Time's Daughter
Another Love
I stared at the small child that was my son. Had a year already passed? The girls were decorating the big house in little number ones. Angel was still missing. The Morrigan was still around somewhere.
Every week, she attacked somewhere else. Usually on Fridays. Fridays used to special for us. That was the day of the week, she was allowed to go above ground. To the mortal world. A lot of her first attacks happened in New York, or other places around the world I'd take her to.
It seemed like she was trying to get rid of our life together. The others and I worked our best to stop her whenever we encountered her, but it was no different than fighting the gods, and none of us could fight her full on. We all loved her, none as much as I, but still, none of us liked The Morrigan.
Levi walks towards Annabeth and Piper a lot. He keeps trying to call them 'mom'. It breaks both their heart and mine. He has never seen his mother, and she has never seen him. But I know she misses him.
There was an attack in Rome just last week, at the same Italian restaurant I had taken her to once. A woman was spared. A woman who held a newborn baby boy. She's the only person Angel ever spared. When I spoke with the woman, she said it looked like Angel was about to cry, that she whispered a name: "Nico."
She does remember me. My Angel is hidden somewhere, I just have to find her. But I'm not sure how. I wondered if maybe Athaliah knew. But Angel was the only one who could communicate with her, and I doubted she'd let me talk to her.
I picked up Levi, holding him like a little football, as he screamed with laughter. I couldn't help but smile. Levi was the only one who could make me smile. But that's all he could do. I haven't laughed since Angel.
We walk up to the big house, where upon he sees the decorations and the people, and insists I put him down, so he can run around and 'talk' to everyone. I wonder where he got that trait. Neither his mother, nor I are really people persons.
For a moment, I don't walk inside. I'm not one for parties. I linger a bit on the porch. Until Hazel comes out to me. She offers me and cupcake with little play skulls on them. Why skulls? Because recently Levi accidently raised a dead cat from the dead. Then played with it.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. "You're more quiet than usual."
I nodded. "I fine, really," I tell her. "It just hard without her." I've never said her name once. I can't bear it. And they don't say it in front of me. No one really talks about it much anymore. After a year of just doing pointless research, most everyone had given up. Even me.
Hazel grabs my arm harshly. "Nico look!" she almost shouts pointing to the top of the hill.
I look, and nearly choke on the cupcake. A small girl stands on the crest of the hill. She looks so remarkably like Angel, I almost think it's her. But this girl is too young. Maybe eight, if that. But she emits power, like no other I've seen, except in one person.
I realize who that girl is: it's Athaliah. Her eyes lock on mine and she walks slowly down the hill, until she reaches me and Hazel.
"We need to talk," she says. "At the rate she's going, Angel will soon destroy herself." This is said far too loudly. All noise stops inside the big house. And all attention is on me.
"How?" I ask, my voice shaking.
"Come with me." She doesn't even ask permission, she leans forward and presses her hand to my temples. There is a flash of white light, and suddenly I am standing somewhere else.
Actually, standing is the word. Floating in more like it. It reminds me of the dreams Angel used to tell me about. We were floating in space. Stars lit up all around us, and exploded in slow mo. But when my eyes laid on the floating figure in white. All of that faded. It was her.
"Angel!" I cried moving towards her. She didn't move. She was suspended in the air like us, but her eyes were closed and she was barely breathing. I reached out to stroke her cheek, but it was cold. Almost as if she were a manikin.
I looked at Athaliah. "What's wrong with her?"
Athaliah looked sadly towards Angel. "She's shut down. This is her subconscious. This is where your Angel is. But she's scared of what she can see so she shut down."
I didn't take my eyes of Angel. "What can she see?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" Athaliah eyed me carefully. Yes, I wanted to see. I wanted to know what pain she was being put through. I wanted to know what she knew. I nodded. Athaliah reached her hand towards my temple again and suddenly racing images scorched themselves into my brain. Images from all over the world, from all sorts of time periods. And hundreds of thousands of life times.
"Make is stop!" I screamed. "Make it go away!"
She removed her hand, taking the images with her. I panted, terrified of what I had seen even as the memory of it had faded. "That's what she's seeing?"
"And more," said Athaliah turning back to Angel's unconscious figure. "And now she's expelled me from her body."
I looked at the small child, confused.
"That's how I was able to come get you," she said. "You and I are still standing on the porch at the Big House, we are only here figuratively. So you can see this," she lifted up the long hem of Angel's dress, revealing bare feet that were slowly peeling away into nothing.
"What's happening to her?" I asked.
"Humans are not meant to bare the power of time alone," said Athaliah. "When she expelled me from her body, she cursed herself. Her body will slowly degrade away--unless you convince her to give up her power. To become an ordinary mortal."
"She can do that?"
Athaliah smiled. "Yes, but I've always been afraid of doing it myself. Giving up the power of Time to Time itself. It means that I will fade too."
I stared at her. Why risk death for Angel? Why was Angel so different from other hosts? I noticed the way she smiled at Angel. It was no different from how I smiled at her. My mouth dropped as I realized why Athaliah cared for Angel. Athaliah was in love with her.
