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The sign of true bravery is sacrifice; sacrifice of all that you have, all that you own, even, all that you are, in the hopes of saving that which you love. -excerpt from The Song of Liberty
Chapter One: Foreshadowing
Anaheim in December.
The sky was grey and cloud covered, dark blankets of malaise and darkness, obscuring the sky and overshadowing those beneath. A wind blew through the streets, tangling hair, scattering papers. Distant thunder rumbled, sounding lost and despondent, and the first drops of rain gently fell to earth, a soft coolness against the already damp earth.
Tremaine felt the wetness splash against her arm, another only seconds later falling across her face. She felt the change in the weather, knew the winds had shifted and were bringing the thunderstorm directly toward Anaheim. A part of her knew the smart thing to do would be to go inside, get out of the rain, stay warm and healthy so she would be able to deal with this. Another part of her couldn't bear to go inside and face the nearly overwhelming emotions there. Her mind rebelled at the thought of being in close contact with so many fierce emotions, and she had only just managed to dispel the last lingering traces of the headache that had been plaguing her for the last two days. No, she wouldn't be going back inside. For her own sanity, she'd sooner stay out here and freeze to death.
Yeah, Tre, she thought disgustedly, that's the way to handle this. Indirect suicide's the answer to all your troubles.
But she still couldn't make herself go inside.
No, inside was her failure. Inside was the grief and sorrow she should have prevented, the loss that never should have happened. Inside she would have to look them in the eye, all of them, Tanya and Mallory and Grin and Duke and -
and stars help her Wildwing, whose pain was so sharp even the non-psions could feel it before he locked himself away behind shields and barriers -
and she just couldn't do that, not knowing that it was her fault, that if she'd done something, anything, who knows or who cares what, but something then this wouldn't be happening. In the face of that, sitting out in the rain was the least she deserved.
And considering the fact that now their greatest hope for survival had been killed, surrendering his life so that the rest of them might live to continue the fight, that without him this world and many more would fall beneath the strength of the Saurian Empire, leaving them in a harsh existence of slavery and forcing them to struggle every second of every day simply to survive...
Well, then she figured she deserved a lot worse.
Oh God, what have I done?
"The same thing we all did, kiddo, tried your best." Tre was only slightly surprised to hear Canard's voice behind her. She hadn't heard him coming, but then Canard had been trained by the best. "Reading my mind, cuz?" she asked sharply.
"You know better than that," Canard reminded her gently. "Never without your permission unless someone's life depends on it. And even then, never into your personal thoughts. Now is no different than ever before."
"Isn't it?" Tre asked. "Look around you, Canard. This isn't the Anaheim I remember, and it's not the one we grew up in." She shook her head, closing her eyes against the sight. "This was our last chance to change things."
"We did change things," Canard reminded her. "We changed the outcome of the first battle and kept Dragaunus from drawing first blood. And because you were here Wing and Dive learned to control the power-"
"Nosedive is dead," Tremaine reminded him flatly, her voice strained. "And that, dear cousin, is not a change for the better."
"Wildwing is still here, and still alive, and in control of his abilities. The others will stand by him." Canard sat beside his younger cousin at the edge of the roof. "Five heroes is nothing to scoff at. They will stand against Dragaunus until they draw their last breaths. And there is still the other Chosen to consider."
"We don't know who they are, where they are, what they are. Face it, Canard, without the Chosen united the power of the Ancients will win. You know the prophecies as well as I do. 'Without the Sons of Ducaine, the Sons of Keroth will triumph and three worlds will be forfeit.' " She closed her eyes. "Stars, Canard, we didn't do anything but lead Dive to his death a few years early."
"We gave them a fighting chance," Canard said harshly. "With Wildwing in control of the power he'll be that much more capable of standing against Dragaunus. With the High Lord gone, Dragaunus will no longer be able to cheat the future. We evened the playing board."
"Yeah," Tremaine said hollowly. "We just knocked one of the most important pieces of while we were at it."
