Split in Time Ch. 09

"I'm not sure, the book..."

"Who wrote it?" Alanna asked, her eyes glancing down to the heavy tome.

"An Ancient by the name of Sage, but he vanished ages ago, he really understood the complexities of time, alternate realities and gods." Amy answered, "He writes that it is rare for an alternate reality to remain disjointed from the main timeline, he says it is possible but unlikely. If an alternate reality remains disjointed to the main time line it destabilizes."

"Then why does it allow these massively different realities?"

Amy sighed, "Because time has no say in the matter, it just exists, we make choices, time shifts to compensate."

"Can a choice be made here in this reality that would close it off?" Alanna asked.

Amy nodded, "yes, total destruction, if that happens time will close the reality off, it will go back and stop the alternate universe from beginning by blocking the fork."

Alanna watched her mother for a minute, "I think this is the first time you haven't just given me the book and then said ask questions once you've read it."

Amy grinned, "Yeah... well... the book of Ancients has a safeguard on it, a lot of its knowledge is forbidden by Fate to be known by people who aren't Ancient, so the writing is invisible to anyone who isn't Ancient. I could give it to you but you wouldn't see anything."

Alanna nodded, that made sense. Amy went silent as her mind came up with an idea, a possible way of keeping Wolfgang sane when she left but she would have to test it. She rubbed her chin for a moment then let her eyes meet Alanna's.

"Today I am suggesting half day meetings and friendly competitions in the afternoon to allow people to get rid of any excess energy or grievances in a controlled environment." She explained to Alanna who nodded, as that made sense and would calm people down and even get them over some of their problems if they could just duke it out. "I would like to test a theory then if you will let me." Amy asked and again Alanna nodded.

"Of course." Alanna stood, "thanks for not thinking of me as mad."

Amy smiled, "when it comes to my children I consider nothing they feel, see or do to be mad." She told her. "You guys are a bit like me, an unknown."

Alanna smiled and stood, "I'll let the others in... do you want me to stay?"

"You're family; you have the right to be here." Amy answered.

Alanna smiled and went to the door, Electra was leaning on the frame, she had seen Amy and Alanna walk off then Wolfgang, Sage, Bianca and Dominic joined them. She had followed closely, then joined the others waiting to go in if she was allowed. Tarval and Mayhem raced up having both decided to look for their mates.

Alanna stood aside letting everyone enter, if Amy was surprised by the numbers of the people walking in she didn't show it and more chairs were already waiting. Tarval sat and tugged Alanna into his lap, fresh bite wounds were clear against his skin, almost as if he was deliberately displaying them. Mayhem and Electra curled up together at the end of one of the couches; Wolfgang chose to sit at the other end. Sage, Dominic and Bianca were the last to sit and chose to sit separately, Sage to a high backed chair while Dominic and Bianca sat on an ottoman.

"Okay..." Amy said trying to start the ball rolling.

Sage shifted, "you said to Alanna and Electra that when you adopted them with your blood it reverberated, that we will always feel drawn to you." She said referring to the memories Amy had shown them yesterday.

Amy nodded, "do you feel it?"

Sage hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "I feel myself trusting everything you say as if I've known you forever."

Electra smiled, "that's nothing, I was in a hibernation state, she told me to trust her, that I was free but that I had to keep my eyes closed. If it had been anyone but her I would have had to see for myself, regardless of the pain it would have put me in. Instead I calmly kept my eyes closed." She explained.

"Ma didn't even say trust me, she just held me and I trusted her. I knew she would cut out her own heart before hurting me." Alanna added, "you aren't the only one with confusing thoughts Sage, I know yours run a little deeper as you now feel you have two sets of parents but Electra and I are just as confused."

"It's okay..." Amy said, "Wolfgang and I expect nothing from you, for now just you knowing you have sisters is what's important, the rest we'll figure out as we go."

Sage smiled a little at Amy glad that she had seen her real problem, she felt like she was caught in a game of emotional tug of war, between those who gave birth to her and those she barely knew but at the same time felt as if she did. If she could just focus on one thing at a time she might be able to unravel all the other confusing and conflicting thoughts and emotions.

