Um, I wrote this story months ago, and it's kinda confusing and jumps around until the end of the third shapter. I'm sorry.
-Chapter 1:Isabel-
Somehow I have to tell Mum about my new gift. If I don't she'll wonder why I don't age past 18, and I'm not willing to go live forever away from society. But I can't tell her about the guard. Members of what once was the Order are probably still after our heads, so I can't just go out and show the public my gifts. At least I don't have to sneak out at night to see Arkarian any more. I got my wings! It's easier to use them then to walk.
Anyways, it's been about a year since the Order was destroyed and Earth saved from Lathenia's soldiers. I still can't shake the feeling that there are members of the Order still in our school though. Probably my sixth sense. I think I'll start introducing Mum to the idea of not ageing at dinner tonight, and go as far as I can without scaring her. If she deals well with my gift, then maybe sometime soon Matt will tell her that he's immortal. I'd love to see her face then.
"Hey sweetie." I hear a voice behind me. I throw myself into Arkarian's arms and hold him for a few minutes, never wanting to let go. I finally let go when I hear the door open.
"Hello, who are you?" Mum has just walked in, and it looks like I'm going to be introducing her to Arkarian now.
"Oh, this is my boyfriend Arkarian." I reply. She looks him up and down for a minute, noticing his long, electric blue hair and intense violet eyes. She gasps a little, then frowns slightly, letting her mouth hang open slightly.
"Wow" is all she can muster. I can tell she wants to say more, but is keeping her mouth shut. She's probably trying to figure out how he got inside. It's impossible to get into the house through anywhere but the front door. She's been sitting by that door all morning. This is going to be a tough one to get out of.
"How did you get in the house?" She finally asks. Arkarian and I are lost for words, and we exchange a worried glance. He bites his lip.
"Uh, I flew?" He decides that's the best excuse for now. She obviously doesn't believe him. I send my thoughts to him, telling him that he could say he snuck through when she went to get a snack. His nod to me is barely perceptible.
"Mum, he came in when you went to get a snack." I answer before she has any time to react. She thinks of this as a reasonable excuse, but now I have to convince her that he's ok. After all, he did just sneak into my bedroom.
"Hey, Arkarian! How's it going?" A new voice at the door asks. It's Jimmy. A member of the guard, and a friend of Arkarian, Jimmy is very useful when I have to go on guard-related business.
"Oh, hi Jimmy. You know this guy?" She nods in Arkarian's direction. "What do you think of him?"
"He guides with grace and providence." Jimmy responds with a smirk. A perfect quotation from the prophecy. "A really responsible person, you should be happy he and Isabel are together."
"How long have you known him?"
"Quite a few years, he's taught me a lot about history." Jimmy replies to her next question. It's a good thing he's here, otherwise we'd be up the creek without a paddle. Though Matt would probably disagree. Even though Matt's finally starting to accept Jimmy in our lives, he still doesn't like the guy much. I didn't either, till I found out he built many of the defenses in Veridian and built much of Athens for the Tribunal.
"Well, if you think he's ok, then I guess I do too." Mum says to Jimmy. She then turns to Arkarian and says "My name is Coral Becket, and I'm Isabel and Matt's mother. Where do you live?" Ever since the Citadel fell (a very sad event indeed) Arkarian has been living in his chambers in the mountain. Of course he can't tell Mum that.
I have the first four chapters done, and I'm posting them all at once
"I live near the mountain." He responds as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "I moved there recently. My old housing was destroyed, sadly. It was a beautiful place, and took many years in planning." I remember my first time at the Citadel, the room I entered. I remembered the mission I went on with Arkarian, in the room with the heart furniture. Arkarian glances my way, and I blush.
Matt walks into the room. "Do you have to be so loud Isabel? I can hear you in the other room. Oh, hi Arkarian." Arkarian nods a greeting back, and I can feel the small bit of tension still between them. Matt was always against Arkarian and I being together. That one time he bursted in on us I wanted to kill him. I was so embarrassed. He eventually apologized, and they are starting to form a strong friendship. It's about time. They both glance at me. I gotta remember to shield my thoughts with two truthseers in the room. Mum's glancing around, wondering what's going on. I know she said something, but none of us were really paying attention. I shield my thoughts and turn back to her.
