke. "I said; Why did the wolf—?"
"You got me, pal," Edward replied, equally annoyed.
"He didn't," Tetra said with a pleased grin. "Somebody ripped his guts out first! Ahahaha!" He started laughing, and now it was I who rolled my eyes at the most terrible joke I'd ever heard. Tetra reached out toward Edward, and his mechanical arms stretched out like snakes, rapidly closing the distance between them.
"They rebuilt him?" Victoria exclaimed when she understood how Tetra had survived the blast from the rocket he'd shot at her. The man was most likely more machine than man now.
"Now!" Edward ordered, and together with Victoria, Benjamin, Peter, and Jacorel, I ran for it down the left hallway. The rest of the group held their ground.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Edward narrowly dodge Tetra's writhing limbs, which crashed into a wall and sent chunks of debris flying. "Edward!" I yelled automatically to see if he was okay.
"Get out of here, Bella!" he yelled back, and I watched as he and Garrett lead the others down the right hallway. The Arachnid soldiers swiftly pursued.
Tetra arrived at the intersection and looked over his shoulder at me. "Oh no, you don't!" Arms of serpentine steel surged down the hall at us.
On pure instinct, I opened a door to take cover behind it, and the snaking arm punched through the heavy wood, but it got stuck. The mechanical fingers clawed the air inches from my face.
"Dumb bratty kid!" Tetra gritted out, and partially retracted the arm only to get ready to try again.
Victoria moved between me and Tetra with a furious expression. "Stay back! Or I'll mess you up all over again!" she said and raised her hands as if she was about to do some magic, and mystically waved her fingers.
He froze and then started to back away. "Get away from me, you freak!" He completely retracted the limb and continued to back away in the direction of the other half of the group.
Benjamin chuckled and it released some of the tension in the hall. "Never underestimate the power of jazz hands!"
Victoria smiled sheepishly. "It's about all I've got at this point."
Jacorel slumped against the wall and then nodded weakly toward a door at the end of the hall. "Tanya … is there."
We entered a cramped interrogation room. An observation window looked in on a miserable Tanya. She was sitting in the corner of a tiny cell. Her matted hair partially covered her face, but I could still see her expression, despondent and staring into space.
I knocked on the window. "Tanya!"
Victoria joined me. "Tanya, can you hear us?"
Tanya's head whirled toward us. "Victoria? You're here too?"
"We all survived," I told her. "We're here to rescue you."
Her expression fell. "Don't bother. You're better off without me."
Benjamin shook his head aggressively. "What? Tan, I don't know what's been going on here but we're gonna get you out!"
"We are here to help," Jacorel finished weakly.
Benjamin turned several latches on the door to the cell. He tried to open it, but something was still holding it shut.
"I got this," Peter said and backed away only to run forward and body slammed the door. It didn't give and he winced. "Ouch..."
"There must be something stuck in the lock on the inside," Victoria said and then went over to the window to see if she could see what it was.
"Just go away, you guys," Tanya told us. "They'll only catch you if you don't."
I put my hand on the glass and tried to make her look at me. "Please open the door."
She frowned and glared at us. "Why? What's so good about being out there?!" She sighed and turned back to the wall. "I'm better off where no one can get to me."
A light came from one of the walls inside the cell. The ghostly figure of Kaanu stepped out of the cinder blocks and looked down at Tanya inquisitively.
She gasped. "Oh no … I'm hallucinating again."
I knocked on the window glass again. "Tanya, that's Kaanu. It wants to help us," I tried to convince to the best of my abilities while being separated by a steel door.
"No joke!" Peter agreed. "That thing's legit!"
"Just take whatever it gives you!" Benjamin encouraged.
Kaanu turned to us, and it appeared to glow brighter as if it was pleased with what we were saying about it. Then it reached inside itself and withdrew a framed display containing colorful butterflies.
Tanya trembled. "Is this really happening? You guys, what should I do?"
"Go ahead and take it," I told her.
She looked between us and the frame. "Really?" She swallowed hard, and then reached out tentatively. "Okay, here goes nothing..." She took the frame from Kaanu and our reality melted away.
I was on a balcony overlooking a bustling city. Through adjoining windows, an upscale gallery could be seen. A large crowd was gathered inside, talking and gazing at vibrant paintings featuring elaborate geometric patterns.
Tanya opened a glass door, and she and Kate walked out into the night air. Both of them looked older in that put together way of early adulthood. Tanya wasn't wearing her glasses and her hair was put up into a sophisticated up-do. The dress she was wearing screamed of her success.
"I can't decide which one I like best," Kate said. "Really, Tanya, they're all amazing!"
