Chapter 25 – To the Past Part 1
Riley stumbled and fell to her knees as she, Raph and Emily re-materialised in a lane. As soon as she touched the ground Riley broke down and began bawling her eyes out. She gripped her head tight and rocked herself, the tears endless.
Raph crouched down beside her and engulfed her in a big hug.
"I'm so sorry." He whispered against her hair.
Riley looked up at Emily, noticing her silence, and saw her peering around the corner of the lane.
"You!" She shouted, gaining Emily's attention. "Why are we here? Do you realise I just watched my sisters die?"
Emily frowned, her face sympathetic. She walked over to Riley's crumpled form and kneeled beside her.
"Fear not, princess." She said, "Just try and stay calm. Like I said, we still have a chance."
"A chance?" Riley hissed, "I just saw 2 sisters vanish and one get stabbed by the love of her life! You can't heal that."
"I don't want to heal." Emily rebutted calmly, standing back up. "I want to set destiny back on track."
Raph and Riley watched in confusion as Emily closed her eyes, raised her hand a little and orange magic swirled around her fingertips. Emily opened her eyes and the orange magic swirled in the middle of the lane and projected a vision of the 4 girls. They were fighting Karai.
"That was last year." Riley whispered
Emily nodded. "Yes. It was." She walked up to the image and stared intently at it, her eyes misting over. "I am a bruja." She began, "Bruja's are rare Rayonians that exist for the sole purpose of taking care of destiny." She looked over at Riley. "I make sure destiny never strays off its course."
Emily looked back at the vision and wiped her hand across it, changing it to an image of the girls meeting the turtles.
"If destiny was threatened I had the power to go back in time and fix it. It was always your destiny to come to New York and meet the turtles. There, they would give you the strength and support to face your enemies and regain your lives. Meeting them led to your discovery of my realm." Emily suddenly narrowed her eyes and punched the vision, distorting it before it vanished. "It was never your destiny to die before your time, princess."
Emily turned back around to face Riley and Raph. "We are here to fix your destiny and save your sisters."
Riley's tears slowed and she calmed down. She wiped her eyes and stood up to face Emily.
"And where is here?"
Emily's face suddenly changed to a sheepish grin. "Yeah see, that's the thing. I don't know."
"What?" Riley and Raph cried
Emily held up her hands in defence. "I'm sorry!" She cried, "I'm still learning. I was under Charlotte's tutelage so I could learn to control my powers better. She turned before I could finish my training."
"So…if Charlotte knew about destiny…" Riley started
Emily nodded. "It was she who helped Renaldo behind the scenes. She knew how destiny would play out…and she planned to change that."
"And her death?" Raph asked
Emily smirked. "That was a bonus. Her destiny wasn't to die yet, but when she changed destiny, her fate changed." Her face grew grim. "That's the thing with destiny – when you mess with it, everyone's fate changes."
"How do you know all this?" Riley asked
"The elder brujas told me. They guard and look over all destinies." Emily replied, "I know how your stories are supposed to end. And this isn't it. Lord Drake instructed me to send one of you to the past to set things right if things went south."
"So…my sisters weren't supposed to die?"
"Not today, princess."
The trio fell into a tense silence as Riley mulled over Emily's words. She took a deep breath and wiped the remaining tears and streaks away.
"Then how do we save my sisters?"
"Well first, I have no idea when or where we are. We figure that out then go from there."
Riley groaned. "Where were you leading us?"
"I aimed for the meeting you had before your arrival in Rayon."
Riley stopped. "Wait…so everything else that happened," She started, "Meeting Renaldo, the battle, the wedding…Kim and Lilly's break ups…they were all destined?"
Emily nodded slowly. "Yes." She said solemnly, "Those events were all destined. They will make Princess Kimberley into the queen she is destined to become. Princess Lila…will grow from this as well. As will Michelangelo."
"You won't tell us, will ya'?" Raph said sarcastically, before groaning at Emily's nod.
"Well…let's go explore." Riley said as she started to walk. "I have a family to save."
In another plane
Violet groaned loudly, her hand coming to rest on her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the light. She tried again and slowly waited for her blurry vision to clear.
When it did Violet saw a bright blue sky.
'What the?' Violet thought before she sat up and looked around. 'I'm…still in Rayon?'
Violet was outside the castle sitting next to the lake. Her bow and arrows lay a few feet away from her and all around she could see countless bodies from both sides. Violet looked down at her hands and saw all of the scratches and bruises she had.
"How am I still alive?" She gasped
Violet slowly stood up and walked around the battlefield, her face wincing every time she leaned on her right side. After a few moments she stopped and gasped at the sight before her.