"Oh, what were you saying Mum?"
"Am I missing something here? All of a sudden you two jerked your heads toward Isabel like she was balancing a flaming ball on her nose."
"Uh, no Mum, you didn't miss anything." I say. Except Matt and Arkarian reading my thoughts. I add silently, jumbling it in case my thoughts aren't screening right. They often don't when Arkarian's around. "Uh Mum, can Arkarian stay for dinner?" I ask hopefully.
"Sure, as long as you clean your room before then." She answers. She doesn't think I can do it. I can always get help from Ethan. After all, he can move objects with his mind. It wouldn't take long at all with his help. Or, I could ask Matt or Ethan to create the illusion of a clean room. Matt frowns and shakes his head slightly, letting me know he's not going to help. As soon as Mum leaves I have to go to Ethan's house. Now that I've mastered my wings it's easy enough.
"Hey Mum, why don't you and Arkarian get to know each other, and Isabel can clean her room in peace?" Matt says to Mum for me. I don't always like it when Matt can read my thoughts, but today it will come in handy. "I'll even fix up some snacks."
Mum looks at him oddly, since he isn't that nice usually. She says to him "Are you ok honey? You don't usually act so generously." Matt nods and she continues. "But you know, that is a good idea." She, Jimmy, Matt, and Arkarian leave the room and know I can use my wings to go to Ethan's house. I close my eyes and visualize the path from my bedroom to Ethan's. I use my wings and dematerialize out of my bedroom.
When I appear at Ethan's house, he looks up from his book and says to me "Oh hi Isabel, what's up?"
"Mum met Arkarian today. She says he can stay over for dinner if I clean my room. But, as you can see, there's only a couple of hours before dinner, and my room is a complete mess." He eyes me suspiciously, as though he knows that I'm not just stating this because I feel like it. He can tell he wants my help.
He frowns and says to me "Why should I help? You should have Matt and Arkarian help you." I can tell I'm going to need to make a point to get his assistance with this.
"Well, Arkarian and Mum are getting to know each other, and Matt wouldn't help me if I needed to clean my room to survive the night." Ethan smirks a little at this. We both know he would clean my room for me if my life depended on it. After all, Matt's whole purpose in life seems to be to protect me. I continue. "Anyways, wouldn't it be fun to practice your skills for a little while? I haven't had a vision in months, and my healing skills don't come in handy much any more. I don't save people's lives all the time. You still have the ability to have fun with your skills. Why not keep them in shape in case we find any more underworld creatures we missed last winter?" He nods at this point.
"I guess I can help a little, as long as I can come to dinner too." He smiles one of his goofy smiles. A couple of years ago, it would have made my heart melt. Now that I'm with Arkarian though, Ethan hasn't been too attractive to me. After all, Arkarian is my soul mate, and Ethan, well, isn't. "I'll use my wings and meet you there in a couple of minutes. I just wanna finish this chapter."
He continues reading, and I use my wings to get back to my room. I start putting away the embarrassing stuff before Ethan gets there. I tell Arkarian and Matt that he's coming with my thoughts. Matt hits his wall a couple times, and I can tell he got the message, and that Arkarian did too.
About five minutes late, Ethan shows up. He looks amused and says "Wow, you weren't kidding about this being a mess. This might take ten minutes to clean if we're lucky." And with those kind words he gets started on using his mind to move objects around. I offer him my green blow-up chair and help him clean. In about half an hour we're done. Ethan's exhausted, I can tell.
"Ethan, are you OK?" I ask him. He's slouching in the chair and his eyes are drooping.
"That's the longest I've ever worked with this skill in a long time." He replies. "I'm so tired."
"How about you go home and get some rest, and I'll call you in a couple of hours to invite you over." He nods and closes his eyes. I'm not sure if he's asleep or just visualizing the path back to his house.
"Thanks again Ethan!" He disappears, and I hope his exhaustion didn't put him too far away from his room, or in anywhere obvious to people in town. I leave my room to find Mum. I find her talking to Arkarian in the Living room. He's telling her about King Arthur's first date, and she's amused at the idea of him tripping over his own feet.
