Past
Giovanni
Everything hurts. Everything feels like it's being weighed down by thousands of pounds. I can't move. It feels like my limbs are being dragged further and further under a black sea of water. I can't breathe. My lungs aren't working, and yet I feel somewhat at peace. I can't open my eyes, but then I feel hands on my face. My peace is broken by the smooth, cold hands of the person. Suddenly, with a lot of force, I am flung forward. Air rushes into my lungs and my eyes snap open to see a world of endless white.
Before me stands Athena, or the person I assume is Athena. She looks the same as the ancient drawings my mother made me study for years on end. Pale, healthy looking skin, hazel eyes, long white hair with strips of colour, long legs. She is breathtakingly beautiful.
"Giovanni!" My ears still feel as if they are full of water, her voice hard to hear. All at once this splitting pain rips through my skull. It feels like something thicker than water is draining from my ears. Suddenly hands are on my face again, Athena standing directly before me. Her hands grip my face tightly as she shakes me ever so slightly. "Giovanni you must wake up!" Her urgent voice that somehow manages to still be soft and delicate calls to me, very clear now.
"Athena?" The words leave my lips as more of a question then response.
"There is no time for questions, Giovanni. It is taking the last of my powers to keep your soul here. You must fight, you must wake up!" She calls to me, but the thought of waking up, the reminder of what's waiting for me stops me.
"I can't." I start to cry, the same thick liquid that fell from my ears coming from my eyes. "I've lost everything, there's no point anymore." I close my eyes and raise my hand to hold the heart locket around my neck, the last thing I had left of my heart. I held on to this hope, this prayer to the Elder Gods to let Jake live, but I know it's in vain. He won't wake up.
"Giovanni." I hear the soft, sweet voice.
"Now you've come to torment me because I couldn't save you." I hiccup, crying harder.
"Giovanni listen to me." The voice tells me sharply. The slim hands of Athena are replaced by the soft, calloused hands of one of the only things I have loved most in this world. "Open your eyes." I do as I am told. Before me is Jake in the place of Athena. He looks the same as he did before when we were laying in our bed, not a care in the world.
"I'm so sorry." I cry harder, allowing my head to fall onto his shoulder. He wraps his arms around me, holding me close.
"It's not your fault, enough of this self pity shit." He tells me, harshly but with the ever-present love he always let show around me. "Where's me strong warrior that is stubborn enough to run into head on fire from the enemy?" He pulls my head from his shoulder and rests his forehead against mine. "Where has the fire I have come to love in you gone?" He asks me ever so softly. With a light soft press of his lips against mine, Jake fades away from in front of me. I sniffle and wipe my tears; tears I now see were blood.
"That was a dirty trick, Athena." I speak in a calm voice, directing the comment at the woman a couple feet in front of me.
"But did it not work?" She asks with a raised brow. I smile slightly and shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest.
"I'm never going to get to rest, am I?" I ask with a shake of my head. I'm not expecting an answer, but I am given one anyways.
"I cannot be certain if any of us get to rest." She speaks softly, I almost miss her words.
"Alright then, send me back." I sigh, uncrossing my arms. "Someone's gotta help you keep an eye on those kids." She gives me a bright smile and steps forward, hugging me.
"Thank you for deciding to stay." She says softly before pushing against my chest. I fall back into a pillow of white, falling through an endless abyss of white. Different visions, some memories, some visions of the future all around me. They all play before me, but my mind only latches onto one. Jake, fully conscious and in my arms. In the same second it was there, all of it is gone. I gasp for breath, taking in a large lung full of air. My eyes snap open to see Athena looking at me, hands cupping my face.
"Thank you." I tell her before she passes out. I manage to catch her before she hits the ground. Scanning my surroundings, I see that everyone is gone, it no longer sounds like anyone is fighting. Lifting Athena in my arms, I leave and head towards Wynnona's ship, finding it open. Wynnona sits on the top of the ship, changed out of her fancy dress in her usual wear. Leather jacket, skinny jeans, combat boots. I smile as I watch her take a swig of what I assume to be alcohol. Something that looks kind of like a head sits beside her. Other than that, she looks breathtaking in the fading light of the planet's sun.
"Wynnona!" I shout to get her attention, wide smile on my face.
Wynnona
"Wynnona!" I hear my name shouted from behind me. I sniffle again, but don't turn around.
"Fuck off Brett, I told you to leave me the hell alone." I growl back.
"I'm offended you think me to be your second rate, adoptive brother." I almost cry in joy. "My eyes are obviously a better blue then his." I jump down and drop my bottle, everything coming second to the view of my brother in front of me, alive.
"You're alive." I cry as I run into his open arms. He lightly laid the girl in his arms down before lifting me up into a tight hug. My legs dangle under me, my feet barely off the ground as I cry into his shoulder.
"It's okay Wyatt, I'm here. I'm alive." He keeps whispering to me until I calm down. I pull away from him and punch his shoulder as hard as possible. "Ow!" He glares at me.
"Never do that again you jackass!" I shout at him. He looks as though he's about to argue back but we are stopped by a sweet, melodic laugh from beside us. The beautiful woman I had been seeing in my dreams sat beside us, a large smile on her lips, eyes pinched closed in laughter as she laughed full and heartily at us. To say I was speechless or dazzled would be an understatement. When she stopped laughing, I offered her my hand to help her up.
