Terrael grew up in paradise, until the Fomorians showed up. Now Humans, Hypers, and Fae all face extinction and Terrael is their only hope. Can he get used to his own changes and make the one change that can save them all?     Shocking Developments Part 1 of 3 Dystopia By Amethyst

I was laying in my hammock in the small cottage my mom and I shared, listening to the rain falling outside, wondering how paradise had gone to hell, and thinking about how few of us there were left. The Humans were surviving, those that remained anyway, but only because of my Faery kin, my mom, and the other Hypers. There were fewer Hypers and Fae every day though, as we became weaker and weaker from the daily attacks by Fomorians. They almost never attacked us in large numbers anymore, they took turns so they could all get some sport out of it, and sometimes we managed to kill one or two of them.

The Fomorians badly outnumbered us now, and they were Gods, we had enough trouble just handling the small groups. The goddess Dana was using a good deal of her magic just keep the shield around the settlement and prevent them from attacking us without having to fight them every day as well. She used more magic each day recently, every time we lost another Hyper or one of our mages.

Maybe a little history is in order. In the year 2018 Earth was destroyed by an event called the Flare. A Hyper named Stellar was assassinated over the Atlantic coast while she and some of her teammates were performing a rescue operation. Stellar’s body had been believed to be invulnerable, and it needed to be, because it prevented her core, a low mass star from destroying her and everything around her. Somehow someone had managed to penetrate that invulnerability though, and the Flare occurred.

The core consumed everything around it in a burst of plasma and radiation, including Stellar, her teammates and most of the east coast of the United States and Canada. The core then began consuming not just the hydrogen from the water but the earth as well, causing earthquakes, tsunamis and electromagnetic storms as the planet began breaking up from the intense gravitational field the core was generating. And as the planet broke apart the core added the planet’s mass to its own.

The Goddess Dana, my aunt Kara, and my mom were teammates of Stellar’s who were working a different mission at the time. As the Earth broke itself apart they worked to gather what survivors they could find before the end and Dana transported them all to Tír na nÓg. Back then there were nearly a hundred and fifty humans and close to thirty Hypers. The survivors had hoped to make a new life for themselves in the paradise they had been brought to, but Paradise was already occupied.

The Fae, or the Faery folk, had fled to Tír na nÓg nearly eight centuries earlier; feeling that they could never coexist with mankind, and leaving only small pockets of their own kind on Earth. Not that there were many of them in Tír na nÓg either. When they had left Earth it was because they had been hunted to near extinction and since many of them had fertility issues there hadn’t been a huge population boom since then. There were less than five hundred when my mom and the other survivors arrived. The Fae probably would have wiped them out if it had not been for Syryn and the Goddess.

Fae are born with magical marks showing their clan somewhere on their bodies, though the color and location of the mark varies by person, like a magical birthmark. Once every fifty years they can impart their clan mark on an adoptee should they not be able to bear children of their own. Syryn bore a Fae clan mark showing her as an adoptee of one of the Fae, and not just any clan mark, but the one belonging to the royal family. The Fae were also already acquainted with the Goddess Dana, so with their help a truce was made. The survivors could live among the Fae so long as they kept the peace and allowed any children born to have adoptive Fae parents, in addition to their natural human ones.

Things were going fine and we were all living in relative peace until a year and a half ago. That’s when the Fomorians came. Dana said that the destruction of the Earth may have weakened the magic that sealed them in ghleann na ndólás. That was the prison where they were placed after the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh. It was then that the Tuatha de Danaan left Earth for Cathair na Danaan, the city of the Gods, and left the Fae and the humans to divide the Earth as they saw fit. It didn’t really matter how it happened though, they had come and we were unprepared. We lost a large number of Humans, Hypers and Fae in that first attack, including my father Pharen.

There were only six adult Hypers, fewer than a hundred humans, and barely over one hundred Fae remaining. My mom, Jackie Evans, was one of the Hypers. Before the end of days on Earth she had been a superhero who had gone by the name Slush. Stellar had been her best friend and since she had come to Tír na nÓg she had been truly lost. She had not only lost her best friend, most of her teammates, and her family, but her world as well and I think she was hit hardest of all during those first weeks. My father had seen her need for love and companionship and had begun a friendship with her, which quickly evolved to more, and less than a year and a half later I was born.

My aunt Kara was another of the Hypers remaining. Like I said before she wasn’t really my aunt, more like a big sister to my mom. While her real name was Kara Sòng, she went by Crystal for the most part. She was physically the strongest of us all and provided crystals that helped the Goddess hold her own against the Fomorians during the day. She used those same crystals to create near indestructible weapons and for other uses as well. Then there was Aunt Kara’s husband, and sort of my uncle, Tom Karlson. You can probably figure out why she never took his last name, not that there were really official marriages anymore anyway. They had been together for the past five years. Uncle Tom had been known as Ares before the Flare and had been near death so many times, but he always seemed to come out of it in one piece thanks to his healing factor.

Their daughter Hope was three years old and she was a Hyper too. I don’t mean that she had dormant H Chromosomes, but rather she was actually an activated Hyper. Her birth had been a difficult one and had caused major health problems for her and as a result she had activated a few hours after being born, activating her healing factor. She had inherited that from her father, but she got something from her mom too that had only been discovered recently. She could encase her body or anything she was touching in a crystalline shell that bent light around it, making it, and whatever was inside, effectively invisible. She could even move with the shell in place. I sometimes jokingly called her Peekaboo and with that ability my ‘cousin’ was really hard to keep track of. She also seemed to get a kick from using that ability to surprise people.

Then there was Syryn and Rave, otherwise known as Candy Graham and Amy Quinn. Amy was the one who handled the transportation and she had been a big help in gathering the survivors since she created teleportation portals. Before the end she had been a groupie/roadie for a Hyper band and super hero group called RevolveR. Candy had been the lead singer and leader of that group, and was one of the most powerful telekinetics that had ever been recorded before the Flare. Amy didn’t make any secret that she practically worshiped the older mutant. There was one other Hyper, but we didn’t talk about her much.

I guess having a Mom that’s a Hyper made me a Hyper too, but we weren’t entirely sure about that yet given my mixed heritage. You see my father was one of the Fae and since there’s never been a half breed who’s Fae and Hyper before we weren’t sure what I could expect. I couldn’t be sure if I had H Chromosomes, much less whether they could actually activate. I didn’t mind too much though, since I was quite comfortable growing up learning the fighting style, archery, swordplay, and magic of my father’s people.

