A Leap Into Destiny
Darkness Rising
478 AD.
Though it was night time, Al Calavicci could not go to sleep. Already the stars were shining outside and though Alia had already gone to bed before him, he still felt the urgency of trying to get back to Sam.
He looked up into the sky at the shining stars. In that moment, he was reminded of the moment he had to tell Donna that Sam was still leaping across time with his memories of her erased during the time Sam willingly leaped back to save Al from being killed.
This time, however, he was the one back in time and Sam wasn't in a particularly good spot right now. The chances of Sam coming to his rescue this time were quite low.
"Al?" a young boy's voice alerted him.
"Sanctus!" Al turned around to see the boy before him.
"Art thou worried about thy friend?" asked Sanctus.
"Yeah, I am," admitted Al. "I take it you couldn't sleep?"
"No," Sanctus shook his head. "I want to ask thee about something."
"What is it?" Al sat down, beckoning Sanctus to sit down on the smaller stone next to him.
"Thou art from the future," Sanctus looked up at Al with wide eyes. "What is it like?"
"Well, uh, it's very different from now," Al replied. "For one thing, people won't be riding horses nearly as much as they do now."
"How will they go to different destinations?" inquired Sanctus.
"For one thing, there will be horseless carriages," Al said to the boy, trying his best not to reveal too much. "They'll be even faster than horses!"
Even though it was dark, Al could still see the light in the boy's eyes as he looked on in fascination.
"Tell me," begged Sanctus. "Will there be as much war and violence in thy time as there is now?"
"There's still violence in my times," Al revealed honestly. "But where I come from, there aren't any barbarian warriors threatening the land with their armies."
"Then peace flourishes in thy time?"
"More or less," confirmed Al.
"Wilt thou be able to take mine mother, sister, and myself back to your time?" Sanctus said almost pleadingly.
Al stared at the young boy with remorse. The fact that he was time-displaced was bad enough but to bring someone from medieval times back to the present? There was no telling what else could go wrong.
"I can't," Al shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, but time travel is a very complicated thing. We all have our own struggles and crosses to bear in each different time era. I may not be facing barbarian raids in my time but right now a very close friend of mine is in serious trouble. He's being held captive by some very bad people right now and I don't know what will happen to him."
"Mine apologies," Sanctus lowered his head. "I had no idea thou was facing such a terrible crisis."
"It's okay," Al sat down. "Like I said, we all have our cross to bear. I may not be able to help my friend right now but you still have the chance to help your beautiful mother and adorable sister. One day you'll be a man and when that day comes, promise me you'll build a better tomorrow for your mom and younger sister."
"I promise," Sanctus nodded.
"I had a sister named Trudy once," Al explained to the boy. "Unfortunately when I was young, circumstances tore us apart and I was never able to save her."
As Al looked up, a shooting star made its way across the night sky. Right then and there he felt a twinge of emotion.
"Why?" asked Sanctus with consternation. "Why was she taken from thee?"
"Because," Al said, feeling his eyes water, "life isn't fair. It never has been. Sanctus, promise me that when I'm gone, you'll look out for your sister Sabina the way I wasn't able to look out for Trudy."
"I promise," Sanctus agreed.
"Well let's get you inside," Al ushered the young boy in. "Pretty sure your mom won't want you being outside this late."
oooo
Present Day.
"Dr. Beckett," William Oliver walked over towards Sam's cell.
Sam looked up, not bothering to talk to the man.
"Now, I know you're not happy to see me but hear me out," Dr. Oliver said to Sam. "From one scientist to another, I really meant it when I said I once really admired your work."
"Is that so?" Sam looked down glumly.
"Believe it or not, yes," Dr. Oliver said sincerely. "Which is why I'm here."
"Come to put an end to me finally?" Sam Beckett barely glanced at him.
"Actually no," Dr. Oliver put both hands on the prison bars. "Listen, I'm certainly not here to save you or set you free."
"Then what are you here for?"
"Let's just say I finally realized I owe a lot to you and your research," Dr. Oliver confessed, "which is why I want to ease your final hours before either Zoey or that warlock come to kill you."
Next to Dr. Oliver, two guards appeared with Abigail Fuller besides them.
