A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Some of you were reading my mind! I have an idea of who I want Lysi to be paired with. Thank you for your suggestions! On to the writing!
Note: The notes to reviewers are at the bottom.
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Elysium
Chapter 3
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Something that Tony always had a soft spot for was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Ever since he was a child he had loved them. And every morning when he woke up, after Lysi had left for school, he would find a packed lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He didn't know if it was out of kindness that Lysi did it, or if she felt obliged.
He stumbled out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. As usual, his brown paper bag lunch was waiting for him. Today it had, along with the normal pb&j, an apple, some cheese and crackers, and a Twinkie. Lysi usually only packed healthy foods, but today had decided to include a junk snack to appease Tony's sweet tooth.
Tony smiled to himself and headed to the bathroom to get ready.
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It had been six weeks since Lysi had moved in with her uncle and since she arrived at her new school. The other teens took joy in taunting and harassing Lysi and the group of misfits she belonged to. She gave them no satisfaction. When ever they appeared, she would continue what she was doing as if nothing was going on around her. The misfits looked at her with a sense of wonder and she became their savior. When the taunts were especially harsh, they would look to her for strength, but she did not notice it. Or she pretended not to. On one such day, when the insults were particularly hurtful, Teri looked at Lysi and decided to stand up for herself and her friends.
"Why don't you go back to brainwashing yourselves with those teen magazines?" The lead girl stopped and stared with cruel amusement.
"Do you think you're better than us? With your acne and straw hair? Crawl into the hole you came from and stay there. We don't want to see your face on the surface again."
Teri started to look angry, something rare for the usually gentle girl. "Your insults are weak, just like your mind. You mock the exterior. What can that possibly accomplish? Insecurity? I'm already insecure. Would you like to hear what your insults sound like?" Teri noticed that the girl's arrogant expression faltered for a moment. She changed her voice to sound tinny which sounded remarkably like the popular girl. "You look like a Barbie doll. Plastic with damaged hair and clothing that not even a whore would wear." She had struck a nerve. Teri stumbled backward from the slap on the face.
And before anyone could register what was happening, a fist flew through the air and connected with the cocky girl's face. She was sprawled out on the ground, a bleeding cut from the blow and with Lysi standing over her, as cool and expressionless as ever. A whistle was heard as several teachers rushed over. Lysi, Teri, and the girl were all taken to the dean's office and their parents were called. They were all to be suspended for three days.
The girl was sent home first and Lysi and Teri were left alone in the waiting area of the office. Neither spoke for a long time until Teri said, "I noticed your interest in simplicity, so I made you this." She pulled a piece of braided leather out of her pocket. As she was putting it on Lysi's wrist she said, "I know you don't consider me a friend, but keep this as a reminder that I see you as my friend." Lysi looked up at her. No one had given her a token of friendship since second grade. She didn't know how to react, so she kept her face apathetic and just nodded.
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Tony wasn't happy to learn about Lysi's suspension. He would have grounded her, but she had nothing to be taken away. She didn't watch television or play video games. She never left the house and never talked on the phone. All she did was read, write, and, very rarely listened to music. Tony couldn't take any of that away because he felt they were educational.
Tony looked at Lysi who stared back. "Well," he started, "I suppose I could take you to work with me."
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Tony and Lysi stood together in the elevator. The silence between the two of them didn't seem as awkward to Tony any more. It had become normal and it was more awkward now if she spoke without being spoken to first. It was so rare that she spoke on her own accord that he didn't know how to respond.
The elevator got them to their destination on the eleventh floor. Tony stepped out first and Lysi followed. They went into Tony's office where Lysi was left alone while he went to discuss business matters with Brian. She walked around, looking at books in Tony's bookcase and examining memos and reminders on his desk. After reading an announcement on the new model of fax machine the company was manufacturing, Lysi walked over to the window and stared out on the world.