Being half Fae I could gather magical energy without even really thinking about it and my mom said my grandmother had been a talented sorceress too, so with the two combined my real talent was at learning magic. At fifteen, after less than a year of learning under my aunt Virrae, I had already earned three Eenuka marks for healing spells. Eenuka marks take a lot of talent and hard work to earn, and are sort of like badges saying that you’ve mastered a spell to the point where you don’t even really need to think about it to cast it. When a Fae mage gets to that point the spell becomes part of them and appears as a tattoo-like mark, often somewhere near their clan mark.

I actually knew a lot of spells, but I had wanted to learn those three to that point so I could use them even if I was tired or low on magical energy. One never knows when you might need a healing spell, especially in our lives. So the first three I had dedicated myself to were a spell to make wounds heal quickly, one to mend broken bones, and a purification spell. Now that I had learned those three to that point I was trying to decide whether to work on gaining marks for more advanced healing spells or some defensive ones.

My Eenuka marks all ran down the outer edge of my upper right arm in swirling patterns around my butterfly shaped clan mark. The clan marks are sort of special too. In addition to showing which clan we belong to, they also allow us to use our clan’s special ability. These abilities are different for each clan. In Syryn’s, case the royal family are able to inspire loyalty and confidence in others with their mark. Hope’s adopted clan was the Changeling clan so she could change her features to some degree. Not as well as an actual Fae from that clan, since she was human, but hair and eye color and even some facial features wouldn’t be too hard for her to alter consciously, once she was old enough to train. Until then her features tended to vary a bit from day to day. My father’s clan, and thus mine as well, is the Pixie clan and our mark allows us to change to a ‘pixie’ form. The form looks the same as our normal body, but it’s only like eight inches tall at the most, has insect-like wings that are different for each person, and allows us to gather and use a lot more magic than we can in our normal forms.

I heard voices outside my bedroom as I lay awake that night. “Can’t you send one of us Dana?” my Mom was saying. “Terry hasn’t even activated yet, and we don’t even know if he can.”

“Jackie, we’ve tried it that way before,” the Goddess replied with a sigh that was audible through the woven curtain that acted as a door. “You tried going yourself; you know that the timeline won’t accept someone who already existed then. We need to send someone who was born afterwards. Terry is the only one who fits that and is old enough to make the plan work. We need someone with powers to change things and, even if he doesn’t have H Chromosomes, he is a very gifted magic user. We both know we can’t keep holding off the Fomorians much longer. Soon I won’t have the power to spare to even try sending someone back, I’ll be putting it all toward keeping us alive and them at bay. It’s got to be Terrael and it’s got to be soon.”

“I… know,” my mother spoke hesitantly. “It’s just… he’s my son. He doesn’t even know anything about the technology or culture like one of us would. Even if he does stop it from happening, what will happen to him back then?”

“He’ll live Jackie, which is more assurance than I can offer if he stays here and we don’t send anyone back,” the goddess answered tiredly. “We’ll all be dead soon anyway if things keep going this way. At least this way he has a chance. How much longer do you think we can really last the way we are now? Candy has been pushing her telekinesis so hard that every time she uses it now she’s risking organ failure or severe brain damage, and Amy can’t focus because she’s so worried about her. Kara is barely able to keep standing after these daily battles, and she’s been even worse since she lost her eye last week, and then there’s you and Tom.”

“I’m fine,” my mother said curtly.

“Bullshit Jackie,” the winged woman countered. “We can all see what’s happening, and you and Tom are just too determined to look strong for the rest of us that you don’t want us to know how bad things are with you. Every time your ice form gets broken it gets more difficult and takes longer for you to pull yourself together again.”

“I don’t let it affect my performance in combat,” Mom snapped.

“No, you and Tom just both push yourselves even harder and it’s going to end up killing you just like it is him,” Dana replied sounding more than a little sad. “I... I shouldn’t tell you this Jackie, Tom doesn’t want anyone knowing, especially Crystal, but… he’s dying. He’s been continuously overtaxing his healing factor for the past year and a half. We’ve all been going without a break, but the affects for him are even worse than for Candy. His healing factor has gone into overdrive, it’s not stopping and it’s causing growths to form. Virrae can’t do anything for him and, at the rate the growths are forming; she thinks he’ll be dead within a week. I don’t think the rest of us can hold out much longer than that either.”

I gasped as I heard that. I knew things were going bad, one only needed to see them return from a battle, to see how much this was wearing down the Hypers and what was left of our warriors and mages. I had no idea it was that bad though. Apparently I was loud enough to be heard as the curtain was pushed aside and they entered my room. My mom looked tired, but then she often did these days, and her ice blue eyes were moist. Dana didn’t look much older than me and had silvery blue hair, turquoise eyes and beautiful white wings which she had to fold tight against her back and shoulders to get through the doorway.

The goddess gave me a weak smile. “I thought you were awake Terrael, could you please get dressed? We’re going to be having a meeting in the grotto and we’ll need you there too.”

Soon I was dressed and the three of us had walked through the quiet settlement to await the others in the grotto. The grotto was where people in the settlement usually went to relax, take a swim, and be at one with nature. At night it was usually well lit by the phosphorescent plants that grew there, giving it a somewhat peaceful and romantic feel. The trees would also keep us somewhat dry in the rain so I made a mental note to sit beneath one of the thicker ones.

We weren’t the first ones there. Aunt Virrae was there with another of the Fae mages named Lorrian and Syryn. Syryn is usually pretty hard to miss with her light blue skin and bright pink hair, but I almost did miss Rave. That’s not really my fault though since at night she kind of blended right in at the grotto, her skin was jet black and she had bright green glowing hair. If had hadn’t been for the slight movement of the various lines and geometric patterns she has all over her skin in that same glowing green, I probably would have missed her altogether. The glowing irises of her green eyes fixed on us as we approached and I waved to the group.

“Tom and Kara should be here soon,” Candy told us as we approached. “They just wanted to make sure Hope was sleeping peacefully first since we needed Terry here.” Usually when they had meetings like this I wasn’t included and Hope and I would spend the time playing together, or I would show her whatever new spells I was learning.