"This won't bring back your wife," Dr. Oliver spoke honestly, "but I know you were close to this woman. Maybe you'd like some company for your final hours."
Sam got up as the guards opened the cell and let Abigail inside before closing it again.
"Sam, I'm sorry for what happened to your wife," Abigail hugged Sam.
"This doesn't change anything between us," Sam glared at Dr. Oliver.
"No I don't expect it to," Dr. Oliver shrugged, "not that it'll matter."
The leading scientist for Project Chronos gestured for the guards to leave.
"Well… my good deed of the decade is done," he walked off.
Both Sam and Abigail looked at each other and only hugged one another more tightly.
oooo
478 AD.
"Al, are you awake?" Alia nudged the older man.
"Oooh, what I wouldn't give for a warm breakfast and hot shower right now," Al mumbled, forcing himself to open his eyes.
"The hot breakfast is feasible," Alia promised him. "Warm showers… not so much."
"Right," Al finally got up. "I forgot which time period I was in…"
As Al got up, he slipped his jacket on and walked out of his room.
"There you guys are," Al rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up fully.
"I trust sleep was comforting to thee?" asked Nevena.
"Of course," Al agreed. "It's just that I feel I could use five more hours of it…"
"Al, I think you've been asleep for over eight hours already," Alia reminded him.
"That long, huh?" Al grimaced. "Guess all the stuff back in the modern era with Sam and myself took a lot more out of me than I thought."
"Today we journey to the standing stones," Nevena informed him.
"The standing stones…" Al pondered. "Oh, you mean Stonehenge?"
"That would be it," Alia confirmed.
"Mother, might we come along?" asked Sabina.
"Of course darling," promised Nevena.
"I've gathered the items as you've requested," Alia placed the hourglass and the time staff on the table.
"Excellent," Nevena beamed. "We will need these to complete the spell of time."
"Hard to believe they fall into the wrong hands in the future," Alia turned to Al.
"Hate to say it but they do," Al shook his head. "Nevena, do you know of any dark sorcerers around here?"
"No," Nevena shook her head. "I know of no other witches in my area. Mine own mother belonged to a coven of witches but they were massacred by the Saxons in an ambush."
"Mother, the horse is ready!" Sanctus entered into the home.
"Then let us make haste," Nevena told her guests.
oooo
Present Day.
"Where is he, damn it?!" Zoey looked around the room in frustration.
"I'm afraid he isn't here ma'am," one of the soldiers told her.
"Dr. Oliver will be made to pay dearly for embezzling funds from this project," Zoey promised. "Which of you interacted with him last?"
Nervously, one of the soldiers stepped forth.
"Dr. Oliver was down in the dungeon paying Sam Beckett a short visit while I was down there," he said to an angry Zoey.
"What was he doing down there?" demanded Zoey.
"Well, uh, he told us to let that Abigail woman into his cell to keep him company," the soldier replied nervously.
"And you listened to him?" Zoey grabbed the man by the collar roughly. "The whole point of making Sam Beckett suffer is so that he won't have anyone to turn to for emotional support in this time!"
"Zoey, please!" the soldier insisted. "I had no idea Dr. Oliver was embezzling money until you told us!"
After some consideration, Zoey let the man go, deciding to be merciful for the moment.
"We'll find him," Zoey promised.
As the men began searching the room, Zoey turned around and faced a book case. Remembering how the castle had a lot of secret entrances and passageways, she walked towards it and placed her hand on it, moving it to the right to reveal a door leading down a dark passage.
"It won't be long now, William, you rat," Zoey looked down the stairs.
oooo
478 AD.
On their journey, both Al and Alia sat in the back of the makeshift wagon as Nevena sat at the front with her two children driving the horses towards their destination.
"So, uh, Nevena," asked Al. "How long have you been researching all your time magic?"
"Since I was but a girl," revealed the Celtic sorceress. "In my youth, the witches of my convent knew minor spells to either freeze time or turn back time only by a few moments, but nothing that went beyond a day's length."
"Turning back time even by a few minutes is impressive by any standard," Al admitted.
"Aye," agreed Nevena. "However, when my husband Regulus was slain, I have poured my labor into the study of time magic like never before."
