Time Games
(Author's note; This is part 15 in the Time Matrix Chronicles. Part 1 is "the only way out". Read & Review... & Enjoy.)
The Guard smiled a terrible smile. "Good," he said. "Good. Now step away from that wall."
Marco glanced at Larynia. Her face was in darkness - the electric rod that let out that dim light was behind her - but her eyes were blazing. He took one step away from the wall.
Away from the Time Matrix.
Marco, Ax's voice said. Marco, this is not a time to be silly. That is the Time Matrix. Nothing matters… the Time Matrix, Marco. Get the Time Matrix.
Rachel gave a slight nod. Jake nodded as well. Tobias finally lifted his head, took one stressed glance at the scene, and froze in the middle of a movement.
The Hork-Bajir tensed as Marco moved again. But all he did was to scrape the dirt floor with his toes.
"Seize him," the Guard said. He glared at Marco. "And if you decide to bring things over to the hard way, just remember that I've still got a dracon aimed at this lousy Andalite."
Larynia flinched at the word 'lousy'. Her hands clenched again. Marco saw for his inner eye how her tail cocked, but she didn't have a tail when she was in human morph. She was vulnerable in human morph.
Why had he let her morph human?
Two Hork-Bajir advanced on Marco. Marco felt a tingle that announced being ready to spring into action. But at the same time, he was wondering what to do.
He didn't have to wonder for long.
Cause that's about when a large sphere appeared in the middle of the cave.
And next to it, Marco.
The new Marco lifted a dracon, fired at the Guard. He fell, and Larynia got to her feet and scrambled away, grabbing the fallen Guard's dracon.
A Hork-Bajir cried out and raised his own dracon. He fired at this new Marco, but missed. Larynia aimed at him, fired, and he fell with a scream.
The Hork-Bajir who held Ax (still a bat) lifted another dracon. Marco shot him and Larynia managed to shoot a third. Ax fell to the ground and was demorphing before he hit it.
Then the new Marco saluted at the other himself - he saluted the himself standing by the wall, looking astonished - with a bandaged hand.
"Remember to make this extra time trip," he said.
Marco raised a hand in response, and caught the dracon that was thrown to him.
The next moment new Marco was gone. The remains of a high-power dracon beam shot through the air. The Time Matrix shimmered and disappeared.
Marco stared at the empty space where he had been.
A FWAP announced that Ax was finished demorphing. A Hork-Bajir cry announced that he had begun cleaning house.
"Demorph," Ax snapped at Larynia. Then he aimed at the Hork-Bajir that held Jake and fired. Jake snatched up the dracon from the Hork-Bajir and begun using it as well, freeing Rachel and Tobias.
The air was alive with dracon beams. Hork-Bajir shot at them. They shot at Hork-Bajir. The dim light from the electric rod on the floor was the only light in the cave.
Ax was the only one without a dracon. A Hork-Bajir had kicked it from his hand - and his hand from his arm. His other hand was holding the stump tightly. Ax was fighting a duo of Hork-Bajir, being backed up slowly towards the wall.
Larynia had noticed that. She was Andalite again, using sleek Andalite hands to handle the dracon, and a deadly Andalite tail to handle the Hork-Bajir that came to close. Now she was hurrying to help her cousin.
Marco was still staring at where the other he had disappeared. That is, until Rachel came close enough to shove him out of the way of a dracon.
"Idiot!" she barked when the dracon sliced air between them. "what are you doing?"
"I just watched myself getting killed," Marco said in a weak voice.
"Yeah, and if you just stand there the rest of us will get to do it twice in just a minute. Geez, Marco, there are Hork-Bajir to take care of!"
"You don't get it, do you?" Marco said. "That was me. That's what will happen to me."
"So it's not good enough? You get to save our butts. You get to save Larynia's Andalite hide. Anything else you'd like to do?"
"Maybe survive?" Marco suggested.