"So... how close are we?" Sage asked Alanna and Electra.

Alanna chuckled, "I believe the term is blood sisters, apparently we used it to thwart lord Markus. Blood sisters bound. Also ma swears we finish each other's sentences and generally annoy the crap out of her."

Dominic frowned. "Blood bond?" He sat forward a little, "may I," he asked gesturing for Alanna's hand.

"I don't think it's relevant dear... they bound their blood in that other universe not this one." Bianca said.

"I just want to see." He told Bianca, the way the three acted and reacted to each other was too natural, the bond was too strong to just be in that other universe. Alanna put her hand in his; he focused and felt as well as saw the invisible cord that linked Nephalim kin together, the intangible blood bond. That cord rose out of Alanna's chest and shot straight to Sage, a second cord came from Electra, a third from Wolfgang and perhaps the thickest after his and Bianca's ropes was the one coming from Amy, the same thick ropes that bound Alanna and Electra to Amy and Wolfgang. He tilted his head to the side and saw the chains that tied Alanna and Tarval together, the same kinds of chains bound Amy and Wolfgang, and Electra and Mayhem as well as himself and Bianca.

"We are all connected, blood kin." He told the room a little confused and bewildered because he knew it wasn't possible, Sage hadn't known Alanna and Electra had existed until yesterday.

"Ma's blood is different," Electra began.

Amy shook her head, "no, my blood has nothing to do with the actual bond we all have. All my blood did was make that bond go to all the alternate realities out there."

Dominic nodded agreeing, "Sage's blood has more to do with it as it is her blood which links us all, the cord that binds us together are all the same purple and green colour. It wouldn't be like that if it was Amy's blood which was forging the bond, hers would be a different colour and only Alanna, Electra and Sage would be blood kin. Besides this is a Nephalim blood bond not a Were adoption bond."

"Which is why I am only a part of it because I am bound to Alanna?" Tarval confirmed. "I am technically not a blood member of Sage's family." Tarval had done exactly what Dominic had done, wondering what had Dominic curious.

"Curious." Amy said and got many nods in return.

"Dominic and I talked last night," Bianca said after a few minutes of silence. "We were hoping to stay for a while, let Sage get an understanding of true Were life. I managed to teach her the laws and the theory of pack hierarchy but none of the actual skills she needs to know to be a whole person." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I was a little enraged with what the other me did, Sage didn't need another family she had one. Until I realised why she told you to raise Sage, she needs to know both sides of her heritage if she is ever going to fully understand herself."

Wolfgang nodded, "as my kin you will always be welcome in my territory." He promised, "We would be glad to have you with us and I am sure your sisters, Bianca, would love to see you and their niece regularly." He added.

Bianca smiled, "Cleopatra has promised the services of herself, Rhun, Vivian and Boadicea to nullify the need for portals which means I would get to see them for the first time since well before Sage's birth."

Amy smiled as they turned their discussion to figuring out the best way to work their odd little family.

Amy smiled as she stood, the mornings talks had gone as smoothly as she thought they would, letting the Alphas do some pre-reading had given them a chance to think and discus, it had been easy to accept everything Amy had put before them after considering it all. "Okay... so I want to set the format for the rest of the talks since we are through the nitty gritty. We will talk in the morning and in the afternoon you can dedicate yourselves to attacking the libraries or making friends or in friendly combat, rules apply."

There were many smiles at Amy's suggestion and she knew it would help foster better ties.

"What type of combat? Magical, physical, both?" An Elf asked.

"All of the above, friendly contests people, although if you wish to fight to settle an argument that too will be allowed but again there are rules." Amy answered. "Anyone breaking those rules, unless both involved are immortal, will get an up close and personal with my teeth." She warned.

"Why do the immortals get to have all the fun?" A man whined before he yelped as someone had clipped the back of his head hard. He glanced behind him but he was on the last tier so there was no one close enough to hit him.

"Stupid American fool... immortals cannot die... you idiot!" A female elemental with a French accent said from across the room, as she had used magic to smack him.

Amy raised her arms and the room went silent. "Lunch is ready." She told them and got claps as people stood, ready to eat. Although this meeting had gone smoothly it had still taken time for all the Alphas to agree and the discussions about the merits for some of the 'new' laws. However, Amy insistence that they worked and had worked for at least a century had those who were hesitant agreeing.