"Our father will come back to us soon!" Sabina added. "With the time staff and the hourglass together, it will surely happen!"
"I would like nothing better," Nevena patted her daughter. "But first, let us get these two back to their proper time and home."
"How did you come upon those items?" asked Al out of curiosity.
"The time staff was of my own doing," Nevena told him. "It was a staff I had worked on with mine own mother before her demise. The hourglass, on the other hand, was a relic I had procured in the land of Eire, said to have belonged to the death goddess Morrigan. It is a powerful magic artifact which responses to the heart and the will of the user who wields it."
"Sounds pretty dangerous if it's coming from a death goddess," Al's eyes widened, realizing that the hourglass was perhaps even older than its museum display had originally indicated.
"Thy concerns are fair," noted Nevena. "Luckily, I proved my ability in a tournament of witches in order to procure the hourglass."
"There's a reason the Saxons rarely make forays into her territory," Alia said to Al confidently.
"Sounds like we've got nothing to worry about then," Al declared confidently.
oooo
Present Day.
"So because they were threatening to cut funding, you entered the chamber yourself and leaped back in time?" asked Abigail.
At the moment, the two former lovers were deep in conversation.
"Yeah," Sam looked up at the ceiling. "I was so desperate to prove my theory right that I just leaped in without a parachute. And the rest, they say, is history."
"All this time you've been going back in time, changing people's lives for the better," Abigail acknowledged. "All the people you've helped were never meant to live happy lives, were they?"
"No, they weren't," confirmed Sam. "In fact, you know what's funny?"
"What's that?" Abigail inquired.
"Throughout all my leaps," Sam told her. "My memories were Swiss cheesed. I retained memories of some of my abilities and some memories of my past, but never the whole thing. But now that I've returned, all my memories have come back to me, including the knowledge of previous timelines I had changed. And you know the funny part?"
"No," Abigail shook her head.
"Donna and I were actually never meant to get together in history before I changed it," Sam laughed almost bitterly. "She left me standing at the altar originally. But during one of my earliest leaps, I changed history so that she became my wife after all."
With sadness in her eyes, Abigail could see where Sam was going with this.
Sam sighed. "It would have been better for Donna if I had never bothered. Then she wouldn't have to lose her life like this…"
"You can't really believe that, can you?" Abigail squeezed Sam's hand.
"I don't know anymore Abigail," Sam confessed. "I really don't…"
"Just think of all the lives you've changed," Abigail tried to encourage him. "You've given hope to people who didn't have any."
"And now that hope is getting taken away," Sam lowered his head. "Kairos has already brought you and a lot of the other people here. He won't rest until he destroys all the history I've changed."
"You've given me hope, Sam," Abigail told the beleaguered scientist. "You've given me a wonderful daughter, Sammy Jo. I don't even want to think of how my life would be without her!"
"Sammy Jo," Sam finally smiled sincerely for the first time since he had been down in his cell. "I have a feeling she'll be destined for great things…"
Though their current situation was still dire, Abigail felt some relief to see Sam smiling once more.
oooo
478 AD.
"I see not much has changed even back then," Al got off the wagon just as it pulled up in front of Stonehenge.
"There is enough mystical power in this area to conduct the spell," Nevena confirmed, getting off her horse.
"Here mother," Sabina gave her mother the time staff.
"I guess this is it," Al stepped off the wagon.
"We're finally going home," Alia sighed. "I've been gone from our time for so long that I can't even remember what it's like."
"What will you do when you return?" asked Al.
"I don't know," confessed Alia. "Since the beginning, Nathaniel was the reason I became a leaper in the first place. But now he's gone."
"I'm sorry," Al looked down.
"But Sam Beckett," Alia walked towards the standing stones with Al, "he was the man who finally saved me after all this time leaping about to put things wrong that he once made right. He helped me when I needed it most and I can't do otherwise."
Nevena stood at the center of Stonehenge as her two kids surrounded her. Sanctus held the time staff while Sabina clasped the hourglass in her hand.
"Remain where thou art and I will begin the ritual," Nevena told Al and Alia.
Slowly, Nevena clasped both hands and began chanting in Latin. Soon, she raised her head up as a blue glow emitted from her yes.