Rachel saw a dracon being aimed out of the corner of her eye. She pushed Marco out of the way again and took a step back herself. The dracon hit the dirt wall on the other side of them.
"Last chance, Marco," she said. "To save our butts earlier - or later, whatever you want to call it - you keep alive now. Is that too hard for you?"
Marco nodded. "Maybe."
Rachel eyed him briefly before letting her concentration return to the Hork-Bajir.
Ax pawed at the ground as he finished the last of the demorph to heal his hand. The earth was soft; his hooves left clear prints.
Prints. There was a bowl-shaped print where the Time Matrix had stood in the center of the cave. There were two human footprints on one side; Marco's. He had stood in the exact same place all the time. The prints were easy to see, even in the dim light.
On the other side of the Time Matrix's small crater were Andalite prints. Too small to be his own. They had to be Larynia's. His own prints were spread about in the cave, but he could easily tell them apart from his cousin's; hers were sleeker, smaller, and not as deep.
The prints from the Guard where just as easily recognized. The only human prints with shoes were his. They led from the steep crack, followed the wall about half-way into the cave, and then the Guard's prints and the prints of the Hork-Bajir formed a half-circle in the cave. Surrounding the spot where they had been crawling into that crack.
Despite the light from the rod in Ax's hand being so dim, he could read the prints well enough to get a pretty accurate summary of the battle. The dead Hork-Bajir on the floor marked the ends of some sets of prints. The Guard marked the end of another.
And Marco's two lone prints marked where he had appeared in their time and ended.
"Ax?" Jake said suddenly. "You coming?"
Ax joined the others by the Time Matrix, still only partly visible where it stood in the wall of the cave.
Marco, with the dracon he had been given by his other self strapped to his leg, placed his left hand on the surface of the Time Matrix. He took Larynia's hand, and Larynia - who was looking very worried - took Rachel's. Rachel grabbed a tight hold on Tobias's hand and Tobias clasped Jake's.
Jake held out his free hand for Ax to take.
Ax swept his stalk-eyes back to where the other Time Matrix had been. Why had it disappeared? To protect itself from the Yeerks?
Was the Time Matrix capable of that? And if so, what else was it capable of?
Ax didn't like not knowing.
But he took Jake's hand in his left and placed his right hand on Marco's shoulder.
Jake sighed. "Fire away, buddy."
"When to?"
"Before the defeat. But within ten days. We don't want to hang around waiting for things to happen."
"Not that we have anything better to do…" Rachel muttered.
We might disturb something up by just being there, Ax said. We need to be careful. If we catch a rabbit to eat, and that means that someone else goes without food, which…
"We get the picture, Ax-man," Rachel snapped.
"Within ten days," Marco repeated. "Fine. No problem. We've got all the time in the world…"
The group sat down in the clearing and Jake made them all review the plan.
No-one listened that much. The landscape was beautiful. At least compared to the barren, dry and rocky landscape of the future Earth.
There were trees. There was grass under their feet - or hooves, in Larynia's and Ax's case. And the sky was blue, not reddish gray. The clouds were white and puffy. The sun shone beautifully like the crown of a masterpiece.
It seemed like an illusion.
They had left the Time Matrix within view not far from there. But none of them really wanted to go too near it. It represented the inevitable; that Marco was going back to the future. And not returning.
While Jake was attempting to get them to listen, Marco and Larynia were having their own debate.
I can't believe you did that! Larynia said again. Maybe for the hundredth time.
"And what did I do that was so wrong?" Marco snapped back.
You HESITATED! Larynia exclaimed. You actually listened to that Controller!
Marco sighed. "He was holding a dracon to your head."
He did. Okay. SO WHAT?
"I'm not risking you getting killed," Marco said lowly. "Or even hurt."
Too bad, Larynia said. You still don't get it, do you? It doesn't matter. That's the TIME MATRIX, Marco. With that, nothing matters. Not anything, not me.
"Don't say that. You matter a lot."