"Nosedive chose this, Tre. He did what he did to save his brother, to save all of us. He knew he wouldn't survive and he accepted that. There's no way any of us can be responsible for that." Canard gripped her shoulder tightly. "I know this hurts you, Tre, more so than the rest of us. I know what you've lost because of this..."
"Why should that bother me?" Tremaine asked mockingly. "Just because my very existence is now null and void? Really, Canard, what do you think of me?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry. Canard, we knew in coming here that we would change the past, that we might change things that would end our own existence. I accepted that, just as you did. Hell, when we leave here, we might simply cease to be. The future's been changed enough that we're anomalies. It may be impossible for us to go home. That's not what's bothering me."
"I know. Believe me Tre, I know. This isn't easy for me and Drake, either, you know?"
"I never meant to imply that it was," she assured him. "I just- Canard, I'm tired."
"Come on, let's go inside. It's starting to rain. Besides," he sighed, "Drake and Wildwing have decided to have a meeting before we go, to get the last questions answered, the last warnings given."
Tremaine moaned softly and buried her face against her cousin's shoulder. "I don't think I can face him."
"You're not responsible. Believe me, Wildwing knows that. He's blaming no one for Dive's death except those who deserve it, Dragaunus and the High Lord. And himself, but did we really expect otherwise?" he asked with a slight smile.
"Remind me of you two," Tre said softly.
"Yeah, me too."
"Just like you were, when we thought Drake was gone. Remember, in the mountains?" Tremaine lifted her head to meet his eyes. "You were so... so broken Canard, and we found Drake just a few days later. We're never going to find Nosedive. Wildwing's not going to be able to escape this like you two did."
"He has people here for him," Canard told her. "They won't let him deal with this alone." Canard stood, gently tugging her to her feet as well. "Inside now. We've got things to do before we recall to the future." Tremaine offered no resistance as he slowly led her away from the edge of the roof and back toward the entrance to the Pond.
The rain came in force just as they began to walk, and Canard hesitated before creating a telekinetic shield to protect them from the cold rain. For just a moment, he allowed the water to wipe away the memories of his own near loss, and offered a quick prayer that Wildwing would find the strength to deal with his.
The Ready Room was as silent as a tomb, and almost as cheerful. Despite the lights glowing overhead, the room had a darkness hanging over it, and the emotions filling it were almost stifling. Tremaine winced as anger, fear, confusion, grief, hate, guilt and a dozen other emotions washed over her, and she felt Canard's hand tighten its grip on her shoulder as he, too, was struck by the sheer weight of the emotions. Tre quickly strengthened her mental blocks, shaken by what she had touched on. Her time on the roof had been a blessed respite, but it had left her a little more open to the surrounding world than she'd thought.
Tanya, Grin and Mallory were seated at the conference table, sitting more closely together than they normally would have. Wildwing and Duke both remained standing, separating themselves from their teammates, and each other. Tre spared herself a moment to worry about the two of them. They had both gone out of their way to avoid any of the comfort or sympathy their teammates were offering. Both were private men, and both had cared for Nosedive a great deal. Tre wasn't sure how they'd ever heal if they wouldn't let their friends help them. She shook the thoughts away. It wasn't her concern, and she didn't have the time left to fix the problem. She could only hope that they would fix it themselves.
Drake leaned against a bank of computer consoles across the room from Tre and Canard. He looked up upon their entrance, his eyes meeting Canard's above Tre's head, then dropping to meet hers in silent reassurance and sympathy. She smiled shakily and took a deep breath.<We can do this.>
<We've handled worse, kid, and we'll handle worse again.>
<Have we? Will we? This is the end of the world.>
<You always were melodramatic. I don't know why you never went into acting.>
Drake cast them both an exasperated glance and they silenced their banter. There was work to be done, and their time was running out. Fast.