“Good,” Dana replied with a nod as we all made ourselves comfortable. “I guess while we’re waiting for them we should tell Terrael why we’re all gathered here.”

Rave snorted in disgust. “Terry’s not stupid and it’s pretty obvious to everyone that sooner or later the Fomorians are going to finish the epic ass-kicking they’ve been handing us. We have nowhere left to go, nowhere to run or hide, and every fucking day we get closer to kissing extinction. So let’s just get on with it and tell him the plan.” One thing about Amy, at least she’s direct.

Dana frowned, but nodded in agreement. “Terry, we have a plan to prevent any of this from ever happening, but we need to send someone back in time to do it. Someone who can prevent the one event that leads to all of this from happening, the death of Stellar. Unfortunately, the time line will not accept the presence of the same person more than once in the same timeline, so we need to send someone who wasn’t born yet, and you’re the best candidate.”

“But if we did that, even if I succeeded, wouldn’t I just make it so I wasn’t born? And wouldn’t that just cancel out any changes I made?” I argued uncertainly.

The winged goddess shook her head. “My mother Danu once told me that time isn’t entirely linear; there are many possible dominant timelines and each is like a tree with a trunk that represents the dominant timeline itself. Right now this is a dominant timeline, but there are branches further down the tree, major turning points where other possible timelines branch out from. If you manage to prevent Stellar’s death, this possible future would still exist, but only as a branch rather than the trunk of the time tree. So, in essence, you’ll still exist to go back if you manage to change the timeline to a more favorable one, which would become the new dominant timeline.”

“So, if I got this right, I’ll be climbing down the tree and creating a new branch, but I’ll still be in the same tree?” I asked.

“That’s about it. Just that the new branch would become the trunk and make the tree grow differently from that point on. If I understand Dana’s time babble,” Amy put in. There was some laughter at that and Dana rolled her eyes as she nodded.

“So, how am I supposed to stop this from happening? The few things I do know about Earth at that time are from stories. I won’t have any idea how to survive, where to go, or what to do,” I argued.

“We’ve taught you to read and write English as well as you do Elvish, and you know math and some sciences as well. Those skills will help and Lorrian thinks he can help with the rest,” Dana replied. That explained the other mage’s presence, his specialty was mind magic. “He’s going to try and give you some of your mother’s innate knowledge of the time we’re sending you to. Not memories, but the basic knowledge you’ll need to get by and find the assassin.”

That was a bit of a relief if it could actually work, otherwise I’d have no idea what to do. It did prompt my next question though. “Do we even know who this assassin is?”

“The assassin was most likely a Hyper who called himself Null,” Uncle Tom’s voice said and I turned to see him and Aunt Kara entering the grotto. Uncle Tom was muscular yet lean with dark red skin and black hair and despite being over eighty years old he still looked to be in his early twenties. Aunt Kara was of Chinese descent with electric blue hair and eyes… or rather eye, since she now wore an eye patch where her left eye had been a week before.

The pair sat down across from me on a log and Uncle Tom continued speaking. “The assassination fits his style and his ability. Most mutants of his type cancel out another mutant’s powers, but that wouldn’t have worked with Stellar since her invulnerability wasn’t a power but a side effect, a biological trait that evolved to keep her core from killing her or others. Others tried to cancel out her invulnerability and failed, but Null could cancel out one of another Hyper’s unique biological traits, or one of their powers, as long as he could see the person. Her core probably started destroying her before the bullet even hit her, once he canceled out her invulnerability. Null liked taking down mutants with a reputation for being un-killable. Before Stellar he killed Paragon, and before that several other mutants with a reputation for being indestructible.”

“How do you know about this guy Uncle Tom?” I asked.

“He was supposed to become a Titan,” the red skinned Hyper answered with a grimace. “Gaia activated him and named him Caerus, but he refused to join us and left, because of our code to not harm other Hypers if it could be avoided. He was a killer, pure and simple. He saw himself as a God-killer and three of those he killed were fellow Titans. He almost killed me as well, but Hermes prevented it. He thought of himself as a warrior, but he was a damn coward. He liked to wait for his victims to be preoccupied and shoot them from a distance with a sniper rifle, using the scope to see them well enough to use his ability while shooting.”

Aunt Kara nodded thoughtfully. “That means when you look for him at the assassination locations you’ll have to search out places he could fire from. It would be somewhere high with a good line of sight to the location. Your pixie form would be good for scouting those areas.”

“What do you mean assassination locations?” I asked in confusion. “I thought you just wanted me to stop Stellar from being killed.”

“We do,” Mom pointed out, “and the best way to do that is to stop the assassin before he can even try. If we send you too close to the time when Stellar was killed, the odds of you failing are higher. So the plan is to send you to just before the earliest known assassination by Null and give you more time and opportunities to stop him. Tom will have some information for you on the times and places of several of these attempts, and Dana can give you the time and place when Stellar died, in case all else fails.”

“I still regret not tracking him down and ending him myself before all of this started,” Uncle Tom muttered, “I had intended to after he nearly killed me and I started a journal with information on the times, places, and other details of his jobs up until Paragon. I was hoping to find a pattern, but I never did. If you don’t get him by the time he kills Paragon, his attempt on Stellar will be your last chance though.”

“Well at least that will give me something to work with,” I said with some measure of relief. “Is there anything else that could complicate things?”

Syryn nodded and sighed. “There are a few things you should know Terri. Try to stay away from clothes made of synthetic materials; they’ll bother your skin, though blends should be okay if they’re mostly natural fibers. Also, there were a lot of preservatives and such in foods back then and, since you aren’t used to that, it may take a little while for your digestive system to build up a tolerance. At least you won’t have to worry about cold iron though, they mostly used processed iron, aluminum, other metals, alloys, and plastics to make most things, so things made of pure cold iron were rarely seen.”

“There’s one more thing too,” Amy pointed out. “You may have inherited H Chromosomes from your mother. If they activate in the past we won’t be able to help you figure out your powers and deal with any physiological changes. Some of us really go through the wringer when we activate, just look at Candy and me. Having it happen in the past could complicate the mission. We’ll need to find out if you do have them and, if you do, activate them before you leave.”