"Oh hi honey, your friend is so interesting. He's telling me all these stories almost as if he was there. It's almost as if he lived there then." Almost as if? I ask myself. Arkarian smirks at my thought. I can't help smiling too.
In the end, it's Mum who breaks the silence. "Taking a break from your room dear?" She inquires.
"Actually Mum, I'm done." I reply, mentally thanking Ethan again. I wonder again if he made it back to his house ok. Arkarian shares a worried glance, but within a few seconds it's gone, replaced with a smile and a quick nod.
As we head toward my room, Arkarian comes up next to me. "Tonight we're meeting in my chambers. Make sure to get to bed on time. I hope Ethan won't be up all night because of his exhaustion." I nod, and we catch up with Mum. She's looking over every corner of my room, wondering where the mess went.
"It's clean Mum." I tell her. She looks up at me and nods, but seems puzzled. I have got to be a little slower at leaving my room next time. I imagine an hour would make her wonder less. I quickly add "Matt helped me." I tell Matt that that's my alibi, and I hear a knock on the wall. He heard me. Mum nods again, this time more convinced.
"I guess Arkarian can stay for dinner, but he just has to tell me more stories. I especially enjoyed the story of the immortals' war. I wish it were true. Imagine the adventure!" I smile and think. You really don't want to be a part of it. It wasn't much fun really, and Ethan lost Rochelle. I frown at these words. We were finally starting to become friends when Marduke killed her. "I wonder what it would be like to be immortal?" At this point Matt walks in, obviously troubled by my thoughts.
"Seeing all your friends and family die is not something I want." Matt replies to her question. "Though being able to live forever could be fun." I glance his way. "Or even just living for 600-plus years and still being young. I more wonder what it would be like to live for a long time, but still be able to die."
"That would be an interesting idea." Mum comments back. I can tell that Arkarian hasn't introduced Mum to that idea yet either. "Wouldn't it, Isabel?"
"If someone offered me that gift I would think 'Not ageing? That would be a dream! But watching my friends and family die?' That's what my idea of it would be. All in all though, the decision would be yes." Matt and Arkarian were both there when Lorian gave me the gift to stop ageing. I believe I was the last person he ever gave that gift to. Maybe King Richard though.
"You seem almost as though you've thought about this before, and had to make that decision yourself." I can only smile and shake my head a little. If only she knew how right she was. I decide to answer her.
"What if I did?" I ask. "And what if I said yes? Would I have to go live in the middle of nowhere, with no friends? Because I couldn't have any friends. My gift would creep them out. And what if I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not even you?" She thinks about this for a moment.
"I would feel hurt if you had to disappear, never to see me again. But honey, if you had that gift it wouldn't creep me out."
"What if on my next birthday I stop ageing and didn't tell you. You would notice, and I wouldn't be able to tell you. Imagine my on my 40th Birthday, still looking 18. People would notice."
"Like this could ever happen." Matt rolls his eyes. I can tell I'm probably overstepping my mark for now. I decide to change the subject.
"Mum, can Ethan come over for dinner too? He says your cooking is the best he's tasted since 1805." I smile. I remember our mission to save a man who later discovers a cure to a deadly disease. He said to me that the cooking at the house we were staying at was the best he'd ever tasted, except for mum's. She smiles back, not knowing how truthful my statement was.
"Sure, he can come too. I'll make my famous homemade Mac and Cheese. Nobody can resist its taste." I nod in agreement. When Dad was still around, he used to eat it all the time. Mum makes her mac and cheese with a hint of lemon juice. Even though it doesn't sound good, it tastes better than any macaroni and cheese I've ever tasted.
The next thing I know, I'm on the floor, white light blinding my eyes. I hear Mum yelling in the background, and I put up my hand, telling her I'm ok. "Give me a minute." I tell her. She's practically screaming, yet she's not the one seeing what I see. I see Dillon, a friend of ours and a member of the Guard, getting mauled by a dog. Dillon's power is strength, but he's gotten so he won't use it with people around. He manages to get away and starts staggering in the direction of our house. Then I hear the sound of a person falling into the door. The vision is finally over, and I run to get Dillon inside so I can heal him. Somehow, I've got to get Mum out of the way, but there's no way I'll be able to.
