Time Stream
"Don't hurt her!" Another tiny female voice called out. Neo looked up to see two more of these creatures hovering near by. They both were bluish green in color. Just like the orange one, these two skin was a lighter color while their hair was darker. One was a girl with long hair pull up in two pigtails on top of her head. Her top was like a strapless bra that hugged her chest tight, her pants were straight legged with square patches on them, both the shirt and pants were white while the squares were different colors. She had a silver braces that seemed to hover above her wrists and ankles that didn't move no matter if she was moving or keeping still. The boy was wearing a red vest with no buttons or any other kind of latch and his pants were baggy and black. His hair was cut short and spiky.
"She was just curious," The female said as she and the boy hovered in the air with their bluish green transparent dragon fly like wings.
"I'm not going to hurt her," Neo replied as she released the creature from her grip. "But why were you following me? Who are you?"
"You…You're really not going to hurt us?" The female asked as she placed her hands on the shoulders of the younger girl.
"Of course not. I heard you talking before," Neo said softly, hugging Law's hat to her chest. "If you were going to attack me you would have done it when I was sleeping. I don't believe you are a threat to me."
"Then you're not really with him, huh?" The boy asked. Neo turned her attention to him. His eyes were wondering over her and stopped on her stomach. She saw his eyes slightly widen. He's cheeks tinted as he looked away and rubbed his neck.
"Not with who?" Neo asked.
"Pendumdum!" The little girl giggled.
"Pendulum," The oldest girl corrected.
"Who?" Neo asked.
"Pendulum is the guy who brought you here," The boy said while shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Why? Was he the one who sent that strange orb thing to attack us? Did he take my friends too? Do you know where they are?" Neo's words practically ran together.
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, honey," The older girl held up her hands. "Calm down. Are you saying there's more of you here?"
"Well, not here, here. I don't sense Law anywhere near by," Neo flinched and pressed his hat harder to her chest.
"Who Law? Law who?" The little girl flew up to Neo's face. "You call his name when you were sleeping too."
"Law is my husband."
"What's husband?" The girl tilted her head. Neo blinked in confusion.
"He's her helpmate, Celeste," The older girl said then snapped her fingers. "Oh, right! We should introduce ourselves. As I've already just said this little lass is Celeste. My name is Velocity. And the quiet, for some reason staring, lad there is my twin Elian."
"My name's Neo," Neo looked back at Elian who adverted his eyes from hers.
"Neo! Neo!" Celeste cheered.
"So where am I?" Neo asked. "And who was this Pendulum you mentioned?"
"You're in the Time Stream," Velocity replied. She flew over to the balcony and looked up at the dome ceiling. She waved her hand in the air and created a blueish green glowing roof over the balcony to block the rain. "Come look."
As Neo walked over, Velocity and Elian repositioned a telescope that she never noticed before. Velocity looked into the glass as she shouted out commands to Elian in a language that Neo didn't understand. He obeyed her orders and changed the angle of the telescope. Velocity then looked back up to Neo. "Take a look."
Neo nodded and stepped over to the device. She peered into it and gasped. There were countless domes hovering in an unseen stream. "What is this?"
"The Time Stream," Elian explained. "This is our world. We are literally floating in the stream of time."
"Are you saying that I'm not in my own time? I'm in the future or something?" Neo asked.
"Not exactly," Velocity said as she sat down on the telescope. "The Time Stream is in a constant flow. We don't stop for anything. We can be in the past, present or one of the many possibilities of the future."
"Then how do I find Law and my friends? Where did they go?" Neo asked her voice rising in panic. Tears began to form in her eyes.
"No cry! No cry!" Celeste pouted. She flew over and hugged Neo's cheek. "Pweddy girl don't need to be sad!"
"She's right. I'm sure your friends and your husband are just fine," Velocity said as she rose to be eye level with Neo.
"But where are they? And why did that guy bring us here?" Neo wiped her tears away.
"My guess is they're probably on other Time Domes," Elian said as he rubbed his chin.
"Is there a way to get to them?" Neo asked.
"There use to be," Velocity flew closer over to the edge of the balcony. She pointed down. "See that pedestal there? The stone laying in it is a Time Sphere."
"Time Sphere?" Neo questioned as she looked over the edge.
