A Long Time from Home Ch. 35

Third, judging from the level of power I felt, the node had to have returned to being one of the greatest Leyline Nodes on the planet and that normally took even longer. In fact, according to what I have been taught, so long that a Leyline Node shouldn't even be here yet and most likely not for a thousand years. So, something must have happened to speed up the process a lot.

Activating the knowledge, I had gotten from Alice, Rita, and Karen, I did a quick search to see if I could find an event big enough to influence Leylines. Considering the amount of power needed to affect Leylines, that should be easy enough, as it normally took meteor-strikes, giant earthquakes, or huge volcano eruptions to affect the Leylines in this area of the world.

It wasn't as easy as I had thought.

According to their knowledge, no major catastrophes had hit earth in the last few hundred years. At least not of the kind I was looking for.

Puzzled, I searched for human-made catastrophes instead, as that was the only option left, and struck gold almost immediately. According to Rita's knowledge, a thing called a nuclear bomb emitted some sort of pulse, that could knock out electronic devises, and that sounded like something that could influence Leylines.

Feeling the tingle in my body, I chuckled to myself. If other Leyline Nodes had resumed functioning as this one had, the humans were in for a real surprise, as ancient human magic would gradually start to function again, including some of the items that, according to Rita, was placed in museums around the world.

No matter what, I guessed that the Interpol would have some interesting years in front of them, hunting small-time spell casters, that was using their newfound powers to commit crimes, while keeping to truth hidden from the public to avoid panic.

The timing was also interesting. The humans had started testing the nuclear bomb at the end of their second world war and apparently that had led to the development of even bigger bombs, that were tested numerous times as the development moved on.

Considering that Parker had been somewhere between fifty and fifty-five years old, he must have been born between nineteen forty-five and nineteen fifty, which was just within the timeframe. That left a distinct possibility that there was a connection between the two. Especially since I doubted these abilities could have remained hidden if they had been around for hundreds of years. As I had considered before, the very fact that the public didn't know about them, indicated that humans having power was a recent development and that there couldn't be many of them.

The tingling in my body increased and after considering it for a moment, I walked back to captain Wolf. "Captain, can I persuade you to take a little detour?"

She looked over at me with amusement on her face. "Mr. Ivan, we're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There are no 'detours' out here, only course changes."

That made me chuckle. "Fair enough. Could you turn five degrees northward from your present course for a while."

The captain glanced up at the sails and nodded. "Ja, I can do that."

I stood next to Captain Wolf for a couple of glass, giving slight course corrections, while we sailed closer to whatever was out there.

Then there was a glowing light in the dark waters. Not like another ship, but the glow of power from a Leyline nexus, a large node where more than two Leylines crossed each other.

For a moment, I expected Captain Wolf to ask me what the glow was, but then remembered that unless people had power and training, Leylines and their nodes were invisible.

The glow intensified as we came close, without reaching a level where in was irritating to the eyes.

"What is that?" Captain Wolf suddenly asked, surprising me. Since she could see it, it obviously wasn't the glow from the Leylines she was asking about, so I concentrated for a heartbeat to negate the ability to see Power. The glow disappeared and I discovered a faint light shining in the dark. Not in the water, but it looked like it hoovered about eight cubits (4 meters/13 feet) over the water.

"I don't know, but please sail over there."

The captain looked at the instruments for a moment. "We can do that. We got ten thousand feet of clear water under us, so whatever it is, it's not a reef buoy."

She used the controls to strike the sails, lowering the speed of the vessel before she started the engine and use that to steer us to the light.

"I'm gonna take a closer look at this. Please sail as close to it as you can." I informed the captain and walked down the stairs. The flybridge was too high and I wanted to see it up close.

I had just reached the deck, when Petra came out, looking like she had just woken up. "What's happening? Why're we on engines?"

"Come." I said and led her around the superstructure, so she could see the hoovering light. "Because I wanted to take a closer look at that."

She looked puzzled as she studied the phenomenon. "What is it?"