"Thank you!" she said genuinely. "Just let me know if you do see one you want and I'll set it aside."
The glass door opened again.
"Hello, Tanya," an elegant blonde woman greeted. Even though I'd never seen or met Irina Miller before, there was no mistake this was Tanya's mother.
"Mom!" Tanya exclaimed surprised. "W-what are you doing here?"
Irina smiled widely. "Don't be silly. I've always supported your little hobbies."
Kate gaped. "'Little hobbies'?"
"Mom, please don't try to embarrass me," Tanya pleaded with a dejected expression.
Irina looked aghast. "Never, darling! I just, well … I did notice that some of these designs of yours are a little lackluster..." She placed a hand on Tanya's shoulder. "Maybe some more splashes of color here and there to spruce things up, you know?"
Tanya shook her head. "You're … missing the point," she tried to explain, but Irina talked over her.
"I just don't understand why you don't take up something you're actually good at, sweetheart."
"Okay … That's it!" Kate stepped between mother and daughter. "I'm sorry, but shut the hell up, Mrs. Miller."
"Excuse me?" Irina blanched. "Watch your mouth, young lady!"
Kate ignored her and looked at Tanya. "Tell her!"
Tanya inhaled deeply and plucked up her courage. "Mom, all of these paintings were generated by calculations and assigned geometric properties. The whole point of fractal art is to display the beauty of mathematics!" Her anger drained away, and she gave her mom a patient smile. "It's not about being flashy or impressive, it's about celebrating the intrinsic patterns of the universe."
With a sudden look of uncertainty, Irina nodded. "Right. I knew that."
Back to anger again, Tanya huffed. "No, you didn't. You've never taken anything I've done seriously, especially the things I'm passionate about."
Irina glanced back and forth between Tanya and Kate. "I..." She sighed. "I see. I'll, uh, be going then." She turned on her heel and stalked out.
Kate placed a comforting hand on Tanya's shoulder. "You alright?"
She was breathing harshly, but a look of wonder passed over her face. "You know what? That … felt really good!"
"Good!" Kate grinned. "I think she actually will get it, by the way. Seeing how talented you are, she probably just feels threatened." She giggled. "Anyway, she's got about seven gushing art critics to get through on her way out of here, so I think it's gonna sink in."
Tanya joined in on her laughter. "You know … When I was little, she gave me this glass box full of butterflies. Beautiful specimens in every color of the rainbow. It was my most prized possession. And then I started to realize that's all I was to her. A precious thing to keep under glass and hide away."
"Tanya, you get to decide who's really in your family and who's not," Kate comforted. "Don't let the ties that bind you be the ties that break you. Okay?"
"Okay," Tanya acquiesced with a small grateful smile. She straightened with a relieved sigh as if letting a long-held burden finally fall away.
Another burst of light sent me back to the interrogation room. Tanya was standing at the center of her cell, eyes wide.
"Bella … I think I just saw..." she stuttered.
I nodded. "Your future."
Kaanu stepped back into the wall, its light fading away.
A series of clicks resounded through the room, and then the cell door swung open. Tanya stared at us, clutching the framed display. A small sigh escaped her.
"I'm ready to go."
I smiled widely in relief. "Good."
Back at the entrance to the lab, I saw Edward and the others gathered around Garrett.
"It's fine," he groaned. "I'll make it." He was clutching his left leg which was soaked with fresh blood.
"Garrett!" I exclaimed in shock and fright.
"What happened?" Tanya came up behind me and the group who had not been a part of finding her all looked relieved to see she looked relatively unharmed.
"Got grazed by a bullet," Garrett muttered, and Kate glared at him.
"Grazed? This is a wound, Garrett." Her expression softened. "I need you to take it easy and not put too much pressure on it," she said and searched her bag for her med kit.
Edward shook his head apologetically. "No time. We barely lost Tetra and his grunts back there. They're gonna find us if we wait much longer."
Peter lightly patted Garrett's shoulder. "Can you walk, bro?"
He grunted and grabbed Peter's hand appreciatively to haul himself back up. "Yeah. Let's get out of here."
As we headed back toward the lab where we'd exited the rift, Rosalie pulled a cylindrical device out from under her arm and gave it to Peter. "Lookie what we found," she said with a grin and Peter gaped with excitement.
"The laser cannon?! I thought I wasn't gonna see this again!" He took the harness and began strapping it to his shoulder.
"Just try not to get too trigger happy," Rosalie cautioned him gently.
Everyone hurried to the elevators and returned to the bottom floor.
"Wait!" Tanya suddenly said. "How are we going to escape?"
"There's a portal that's gonna take us far away from here, don't worry," I explained.
Rosalie huffed in front of me. "That Arachnid jerk's in our way."