"The Time Sphere used to look like a pearl and it would glow when used. That's how people in the Time Stream use to travel between Time Domes. But about five hundred years ago the Time Spheres stopped working. We've all been trapped since," Velocity explained.
"Why did they stop?" Neo asked.
"We assume they were damaged in a battle between Pendulum and Empress Futura. Pendulum's been trying to take over the Time Stream for centuries," Elian replied.
"Take over the Time Stream?" Neo asked. "What is he wanting to do? And what does this have to do with me and my friends?"
"Pendulum is just a power hungry, sadistic jerk," Velocity twirled a strained of her hair. "We have no idea what he's really after or what he would want with people who don't live here. Whatever it is it has something to do with that strange building out there. He built it."
Neo looked to the structure she tried to get close to before. Elian landed on her shoulder. "For your safety, stay away from that place. If Pendulum catches you there he'll hurt you."
"So that guy is here?" Neo asked.
"He comes and goes," Elian replied as he sat down on her shoulder.
"But you said no one can travel anymore," Neo pointed out.
"We can't, but somehow he still can," Velocity tapped her chin in thought. "I bet that's how he brought you all to the Time Stream. The only questions we don't have answer to are, 'How is he able to travel?' and 'Why did he bring you all here?'. If only we could get a message to Empress Futura. She might be able to help. Ugh! Why do we have to be stuck here?!"
"How long have you been here?" Neo asked.
"The Time Sprites have always lived here," Elian said. "They maintain this dome for travelers. Since Pendulum has taken over this place the Time Sprites remain hidden inside the mechanical workings of this dome."
"Time Sprites! Time Sprites!" Celeste cheered as she did cartwheels through the air.
"Mechanical? That's why I can't sense life in these plants and animals. They're not alive," Neo mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Elian asked.
"Oh, um," Neo bit her bottom lip. She felt like she could trust these creatures, but she wasn't sure if she should tell them about herself just yet.
"You're a shy one, huh?" Velocity smiled at her. "And you're not very trusting."
"Sorry," Neo mumbled.
"Don't worry about it," Velocity waved her hand dismissively. "We understand that trust is earned. I'd be cautious too if I got dropped in the middle of nowhere without my friends and three strange creatures suddenly popped up with a bizarre story about total time take over from a sadistic sociopath."
"Story! Story! Bizarre Story!" Neo raised an eyebrow at the orange sprite.
"Ignore her," Elian chuckled. "She still has a few years before she hits maturity. Plus, I think she hit her head a couple times when she was learning to fly."
Neo slowly nodded as she studied the little orange creature. Her stomach then growl before anyone else could say anything. Elian flew off her shoulder and looked at her. "We should get you something to eat. You have to remain strong and healthy since your pre-uh-presently a long way from home."
"You're acting weird today," Velocity informed her brother. She had her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised.
"Sorry," Elian scratched his head. "I guess I'm just a bit concerned with what Pendulum is up to. He hasn't made a move in so long."
"What do you mean?" Neo asked.
"Nothing," Velocity and Elian said at the same time while exchanging glances.
"Let's get you something to eat," Velocity waved for Neo to follow her.
"Eat! Eat! Let's eat!" Celeste said as she flew past them all. She opened the door and disappeared into the hall. Neo followed, carefully scanning the hallway and the doors as they passed them. The building felt a lot more inviting with these three around, but she was still uneasy and knew Law would want her to take precautions.
Once they reached the stairs, Neo found that they led directly down into a living room area. There were two L shaped couches, each long enough to hold ten people on each wing. Several flower shaped beanbag like chairs were thrown all around the room and were accompanied by organic shaped mini tables with one leg each that hovered inches above the floor.
She followed them into the kitchen. The cabinets, fridge, counters, table, chairs, everything was organically shaped. Her eyes stopped on the fridge. It was huge. "Sanji would love this kitchen."
"Sanji?" Elian questioned. "He one of your friends? Please, sit down and rest."
"Yes, he a cook," Neo nodded and sat down in one of the chair that also hovered over the floor. She tested it before sitting down. She kept Law's hat in her lap as her eyes followed the sprites around. They opened the fridge door and pulled out several things using their magic. "So what kind of magic do you three have?"
"Well, we can make things float, obviously," Velocity giggled as she placed a plate of food on the table using her magic. "We can change things shapes, colors, transport things short distances, basic stuff like that."