They took seats at the conference table opposite the others. Drake chose to remain standing. "I know this is the last place you want to be right now," he began in a soft voice, carefully not looking at Duke or Wildwing, "but our time is running short and we have to let you know what we've discovered." He ran a hand over his hair, suddenly looking very much like the twenty-three year old he was. He's really still just a kid. We all are. "With the High Lord's disappearance a number of things have begun to change. Our memories of the future are starting to deteriorate. We remember different things, or we don't remember anything at all. For what it's worth, what's happened over the last few weeks, has changed the future."
"For what?" Duke demanded. "You said yourself, the sons of Ducaine are the only ones who can defeat Dragaunus. Sons. Plural. In case it's slipped your attention, we only have one now."
Duke's harsh tone caused Tre to flinch, both in guilt and sympathy, but Wildwing didn't even blink He just watched Drake calmly, waiting to hear his answer to Duke's question. Tre felt no emotion from him whatsoever.
Oh, Wildwing...
"We don't know," Drake admitted honestly. "All we know is that the future we came from no longer exists. Our memories are changing because every second, every hour, people make decisions that change the course of history. Being from the future, we're caught in the backlash of it."
Tanya piped up. "Doesn't this mean that you, ah, you three no longer exist either?"
Drake smiled, a little sadly. "Yeah. It does." There was a brief, uncomfortable silence.
Just what we need, Tre thought darkly, more silence, more sadness.
Mallory was the one to finally break the silence. "What are you going to do?" she asked in a soft voice.
Drake produced what looked like a remote control. "These are trackers. They, theoretically, allowed Tanya and the rest of the resistance to keep track of us while we were here. There's a recall device built into the tracker."
"But if your future's been, uh, eliminated, then won't that mean that there isn't anything to recall to?"
Drake's grin was hollow. "Yeah."
Canard added a bit more explanation, seeing that his brother didn't seem inclined to. "Basically, as soon as we hit those recalls, we join the rest of our timeline. The instant the pull back removes us from your time, we cease to exist."
The idea didn't seem to appeal to Tanya any. "Can't you stay in this time? Why voluntarily go to your deaths?"
"We can't stay," Tremaine said resignedly. "Any more than Dragaunus could."
"When will you begin this final journey?" Grin asked.
"Now," Drake said. "Unless there are any more questions?" No one said anything, merely regarded him regretfully. "For what it's worth," he told them all, "we knew the risks. Just as you did."
Tremaine stepped away from the wall and toward the table. Impulsively she pulled Tanya into a quick hug. "Thank you," she said gratefully, "for everything you would have done had things gone the way Dragaunus intended."
A little startled Tanya returned the embrace. "Good luck, Tre. All of you."
"Be careful," Tremaine warned her. "Somehow the Saurians will be coming to Earth. Soon. You need to be ready for them."
"We will be," Wildwing told him. Tremaine looked at him in surprise. Those were the first words Wildwing had spoke since they began. "Good luck. And thank you."
Canard smiled, gently. "With any luck, you'll see us in about ten years."
"Except for Tremaine. She's more like fifteen. Never was on time," Drake teased. Tremaine stuck her tongue out at him.
Then all guise of teasing and lightheartedness was dropped, as Drake raised his tracker. Silently, Canard and Tremaine held up theirs. Tremaine felt a warmth fill her, as Canard and Drake both reached out, to her and to each other, pulling them into a three-way link. They would go out as they had lived; a team.
And they triggered the recalls.
At first, Drake thought the blinding pain that filled him was part of the recall. After all, being wiped out of existence was not likely to be a pleasant experience. The he saw Wildwing stumble and fall as his teammates rushed to his side, and realized that whatever it was, it was affecting all the psis in the room. A force was intentionally reaching out to cause them pain. Not Dragaunus, Drake knew the taste of the High Lord's mind, and this wasn't it. Someone else. The other Saurians.
They'd come.
As Drake felt the last of his consciousness fade into eternity, he latched onto Tre and Canard mentally, and they shared the realization that all they had done might still be not enough.
Continued in:
Journeys Chapter One: Things to Do in Interdimensional Limbo When You're Dead.
Return to The Blood of Ancients.
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