"Despite my Catholic roots I never did brush up on my Latin all that carefully," Al whispered to Alia.
At once, Nevena levitated off the ground, floating into the air as she continued chanting.
Both Al and Alia stared at the sorceress in awe, the two of them realizing that coming back to a time era such as this and seeing such a sight would truly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"So, your ritual begins, yes?" a distinct voice rang out.
Alia whirled around and unsheathed her sword. It was Sabert standing there with his crossbow, pointed at both her and Al Calavicci.
"You!" snarled Al. "You followed us!"
"Yes and it will not be long now before the rest of our men arrive," confirmed Sabert. "I was merely the tracker."
"Alia!" shouted Sabina. "Stay where thou art! Sanctus and I shall help—"
"Stay back Sabina!" Alia shouted. "Protect your mother!"
Unfortunately, Nevena did not appear to be aware of the situation that was unfolding. She continued floating in the air and chanting her spell, in hopes that it would come to fruition.
Sabert held the crossbow carefully, wondering if he should fire off a shot at Alia or Al first.
He then noticed Nevena floating in the air.
"What?" Sabert gasped. "She… she really is a witch!"
It was the first time he had ever seen a witch defy the laws of nature and the laws of man.
What came next was also a shock to the Saxon warrior. The standing stones next to him began to glow with mystical power as red runes appeared, engraving themselves into the rocks.
In shock, Sabert lowered his crossbow. At that moment, Alia saw her opportunity. Quickly she unsheathed her sword and ran forward, cutting Sabert's crossbow in two.
Sabert stumbled back and fell to the floor.
As he raised his head, he found himself facing the sharp end of Alia's sword.
"You're our hostage now," Alia promised. "Once the Saxons get here, you're going to tell them to turn back."
"Don't count on it," Sabert scoffed. "My uncle Wulfsige is a ruthless man. Once he sets his mind on a course of action, not even family will stand in his way!"
"Who is this Wulfsige?" asked Al.
"A merciless Saxon warlord," Alia answered. "The local Celts and Romans here consider him a demon from hell."
"Oh boy…" Al grimaced. "As if things weren't bad enough in the present..."
oooo
Present Day.
"I almost forgot to ask," Sam glanced at Abigail. "What are you and Sammy Jo doing now in your original time?"
"Sammy Jo is a wonderful child," Abigail said with great pride. "I've never seen a girl with more life in her than Sammy."
"I have something else to ask you," Sam looked into her eyes. "Why did Will finally leave?"
"I don't know when exactly it happened," confessed Abigail. "I suppose it happened sometime after you leaped out of his body. There were no doctors in town to perform a paternity test… but somehow, Will knew that Sammy Jo wasn't really his."
"So that's why he left," Sam concluded.
"Slowly, the two of us just drifted apart," explained Abigail. "He never laid a hand on me and he didn't have a cross word with me. But he did grow colder. Then one day he finally left."
"Have you found anyone else since then?"
"I… I have," replied Abigail, mindful of her lingering feelings for Sam. "I met him some time after Will finally left. He and I were planning on moving to Chicago with Sammy Jo. At least before I was brought here…"
Before Sam could reply, he saw Zoey and several guards at their cell.
"You," Sam growled. "If you want to get to Abigail, you'll have to go through me."
"As you wish," Zoey smiled, the hourglass on her neck glowing with power.
Before Sam could even process what was going on, the redheaded woman froze time and without Sam even being able to react, grabbed him and slammed him onto a table, shackling his hands and feet to the structure.
He looked up. Zoey, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Kairos were all there as the guards pulled Abigail out of her cell, in addition to all the other prisoners.
"I would shoot you right now," Oswald grinned. "But I think I'll enjoy watching this."
"What are you doing?" demanded Sam.
"You always wanted to change peoples' lives for the better," Zoey said to him. "But what if that simply wasn't meant to be? After all, things happen for a reason and in the original timeline before you altered it, none of these people ever met good ends."
"They have the right to live happy lives," Sam shot back. "Why would you even want to take that away from them?"
"Mr. Oswald," Zoey turned to the killer of President Kennedy, "would it surprise you to learn that in the original timeline, you killed both John F. Kennedy and his wife?"