Her soft fingers meet mine and the world around me fades. Her eyes lock on mine and all I can see is her. Her dazzling hazel eyes, perfect smile, even her hair looks perfectly messy. I am beyond breathless as she smiles sweetly at me. I pull her to her feet; she stands on her shaky legs for only a moment before she falls. Instinctively, I reach forward to catch her, holding her securely to my body. I look over to Giovanni as her delicate hands cling to my body, her head resting on my shoulder. He gives me a smile, like he knows something I don't. Before I can say anything, loud footsteps come from my ship.
"You're alive!" Lillian shouts as she runs from Oriana's arms to Giovanni, hugging him. He smiles wide at everyone and hugs them all as well, Brett only shaking his hand. I think he now notices the space that speaks volumes between Keya and Brett.
"Giovanni, I asked Oriana this already, but would you be willing to train me to fight?" She asks. Brett instantly steps in, attempting to continue being a protective boyfriend. But it seems weird, we all know his secret now.
"That's a terrible idea, what if you get hurt again." I must admit, I can see the hurt in his eyes, the hurt and love he has for Keya. Brett has never been an emotional person, but I can clearly see every emotion he feels.
"When did you start caring if I got hurt? Last time I checked, you didn't." Keya gives him a harsh growl with an equally cutting glare. Star whimpers and jumps out of her hold, coming to me and the white-haired beauty in my arms. I'd forgotten she was still in my arms.
"I will happily train you Keya." Giovanni concludes the fighting for the moment. "Now if you'd all excuse me, I need to check on Jake.
"He now sees what I see." Athena says softly for only me and Star to hear. "I see visions of the future, by saving him he now will as well." She sounds exhausted. I lift her up into my arms, my hands encountering the amazingly soft skin of her bare legs and back. The small white dress she is wearing leaves little to the imagination.
"Get ready to set out." I call to everyone as I enter my ship, walking to my room to make Athena more comfortable. Once there, Star hops off my shoulder as I set the beautiful woman down.
"Thank you Wynnona, but you needn't give up your bed to me." She speaks softly, still clinging to me for balance. I sit beside her on my bed, holding her hands in mine. Over the past little while I'd done some thinking. I am starting to get a better hold of what happened.
"You need to rest, regain your strength." I tell her sharply, but softly. It's strange, I've never felt the need, or been, this gentle with someone. "Besides, I no longer trust that Needledrop won't attack at any given moment." She nods and gets into the bed with a bit of help. I leave Star there with her, turning off the lights and closing the door. I leave the ship to get her ready to leave. My feet lead me on auto pilot to where I was sitting before Giovanni showed up, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and the head of Parker.
Lightly, I toss the bottle into the ship and slowly walk to the castle, or better said what remains of it. I did quite the number on the poor place in my rage. I find where the royals left the remains of Parker and toss his head on the pile of limbs. I don't think even Doctor Frankenstein would be able to put Parker's dismantled body back together. I message my sore neck, bruises did, in fact, end up forming on my neck where he grabbed me.
After I basically destroyed the place, we found the king and queen hiding somewhere. After a fast conversation we left. I apologized for the mess I left, and they agreed to join the rebellion against Needledrop. There wasn't much conversation after that, everyone was more concerned about getting the hell out of there. A couple servants brought our stuff back down to us. I turn around and find Brett standing behind me. His blindingly bright blue eyes are drained of colour, face sad.
"Wyatt, can we talk?" He asks, voice soft and head cast down. He stares at his feet, one kicking at the dirt.
"Is this about the fact that Parker referred to you as Abrettden?" I ask, studying him. His muscles tense but he never looks up to meet my eyes.
"How did you figure it out?" His voice is sad, full of lost hope. He knows me well enough to know I figured more than just that out.
"Parker said that name and you looked as though you thought you'd never hear that word again. I guessed it was a name." I run through everything in my head. "You also recognized the symbol on his chest faster than I did. You were brutally beaten up when those asshats took Keya. Beaten but not killed. It raises many questions because they had no issue with killing people. I guessed that you had some sort of personal connection to them. Instead of killing you they would make you into an example because you betrayed them. Am I wrong?" I finished. He laughs softly, but there is no humor.
"You are smarter than they thought." He shakes his head and says softly. "Florence will really regret underestimating you." I almost miss the last part of what he said, he speaks so softly. Brett spends the next hour explaining everything to me. His past, my future. He explains that he used their advanced tech to travel back to our time, all for a girl. Turns out Keya and I were never supposed to meet. I was meant to die trying to protect Giovanni from an attack because he and I grew up together. Keya was meant to die at the hands of Cobra, being beaten and raped by him. She took her own life in the history Brett tells me.
"Time travel has its effects on the time you travel too. Because of me your family was separated, and you grew up with me instead." He stops to help me unplug part of the ship that was being used to recharge it. He keeps explaining as I walk to the main control system and sit down. "I'm the reason that Needledrop found us so many times. They have been tracking me in a way I don't know how to stop."
"No, they haven't, Abrettden." Athena's sweet voice comes from behind us. She stands with highly messy hair and my blanket wrapped around her. "They have always been able to track me. If they find us any time now it will be because of me." She walks over and cups Brett's cheek gingerly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, you did what you must to survive. That is admirable." She places a soft kiss to his cheek. "If it had not been for you, I would not have my champions now. I suggest you explain everything to your lover, she's rather upset with you." He nods, mutters his thanks to Athena, and runs off leaving her and I alone. Star sits perched on her shoulder.
"You should be resting." I tell her. I'm worried about her.
"I have rested for centuries; I'd like to see how my universe has changed while I've been gone." She comes to stand beside me.
"That seat isn't taken." I point to the second seat at the control panel. "Let me show you some of the universe." I start up the ship after she's sat down. She smiles warmly at me and I can't help the way my heartbeat picks up.