To you, maybe. But with the Time Matrix, nothing matters. Nothing. You can undo everything that happens, has happened and will happen.
"I'm not going to watch you getting killed just because I can undo it," Marco hissed. "It would have broken me. I wouldn't have been able to do anything, least of all operate that complex Time Matrix."
Larynia swiveled one stalk-eye to look at him. Then she turned with a faint thought-speak sob and trotted speedily away.
Marco flew up to his feet and followed her. Jake gave up trying to speak to the group, and threw his hands into the air.
"Larynia!" Marco called. He jogged up to her side and up in front of her. "Larynia! Why are you sad?"
Larynia stopped and turned all four eyes down on the ground. Do you think I can deal with you getting killed? You're being selfish, Marco.
Marco reached out to stroke her cheek, but she pulled away. He lowered his hand. "I'm… sorry. I didn't see it that way."
Of course not, Larynia said. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. You know why. We don't matter any more, Marco. We never will. Never have.
Marco was quicker this time. His hand reached up and lifted her chin. Then he looked into her main eyes. "What did you say?"
We don't matter.
"What? How can you say that? How…"
Suddenly Larynia's gaze grew hard. She pulled away again. You haven't figured it out?
"Figured what out?"
Undoing the defeat. It means that we'll never meet.
Marco stared at her. Questioningly. When she nodded, he nodded as well. Accepting.
"That's why you were sad on the way to Earth," he said. "You knew all along."
She nodded again. Her eyes were hard. Marco didn't know what to say.
And yet you never even thought about it! You dim-witted… foolish -
Without warning Larynia spun around and ran away. She was too fast for Marco to even try following her.
"Larynia!" he called. "Larynia! Get back here!" But Larynia didn't listen… "Larynia!!" …and disappeared out of sight.
So did a few of Marco's hopes.
"Damn it!"
Marco clenched a fist and slammed it with all his might into a tree. The skin on his knuckles cracked open and blood trickled out, but Marco ignored it and beat at the tree again, even harder. The rough bark ripped open new wounds.
Marco sat down with his back to the tree and buried his face in his hands.
The group had assembled near the Time Matrix again. Except Larynia, who was still gone. Marco had bound a piece of cloth around his hand - he was too tired to bother morphing it away. Everyone ignored the fact that Larynia wasn't there. Not really ignored… more like avoided. It was an uncomfortable subject.
Uncomfortable for everyone except Rachel. "I'll tell her you said bye," she said softly to Marco.
Marco nodded grimly. "That's about all I've got left to say," he said. "And I better say it to you too. Bye-bye, see you… well… never."
Jake smiled despite himself. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh or cry.
"Have fun ruining Yeerk plans," Marco continued. "Kick some extra butt for my sake."
"No problem," Rachel said.
Tobias nodded. "They'll be plenty of Yeerks, and plenty to share."
"Now if you excuse me, I've gotto go back to the future and save our butts so you can save Earth and I can go back to saving our butts."
Ax nodded. That was about it.
"This time traveling business is giving me a serious headache," Marco said, rubbing his forehead and grimacing. "Oh, well. I hate long goodbyes. Let's get this over with. I've got no choice, so no point avoiding it."
Marco turned towards the Time Matrix.
And Larynia stepped into his way. For the first time since the first time Marco met her, she looked afraid. In fact, she looked like she was falling apart. Quickly.
It made him sad.
Marco… please…
Marco turned his gaze down on the ground. "Out of my way," he said in a low voice.
You'll be killed! You… you know you'll be killed.
Marco didn't answer. Larynia looked at him in despair. Her stalk-eyes were wobbling. If she'd had a mouth, she'd have bit her lip. If she'd had hair, she'd be running her fingers through it.
Aximili?
Ax didn't move. He closed his main eyes and his stalk-eyes turned away. Larynia pawed at the ground, shifting her weight to another set of hooves.
Rachel? Tobias?