"Doesn't surprise me in the least," Oswald nodded. "She was my second target."
"I leaped into one of her guards just in time," Sam glared at Lee Harvey Oswald. "You were going to take two lives that day!"
"A real shame," Oswald shook his head. "And I was hoping to arrange for Jackie to meet her husband again soon after I put a bullet in John Fitzgerald."
"You people are sick," Sam spat.
"And your suffering is just about to begin!" promised Zoey. "Guards, hook the prisoners to the VR tech!"
"What are you doing?" demanded Sam.
"You, Dr. Beckett, are about to find out," Zoey assured him.
oooo
Before long, all of the Saxon soldiers have arrived as Alia held Sabert at swordpoint.
The warriors then cleared a path, parting like the Red Sea and allowing their leader to come forth.
He was a formidable and powerful warrior with graying hair and a missing eye as evidenced by his patch. Wulfsige looked at Alia and then at Al Calavicci, analyzing the situation carefully.
"I see you have one of my men," he said to them.
"Don't come a step closer," warned Alia. "Or I'll gut him!"
"She's not kidding!" added Al.
"The boy you have captive is my nephew," Wulfsige told them. "Aside from his abilities with the bow, he is a worthless warrior and he is useless to me."
Alia looked at Al nervously. Had they hoped for too much?
"Kill him if you will," Wulfsige said to the two. "But know this… I am here for the witch Nevena and her two children. If you stand aside now, your lives will be spared."
"He's lying, isn't he?" Al whispered to Alia.
"I don't know," Alia whispered back. "But I don't want to find out."
"Now tell me, are you willing to stand aside?" Wulfsige offered. "After all, these are turbulent times we live in. I was forced to defend myself against the husband of this woman and killed him in defense of my own life. All I wish to do now is to offer safety and security to a grieving widow and her children during a dark time such as this."
"You're lying!" Alia spat. "You murdered Regulus and now you're here to kill the rest of his family!"
"And I hoped you strangers could be reasoned with," Wulfsige sighed and gestured towards his men. "Take them!"
About a dozen of his men from the army came forward and tried to encircle Ali and Al but a massive fireball stuck the ground, catching some of the men on fire and scattering the rest.
Taking advantage of the sudden confusion, Sabert broke free of Alia's hold and ran off. Wulfsige looked at his nephew in disgust as he hid behind one of the stones.
"Stay away from them!" a woman's voice alerted everyone in the area.
Al Calavicci looked back to see Nevena standing there, arms outstretched. Behind her was a massive portal that had just been summoned.
"Is… is that?" Al's eyes widened.
"Stand behind me," ordered Nevena.
At once, Al and Alia got behind the Celtic sorceress with her two children.
Several more Saxon warriors rushed in but Nevena swung her arms and sent them all flying with an invisible force. She then created another fireball with her hand and flung it towards another incoming division of soldiers, enveloping them in an explosion.
As the battle raged on, Sabert crawled towards one of the soldiers who had been killed by Nevena. The corpse held a crossbow in his hand which Sabert took the opportunity to seize.
"Attack, men!" ordered Wulfsige. "She may be a witch but she is only one while we are many!"
More soldiers charged but one of Nevena's spells caused several vines to erupt from the earth and trap them in place.
"The portal is opened!" Nevena told Al and Alia. "Go now while I hold them off!"
"We can't just leave you here!" protested Al.
"Thou hast no choice!" Nevena cried, blasting an incoming Saxon with a magical blast of energy through her time staff. "The portal will not hold for long!"
"This ain't right!" shouted Al. "Alia and I can't just leave you in danger like this!"
"You've done so much for me!" Alia said with tears in her eyes. "You looked after me, cared for me, taught me how to survive in a time like this! I won't leave you to a fate like this! I just won't!"
As Alia pleaded with Nevena, Al looked over at Sanctus and his sister with water in his eyes.
"Whatever happens, promise me you'll look out for your sister," Al told him.
"I will!" Sanctus promised, hugging Al.
After Al let go of Sanctus, he went up to Alia.
"We have to see this through with you!" pleaded Alia as Nevena sent several more soldiers flying.
"This is not up for debate!" Nevena told them firmly.