"No idea, which is why I wanted to take a closer look." I said and walked over to it, followed by Petra.

Using Ars Mentalis, I reached out to examine the light, but as soon as my senses touched it, it dimmed, revealing a silvery pyramid shaped object that looked like it was made from the metal-glass alloy my people called adamant. The sides were engraved with a fiery script that glowed a reddish yellow against the silvery adamant. However, the whole pyramid was semi-transparent, like it wasn't quite there in reality, and I had no doubt that if I tried to touch it physically, my hand would go right through it.

"What the fuck?" whispered Petra.

I snorted to myself. Despite the elaborate way the script was created, the inscription simply read. 'Imple virtute capiens ', which in Baylon meant 'Channel power into this and catch.'

Walking closer, I did as the inscription said. It took some time, but suddenly the pyramid gave off a flare of light and started to fall apart, light coming out of the cracks the energy made. I blinked in surprise. Adamant was one of the hardest and toughest materials ever made. I had parried elemental attacks with my adamant sword without damaging the blade at all and yet, the magic in this one was powerful enough to tear the adamant pyramid apart.

"Get back!" Shouted Petra. "It's gonna explode!"

I risked a glance over my shoulder to look at her. "No, it's not."

I turned back towards the pyramid, just in time to see it dissolve and an egg-like black object appeared. Unlike the pyramid, however, it didn't hoover in the air, but fell as soon as it appeared.

As the inscription had said, I caught it before it could hit the deck.

It felt warm to the touch and I immediately recognized it as being made from black diamond. Another very hard material and, like Adamant, very resistant to power of any kind.

The black diamond gave of a glow and suddenly a semi-transparent illusion of my sister appeared on the deck, looking exactly like she did the day Baylon had left this world, though her dress was different, which was strange. Not the dress, but the fact that she didn't look older, despite it being almost three thousand years since I had said goodbye to her.

"Hey, crazy brother. I don't have much time, but you need some explanations." Pandora said and made a little pause before she continued. "We arrived in our home dimension two years ago and while the storm is still raging, they're at a level where the shield can hold them, so we're good. Just as important, the transition through the rift took no time for us, because no time exist between the dimensions." She paused again. "However, according to the magi, the transition took thousands of earth years."

My jaw dropped. I had never thought about what would happen in a trans-dimensional crossing, aside from the question if the shield would hold or not, and I've certainly never considered that there could be different times or no time at all between the dimensions, which explained why she hadn't become older.

I could also feel an enormous weight disappearing from my soul, making me ears flow from sheer relief.

Ever since Baylon had disappeared, there had been a small part of me doubting that they had really made safely through the rift and having it confirmed meant a lot more to me that I would have thought.

Then I felt Petra approaching and a moment later I was hugged from behind. Thankfully, she didn't say a word, but just hugged me, taking the top of the piercing feeling of loneliness I felt just then.

Pandora continued. "The time the transition takes are dependent on the size of the object coming through, so this capsule should only take a year to reach you." She smiled. "Some people think you have died from old age, but Verina and Jia claims that there's a Vis meditation that will keep you alive and the Ordo Mentalis healers says, that you know an Ars Mentalis trick that can do the same."

I nodded to myself, tears still running down my face. Both were true, though the Ars Mentalis trick she talked about didn't work quite that way. It was a high-powered healer trick that forced your entire body to rejuvenate, taking years off your physical age and while that sounded good in theory, there was a limit to how many times you could do that, before your body gave up. There might be an advanced version that worked better, but as I had already used the Peaches of Immortality, it had been useless to me and I had used my time to learn other things, instead of that single and extremely complicated trick.

"Now for the important part. When this contact capsule arrives at earth, it will give off a warning signal that will penetrate everything and alert you to its presence, as well as telling you where to find the contact capsule. We tested it and it will pull you out of even the deepest healing or Vis-trance, though you will most likely not know exactly what woke you up. For that reason, the signal will be repeated once a moon until you have found this."