Neither of the two responded. Rachel gave Marco one look, and then turned to walk slowly away. Tobias smiled good-luck-wishing at Marco and followed her.
Prince Jake! Larynia wailed. Tell him!
But Jake remained silent.
Marco walked up closer to Larynia. Placed his hands on the sides of her face. And leaned his forehead against hers. His thumbs stroked her cheeks softly. She was trembling.
"I love you, Larynia," he said. "Be brave. But stay here."
Before Larynia did anything else, Marco had stepped past her and was nearing the Time Matrix. The dracon that had been strapped to his leg was now in his good hand.
Larynia stood quivering uncertainly for two seconds. She looked about to turn any moment.
"Don't move," Jake snapped when her front hooves lifted above the ground. They sank down again obediently. "Stay there, and that's an order. Got it?"
Larynia nodded. Her stalk-eyes were fixed on something far away. She refused to turn them to look behind her.
Marco reached up with both hands, and, with a sigh, placed them on the Time Matrix's smooth surface.
He began to shimmer. There was a very long, silent moment. Jake thought a goodbye to his friend.
Suddenly Larynia spun around and grabbed Marco's arm. The next second both of them and the Time Matrix were gone.
Jake gaped. "She disobeyed a direct order!"
Ax nodded sadly. I knew she would.
"She… disobeyed… oh, is she in trouble!"
Guess why they don't allow females in the military? Ax said. Larynia especially. She simply isn't made to follow orders. And when a female's heart is set on something… there's no stopping them. If half the army deserted whenever they felt like it, the War Council would have a serious problem. His stalk-eyes darted from side to side. Just do not tell any female that I said that.
Jake agreed. "But she actually…" He clenched his fists, unclenched them, and calmed himself. "Too late now. Anyway. When is this? When has Marco dropped us off?"
Tobias and Rachel knows. I… was not really paying attention.
The first thing Tobias and Rachel noticed when Ax and Jake came back to the clearing was that Larynia wasn't with them.
Rachel smiled. "Tobias? Just for the record. If there still was such a thing as money, you'd owe me ten bucks."
"She went with him?" Tobias said, ignoring Rachel.
Jake nodded. "After I specifically told her not to. If she comes back alive, she'll be in so much trouble."
"She's trying to save Marco's life," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "Yeah. She'll be in trouble all right. Ax-man? What have you got to say for your cousin's defence?"
You would have done the same thing, Ax chuckled.
Rachel pretended not to hear that. "You know this presents a problem?"
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "We need to call the Andalites. They won't listen to any of us, we know that from experience, so… we needed Larynia to talk to them."
"And now we're back to them not listening," Rachel sighed. "Which ruins our plan completely. If we can't convince those self-obsessed blue dung bags - excuse the expression, Ax, but you know where I'm heading - to get their asses down to Earth, we can kiss undoing the defeat goodbye."
We will figure something out, Ax said.
"We've got no choice," Tobias added simply.
"When are we?" Jake asked, changing the subject.
"Marco said he dropped us off some time during those ten days you mentioned," Tobias said.
"When?"
"Exactly?"
"Exactly would be good."
"That time you and Rachel almost gnawed off Visser One's tail," Tobias said with the faintest trace of a smile. "It was one of the moments he remembered clearly enough."
Rachel smiled as well. And so did Jake.
Ax, however, looked horrified.
"What?" Jake asked.
That happened the morning before the night of the defeat, Ax said.
"Say what?!" Rachel snapped.
We do not have ten days. We have ten hours.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Author's note; OOOOOOOOOOOOOH, I absolutely *L*O*V*E* doing that to them. (And to you readers, of course. *Ooooh, I'm so evil.*)
Anyway. If you brought your brains with you this time, you'll know what'll happen. I left plenty of clues. I just hope they aren't too obvious. If you can't figure it out, you'll be told in the next part... whenever I manage to get it up.
Just a reminder: REVIEW!!