My mother’s eyes shot wide open. “You can’t seriously be thinking about taking Terry to see her,” she sputtered. “She wasn’t playing with a full deck before the Flare. After she threw away any cards she might have had left.”

“Tom and I will take Terry to see her,” Dana offered, though she was frowning and her wings seemed to twitch in agitation. “She’s mostly lucid with us. We need to do it tonight though in case Terry needs a few days to adjust to having powers before we send him. I’ll need to create the time portal on the full moon, when I’m at my most powerful, and that’s in two days. So we’ll take him now while you and Lorrian prepare the spell for giving Terry some of your knowledge of the past.”

The rain was coming down harder and there was thunder as the goddess and Uncle Tom led me to the small dark hut on the outer edge of the settlement. It was the home of the Hyper that nobody really talks about. She never left the hut and nobody visited her except for Uncle Tom and Dana. The latter of the two opened the door and took a look around the darkened one room hut as Uncle Tom and I stood just behind her. “Gaia, are you here?”

Giggling emerged from one of the dark corners. “Here, but not here. Always here, but ever there. Long gone and yet I linger still.” A wraith of a woman with crazed eyes and a manic smile shuffled toward us. She was hard to make out in the darkness and when Dana created a globe of light I could see why. She seemed to be nearly completely transparent, like some form of ghost; maybe the rumors about this hut being haunted were true. She had brown hair, long enough that it dragged along the ground behind her and her crazed eyes glowed with an eerie green light.

She seemed to notice who her visitors were and though her eyes were still crazed, they stopped darting around the room to focus on the pair I had come with. “Selene, Ares, it’s so nice to see you both. You are the only of my children who ever visit me; we really must get the whole family together soon. I know you all have busy lives, but one should never be too busy to spend time with their mother and the halls of Olympus seem so empty without you all here with me.”

“I’ve told you not to call me that Gaia,” Dana said with a sigh, though it was pretty apparent she thought it was a lost cause.

“You’ve always been one of my most willful children Selene; you, Hephaestus, Demeter, and Astraea. How are they? I really wish they would visit. Demeter grows the loveliest flowers and Astraea and Hephaestus might argue with me, but they really are two of my brightest children and I only want the best for them. Should I summon Hermes and have him bring them for a visit?” Her spooky green eyes turned thoughtful.

Uncle Tom was whispering in my ear so quietly that I could barely hear him. “You’ll need to play along. Pretend that you’re one of her children and that you want to ‘embrace your destiny’.” When Gaia turned pensive he took that as a good time to speak to her. “They’re all so busy… mother. We all are. Ruling over all those humans and keeping them from destroying themselves and us is a lot of work. I’ll have some of the others visit when they have time. We found a child you might want to meet.”

Uncle Tom stepped aside and pushed me toward the apparition. When she saw me the glow in her eyes seemed to intensify. “Welcome my child,” she said with an only slightly less manic smile. “Your human guise is an interesting one, not completely human, perhaps part nymph? But there are the seeds of Godhood within you and I can see you for what you truly are. Why have you come before me today?”

A swallowed the lump of fear that had formed in my throat as I stepped forward and tried to make myself look eager and nervous rather than terrified and shaking as I held out my hand. “I came to embrace my destiny… Mother.” Calling that madwoman my mother was disturbing, so I tried to push it out of my mind by thinking of my real mom waiting out in the grotto. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that the flash of lightning outside made me jump a little as Gaia reached out and took my offered hand.

As her hand touched me I felt a warmth flood through me until it felt like my entire body was on fire. I was dimly aware of falling to my knees as the feeling became painful and it felt like my whole body was being twisted inside out. Finally it was over. I was gasping for air as violet sparks flew along the surface of my skin and I heard Gaia say, “Welcome to Godhood Astrape.” Then I blacked out.

I awoke under a tree in the grotto with everyone who had been gathered earlier looking down at me in concern. As soon as my eyes fluttered open Mom squeezed my hand, “Terry, do you feel alright? You went through a pretty big change there.”

I thought about that before replying. Other than the big weight on my chest and a feeling that my entire body was now somehow different I felt great. “I… I feel weird, but think I’m good Mom,” I finally answered. Whoa, was that my voice? It sounded very feminine, but that probably explained the weight on my chest and the other odd sensations I was feeling.

“We should have warned you to keep your mind clear, but we haven’t had anyone activate since Hope did and nobody was expecting that to happen,” Uncle Tom said with a sigh. “When Gaia activates someone they’re usually not in any real danger so it slipped our minds that the thoughts of the person being activated affect their form and power expression a lot more than when they are in danger and the circumstances have an effect as well.”

“I’m afraid that your new form is female Terry,” Dana cautioned me, though I had kind of figured that out already. “I know it’s going to be hard to adjust, believe me several of us here know that, but you’ll manage. Your Archetype may even help with that.”

I shrugged my shoulders and tried to act casual as I sat up. “So? It’s just the biology that’s different right? I’m sure I’d get used to that in time even without the Archetype to help.” Okay maybe I was a little more intimidated by the thought of getting used to a female body than I was letting on, but really that was the only thing that was bothering me at the moment.

I was raised Fae and we don’t have set gender roles, nudity taboos, or anything socially that hints that the body is more important than the person wearing it. We are all people and all the clans are a bit different, so we’ve learned to express ourselves as who we are rather than what we are. Pixies are a prime example of that since we have two separate forms. The Changelings even more so, since their genders are as variable as the rest of them. Biology is just a secondary concern to the Fae and, except for getting used to the intricacies of that new biology, being female was about as big a deal to me as being half human, neither changed who I was or that I identified as Fae.

Once they were all certain that I was coping okay Dana cast some spells to try to figure out what exactly my powers were since we had no technological means to do so. Apparently all the magic energy I was gathering was being transformed into electricity. That would complicate things for a few reasons. First, as a Fae I’m always gathering some magical energy without even thinking about it, which means I’m now always producing electricity and I couldn’t touch anyone or anything without releasing some. The second problem was that the more magic energy I tried to gather the more electricity I had. It was all being changed and I couldn’t use any of it to cast spells. The only spells I could use were my Eenuka marks, because those were part of me.