Well, at least that explained why I woke up, I though and then blinked in surprise as I realized that it hadn't even been a moon since I had stumbled out of the cave. Either the Goddess of Luck had a serious sweet spot for me, or she found my mistakes to funny to be without.

"Getting you back," continued Pandora. "Is more difficult and I honestly don't know when it will happen. Fortunately, you're now a national hero and the High King have ordered that the magi must find a way to get you back to Baylon, so we will send a new contact capsule when we know more but expect it to be at least thirty years. It's really not easy." She smiled a bit. "And now I've used all the time I had. Verina, Jia, Ivanka, Kaeso, our parents, Tia, and everybody else sends their love." She suddenly looked serious. "I love you, crazy brother of mine... Oh, and your kids are still adorable."

She waved to me as the illusion faded away, leaving me to look at the gently rolling sea, while I cried.

Being hugged by Petra helped a lot. Especially since she had the sense to not ask questions, but just let the hug and the mere presence of her console me, while I wept out three thousand years of uncertainty.

---------------

Cleaning up took some effort, since I had to lock the memory in captain Wolf, meaning that she couldn't access it or talk about it. It would have been easier to simply erase it, but after having seen what Parker had done, I didn't want to go down that route unless I really didn't have another choice.

Petra was another matter. I could lock the memory, but I've had hundreds of years of keeping secrets, and I was sick and tired of it. Anyone should have at least a few people, they could trust. That didn't mean that they, or in this case she, should know everything, but a little would go a long way.

"We need to talk." I said sometime later, when the two of us were sitting in the den, drinking tea.

That made her smile a wry smile. "Are you going to tell me what happened on the foredeck?"

I nodded. "What you saw and heard on the deck was a memory, projected into this." I said and held up the black egg-sized stone. "It's a mental technique and not because this is some kind of magical item."

"Got it." Petra said with a nod. "So, who was the hot chick and why did it make you cry? You don't really strike me as the emotional type."

"Let me start with the last question." I said and drank some of the tea. "For years, I thought my family was gone forever, but this proved that I was wrong, and after years of uncertainty the feeling just overwhelmed me."

"As a soldier, I can understand that." Petra said with a slow nod.

"And the 'hot chick' was my sister." I said and chuckled when she looked like she regretted saying Chilli was hot. "And yes, she's a beauty."

"How can..." started Petra, but then stopped herself. "Oh, sorry. I forgot you're from Croatia."

I didn't want to lie any more than I had to, so I just shrugged my shoulders and let her draw her own conclusions. It also gave me a little time to compose myself, so I could talk without tears coming in the way all the time.

"And now that you know that she alive, what're you going to do?" Petra asked softly.

"Nothing." I said, "she'll contact me when she thinks it's time. To be honest, I'm just happy she's still alive."

"I get that." Said Petra slowly and looked thoughtfully into the air for a heartbeat, before focussing on me again. "While we're on that subject, can I send a message to my family to tell them I'm alive?"

"As soon as we figure out how to do it, without bringing them in danger." I agreed.

She shuddered. "Good idea. Those assholes have no qualms killing anyone they think will expose them." She was silent for a moment and then asked. "What language was it anyway? It didn't sound like Croatian."

"An old version of Latin." I said with a smile. "Using it ensures that most people won't understand what we're saying. Pandora and I have used it for years."

"Smart." She commented and stretched. Usually, I feel a flash of desire when a attractive woman did that in front of me, but not this time. There was simply too much on my mind.

"So," she said with a little smile and stood. "How about we go to your cabin and have some sex?"

I looked at her, thought about it and shook my head, as I stood up as well. "For once in my life, I need to say no. I have too much to think about and it wouldn't be fair to you." She looked stunned, so I continued. "Don't get me wrong, you're gorgeous and I would love to share pleasure with you some other time, just not today."

She looked at me in disbelief. "You really mean that?"

I nodded. "Yes. As I said, it wouldn't be fair to you."

She shook her head. "Damn... you're the first man ever to say no to sex with me."