With a wave of her time staff, she struck Al and Alia with a burst of invisible power that knocked both of them through the time portal. Just as Alia and Al fell through it, the portal closed up and Nevena turned her attention back to the matter at hand.
About ten soldiers rushed her but Nevena quickly held out her hand and summoned a whirlwind which sent all of them flying back ten yards.
"Mother, look out!" Sanctus shouted.
Before Nevena could react, an arrow flew out from nowhere and struck her thigh, wounding her.
"Aaahh!" shouted Nevena.
It was Sabert who fired the arrow as he stood there triumphantly with crossbow in hand. Taking advantage of the distraction, a burly Saxon warrior came in and slammed his shield into her face to take her down. Soon, several Saxons swarmed in and grabbed the two children of Nevena.
"Mother!" shouted Sabina.
Nevena tried to get up but one of the soldiers kicked away her time staff. Two soldiers held her up as she barely stood on her two feet. Her face was bleeding and her head was dazed from the shield blow. Now the tides had changed and she was the one in a position of weakness.
"I wouldn't try any magical spells," Wulfsige walked up to Nevena with Sabina in his arms.
"Please do not harm mine children!" Nevena pleaded.
"Why not?" Wulfsige grinned. "You killed several of my men already."
"Please, I will do as thou commands if thou would spare them!" Nevena told him.
"Hmm, I suppose we could work something out," Wulfsige held on to Sabina tightly. "You, boy! Do you enjoy playing games?"
"I don't want games!" Sanctus cried. "I want thy word thou will spare mine mother and sister!"
"You'll enjoy playing this one," Sabert came up to his uncle.
"I offer you a choice," Wulfsige told Sanctus. "On this day, either your mother or sister will die. I leave it up to you to choose which one! But choose carefully! Their fate lies in your hands!"
"What?!" Sanctus was aghast.
"Thou cannot play such games with—" Nevena cried but was cut short by one of the Saxons punching her in her solar plexus to make her keel over in pain.
"Choose, boy!" Wulfsige growled. "Only one of your relatives will live! Pick wisely!"
"I… you can't make me…" Sanctus took a step back, water forming in his eyes.
"Either you choose or I'll choose for you!" Wulfsige grinned.
"No!" Sanctus finally yelled, attempting to charge Wulfsige to put an end to the madness despite his meager chances.
At once, Wulfsige drew his sword, slashing Sanctus across the chest. Blood erupted into the air like a fountain as Sanctus fell down to the ground.
"I guess I'll choose," Wulfsige smiled. "Sabert, your bow if you please…"
"Of course uncle," Sabert handed his uncle the crossbow.
"Should've picked when you had the chance!" Wulfsige told the fallen Sanctus.
Sanctus lay there helplessly as blood poured out of his wound. He could only watch in desperation as Wulfsige lifted the bow into the air.
"Normally I'd hate to leave loose ends," Wulfsige then pointed the crossbow towards Nevena as the two Saxon soldiers held her, "but in this case I think I can make one exception. Your daughter will make a fine bride when she comes of age!"
"No!" shouted Nevena.
"Let me go!" Sabina shouted, struggling against Wulfsige helplessly.
It was too late. Wulfsige fired the arrow. Immediately the arrow struck Nevena right through the heart. She fell down to the ground with her eyes widened in horror as the critically wounded Sanctus crawled towards her. Finally, the light in Nevena's eyes left her just as Sanctus grasped her hand.
"Mother… please!" pleaded Sanctus, holding on tight. "Don't… leave me!"
Finally, Sanctus passed out from the blood loss, holding on to his own mother.
"Sanctus!" Sabina cried. "Mother!"
"Move it, girl!" Wulfsige pushed her forward roughly.
Despite her cries, Sabina was loaded onto one of the war wagons and taken off by the men.
"You've done well Sabert," Wulfsige looked at his nephew. "Perhaps I underestimated your worth after all."
"Think nothing of it, uncle," Sabert beamed.
"Come, my nephew!" Wulfsige draped his arms around Sabert. "Tonight I throw a banquet in your honor!"
oooo
"What are you doing?" demanded Sam Beckett.
All around him, the prisoners were hooked onto tables similar to his. However, in their case, the soldiers placed helmets which covered their eyes.