When I see Dillon lying in the quickly growing pool of blood, I'm shocked. I haven't seen anything this bad since Marduke killed Rochelle. I put my hands on Dillon's chest and start visualizing the healing.
"What the hell is Isabel doing? We should be calling 911!" Mum yells. I look to Matt to make the phones invisible and tell her everything's going to be ok. Matt tears out of the room. Then I get back to healing Dillon.
About 15 minutes later, I'm done. Mum has just been watching in awe as Dillon goes from critical condition to absolutely fine. I know I'm going to have to tell her how, but I can't. She's not supposed to find out anything about the Guard. I'm kind of tired. I haven't healed more than a scraped knee in months.
"What happened?" Mum asks Dillon. I could tell her, but that would be revealing my second power. It was bad enough that I healed Dillon in front of my mum, but talking about my visions are another thing altogether.
"I was attacked by a dog." Dillon replies quickly. "A big one." I remember the dog in my vision, a large Great Dane. It hits me. Does this mean Lathenia is back? She can't be, both she and Marduke were killed.
Arkarian hears my thoughts. I look at him. Is this what the meeting tonight is about? Is Lathenia back? He nods, but says, "it's not her though." Mum looks at him. A puzzled expression crosses her face. Thinking fast, Arkarian adds, "I was attacked by a toy poodle the other day while taking a walk. It left a mark on my leg until about yesterday." Mum's still confused, and I have a feeling it's about me. I had a vision, then healed Dillon in front of her. This is the first time it's happened, and it happened fast.
"What was that?" She asks me. "How did Dillon heal so quickly? Does it have something to do with when you collapsed right before that?" I shake my head. They aren't directly connected, so I'm not really lying. I have to answer her though.
"What? Dillon was hurt?" Matt appears at the doorway again. He had been running around the house making the phones appear again. Having a brother who can do magic is one of the best things in the world, especially when you're all in on a secret that your mum isn't in on.
Mum looks at him oddly. "You were here Matt, when he collapsed at the door. You may have run away quickly, but you were still there." She looks from Matt to me. "Are you two hiding something?" I bite my lip, and Matt shuffles his feet.
"No Mum, we're not hiding anything!" I say before she can get enough time to think about our actions. "Dillon was never hurt, you must have been seeing things." Arkarian nods in agreement. We have to convince her of this. Otherwise, we'll have to explain the Guard to her in a time where we previously wouldn't have. This is a last resort. Mum obviously doesn't believe us, and she knows that we wouldn't lie so outright if what we were hiding wasn't big.
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" She looks at us, and we nod. There has to be something else I can say.
"We couldn't tell you something if we promised not to. Or, if it would possibly destroy the Earth. Or us." I tell her. I can tell she thinks that it was choice number one. That we promised not to. It was both choices in reality. I look at Arkarian, and he closes his eyes for a moment.
He bends down near my face, and whispers in my ear. "Neriah says it's ok to tell her. After all, she does have the right to know." Matt and Arkarian lock eyes. I can tell they're communicating. Arkarian turns back to me. "Matt says you should be the one to tell your mum. You've known about the guard longer than he has, and you've known her more than Jimmy or me." I nod in agreement.
"OK Mum, we have something to tell you. But you have to promise not to make us stop." Matt and Arkarian stand on either side of me.
"Depends on what it is." Mum says. I can tell she doesn't like the idea of us telling her a big secret that we don't want to stop. I have a feeling the guard is going to be needed again shortly.
"OK mum, you remember when Arkarian was telling you all those stories about history?" She nods, and I continue. "Do you also remember commenting on how it seemed almost as if he had been there?" She nods again. "Well, it's because he has. We all have." She looks at us with a look of shock on her face. I'm not sure if she believes me. I decide to continue. "You see Mum, some people were born with two, rarely three, skills. When our skills start to show themselves, an organization reveals itself to us, and we join. This organization is called the Guardians of Time. Our job is to go back in time to make sure history happens as it should. There's this other group called the Order of Chaos that tries to mess up history. There was once this bored immortal who wanted the universe at her fingertips. She discovered that chaos gave her this power. Her brother started the Guard, and that's how things go." I told her all about the guard.