"You should eat," Elian said as he pushed a plate of food Neo couldn't recognize close to her. She stared down at it and tightened her grip on Law's hat. He grabbed some of the food to prove his point. "Don't worry. It's not poisoned or anything. It's very healthy food. And it tastes great too."
"Good food! Good food!" Celeste chirped before diving into something that looked similar to jello. Neo watched them eat before carefully picking up something that was shaped to look like a carnation. It tasted like vanilla pudding. She picked at other stuff and found they had similar tastes to the food she was use to even though they didn't resembled any food like she's seen before.
Suddenly, there was a strange change in the pressure around them. The sprites ducked down behind the food. Celeste's tiny body shook with shivers. Neo jumped to her feet when a man appeared in the room. He was kneeling down, like he was bowing to her. He wore a grey and purple striped robe, had pastel blue skin, black hair and fish like ears. "Welcome to the Time Stream, Elemental Princess Neo of Luminous Island. I see you have already made yourself at home…and made some new friends. I'm sure they have already told you all about me so I'll skip the introduction."
The sprites ducked down even lower.
"H-How did you know that I'm a princess?" Neo stuttered as she took a step back from him. He rose up from the bow and looked at her with black eyes. She flinched and felt like his gaze was suffocating her.
"I know all about you, Princess Neo," He smiled, but it wasn't warm or inviting. "I've been watching you and your friends for some time now."
"My friends…Give them back! Give them back to me!" Neo narrowed her eyebrows at him. She clenched Law's hat and formed her crystals. She fired them all at him. An invisible wave washed over the room. It slowed down her attacks to the point they were almost frozen in the air. "What the…"
"Settle down, Princess," Pendulum suddenly disappeared then reappeared beside her. He leaned into her ear. Neo knew she should move away, but her body wouldn't listen to her. "I'm sure your love wouldn't want you to be stupid and hurt yourself before he can reunite with you."
Neo clenched Law's hat. She took a couple deep breaths as her angry flared inside of her. "Give him back to me. Give them all back to me."
"In time," Pendulum chuckled at his own joke and pulled away from her. He paced around the kitchen, grabbing some food off the table and tossing it into his mouth. "For now, you'll just have to be patient. I need their assistance in retrieving something for me. As soon as they get them, they'll be brought here. Until then, just relax. This is your new home for now."
"What are you forcing them to do?! Where are they?!" Neo demanded. "Are they hurt?!"
"No, they are not hurt. I'm just having them retrieve some mirror shards for me," Pendulum said it like he'd just sent them to the store to pick up some milk. "They're all pretty strong so I assume it shouldn't taken them long to retrieve them. I'll bet you'll all be back together within less than two months."
"Two months?" Neo squeaked as all the air left her lungs and her knees wobbled.
"I see why that would concern you. Considering you've tried to kill yourself so many times in your life. And you had such hard time without your love by your side when he abandon you to go off fighting. That's quiet some man you have there," Pendulum chuckled darkly. "He's supposed to love and protect you and yet he abandons you for a silly little fight."
"He has never abandon me. And he never will," Neo took a few more deep breaths. She knew she had to relax. This guy was just trying to provoke her. She couldn't give him that satisfaction. "I trust his decisions. You know nothing about him."
"I know everything about you all," Pendulum whispered in her ear. "Like I said, I've been watching you all for some time now. Just be a good little princess and he'll return to you soon. They all will. That's what you want, right? Just be patient."
Pendulum straightened up and walked back over to the spot where he appeared. "Until then, enjoy the comfort of this place. I'm sure in time you will come to enjoy your new surroundings. Farewell, Princess Neo of Luminous."
Pendulum then disappeared from the room. Neo placed her hand over her mouth as her stomach spun. She dropped to her knees and gagged. Velocity flew over and landed on her shoulder. She rubbed her hand on Neo's shoulder as she spoke tenderly to her. "Calm down, sweetie. Just take slow deep breaths. It'll be all right."
Elian and Celeste flew over as well. Elian hovered in front of her as Celeste landed on Neo's head and stroked her hair. "No cry. No cry. Pweddy girl no be sad."
"Is it true what he said?" Elian asked carefully. "Are you really a princess?"
Neo looked up at him. There was no point in keep anything from them anymore. So she told them everything.