That made me laugh. "That's because you're incredible sexy and smart, Petra, and almost any other day in my life, I would have carried you to bed immediately, but not today."

She took a step forward as she nodded and gave me a hug that I returned. Then I gave her a quick kiss. "Thanks for the emotional support on the foredeck. That meant a lot to me."

She lit up in a surprised smile, said "You're welcome... and now, I'll go back to bed", and walked towards the stairs leading to the lower decks.

"Sweet dreams." I said and sat back down again.

I would have loved to see Verina and Jia and everybody else I knew, but I guessed there was some sort of limitation on the spell, that made that impossible.

The information, that it was the contact capsule that had waken me up was interesting. Until now, I had assumed it was hearing the Twins talking to each other, that had woken me up, but apparently I had been wrong... unless the two events had happened at the same time, which was entirely possible.

One mystery solved at least, but it still left me wondering why I had gone into the trance in the first place and why I couldn't remember anything from that time. I had no idea how I got to Spain or why I decided that going into a trance was a good idea. In fact, one of the last things I remembered was Commodus becoming emperor of Rome and even that was vague.

According to Rita, that happened in the year 180, but while it was possible that I had gone into the Vis trance right after that, I had no evidence for it. In theory, I could have been wandering around the world for hundreds of years before something erased a part of my memory and perhaps even caused me to go into a trance.

The upper limit was determined by how long it took for the magical items to be consumed or the clothes and leather items to dissolved. I didn't have any knowledge about the last things, but magical items had a maximum lifespan of three thousand years and I had been told, that the captains seal that had turned to dust while I had been in a trance, had been almost a thousand years old when I had received it. That put the upper limit to around year eleven hundred.

I sighed. That didn't help much. A difference of eight to nine hundred years was way too large to be useful and nothing else I had could give me some clues. Not even the gold coins helped me, as they were only used in the Roman Empire and I wouldn't have used them for the gold value alone unless I really had no other options, which rarely happened for me. Mostly because there were always rich people who needed healing and were willing to pay handsomely for it. At least in ancient times.

With another sigh, I stood and walked towards the master cabin. I needed sleep and time to digest all the information I had just gotten.

---------- Alice, Rita, and Karen ----------

Wednesday, 12th of July, California

"Training this hard have to be illegal." Rita grunted tiredly as she sat down on the bunk bed in their room at the Volleyball camp. "Doesn't the Geneve convention outlaw torture?"

Karen laughed as she sat down on the other bed. "Yes, but unfortunately the Geneva Conventions only concern prisoners and non-combatants in war, and not student athletes in a training camp."

"Right now, there isn't much of a difference." Sighed Rita and looked up as Alice walked into the room with one towel around her body and another around her wet hair, looking almost as fresh as she had been in the morning. "How can the two of you be so energetic after the training we've just been through?"

The tall blonde grinned. "Well, after twelve years of being a mother to a pair of active twins, I've built up quite an endurance and in case you didn't notice, Karen trained a lot during our vacation... unlike some others whose name shall remain unspoken."

Rita sighed again. "Guilty as charged... Well, I better go take a bath."

"One second," said Alice and leaned against the bunkbed. "I have something I want to ask the two of you."

"Oh... Go on then."

"Well, after we returned from Malaga, with the kidnappings and everything else that had happened, my house suddenly felt very big and empty."

Both Rita and Karen nodded. Alice was the only one on the Volleyball team that lived by herself in a large house and to make it even better, it even had a pool large enough to allow the whole team to be in it at the same time. Built to look like a Spanish mini estate, the house was known as Casa Baker among the team, and located a mere mile from the university, it was a favourite hang-out place. Surrounded by a tall wall, it was also a secure place.

"I talked with Zena and Cyra about it, and we agreed to ask if you guys want to move in with us." She smiled at the stunned expression on her friends faces. "I'll have to charge you for the added expenses, but even then, it should be cheaper than living in the dorm."

"Are we talking about the two big rooms on the first floor?" Asked Karen curiously.