I glanced forward and saw Jazz guarding the time rift, rifle in hand. A voice came from across the room, its tone dryly admonishing.
"That didn't go very well for you last time. Step blindly through a door, and you'll suffer whatever consequence lies on the other side."
We all looked around to see who the voice belonged to. My eyes passed over the Omega Mech, and I gasped.
"I think it came from that," I said and pointed up.
The cockpit of the Mech suddenly filled with light and revealed Carlisle Cullen. He grinned. "Stay, my friends … and witness history in the remaking."
Peter narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to see you try! We have the Heart!"
"That you do," Cullen agreed. "And I have its power."
Energy circulated through conduits along the floor, flooding into the Mech, and it took an earth-shaking step forward.
"To the portal! Now!" I yelled to my friends and started to run.
Alistair suddenly came to, and he began struggling against his bonds. "Father? What are you—?"
"Be silent!" Cullen roared, his voice amplified by the Mech. "Sit and watch while I do what Prometheus could not. For the fire of the Gods is now mine forever!"
A sphere of roiling blue energy expanded to envelop us, and while I backed out of the energy field in time, the others didn't, and they appeared to be frozen in place.
Cullen grinned at me. "You're much too concerned with the material, Bella, the fleeting. Allow me to liberate you as I've been liberated!"
All of my friends inside the sphere began to flicker and fade as the Mech erased them from time.
"No!" I screamed. "Stop! Don't do this, Cullen!"
One by one, they all disappeared.
"Tanya!" Alistair exclaimed, and then succeeded in freeing an arm and sliced away his bonds with a snake-hilted knife.
"Not to worry!" Cullen chuckled. "If you want them back, all you'll need is the rest of the Island's Heart. You see, Bella, with the Heart's power, time is our plaything. You could not only save your friends but anyone you wish, once twice, a thousand times over." He threw his hands out in joy. "Imagine it! A savior is born!"
Alistair typed frantically into his terminal, and Jazz suddenly slumped to the ground. "I deleted his programming," he told me. "Go!"
"I'm not going anywhere without the others!" I yelled back.
Cullen sighed. "A, my son, my greatest mistake … Does it give you a measure of solace to see your father triumph?"
His suppressed anger caused Alistair to shake violently. "You … were never a father to me. I ruined everything I cared about trying to make a connection with you." He shook his head with a look of disgust. "You're no god in the machine. You're just a scared, petty, little man hoping to bend the world to his whim!"
"'Divide and conquer' is the Cullen family way, Alistair," Cullen shrugged non-apologetically.
Alistair's gaze fell on the energy conduits, and his knuckles went white around the knife in his grasp. "So it is." In one quick motion, he raised the knife and dove forward to stab the conduit. It created a massive energy overload. Wild arcs of blue-white lightning coursed across the Omega Mech.
Cullen groaned and slumped forward, shocked by the sudden stream of energy.
An enormous burst of energy threw Alistair onto his back, a trail of smoke streamed from his body. Simultaneously, the blue sphere dissipated and my friends reappeared.
They all looked shocked and confused, not at all sure of what had just happened.
"What the—?" Edward started but was cut off by my form crashing into his. "Princess? What's going on?"
I leaned away from him and looked at the rest of them. "No time to explain. We need to get to the portal now!"
We all ran for the time rift when Edward noticed Jazz collapsed. He immediately scooped him up.
"C'mon, you bastard," he groaned under his weight. "You'd better be alive after all this."
I glanced back to Alistair, and his blackened by scorch face turned to me to meet my gaze.
Tanya glared at him. "You idiot! You could've died!" she reprimanded him.
He raised a shaking hand and gestured urgently to the portal. "Go while you still can!"
"Will you get the hell up and come on?!" Tanya yelled again. "We're not leaving without you!"
"Tanya?" he asked with cautious hope.
"Get over here!"
He staggered toward her, and the two of them entered the eddying rift together. The rest hurriedly followed, and I was about to step through myself when I heard Cullen speak.
"Soon you will understand what you must do, Bella! But in the meantime … how about a parting gift?"
A blue aura surrounded the time rift. For a moment, my friends were visible, and then the image began to distort like a funhouse mirror. The edges of the rift widened and I fell through.
With a scream, I felt myself free-fall.
~~{MEJ}~~
Present Day...
On the eastern coast of El Jardín, Emilyne, Sether, and the Sabertooth stood together at the water's edge.
"You and Emb'kal can play on the beach until I return," Emilyne ordered.
"But I wanna go diving!" Sether protested.
Emb'kal's ears flattened with sadness as he gave Sether the Sabertooth equivalent of a puppy-dog look.