There in the distance stood Lilly. She was leaning over Mikey's crumbled form trying to get his attention. Violet ran over as fast as she could and when she did she realised that both Lilly and Mikey were crying and Master Splinter was hugging Mikey.
"Lilly," Violet whispered
Lilly's head snapped up. When her eyes met her sister's they both teared up and launched themselves at each other desperately.
"Violet!" Lilly cried into her shoulder. "I saw you die!"
Violet shushed her sister and stroked her hair. "It's ok. I'm ok." She said comfortingly.
The two pulled back and Violet held Lilly's cheek. "Are you ok? What happened?"
Lilly shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know." She stammered, "I-I jumped in front of Mikey and Master Splinter to intercept these energy blasts from these weird twins and then I woke up and Mikey was crying." More tears fell down her dirty cheeks. "He won't acknowledge I'm here!"
Violet let go of her sister and marched over to Mikey. "Hey!" She shouted at him. "Stop ignoring Lilly! I know you two have broken up but that doesn't mean you can ignore her!"
Mikey didn't respond. He just continued to cry.
"Why did she do this?" He whimpered
Violet's eyes widened. She walked closer and tried to place a hand on his shoulder. "Mikey, I-" Her hand passed right through his shoulder!
Violet gasped and reeled back. Lilly walked over to her sister and raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" She asked
"They can't hear us," Violet began, turning to face her, "Because we're not real."
"What!" Lilly screamed before rushing to Mikey's side. "Mikey, I'm here!" She tried to hug him but she fell right through him and fell to the ground.
Violet helped her sister up and held her as she shook.
"What is going on?" She whimpered as more tears fell.
Violet shook her head. "I don't know." She replied, "But either we really are dead and are just wandering spirits, or…"
Lilly wiped her tears away and looked at her sister. "Or?"
"Or those energy blasts didn't kill us."
"Then what did they do?"
Violet shook her head. "I don't know." She looked around the battlefield again before she pulled herself and Lilly up to their feet. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Riley exited the lane and stopped in her tracks, causing Emily and Raph to bump into her. Emily walked to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
Riley continued to stare in awe at what was before her. Her eyes narrowed before she spun around to Emily and grabbed her shirt.
"What are we doing here?" She growled
Raph ignored the two and looked around. It was a simple street with tutor houses adorning it. A loud sound caught his hearing and he looked to his left. His eyes widened as he stared at Big Ben chiming in the distance.
"We're in England?" He exclaimed
"Not just England." Riley growled before letting Emily go. "My old house is standing right over there."
Without looking Riley pointed ahead of her to the tall black and white tutor house. It was brick and had a simple plain fence around the perimeter. A man around 30 years old with jet black hair and green eyes stood at the front sweeping the brick steps and path clean of the few leaves that fell from a nearby tree.
"And that's my dad." She whispered, lowering her hand.
Raph tore his eyes away from the man and looked over at his saddened girlfriend.
"I know it's hard," He said, "But if he's here…then could we ask your mum for help?"
Riley's head snapped up to look at Raph, her eyes unreadable. Then slowly she began to smile.
"Yeah." She said, "That just might work."
She looked back over at Emily with a raised eyebrow.
"You're very quiet." She mused
Emily shrugged. "I'm staying silent until my princess decides our course of action."
Riley looked suspiciously at her for a moment before she sighed. "Then I guess we're heading home."
She looked over at Raph and held up her hand.
"But first we'll need to change your appearance."
Raph quirked an eyeridge before nodding his agreement.
Riley smirked before magic swirled around her fingertips before swirling around Raph, transforming him into a human. He was the same height and had the same build but he now had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a long trench coat which hid his weapons.
Riley looked at her house, took a deep breath and started walking across the street. As soon as they reached the gate Riley's dad looked up and smiled.
"Afternoon!" He greeted, friendly, "You alright?"
Riley tried to speak but her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she smiled at the man. "Hello." She replied softly, "We were…um…can we see Erika Phoenix? Please?"
The man looked at the trio suspiciously before his eyes landed on Riley. He slowly walked up to the gate, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Do I know you?" He asked
Riley shook her head. "I don't know." She replied, "But we know Erika and we really need to speak with her."
Riley's dad looked at them all again before he nodded and smiled. "Sure!" He opened the gate and gestured them to come inside. "The name's Charles by the way. And you are?"
Riley walked beside her father as they walked up to the front door.
"Oh!" She gasped, "Right. My name? My name is-"
Suddenly the front door opened and before Riley stood a beautiful woman.
"-mum." Riley whispered