(Author's note; This is part 15 in the Time Matrix Chronicles. Part 1 is "the only way out". Read & Review... & Enjoy.)
The Guard smiled a terrible smile. "Good," he said. "Good. Now step away from that wall."
Marco glanced at Larynia. Her face was in darkness - the electric rod that let out that dim light was behind her - but her eyes were blazing. He took one step away from the wall.
Away from the Time Matrix.
Marco, Ax's voice said. Marco, this is not a time to be silly. That is the Time Matrix. Nothing matters… the Time Matrix, Marco. Get the Time Matrix.
Rachel gave a slight nod. Jake nodded as well. Tobias finally lifted his head, took one stressed glance at the scene, and froze in the middle of a movement.
The Hork-Bajir tensed as Marco moved again. But all he did was to scrape the dirt floor with his toes.
"Seize him," the Guard said. He glared at Marco. "And if you decide to bring things over to the hard way, just remember that I've still got a dracon aimed at this lousy Andalite."
Larynia flinched at the word 'lousy'. Her hands clenched again. Marco saw for his inner eye how her tail cocked, but she didn't have a tail when she was in human morph. She was vulnerable in human morph.
Why had he let her morph human?
Two Hork-Bajir advanced on Marco. Marco felt a tingle that announced being ready to spring into action. But at the same time, he was wondering what to do.
He didn't have to wonder for long.
Cause that's about when a large sphere appeared in the middle of the cave.
And next to it, Marco.
The new Marco lifted a dracon, fired at the Guard. He fell, and Larynia got to her feet and scrambled away, grabbing the fallen Guard's dracon.
A Hork-Bajir cried out and raised his own dracon. He fired at this new Marco, but missed. Larynia aimed at him, fired, and he fell with a scream.
The Hork-Bajir who held Ax (still a bat) lifted another dracon. Marco shot him and Larynia managed to shoot a third. Ax fell to the ground and was demorphing before he hit it.
Then the new Marco saluted at the other himself - he saluted the himself standing by the wall, looking astonished - with a bandaged hand.
"Remember to make this extra time trip," he said.
Marco raised a hand in response, and caught the dracon that was thrown to him.
The next moment new Marco was gone. The remains of a high-power dracon beam shot through the air. The Time Matrix shimmered and disappeared.
Marco stared at the empty space where he had been.
A FWAP announced that Ax was finished demorphing. A Hork-Bajir cry announced that he had begun cleaning house.
"Demorph," Ax snapped at Larynia. Then he aimed at the Hork-Bajir that held Jake and fired. Jake snatched up the dracon from the Hork-Bajir and begun using it as well, freeing Rachel and Tobias.
The air was alive with dracon beams. Hork-Bajir shot at them. They shot at Hork-Bajir. The dim light from the electric rod on the floor was the only light in the cave.
Ax was the only one without a dracon. A Hork-Bajir had kicked it from his hand - and his hand from his arm. His other hand was holding the stump tightly. Ax was fighting a duo of Hork-Bajir, being backed up slowly towards the wall.
Larynia had noticed that. She was Andalite again, using sleek Andalite hands to handle the dracon, and a deadly Andalite tail to handle the Hork-Bajir that came to close. Now she was hurrying to help her cousin.
Marco was still staring at where the other he had disappeared. That is, until Rachel came close enough to shove him out of the way of a dracon.
"Idiot!" she barked when the dracon sliced air between them. "what are you doing?"
"I just watched myself getting killed," Marco said in a weak voice.
"Yeah, and if you just stand there the rest of us will get to do it twice in just a minute. Geez, Marco, there are Hork-Bajir to take care of!"
"You don't get it, do you?" Marco said. "That was me. That's what will happen to me."
"So it's not good enough? You get to save our butts. You get to save Larynia's Andalite hide. Anything else you'd like to do?"
"Maybe survive?" Marco suggested.