Every week, she attacked somewhere else. Usually on Fridays. Fridays used to special for us. That was the day of the week, she was allowed to go above ground. To the mortal world. A lot of her first attacks happened in New York, or other places around the world I'd take her to.
It seemed like she was trying to get rid of our life together. The others and I worked our best to stop her whenever we encountered her, but it was no different than fighting the gods, and none of us could fight her full on. We all loved her, none as much as I, but still, none of us liked The Morrigan.
Levi walks towards Annabeth and Piper a lot. He keeps trying to call them 'mom'. It breaks both their heart and mine. He has never seen his mother, and she has never seen him. But I know she misses him.
There was an attack in Rome just last week, at the same Italian restaurant I had taken her to once. A woman was spared. A woman who held a newborn baby boy. She's the only person Angel ever spared. When I spoke with the woman, she said it looked like Angel was about to cry, that she whispered a name: "Nico."
She does remember me. My Angel is hidden somewhere, I just have to find her. But I'm not sure how. I wondered if maybe Athaliah knew. But Angel was the only one who could communicate with her, and I doubted she'd let me talk to her.
I picked up Levi, holding him like a little football, as he screamed with laughter. I couldn't help but smile. Levi was the only one who could make me smile. But that's all he could do. I haven't laughed since Angel.
We walk up to the big house, where upon he sees the decorations and the people, and insists I put him down, so he can run around and 'talk' to everyone. I wonder where he got that trait. Neither his mother, nor I are really people persons.
For a moment, I don't walk inside. I'm not one for parties. I linger a bit on the porch. Until Hazel comes out to me. She offers me and cupcake with little play skulls on them. Why skulls? Because recently Levi accidently raised a dead cat from the dead. Then played with it.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. "You're more quiet than usual."
I nodded. "I fine, really," I tell her. "It just hard without her." I've never said her name once. I can't bear it. And they don't say it in front of me. No one really talks about it much anymore. After a year of just doing pointless research, most everyone had given up. Even me.
Hazel grabs my arm harshly. "Nico look!" she almost shouts pointing to the top of the hill.
I look, and nearly choke on the cupcake. A small girl stands on the crest of the hill. She looks so remarkably like Angel, I almost think it's her. But this girl is too young. Maybe eight, if that. But she emits power, like no other I've seen, except in one person.
I realize who that girl is: it's Athaliah. Her eyes lock on mine and she walks slowly down the hill, until she reaches me and Hazel.
"We need to talk," she says. "At the rate she's going, Angel will soon destroy herself." This is said far too loudly. All noise stops inside the big house. And all attention is on me.
"How?" I ask, my voice shaking.
"Come with me." She doesn't even ask permission, she leans forward and presses her hand to my temples. There is a flash of white light, and suddenly I am standing somewhere else.
Actually, standing is the word. Floating in more like it. It reminds me of the dreams Angel used to tell me about. We were floating in space. Stars lit up all around us, and exploded in slow mo. But when my eyes laid on the floating figure in white. All of that faded. It was her.
"Angel!" I cried moving towards her. She didn't move. She was suspended in the air like us, but her eyes were closed and she was barely breathing. I reached out to stroke her cheek, but it was cold. Almost as if she were a manikin.
I looked at Athaliah. "What's wrong with her?"
Athaliah looked sadly towards Angel. "She's shut down. This is her subconscious. This is where your Angel is. But she's scared of what she can see so she shut down."
I didn't take my eyes of Angel. "What can she see?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" Athaliah eyed me carefully. Yes, I wanted to see. I wanted to know what pain she was being put through. I wanted to know what she knew. I nodded. Athaliah reached her hand towards my temple again and suddenly racing images scorched themselves into my brain. Images from all over the world, from all sorts of time periods. And hundreds of thousands of life times.
"Make is stop!" I screamed. "Make it go away!"
She removed her hand, taking the images with her. I panted, terrified of what I had seen even as the memory of it had faded. "That's what she's seeing?"
"And more," said Athaliah turning back to Angel's unconscious figure. "And now she's expelled me from her body."
I looked at the small child, confused.
"That's how I was able to come get you," she said. "You and I are still standing on the porch at the Big House, we are only here figuratively. So you can see this," she lifted up the long hem of Angel's dress, revealing bare feet that were slowly peeling away into nothing.
"What's happening to her?" I asked.
"Humans are not meant to bare the power of time alone," said Athaliah. "When she expelled me from her body, she cursed herself. Her body will slowly degrade away--unless you convince her to give up her power. To become an ordinary mortal."
"She can do that?"
Athaliah smiled. "Yes, but I've always been afraid of doing it myself. Giving up the power of Time to Time itself. It means that I will fade too."
I stared at her. Why risk death for Angel? Why was Angel so different from other hosts? I noticed the way she smiled at Angel. It was no different from how I smiled at her. My mouth dropped as I realized why Athaliah cared for Angel. Athaliah was in love with her.
Notes
Another Chapter: and some new developments. Time had passed: Do tell me what you think! I love feedback, positive or negative!
-Kim
@Athaliah
then I think your ending wpuld be better :)
7/9/16