I could of course change to my pixie form still, but it now matched my new female form and my increased magic gathering ability in that form still wasn’t allowing me to use magic, and generated massive amounts of electricity I had to try to disperse without hurting anyone. I was starting to get very frustrated by this since I loved using magic and I was pretty damn good at it. Now instead of that I had a dangerous power that I wasn’t able to turn off. Finally I was frustrated enough that I snapped at the others. “How am I supposed to do anything useful in the past like this?! I’ll probably end up killing a bunch of people myself!”

“Not to mention you’ll probably fry any electronic devices you get too close to,” my mother agreed sadly.

“Leave that to me,” Dana offered. “Your Eenuka marks gave me an idea Terry. I think I can give you a similar mark and imbue it with an ability to switch your magic gathering capability on and off as you need it. It will be sort of like a seal, but one under your control. If you’re not gathering magic, you won’t be turning it into electricity, and that should help you blend in and keep you from harming anyone.”

“I guess that’s better than nothing,” I replied with a nod. “I’d rather be able to use magic though. Only having three healing spells available is going to limit me. I knew I should have tried earning a mark for an offensive and defensive spell too.”

“At least you still have your combat training, and your mental exercises should help you learn to control your powers better, they worked for me,” Candy pointed out.

The winged goddess put a hand on my shoulder, “You’ll adapt Terry; just give it time. For now though I’m going to put you to sleep so I can place that seal with your other marks and Lorrian can give you some of your mother’s knowledge of that time period. After that we’ll all need to get some rest. We have a busy two days ahead preparing you Terry, and I doubt the Fomorians are going to be giving us any time off.”

When I awoke the next morning my head certainly didn’t feel filled with new knowledge, though when I looked at my right arm I did notice a small lightning bolt shaped mark had been added just below the swirling pattern of my purification Eenuka mark. All my marks seemed to be lavender now instead of green, including my clan mark and my new seal. I guessed that the seal was in the ‘on’ setting since I wasn’t able to feel any magic around me and wasn’t generating sparks. It felt horrible not being able to sense the magic around me; it made me feel so empty inside so, just to make sure this wasn’t permanent, I thought about turning off the seal.

Instant relief flooded me as I could feel the magic around me again and drew some of it in, causing those violet sparks to flash and sizzle along my skin. Mom was pretty sure the night before I could probably absorb electricity too, or at the very least was immune to it, since my power didn’t seem to be harming me. Reluctantly I re-activated the seal and felt somewhat empty again, but at least I knew now that it was just hidden from my senses, it was still there if I wanted or needed it.

I lay in my hammock for a while after that, thinking about what I had been dragged into. Being female really didn’t bother me that badly, but my situation did. Everyone was counting on me to go back and change things for the better, but as things stood I wasn’t sure that I would be able to. I couldn’t use magic now, the one useful skill I would have had for this mission, and instead I was saddled with new powers that I wasn’t sure I could control. The whole prospect of going to the past, let alone attempting to change it, was terrifying to me, but I also knew how bad things were and that if I didn’t do it none of us would live. As scary and uncertain as the prospect was I had to try.

In trying though I would be leaving everything I was familiar with and everyone I loved. I’d probably never see another Fae in that world, and if I didn’t want things getting too complicated I’d have to actively try to avoid anyone I might know in that time too. I would be giving up my family, my friends, and probably my way of life as well. Unfortunately the only alternative that seemed to present itself was for me to stay and all of us to die as a result of my inaction. It was a hard realization to come to and earned me no small amount of tears.

Finally I dried my eyes and left my room to find my Mom sitting in the main room. “How are you feeling sweetie?” she asked, her eyes full of concern.

“I’m okay Mom,” I tried to assure her, wondering if she had heard me crying. I tried to act casual as I added, “Although I don’t feel filled with knowledge of Earth in the past.”

She nodded as she continued to watch me. “Lorrian didn’t want to overwhelm your mind so he made it so you’ll get the knowledge gradually, as you need it, once you’re in the past.” She sighed and said, “You know sweetie, except for your elven features, you look a lot like me at that age. You could be my elven twin.”

“I was wondering what I look like,” I admitted. “Do you think I could have a look before we get to whatever preparations need to be done today?”

Her response was to generate a thick and smooth-surfaced wall of ice in front of me that was large enough for me to see my whole body reflected there. Before my change I had taken a lot after my father, tall and lean with reddish brown hair and green eyes. Now though I was a little shorter than my mom’s current height and slender with sensual curves in the way that most Fae women are. My chest was a bit larger than average for a Fae woman though, not much smaller than my mother’s.

My hair was longer and thicker now, nearly waist length, and had gone nearly as light as my mother’s platinum blonde, though mine was wavier and had a silvery lavender tint to it. The face that hair framed looked nearly identical to my Mom, though I was obviously much younger and there were some Fae features. There was also slightly more arch to my eyebrows and my pointed ears were stubbornly trying to be noticed as the tips were sticking out through my thick hair. My large eyes retained the shape and slit pupils of a Fae, but they were a pale silvery violet in color. Everything else though I had inherited from her; the shape of the chin, the high cheekbones, the small nose, and the cupid’s bow lips.

“Wow,” I finally said. “That is going to be hard to get used to seeing.” As much as Fae tended to not define ourselves by a physical form, that face and the new biology were definitely going to take a little getting used to. “It’s probably going to cause problems too; I really don’t look very human.”

Mom came over and wrapped me in a hug and, as she was right there, I was struck again by how alike our faces were. She nodded as she gave me a good looking over. “You’ll need to disguise those elven features of yours in public. It won’t be such a big deal when using your powers, especially if you’re wearing a costume, but you will need a good disguise when you’re trying to blend in.”

Out of curiosity I also had to have a look at my pixie form. It looked just like my new female form, only with wings and Mom said I was about six inches tall. In my old male form my wings had been like dragonfly wings, but now they were like purple and black butterfly wings. They felt as strange as the rest of my body, but they were still wings, so I figured it was just one more thing to get used to. Mom thought they suited my new form well and I had to admit that they at least suited my new coloring.

After that we went to have breakfast with Uncle Tom, Aunt Kara, and my favorite little munchkin, it was sort of a tradition for us since my dad died. Hope looked a lot like her mom and today she had blue eyes and pink hair, but she also had this look of confusion on her face as my mom and I entered their home and sat down at the table with them. “Momma,” she said while tugging at Aunt Kara’s sleeve, “where’s Terry an' who is the pretty Fae?”