She looks at me suspiciously, like I made that whole thing up. "It's the truth." Arkarian adds. "I've been doing this for years as well. Isabel would tell you more now, but this room isn't exactly sound proof. Members of the Order are still looking for us, and that's why I live so far away from town. My hair and eyes would give away my identity faster than me running around yelling 'I'm in the Guard! Look at me, I'm in the Guard!'" He smiles and runs around in circles while doing this. It's kind of odd for him to do this kind of thing, but maybe he's trying to get his point across. He turns to me. "Isabel. Tonight, when we meet in my chambers, I want you to bring your mum along so that she can see what we do. You are going to have to walk up there, because I can't get her into my chambers through her sleep. You remember the way, right?"
"Well of course." I respond. "I go up there almost every day to visit. That's like asking if I know the way to my bedroom from right here." I smile, and sit down. I've been pacing for the ten or so minutes it took to explain the Guard to her. "Has a portal opened yet?" I ask Arkarian.
"Yes, and it's in America, in the year 1302. The woman who's life is in danger will eventually, through her decendents, improve medicine and technology. Her name is miss Agatha Smith. It looks like three members of the Order will be there." He says to Matt. "That girl from Atlantis will be there. Oh, and one more thing. I'll tell you tonight"
Mum looks astonished, and says "Atlantis? You've been to Atlantis? Wow! When?" She seems to forget that Atlantis was just Veridian's rough draft.
Matt looks at her, not really wanting to discuss it too much. "I went to Atlantis with Rochelle and Ethan on the day that it sank. We had to make sure a certain artifact made it to the bottom of the ocean. It was my second mission. I saved Ethan's life, again." Matt's saved Ethan more than once, it's true. He cradled the TNT against his chest when it exploded.
"Again?" Mum responds. I can tell she already doesn't like the idea of Matt and I in the Guard. "That means you two could die too! Isabel, you said you almost died. I don't want you doing this any more."
"Mum, it's ok. Only about one in 1,000 of the Guard's soldiers die. And the numbers are slowly getting better with Isabel around. Without her, Ethan, Arkarian, and many other people would be dead. Plus, It's not like I'm going to die to any normal soldier. Not even the Order's elite can kill me." Matt says. To Mum he probably looks like a fool. Someone who thinks he's invincible. Well, it's impossible for him to die at mortal hands. Even I couldn't kill him, not that I would try. There were a couple times where I wanted to, but I don't have that power. Maybe my weapon from the treasury...
"Isabel!" Matt yells. I can tell he doesn't like the way my thoughts are headed. I admit they weren't exactly nice thoughts, but I would never try and kill Matt.
"Sorry, Matt. I wasn't expecting you to be reading my thoughts. Did you catch the 'not that I would try part?" He shakes his head. "You should try and get the whole story next time. I would never try and hurt you, Matt. Not even when you bursted in on Arkarian and I. I wanted to kill you then, but I knew eventually you'd come around and apologize." Mum just shakes her head through all of this. I turn to her. "Mum, would you like to go to Arkarian's chambers tonight so that you can see what we do?" She nods. "Great, so it's all settled. Ethan comes over for dinner, we all eat and then head to Arkarian's chambers."
Jimmy comes into the room and looks at all of us. "What's going on?" He says to us. He's noticed Mum's face is almost completely drained of color.
"We told Mum everything." I respond. "Well, A lot of things anyways. She'll learn more eventually. I haven't explained the tribunal yet, nor training methods. She's coming to the meeting tonight." Jimmy looks at Mum, and she looks at him.
"So, you're in the Guard too?" She says. "Wow, to think everyone in my house but me is part of this secret organization." She's obviously troubled.
"Oh, don't worry Mum, everything's ok. I'm gonna call Ethan while you get started on dinner, then I'll help."