"Sether," Emilyne said, his name a clear warning.
"Fiiiiine," Sether sighed. "Come on, Emb'kal."
"Stay on the sand. Do not go past the cliffs. Do you understand?"
Sether picked up a long strand of seaweed and Emb'kal grabbed the other end. They began playing tug-of-war. Emb'kal growled playfully with a happy light in his eyes. Sether laughed in delight and tugged hard on his end.
"Sether! Did you hear me?"
The boy rolled his eyes. "Yessss. I'll stay on the sand, but Emilyne better be safe too!"
Emilyne watched them for a long moment, then sighed and waded into the surf. Once the water was up to her torso, she took a deep breath and dove in. She descended swiftly into a sea trench, propelled by her powerful legs. She arrived at a patch of oyster shells along the trench wall and began carving each one free with her knife.
Behind her, in the vast darkness of the deep sea, a pair of green glowing eyes opened, followed by another pair, and another.
Emilyne struggled to get the last pair of oysters and began stabbing at their bases. Her blade rang out as it struck the rock face with loud, dull clangs.
Three huge heads drifted out of the abyss, drawn closer by the sound. One of them was blue and angular, with horns and glowing slits for eyes. The second was scarlet with bulging eyes and a huge lower jaw full of needle-sharp teeth. The third was green and many-finned with a long, eel-like snout. Each head was connected to an incredibly long, serpentine neck, all three of which culminated at the same body.
Emilyne tensed, sensing she was being watched. She turned slowly, and upon seeing Cetus's three heads, she involuntarily screamed. A flood of bubbles drifted up and away, to safety.
The crimson head released a roar that shook the trench wall, causing the remaining oysters to tumble into the darkness. Emilyne froze, paralyzed with fear.
"Please," she thought. "Endless, anyone, preserve me!"
The three enormous heads watched Emilyne, considering their prey. Then, slowly they pulled back into the darkness, their green eyes disappearing into the inky void of the depths.
Emilyne kicked as hard as she could and returned to the surface. When she emerged from the water, she found the beach empty.
"Sether? Sether?!"
~~{MEJ}~~
Several hours earlier...
The Endless stared into a blazing lava pool. An eerie, blue-green glow flickered across her weathered face.
"Don't worry. We're going to return your core to you," she said into the nothingness of the magma. "Isn't that what you want?"
A voice raised from the pit, reverberating off the cavern walls. "All is broken … Broken … all..."
The telltale click of a gun being cocked came from somewhere behind the Endless. "Freeze, Red Riding Hood," McKenzie ordered.
"Alec McKenzie," the Endless said without turning around. "I'd say it was a pleasure, but..."
McKenzie approached the Endless, his assault rifle trained on the elderly woman's head. "I've heard about you. Try any of your tricks and I can end this conversation real quick."
The Endless tensed up and frowned. "What do you want, Mr. McKenzie?"
"Seems the Island's Heart is incomplete. Where's the rest of it?"
"Scattered … Lost!" the voice echoed from the lava.
"I said no tricks!" McKenzie roared and fingered the trigger.
The Endless extinguished a ball of fire hovering over her mechanic palm and raised her hands in placation. "Heart? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Like hell you don't." He swung the rifle up and slammed it against the side of the Endless's head. She fell to her knees and began to desperately crawl toward the pit. McKenzie grabbed the back of her head violently. "Bella's bringing it to you, isn't she? Tell me!"
A hovering spectra appeared next to McKenzie. Kaanu. Its light was darkening with the fury it felt. It took McKenzie's head in its ghostly hands, and he gasped and convulsed until he released the Endless.
His face contorted in pure terror as the spirit forced him to experience a vision. "But they're dead!" he exclaimed. "I killed them. All of them! I don't wanna see this. Make it stop, dammit! Make it—Aaaaghhh!" He pulled away and fled down a tunnel as fast as he could.
Kaanu's arms lowered to its sides, and it hovered silently, watching the Endless who was still gasping for breath on the ground.
"You..."
As the spirit faded, the Endless cast a glanced behind her into the pool. A flicker of remorse appeared in her eyes, but then she abruptly turned away.
A/N:
Once again, another chapter propped full of information, but they had quite a few wins! They got the Heart, Jacorel, and Tanya. And also Alistair who seems very remorseful, but Cullen did something with the time rift, but what?
We now know the ghost is the spirit of the island who wants to help them!
Alistair deleted Jazz's programming! :-O What will that mean? Will he remember now?
And what the hell was that in the end? Cetus had THREE heads now? Well, he did eat half of the Heart, so I guess it would have some effect on him.
Tell me your thoughts and I'll be a happy camper!
Until next week,
Stay Awesome!