Rachel saw a dracon being aimed out of the corner of her eye. She pushed Marco out of the way again and took a step back herself. The dracon hit the dirt wall on the other side of them.
"Last chance, Marco," she said. "To save our butts earlier - or later, whatever you want to call it - you keep alive now. Is that too hard for you?"
Marco nodded. "Maybe."
Rachel eyed him briefly before letting her concentration return to the Hork-Bajir.
Ax pawed at the ground as he finished the last of the demorph to heal his hand. The earth was soft; his hooves left clear prints.
Prints. There was a bowl-shaped print where the Time Matrix had stood in the center of the cave. There were two human footprints on one side; Marco's. He had stood in the exact same place all the time. The prints were easy to see, even in the dim light.
On the other side of the Time Matrix's small crater were Andalite prints. Too small to be his own. They had to be Larynia's. His own prints were spread about in the cave, but he could easily tell them apart from his cousin's; hers were sleeker, smaller, and not as deep.
The prints from the Guard where just as easily recognized. The only human prints with shoes were his. They led from the steep crack, followed the wall about half-way into the cave, and then the Guard's prints and the prints of the Hork-Bajir formed a half-circle in the cave. Surrounding the spot where they had been crawling into that crack.
Despite the light from the rod in Ax's hand being so dim, he could read the prints well enough to get a pretty accurate summary of the battle. The dead Hork-Bajir on the floor marked the ends of some sets of prints. The Guard marked the end of another.
And Marco's two lone prints marked where he had appeared in their time and ended.
"Ax?" Jake said suddenly. "You coming?"
Ax joined the others by the Time Matrix, still only partly visible where it stood in the wall of the cave.
Marco, with the dracon he had been given by his other self strapped to his leg, placed his left hand on the surface of the Time Matrix. He took Larynia's hand, and Larynia - who was looking very worried - took Rachel's. Rachel grabbed a tight hold on Tobias's hand and Tobias clasped Jake's.
Jake held out his free hand for Ax to take.
Ax swept his stalk-eyes back to where the other Time Matrix had been. Why had it disappeared? To protect itself from the Yeerks?
Was the Time Matrix capable of that? And if so, what else was it capable of?
Ax didn't like not knowing.
But he took Jake's hand in his left and placed his right hand on Marco's shoulder.
Jake sighed. "Fire away, buddy."
"When to?"
"Before the defeat. But within ten days. We don't want to hang around waiting for things to happen."
"Not that we have anything better to do…" Rachel muttered.
We might disturb something up by just being there, Ax said. We need to be careful. If we catch a rabbit to eat, and that means that someone else goes without food, which…
"We get the picture, Ax-man," Rachel snapped.
"Within ten days," Marco repeated. "Fine. No problem. We've got all the time in the world…"
The group sat down in the clearing and Jake made them all review the plan.
No-one listened that much. The landscape was beautiful. At least compared to the barren, dry and rocky landscape of the future Earth.
There were trees. There was grass under their feet - or hooves, in Larynia's and Ax's case. And the sky was blue, not reddish gray. The clouds were white and puffy. The sun shone beautifully like the crown of a masterpiece.
It seemed like an illusion.
They had left the Time Matrix within view not far from there. But none of them really wanted to go too near it. It represented the inevitable; that Marco was going back to the future. And not returning.
While Jake was attempting to get them to listen, Marco and Larynia were having their own debate.
I can't believe you did that! Larynia said again. Maybe for the hundredth time.
"And what did I do that was so wrong?" Marco snapped back.
You HESITATED! Larynia exclaimed. You actually listened to that Controller!
Marco sighed. "He was holding a dracon to your head."
He did. Okay. SO WHAT?
"I'm not risking you getting killed," Marco said lowly. "Or even hurt."
Too bad, Larynia said. You still don't get it, do you? It doesn't matter. That's the TIME MATRIX, Marco. With that, nothing matters. Not anything, not me.
"Don't say that. You matter a lot."