“That is Terry honey, he got activated last night,” Aunt Kara tried to explain.

“Nuh-uh, Terry is a boy Fae an' he don’t look like that,” she said, shaking her head and crossing her arms defiantly.

I stood up and walked to the other side of the table to kneel beside her chair and turned the chair so she was facing me. “It’s me Peekaboo,” I told her seriously. It got her attention since I was the only one who ever called her that. “You know how your Changeling family can change their bodies to suit their moods?” When she nodded, wide-eyed, I went on. “Well Mom and Dana told me that when we Hypers activate we sometimes change like that too, to suit our powers and our thoughts at the time. I was thinking of my Mom, see how we look alike now?”

The three year old looked from me to my mother and back before nodding. “Are you gunna change back?”

“No, this is me now and I can’t change again, except to my pixie form, but I don’t mind and I’m sure we’ll both get used to it.” I shook my head as I tried to reassure both of us that I was okay with this. “I may be Terrilae instead of Terrael on the outside now, I’m still the same on the inside and I still love you very much sweetie.”

She thought about my words for a moment before hugging me tight. “Are you still a boy pixie or are you a girl pixie too?” she asked once she let me go.

I concentrated once again on my clan mark to change to my pixie form and flew up to land on her knee. “I’m a girl as a pixie now too, see.” I told her with a smile to try and reassure her.

“You’re really pretty now, an' these wings are much prettier than your old ones Terri.” She said after a moment.

“Thank you Peekaboo.” I flew up to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, making her giggle, before I returned to my human sized form and took my seat again for breakfast.

After breakfast I spent much of the morning sparring with Uncle Tom and some of my Fae kin as I tried to get used to my new form and center of gravity. Six Fomorians attacked just after lunch, while the others were out fighting I watched over Hope. After I had put her down for a nap I tried to start using my mental discipline exercises to gain some semblance of control over my new abilities. I had managed to figure out how to direct my electricity in a sphere around me or fire it at a target, it wasn’t much, but it was a start.

After a while I also decided to take a bath in the grotto in an attempt to familiarize myself with my new body. It had been different and a little weird relieving myself after breakfast that morning. I had just tried to tell myself that at least I was still half Fae, the biology was just biology, and I would get used to it in time. I had just finished washing up and had gotten out of the pool to dry off and get dressed when Hope’s voice shouted behind me “PEEKABOO!”

If I had been wearing clothes I probably would have jumped right out of them, and I had to take a minute to take deep breaths and calm my racing pulse when Hope appeared from seemingly nothing. Usually I could sense where she was with my magic sense since her clan mark technically made her a magical being. Unfortunately while I had been bathing I had those senses turned off so I wasn’t generating electricity. As a result I hadn’t sensed her and she had scared me out of probably a good few years of my life. Okay you’re probably thinking, ‘hey you’re Fae, a few years of life is no big deal to you’, but let’s see how you feel when you get scared like that.

“Goddess! Peekaboo, you scared me.” Since until now I had always been able to sense her, I never realized just how effective her invisibility could be to non-magical folk. It also made me realize that I had been depending too much on my magic senses when I had perfectly good hearing, sight and smell. If I had been paying better attention I probably would have heard her.

The munchkin looked upset, shuffling her feet and looking down. “I’m sorry Terri.”

I reached forward and picked her up to kiss her on the forehead. “It’s okay sweetie, in fact it’s probably a good thing. I need to learn to use my other senses more. So how about I get dressed and we play peekaboo for a while. You try to hide and sneak up on me using your power and I’ll try to catch you before you do, using only my eyes, ears and nose.” We did just that, and I had managed to detect her using those senses twice before Mom and the others returned.

I was worried about the other Hypers and Fae when they returned from defending the magic shield that protects the settlement. We had lost seventeen more of my Fae kin in the attack. Those left, my mom, and the other Hypers looked like they were ready to fall over, especially Uncle Tom and Candy. Uncle Tom was in the process of re-growing an arm and looked like he was in a lot of pain. Candy had a bloody nose, could barely walk, and was leaning on Amy for support as they all entered through one of the black skinned mutant’s teleportation discs.

There was an attack early the next morning, but it was only one fairly weak Fomorian and he was easily taken care of before breakfast. After breakfast I again spent much of the morning sparring with Uncle Tom. My balance and my sense of my new body seemed somewhat improved over the day before, but that was a small consolation to me. Uncle Tom had been distracted and wasn’t moving near as fast as he usually could and that just wasn’t like him at all. That and the fact that I knew he was dying worried me. We were taking a break when he finally broached the subject that had been on his mind. “Terri… when you go back to the past Kara and I would like for you to do something for us. We… want you to take Hope with you.”

I thought that my jaw might have hit the ground then. “What?!”

“We can’t last much longer Terri, they’ll wipe us out soon,” he admitted tiredly. “Even if she does somehow survive what’s coming, what kind of life can Hope have here once we’ve fallen? You’re family to us and Kara and I know you’ll take good care of her, do your best to keep her safe, and give her a decent life. We already talked it over with Dana and she agreed to send her back with you.”

“Uncle I adore Hope, you know that, but I’m not even sure I can take care of myself back then, let alone a child,” I told him sadly.

“You’re one of us Terrilae, you’re a survivor. You will do what needs to be done and I know you’ll keep Hope as safe and happy as you’re able as well. I’ll have some things to help you.” He paused uncertainly. “There is one thing though; nobody in that time can know she’s my daughter, not even her. This afternoon Lorrian will make all of her memories of me fuzzy. She’ll remember that her father loved her very much, but she won’t know who I am or recognize me if she sees me in that time. This is very important Terri. If Gaia or even I find out she’s my daughter in that time, the Titans will come after her. I don’t want that life for her, or you, so if you meet me or any of the other Titans back then, do not trust them.”

I was staring at him at this point. He couldn’t be serious. “Uncle, I…”

“It’s what has to be done Terri, you know from what I’ve told you of the Titans that they would corrupt her. I was no better back then, it’s better this way,” he said with a shake of his head. “You know I’m dying, consider this my dying wish. I’ll die happy if I know that you and Hope have been sent to the past and have a chance to survive. So please, promise me you’ll do this.”