Across the street was a McDonald's with a play place. Lysi watched the small children laughing and screaming and crying. She could remember if she was ever like that. If she was ever normal. But a little boy, smaller than the rest, caught her eye. He was sitting on his own, not playing with any one and there was no parent to be seen near him. Lysi wondered for a moment if he had been left alone, but then she saw a woman who bore a striking resemblance to the boy. The only thing noticeably different was that she seemed a generally happy person while the child came off as extremely dismal.
Lysi turned around when she heard her uncle come back into the room. He seemed in a hurry and his face was flushed. He was scrambling to grab papers off his desk and knocked over many things in the process.
"Sorry," he said. "We're having an important meeting and I need my figures." Lysi was, at least, a fairly observant individual and had discovered that her uncle wasn't a very good liar. She suspected something was amiss, but acted indifferent as Tony rushed about his office. When he left, she followed quickly after him. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice.
She followed him into a room with the shades drawn and the windows closed. Tony still hadn't realized, but the man waiting in the room noticed her immediately.
"Tony, what is this girl doing here?" Tony whipped around faster than Lysi thought he was capable of. His eyes were wide.
"Lysi, what..." he trailed off.
Lysi kept her eyes on the man in the shadows. She was wary of him.
"Never mind," he said. "She can stay. As long as she doesn't go around gossiping to her friends." Lysi ignored the comment. "Tony, do you have the figures I asked for?" Tony handed the papers over to the shadows. From the corner of her eye, Lysi saw something that resembled a metal wardrobe. "I see you discovered our new fax machine." Lysi's attention was directed back at the shadows. "It will make us millions."
"How is it any different from other fax machines?" Lysi queried.
The shadow chuckled. "It can fax objects." Lysi allowed herself to cock her eyebrow. "You see, it will break down an object to a molecular level and transport them over great distances."
"Michael Crichton would make millions off of lawsuits filed against you." She heard another dry chuckle.
"We've made a scientific breakthrough. We'll be able to study things much more closely." The shadow stepped forward, just far enough for Lysi to see a smirk on his face.
"You can 'fax' people." Lysi could see him nod slightly. "Through time." A wide grin spread across the shadow's face.
"Yes. And we can choose what era to visit. None of this 'fixed worm hole' nonsense." His grin got wider. "And your uncle here has volunteered to be the first human to go back."
Lysi looked over at Tony. "It's okay," he said. "They've tested it be sending pigs back. All of them were fine. We know because we put health monitors inside them to record their vitals." He smiled encouragingly at her. "It'll be fine. I'll only be gone a little while. You can take care of your-"
"I'm going with you." Lysi said it so decisively that Tony didn't question her.
They dressed themselves in the clothes of the era. Lysi never fully took her attention away from the shadow and when she and Tony stepped into the 'time fax' she looked at the shadow man. Before the doors closed, Lysi swore she saw his eyes glinting in triumph. A triumph that promised fame and fortune.
The doors hissed shut and Lysi had a tingling in her stomach that she recognized, but could place. Then all was black.
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A/N: Yay! Another chapter done. They will be back in time next chapter and the knights will finally appear!
mysticpig: I'm really happy that you like it! You're close about the uncle inventing the time machine. He and his friend invented it together. I'll have a little more about the machine later. Thanks for reviewing!
LANCELOTTRISTANBABY: Brian is more of the misguided individual, I think. And I'm pretty sure Lysi is going to be paired with one of the knights. I'm not telling who though! ;)
Ailis-70: I'm glad you like it. Lysi is 17. I'll say so in the story in the next chapter or so. And I'll try not going to give any more hints as to who she might end up with!
KnightMaiden: It's great that you're enjoying it! Thanks for the suggestions! You're right about both of the knights.
GalahadsfallenKnight0: Thank you so much for your review. It meant a lot, what you said. No one has ever talked about my writing like that before. I won't let you down! And I have seriously considered Galahad, but even if they don't end together, I'm going to make them good friends. They're closer in age than the other knights, so it makes more sense. Thanks again for the review!