Everyone stood back to allow the centaurs to leave first unless they wanted their feet trampled by heavily shod hooves. Tarval tapped Amy on the shoulder, "so... after lunch are we going to finally duel." He asked knowing that seeing Amy actually fight would add to her standing among the other Alphas and strengthen what she was trying to accomplish here.

Amy nodded, "sure, sword or hand."

"Sword I think, I want to see how you wield that hunk of metal you call a sword." He replied as they both walked from the room leaving bewildered people behind in their wake. Gabrielle threw a startled look to Dominic who simply shrugged just as surprised as she. Tarval rarely duelled people as he had to this day never met his match, and as a sword master that was saying a lot. He had simply given up on fighting weaker opponents and had focused on his art to the point where no one dared to even think about challenging his title. Michelle and Sage just glanced at each other; they weren't going to miss this duel.

Gabrielle nudged Sage over as she took her seat on the bench. The news that Amy and Tarval were going to duel had spread during lunch and almost everyone was here wanting to see an infamous Gephalim warrior take on the woman who was more than she appeared. Destiny glanced around looking for a good seat and sat near Crystal at her prompt.

"So what do you think?" Destiny asked Crystal.

Crystal thought for a moment, "when I first met her I knew she was perhaps the most dangerous creature I've ever met and I have met some dangerous creatures in my journeys." She explained, "getting to know her... hasn't changed my perception."

"Really?" Destiny asked, she took a deep breath and winced, that delicious scent had gotten stronger and had made up its mind, it was now mouth-watering and had her fangs wanting to extend.

"What's wrong?" Crystal asked.

"There is this scent that hits me no matter how much blood I drink, I want that scent. This is strange for me as I have never desired anything like this." She explained to Crystal hoping that the other woman would be able to give her some advice.

"I can't help you; I've never desired anything like that. Just be careful, Amy will kill you if you bite someone." Crystal warned.

"What if they want to be bitten?" Destiny said then frowned wondering where that came from.

"Just don't... if you value your life keep your teeth to yourself." Crystal warned, "Breath through your mouth, the scent shouldn't affect you as much. Do you know who it is coming from?"

Destiny took a deep breath; Crystal grabbed her forearm to hold her just in case Destiny went into hunt mode. Destiny closed her eyes as she focused on the scent, which she kept breathing in and what it was telling her, she had to sort it a little as there were so many people crammed into one space but she finally had a picture of who the scent belonged to. She quivered a little in desire but she hadn't gone into hunt mode which both pleased and puzzled her.

"Female, mid-thirties, Were, some kind of cat, recently turned." She said listing the qualities the scent could tell her. "About ten feet back and to the left of me."

Crystal turned and spotted the source of the scent, it was easy since there was only one woman in the group who fit the description. Alanna, Maria, Garnet, Becky, Electra, Susan and Mayhem were the group who were laughing and chatting. It meant that Susan was the woman who fitted Destiny's description as she knew all the others were born Were or adopted years ago, as Alanna could be very talkative if she wanted to be.

Crystal frowned as she turned to Destiny, "you really need to tell Amy that Susan's scent is troubling you. If she knows about it she might be able to restrict Susan's movements."

Destiny took a deep breath through her mouth and nodded, "after this I'll tell her."

"I'll be there if you like?" Crystal offered.

Destiny nodded, she wanted the support.

The room went quiet as the two in the ring had stopped stretching. Vivian stood between Amy and Tarval; she had volunteered to be the referee in these challenges. "Combatants will be using swords, rules are yield to win, and first blood is not victory. Since this is immortal battle there are no red zones." Vivian explained and since everyone in the room had some knowledge of fighting they understood Vivian's words. First blood meant simply that, one of the fighters had to draw blood, via the weapon of choice, first or disarm to trigger a yield. Red zones were no go areas for weapons, neck and groin being the most common areas but it also depended on the weapon, if someone attacked a red zone they instantly lost through disqualification. However, since Amy and Tarval were both immortal first blood was taken off the rules for victory, only a yield would make one the victor which meant this could be a very bloody battle.