“I… I promise Uncle Tom. I’ll go back and stop all of this from happening, and I’ll protect Hope with my life,” I vowed as I leaned forward to hug him as tight as I could.

“I know we can count on you Terri. Hope’s last name will be Sòng, like Kara’s. I know Fae don’t use surnames, but you might want to consider using one in that time. Maybe take on your mother’s, Evans wasn’t too uncommon a name and it will let you have some part of her with you.”

“You’re probably right, family names seem important to humans, and I am half human. I wish I could take more than just her last name with me though,” I said sadly.

He took me back into their home then and handed me a small leather book that was worn with age. “In this book is all of the information I gathered on the Null assassinations. There are also the address, directions, and a key for one of the self-storage depots the Titans rent and use to store money, supplies and gear around the world. Gaia and I were the only ones to know about that one and I can guarantee neither of us ever went back to pick up any of the things we left there when we first rented it, so it should be safe to access. Like I said, there’s gear, supplies, and about fifty thousand dollars in cash.”

I nodded as some of the knowledge I had inherited from my mother filled in the parts I didn’t think I should understand, giving me an idea of how currency and the storage he was talking about worked. “I think I’ve got it.”

“Good,” he said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Be careful in that time. Mutants like us weren’t well liked or trusted by most humans and people could attack you just because you look different. This is especially true for you with your Fae features and your hair. Now let’s go talk to Jackie and Kara. We’d all like to say our goodbyes before the Fomorians decide to attack again… just in case.”

Mom and Aunt Crystal were playing with Hope, who currently had black hair and brown eyes, near the grotto. When we arrived Aunt Kara patted the ground beside her in invitation. I sat down and my aunt pulled the giggling three year old into her lap. “Hope honey,” she began. “Tonight you and Terri are going on a trip to someplace really far away, where the Fomorians can’t hurt you.”

“Me an’ Terri?” the girl asked looking at her mother in confusion.

She nodded, “Yes honey, just you and Terri, and Terri’s going to be taking care of you. So I want you to be a very good girl and listen to her just like you would me or your dad. Terri knows a bit about the place you’re going and she’ll keep you safe so you need to do as she says. If she tells you to hide, use your powers and hide. Do you understand honey? Will you be good for Terri?”

Hope nodded slowly. “Yes Momma, I’ll be good. Why can’t you come?”

I could see my aunt’s eye becoming moist with held back tears. “We can only send the two of you right now honey, but I’ll be sending part of me with you. Could you both please hold out your hands?”

I offered my hand and the munchkin followed suit, though neither of us really knew why. She touched each of our index fingers and formed very pretty matching crystal rings around them. ”There, now you will both always have a part of me with you, no matter how far away you are.”

We all ate lunch together and spent most of the afternoon together there in the grotto before Aunt Kara took Hope to see Lorrian. Uncle Tom’s face wore a pained expression as he watched his daughter go and Mom put an arm around him, giving him a squeeze. “Terri will keep her safe Tom. I don’t want them to go either, but this is probably the only shot they’ll have at living a decent life. As much as it hurts, we’re doing the right thing.”

He nodded, though he still looked pained. “I know Jackie; we had better take Terri to where Dana and the others are waiting so we can all say our goodbyes.”

They led me to the circle, the place at the center of the village where Dana worked most of her magic, including the spells that she continually cast to reinforce the shield that kept the Fomorians out during the attacks. She was waiting there along with Amy and Candy. Dana waved me over to the table where she had some scrolls and crystals and other magical items spread out, along with a few other items including some food, a black bag, and some bundles of cloth. “I’ll be ready to create the time portal within the next hour, but before I get started I have some things for you Terri. I’ll need to cast a few spells as well.”

I was suddenly nervous at the very real possibility that I would shortly be going back in time to an unfamiliar world and bringing a small child with me. I couldn’t bring myself to speak so I merely nodded. That was enough for her as she said, “The bag will be to carry the book and other item I have for you of course.” She held up a small, long pink crystal about the size of my baby finger that gave off a red glow. “This crystal will glow red as long as this remains the dominant timeline. Should you manage to change the past for one in which Stellar doesn’t die, it will stop glowing. The glow is important; if there’s none, you’re done, if it remains red we’re all dead.”

“I’ve got it,” I replied with a grim nod.

She took the book Uncle Tom had given me, put it and the crystal with the black bag, and gestured to the bundle of black and purple cloth. “That is sort of a costume for you. I thought you’d be more comfortable in clothes with a Fae style and the materials are silk and suede so it won’t irritate your skin. I’ve spelled it to change size with you when you change shape and to be fairly resistant to damage. Could you please put the clothes on and hand me your new ring? I’d like to place the size enchantment on the ring and I need you to be wearing the clothes when I work one of the next spells I need to do.”

I handed over the ring and started getting out of my current clothing; it wasn’t fitting my new dimensions well anyway. The new clothes were still in a Fae style, though it was a female style. We may not have specified gender roles and such, but female and male bodies are very different and those differences do affect what’s comfortable and what looks nice.

The outfit in question consisted of form fitting leggings of rich dark purple silk, matching elbow length gloves, and black suede knee length boots with soft soles. There was also a bodice in the same black suede, with a dark purple silk under layer that, when laced up, showed off my curves and displayed a lot of skin and cleavage. The bodice was secured against falling from my chest by soft braided silk straps that tied at the back of my neck rather than going over the shoulders and down the back. The result was that it left my shoulders and most of my back bare to allow for my wings when I changed forms.

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with my daughter dressing like that,” my mom stated once I was laced up and she got a good look at me.

“We need the open back for my wings Mom,” I told her, “and I do feel better in these than I would a costume like what you and the other Hypers wore. Besides it’s not like we Fae have a sense of modesty. I could probably feel just as comfortable wearing nothing.”

Mom frowned at that, but nodded. “It’s your body, just remember that the human society does have nudity taboos, so try not to get arrested for exposing yourself. You’re going to have enough trouble completing your mission and taking care of Hope as it is.”

Dana had finished what she was doing with my ring and placed it on the table with the crystal and the book before coming back toward us. “Before I let you put that ring back on I have two more spells to cast. I’m going to give you two more marks; do you want them with the others on your right arm or somewhere else?”

“I guess we might as well keep them all together,” I said with a shrug, “It’s not like I’ll ever be able to earn any more anyway.”