"It's called virtual reality," explained Zoey. "You said you wanted these prisoners returned to their own time. I happen to agree with that."
"You're not really going to bring them back, are you?" Sam glared at her.
"They will return to their own time," Zoey promised. "To be precise, they will be forced to relive the worst moments of their lives!"
"Don't do this," pleaded Sam. "You've already made me suffer… why make them go through the same?!"
"They shalt be made to suffer," Kairos walked up towards Sam with his time staff, "just as I was once forced to suffer."
"What happened to you?" Sam asked with a tired voice. "What happened in your life to make you like this?"
Kairos did not answer immediately. He raised his time staff into the air as its magic activated the virtual reality helmets on each of the prisoners.
"Thou once started thy Project Quantum Leap to make right what once went wrong in time," Kairos scoffed. "And yet despite all thy accomplishments, thou could not even able to save those I once considered family."
"I was never able to travel back in time that far!" Sam said in exasperation. "Leaping only allowed me to travel to different points in time only within the confines of my own lifetime. I only made it to the distant past once during the Civil War and even that was a freak accident!"
"Silence!" Kairos struck Sam across the face. "I have heard enough!"
"No!" Abigail began moaning within her cell. "Don't leave me, daddy!"
"Abigail!" Sam shouted.
"It's already begun!" Zoey smiled. "They're already reliving the pain you once saved them from!"
"Stop this!" shouted Sam.
At once, Oswald drove an electrical prod into Sam's ribs, shocking him and forcing him to cry out in agony.
"We are going to have a lot of fun, you and I!" promised Lee Harvey Oswald.
oooo
478 AD.
As Sanctus finally came about, he was not certain if he were still alive or in the afterlife. He tried to move but a pain quickly shot through his arms and then into his chest.
He was lying still on a bed in some kind of room with minimal decorations. It appeared to be the inside of some monastery.
"Try not to move!" a calming voice told him.
"Who art thou?" Sanctus managed to say painfully.
"I am Brother Aidan," a monk appeared before him. "I discovered thee at the standing stones, unconscious and barely alive."
"Mine mother!" Sanctus asked as tears flowed down his eyes. "Is she…"
"The woman?" Brother Aidan lowered his head. "Unfortunately she did not make it."
At once, the remaining strength of Sanctus seemed to leave the young boy.
"I am sorry," Brother Aidan told him. "I am sorry I was not able to save thy mother."
Sanctus looked to the side and saw both the time staff and the hourglass seated at a table.
"Please stay with us at the monastery until thou art healed," Brother Aidan said to him softly.
"The hourglass," Sanctus requested. "Give it to me…"
"Art thou certain?" asked Aidan.
"Do it!" insisted Sanctus.
Without delay, Brother Aidan took the hourglass and handed it to Sanctus. The young boy turned the contents of that hourglass upside down and at once, a glow surrounded both the mystical artifact and the boy, completely healing him of all his wounds, including the cut inflicted upon him by Wulfsige.
After seeing the incredible sight he did, Aidan fell back in shock.
"That was magic!" Brother Aidan gasped. "Who art thou? And what is thy name?"
"There was once a boy named Sanctus who was forced to watch as his mother was killed and sister taken off into slavery," Sanctus snarled. "But that boy has died on this day."
oooo
Present Day.
Al was the first to tumble out of the time portal, shortly followed by Alia.
"Ow," Al rubbed his back. "Wouldn't care to go through that again…"
"Are we finally back in the present?" Alia helped Al up.
Al looked around the premises. Judging from the modern roads he saw in the distance, he realized that they were indeed back in modern times.
"We are," Al confirmed. "And it's a good thing too."
Alia looked up towards the sky.
"Thank you Nevena," she whispered. "I will forever be indebted to you."
With that, she turned back to Al. In the distance, both time travelers saw the foreboding castle which housed Project Chronos.
"Stay strong Sam," Al promised. "I'm coming for you."
"We'll be coming for him," added Alia. "We'll save Sam Beckett no matter what it takes."
"No guarantee we come out of this alive," Al told her. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Alia nodded.
In spite of their slim chances, Al and Alia took one last look at Stonehenge and went off on their way to the castle.