To you, maybe. But with the Time Matrix, nothing matters. Nothing. You can undo everything that happens, has happened and will happen.
"I'm not going to watch you getting killed just because I can undo it," Marco hissed. "It would have broken me. I wouldn't have been able to do anything, least of all operate that complex Time Matrix."
Larynia swiveled one stalk-eye to look at him. Then she turned with a faint thought-speak sob and trotted speedily away.
Marco flew up to his feet and followed her. Jake gave up trying to speak to the group, and threw his hands into the air.
"Larynia!" Marco called. He jogged up to her side and up in front of her. "Larynia! Why are you sad?"
Larynia stopped and turned all four eyes down on the ground. Do you think I can deal with you getting killed? You're being selfish, Marco.
Marco reached out to stroke her cheek, but she pulled away. He lowered his hand. "I'm… sorry. I didn't see it that way."
Of course not, Larynia said. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. You know why. We don't matter any more, Marco. We never will. Never have.
Marco was quicker this time. His hand reached up and lifted her chin. Then he looked into her main eyes. "What did you say?"
We don't matter.
"What? How can you say that? How…"
Suddenly Larynia's gaze grew hard. She pulled away again. You haven't figured it out?
"Figured what out?"
Undoing the defeat. It means that we'll never meet.
Marco stared at her. Questioningly. When she nodded, he nodded as well. Accepting.
"That's why you were sad on the way to Earth," he said. "You knew all along."
She nodded again. Her eyes were hard. Marco didn't know what to say.
And yet you never even thought about it! You dim-witted… foolish -
Without warning Larynia spun around and ran away. She was too fast for Marco to even try following her.
"Larynia!" he called. "Larynia! Get back here!" But Larynia didn't listen… "Larynia!!" …and disappeared out of sight.
So did a few of Marco's hopes.
"Damn it!"
Marco clenched a fist and slammed it with all his might into a tree. The skin on his knuckles cracked open and blood trickled out, but Marco ignored it and beat at the tree again, even harder. The rough bark ripped open new wounds.
Marco sat down with his back to the tree and buried his face in his hands.
The group had assembled near the Time Matrix again. Except Larynia, who was still gone. Marco had bound a piece of cloth around his hand - he was too tired to bother morphing it away. Everyone ignored the fact that Larynia wasn't there. Not really ignored… more like avoided. It was an uncomfortable subject.
Uncomfortable for everyone except Rachel. "I'll tell her you said bye," she said softly to Marco.
Marco nodded grimly. "That's about all I've got left to say," he said. "And I better say it to you too. Bye-bye, see you… well… never."
Jake smiled despite himself. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh or cry.
"Have fun ruining Yeerk plans," Marco continued. "Kick some extra butt for my sake."
"No problem," Rachel said.
Tobias nodded. "They'll be plenty of Yeerks, and plenty to share."
"Now if you excuse me, I've gotto go back to the future and save our butts so you can save Earth and I can go back to saving our butts."
Ax nodded. That was about it.
"This time traveling business is giving me a serious headache," Marco said, rubbing his forehead and grimacing. "Oh, well. I hate long goodbyes. Let's get this over with. I've got no choice, so no point avoiding it."
Marco turned towards the Time Matrix.
And Larynia stepped into his way. For the first time since the first time Marco met her, she looked afraid. In fact, she looked like she was falling apart. Quickly.
It made him sad.
Marco… please…
Marco turned his gaze down on the ground. "Out of my way," he said in a low voice.
You'll be killed! You… you know you'll be killed.
Marco didn't answer. Larynia looked at him in despair. Her stalk-eyes were wobbling. If she'd had a mouth, she'd have bit her lip. If she'd had hair, she'd be running her fingers through it.
Aximili?
Ax didn't move. He closed his main eyes and his stalk-eyes turned away. Larynia pawed at the ground, shifting her weight to another set of hooves.
Rachel? Tobias?