The goddess placed her hands on my right shoulder and I felt a slight burning sensation. When she removed her hands there was a new lavender colored mark, like a ribbon tied in a bow. “Okay Terri, before I put the other one on, let’s test this one.” I directed my thoughts toward the new mark as I did when using any of my other marks and my clothes all vanished, leaving me standing there naked.

“Where did my clothes go?” I asked. It wasn’t like being naked bothered me or anything; I just wanted to know just what that mark she had given me was for.

“Your Eenuka marks reminded me of the tattoos that Wisp used to have,” she began to explain. “One of her tattoos would replace the clothes she was wearing with her costume and vice versa. I’ve given you a mark that will do the same thing. I thought you might find it useful. Don’t bother getting back in costume since I have some other clothes for you to put on. They’re not Fae clothes, but they are materials that won’t irritate your skin and will help you to fit in during the time we’re sending you to. I have some made for Hope too. First though let’s give you that last mark.”

She placed her hands just below the ribbon mark and above my clan mark and the swirling healing marks to either side of it. There was the burning sensation again and when it faded and her hands had been removed I saw a pattern of tiny little stars there. “That one is a minor glamour that makes you appear more human. Magic users will be able to sense it though, as well as the fact that you’re an inherently magical being. To anyone else it’ll make your ears and eyes look more human, it will hide your marks, and you’ll appear to have blue eyes and light strawberry blonde hair. That’s the best I can do you help you fit in though. I’d have used something more powerful, but I’ve been using a lot of magic today between all this and reinforcing the shield earlier and I still need the power for the time portal later.”

I hugged the winged woman tightly, “Thanks Dana, I could have gone without though, I would have found some way to keep my features hidden.”

“I know, but I wanted to give you the best chance possible to succeed. For that you need to fit in among humans,” she replied.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Dana?” my mom asked in concern. “She looks an awful lot like I did at that age with that eye color and more human features. The hair isn’t much off from what mine is either.”

Dana sighed, causing her wings to flutter slightly. “I know Jackie, but I had to put as little power as I could into that mark and those colors were the closest normal colors I could get to her natural coloring. She’ll just have to do her best to keep a low profile until she’s sure that the dominant timeline has been altered.”

At that point Aunt Kara arrived in the circle and while I didn’t see Hope with her, that didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t there. “I asked Lorrian to wait ten minutes before waking Hope and bringing her here,” she explained when she saw me looking around. “I didn’t want to risk her seeing her father before the spell takes hold.” Then she wrapped me up in one of her bone crushing hugs. “Take good care of her, and remember that we love you both.”

Once she had released me Uncle Tom grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me right in the eyes. “Our fate is in good hands Terri. I know you’ll find a way to succeed and no matter what I’m proud of you for having the courage to see this through.”

I was surprised when Amy hugged me next; she had been so distant to everyone since Candy had begun working herself to the point of collapse in the daily fights. “Be careful Terri; try to find a safe place to stay. I know from experience how dangerous it is for a young mutant to be living on the streets. I would have gone myself if the timeline would have accepted me, but it’s up to you now. We’re all counting on you.”

Candy was next and I could feel her sadness and pride when she spoke. “Come look me up in New York someday if you manage to change the timeline, there’s someone I think you’d like to meet. Good luck.” I could feel something else in her voice too, acceptance.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that acceptance until Kara generated a pair of huge crystal swords for her and her husband as well as her own armor. Mom was hugging me by that point and there were tears running down her face. “Terri, I love you so much. I’m so proud of you and I know your father would have been too. We have to go now; Dana won’t be able to reinforce the shield while casting the time portal. We’re going to distract the Fomorians by attacking them for a change, to give you and Dana the time you need…” she couldn’t say any more as she was choked up with tears so instead she changed to her ice form and followed the others through the teleportation disc Amy had formed. I knew then that none of them thought they would be coming back.

“Mom, no!” I was starting to cry as I began to move toward the teleportation disc, but it was already gone and so were they.

“No Terri, they’ve gone to do their job and you need to do yours,” Dana told me as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “If you want to save them, then make sure you succeed. Let’s get you dressed and ready to go.”

It was with mixed feelings, and no few tears, that I got dressed. First I put back on the ring that Aunt Kara had made for me followed by something my mother’s knowledge identified as a bra and panties. The undergarments were made of white silk and felt nice against my skin, but given my current mood that was small consolation. Next there was a black suede ‘miniskirt’, a white silk blouse, and a fur-trimmed jacket, gloves, and ankle boots that matched the skirt. The black bag I had noticed earlier turned out to be a ‘purse’ and I quickly placed both the book and the crystal inside once I was finished dressing.

Hope arrived with Lorrian before I had finished dressing and by the time I finished I saw her wearing a simple rose colored dress. Dana was kneeling in front of her and getting her into a warm looking fur-trimmed jacket, boots, and gloves that were a near match for the ones I had on. “Hope it’s very important that you listen to Terri just as if she were your mom.”

“I will Auntie Dana,” Hope replied as seriously as she could.

She stood up again and turned her attention completely on me. “These clothes shouldn’t make you stand out too much, but it might be cold and I suggest you get more clothes for both of you as soon as you can manage it. I’m going to send you to the city of London Ontario on December 28th 2013. Tom said that the storage area he gave you the key for is there and it will allow you to get supplies and have a full week before you need to get to the first assassination location. He said that a week should be plenty of time for you to get there from London, if you can manage to board a train or bus.”

“That sounds good,” I agreed. “How close can you get us to this storage area?”

“If you could give me the key from the book Tom gave you I’ll use that as a focus for the spell, it should take you to the lock that the key was last used for.” I took the book from the purse and handed her the key and she nodded. “I’m going to start working the spell now, while I’m doing that there’s some food for you two to eat on the table. Make sure you eat now, because it may take you a while before you can get something to eat.”

I took Hope to the table and we shared the fruit, baked fish, and small loaf of bread with a bit of honey while the goddess began working on the complex spell that would send us back in time and to Earth. We had eaten our fill when she called us back to the glowing tear in time and space that had appeared. She handed me the key and I placed it back in the purse with the book and crystal. “You two be careful and stick together,” she told us as she wiped away tears and hugged us both tightly. Then she let us go and practically pushed us through the portal as we said goodbye.