"MA!" Alanna called,give him a chance, see if he can tap the other Tarval's memories or tap them for him or he will make a complete fool of himself without them.She finished silently.

Amy nodded she had wanted to test this out on her daughters but she may as well start with Tarval, "just want to try something, close your eyes and open your mind to me." She told Tarval who glanced to his mate for a fraction of a second, both put their weapons in a standby position, before they closed their eyes and Amy have her way with his mind. She focused for long moments until she felt something which acted like a one way mirror, although the mirror was 'dirty' it still allowed some things to bleed across from that other life, that other universe.

She focused and cleaned the one way mirror completely allowing all of that other Tarval's memories to flow into this one, she frowned as the mirror only seemed to work one way. She opened her eyes to watch him cock his head as he suddenly started to remember things that he couldn't possibly have experienced.

"Ready?" Amy asked.

He thought for a moment and nodded as he too got his sword into a ready position. Once that was done both turned and nodded to Vivian. "Commence battle." Vivian declared and stepped out of the ring quickly. Amy and Tarval saluted each other by bringing the cross pieces of their swords to their lips.

Gabrielle quivered as she watched Monster in Amy's hands, she had never been afraid of one of her creations but Monster was the exception. When Amy had opened her mouth to say her swords name Gabrielle had been afraid as to what Amy would say. Relief filled her when Amy said Monster and not the swords true name.

Most swords only had one name, but there were some swords that were so powerful that their true name needed to remain known only to the wielder and maker of the blade. Her only thought after she heard the fake name was at least it went to someone who was noble like Amy clearly was as she would hate for THAT particular sword to fall into anyone else's hands. She watched as Amy handled Monster with ease, it would not have been a sword she would have suggested for a woman of Amy's size but having seen Amy in her beast form she understood that Monster was built so that it could be used in that form not this one, but it didn't seem to hinder her.

Tarval watched as Amy stepped back and lowered her sword, pointing the tip towards the ground. He went to lunge.

"NO!" Alanna called out stopping him before he moved; he stepped back from Amy and glanced puzzled to his mate. "Don't let her guard fool you." She warned clearly anxious as she didn't want her mate badly hurt even if he would survive his wounds.

Tarval turned his attention back to Amy,guard?He questioned himself,what guard?Amy grinned at him as if she knew his thoughts; she hadn't moved or taken advantage of Alanna's interruption. He approached and they circled for several moments before he threw out a feeler, a quick jab to test her reaction.

Before he knew it her sword had blocked his and a quick movement later she stepped back and showed her blade to him, one edge had a small smear of blood on it. She smiled as she took back her guard stance and waited. He finally felt the burn of pain from a cut on his check. He stepped back several paces as he reached up and touched his check, he pulled his fingers away to show blood.

The Da'Vaila were as stunned as everyone else in the room, they had not expected that to happen. Muttering broke out among groups, those with any real sword training leant forward and were going to do their best not to blink too much less they miss a movement.

Alanna moved down to the ring. "Use what she did before you started to fight; she's deadly quick when she goes to block you need to counter block her." She coached.

"How the fuck does she move so fast?" He asked a little shaken.

"You can move that fast... don't underestimate her, Monster looks big but to her it's like wielding a pen knife, she doesn't feel the weight." She added. "You can do this, be light on your feet and constantly expect her lightning fast responses."

Everyone watched Alanna coach her mate and wondered why Amy was letting it happen. But since Amy was letting it happen most just accepted it and wondered how Tarval was going to fight Amy. Michelle and Dominic's eyes met, Tarval was the sword master of the Da'Vaila and Amy didn't even appear to try in that little tussle, the others, Paul, Peter, Sage, Gabrielle and Joan were just as concerned.

Tarval watched as Amy bounced lightly smiling. He walked forward, "how do I win?" He asked Alanna as he focused on Amy. Amy chuckled in amusement.

"Um... you can try." Alanna answered which instantly alerted him to the fact that no matter what he did he was going to lose this battle; he just had to work hard enough not to completely disgrace himself. "Oh..." she said suddenly remembering something, "and she's as good with her left as she is with her right."