Neither of the two responded. Rachel gave Marco one look, and then turned to walk slowly away. Tobias smiled good-luck-wishing at Marco and followed her.
Prince Jake! Larynia wailed. Tell him!
But Jake remained silent.
Marco walked up closer to Larynia. Placed his hands on the sides of her face. And leaned his forehead against hers. His thumbs stroked her cheeks softly. She was trembling.
"I love you, Larynia," he said. "Be brave. But stay here."
Before Larynia did anything else, Marco had stepped past her and was nearing the Time Matrix. The dracon that had been strapped to his leg was now in his good hand.
Larynia stood quivering uncertainly for two seconds. She looked about to turn any moment.
"Don't move," Jake snapped when her front hooves lifted above the ground. They sank down again obediently. "Stay there, and that's an order. Got it?"
Larynia nodded. Her stalk-eyes were fixed on something far away. She refused to turn them to look behind her.
Marco reached up with both hands, and, with a sigh, placed them on the Time Matrix's smooth surface.
He began to shimmer. There was a very long, silent moment. Jake thought a goodbye to his friend.
Suddenly Larynia spun around and grabbed Marco's arm. The next second both of them and the Time Matrix were gone.
Jake gaped. "She disobeyed a direct order!"
Ax nodded sadly. I knew she would.
"She… disobeyed… oh, is she in trouble!"
Guess why they don't allow females in the military? Ax said. Larynia especially. She simply isn't made to follow orders. And when a female's heart is set on something… there's no stopping them. If half the army deserted whenever they felt like it, the War Council would have a serious problem. His stalk-eyes darted from side to side. Just do not tell any female that I said that.
Jake agreed. "But she actually…" He clenched his fists, unclenched them, and calmed himself. "Too late now. Anyway. When is this? When has Marco dropped us off?"
Tobias and Rachel knows. I… was not really paying attention.
The first thing Tobias and Rachel noticed when Ax and Jake came back to the clearing was that Larynia wasn't with them.
Rachel smiled. "Tobias? Just for the record. If there still was such a thing as money, you'd owe me ten bucks."
"She went with him?" Tobias said, ignoring Rachel.
Jake nodded. "After I specifically told her not to. If she comes back alive, she'll be in so much trouble."
"She's trying to save Marco's life," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "Yeah. She'll be in trouble all right. Ax-man? What have you got to say for your cousin's defence?"
You would have done the same thing, Ax chuckled.
Rachel pretended not to hear that. "You know this presents a problem?"
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "We need to call the Andalites. They won't listen to any of us, we know that from experience, so… we needed Larynia to talk to them."
"And now we're back to them not listening," Rachel sighed. "Which ruins our plan completely. If we can't convince those self-obsessed blue dung bags - excuse the expression, Ax, but you know where I'm heading - to get their asses down to Earth, we can kiss undoing the defeat goodbye."
We will figure something out, Ax said.
"We've got no choice," Tobias added simply.
"When are we?" Jake asked, changing the subject.
"Marco said he dropped us off some time during those ten days you mentioned," Tobias said.
"When?"
"Exactly?"
"Exactly would be good."
"That time you and Rachel almost gnawed off Visser One's tail," Tobias said with the faintest trace of a smile. "It was one of the moments he remembered clearly enough."
Rachel smiled as well. And so did Jake.
Ax, however, looked horrified.
"What?" Jake asked.
That happened the morning before the night of the defeat, Ax said.
"Say what?!" Rachel snapped.
We do not have ten days. We have ten hours.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Author's note; OOOOOOOOOOOOOH, I absolutely *L*O*V*E* doing that to them. (And to you readers, of course. *Ooooh, I'm so evil.*)
Anyway. If you brought your brains with you this time, you'll know what'll happen. I left plenty of clues. I just hope they aren't too obvious. If you can't figure it out, you'll be told in the next part... whenever I manage to get it up.
Just a reminder: REVIEW!!
