"I don't want to get used to it! I want to go home!" Amaretto's voice was terse and she was beginning to get angry.
"I'm sorry Ama, but you're going to have to face it; we aren't on Earth Secundus anymore. People will want your Hourglass here too..."
Amaretto looked at her aunt with confusion playing through her features. "Earth Secundus? What's that?"
Katherine sighed in an exasperated tone. "My darling little Ama, that is where you are from. That is the reality where you grew up and where you are most comfortable. This place however, while it is close to your time is very different. It runs on a different time axis and has a whole different history.
Katherine looked out at the street and as she did so Amaretto frowned at her. "Reality and time axis," she mumbled to herself, "I don't understand what you are talking about."
Katherine seemed not to notice Amaretto mumbling and said, "What that history may have been, I am not sure. I will say this however: God save the Realm!" With that she pointed upwards. Amareto allowed for her eyes to wander in the direction in which her aunt was pointing and she gasped. Fluttering and flying in the wind was the Union Jack, but it was slightly different. In the center, superimposed above the traditional colors, was a large bronze gear with a ring of gold in the center.
"What is that?" Amaretto pointed to the flag and looked at her aunt with surprise.
"that my dear," began Katherine, "Is the sign of the Empire and realm of New Machina, also known as the Second Great Empire of England, upon which the sun has never set." Amaretto blinked a few times at this answer. Katherine watched in amusement as Amaretto's mouth dropped open.
"New Machina? What happened to just normal England?" Amaretto turned back to look at the flag as her aunt shrugged.
"That's something that Tempus would be able to answer and explain easier than I. Speaking of which, since we wound up here, he must be somewhere nearby...” Katherine trailed off as Amaretto's head whirled. She had to many questions about what was going on. Wasn't this supposed to be a trial period of some sort? First it was the hourglass, then it was la sorcéire, now it was this. There did not seem to be any shortage of problems going on around here. Amaretto felt like her head was going to explode.
Her Aunt suddenly chimed out happily”There it is! Come on, let's get inside before we are noticed.” Amaretto's hand was grabbed by her aunt and she felt herself being dragged across the street into a watch shop. The rain sloughed down and caught her off guard, but when she got into the shop, she realized that she was soaked anyways, even for the short distance that they had covered from the alley mouth to the shop. It took but a moment more, but her musings about how wet she was were soon replaced with the loud ticking that she head next.
The sound filled the whole of the shop and, though it was very quiet, was actually quite deafening. Amaretto's aunt breathed a sigh of relief. Amaretto was surprised to see that Katherine was not soaking wet. The next thing that went through her mind however was that she was in a watch shop. The horrifying image of all of the watches and clocks going off at the same time went through her mind. She hoped that it would not happened and thankfully, it didn't. Inside of the store behind a rather large counter top was an old woman who looked them both up and down.
The Woman was dressed head to toe in black. She wore a tight corset and a stiff necked blouse that was severely buttoned up all the way to her throat. Her hair was tied up into a bun at the base of her neck and was tightly cinched. The woman looked at the both of them and Katherine tried to smile at her to open the woman a little bit more, but that didn't actually seem to work.
“We are here to see the watch maker, is he in?” Katherine's voice seemed a little forced, but there was nothing that anyone could do about it. The woman behind the counter rolled her eyes and then pointed to a curtained doorway that was behind the counter. Katherine continued to smile and then grabbed Amaretto's hand rather firmly and all but dragged her through the curtained doorway. At that moment, Amaretto felt the familiar pull of something and then there in front of her was Tempus once again.
Tempus' mouth twitched slightly and then he said rather loudly, “you made it! Thank Fate!”
“I don't feel much like thanking anyone,” Amaretto mumbled. It was then that her stomach lurched. She clutched at her middle and fell to her knees.
“Tempus, make some tea. Her stomach is catching up to her now.” Katherine leaned down and patted Amaretto on the back.
The room was familiar to Amaretto, but as she watched Tempus began to set out tea on the small table that sat beneath the towering dark shadow. He started to absently pour himself a cup when he said, “Well I for one am glad to see you both are still alive.”
Amaretto blinked. “Still alive? Still alive? There was a chance that we could have been killed when you sent us off?” Amaretto forced herself off the floor and then shakily stood her ground to stare at Tempus.
Tempus paused and looked at his teacup frowning. He then looked up and said, “Well I hate to admit it, but when I sent you and Katherine to Monde Cruex, I was a little worried...” his voice trailed off.
“You thought that we were going to die! I ought to kill you!” Amaretto surged forward only to be stopped by her churning stomach settling and the firm grip of her aunt's hand on her shoulder.
“Now, now darling. Even though you want to, you can't. The line is simply too long.” Katherine paused to glare at the man in front of them. Tempus actually looked to the ground as his cheeks flared a deep red crimson due to embarrassment.
“sorry,” Tempus said. “When the alarm went off I knew it was trouble ans so I fixed coordinates without even thinking and I didn't realize it till later.”
“Well we made it giver or take a few miles,” replied Katherine acidly. “the temple was not crowded thank god. La sorcéire showed us something rather disturbing though that we were hoping to discuss with you.”
Tempus picked up the cup that he had initially been pouring tea into and then moved forward to pass it to Amaretto. “What did you see?”
The answer burst forth from Amaretto's lips before her aunt could even answer. “Her double at the Sand Mirror is in trouble!”
Shock fell along the lines of Tempus' face for a moment before he placed the cup on a saucer and laid them back upon the table. As he did so, Katherine walked over to the table and searched around the cup s and glasses for a moment before turning her full attention to Tempus. “Still no table brandy Tempus? You really should get some just for me at least.”
“No brandy at high tea,” snapped Tempus. Katherine looked surprised at the tone that Tempus had used. She then sat down in one of the small wicker chairs that surrounded the table and began searching through her purse, all the while muttering dire precautions and unimaginable curses under hear breath at the man who had denied her.
Amaretto looked back behind her aunt and Tempus at the table and once again saw the strange tower once more in her view. It was still shrouded in darkness, but Amarretto swore that as she stared at it, she saw a giant pendulum. It was slowly swinging back and forth without making a single noise. “Hey Tempus, what is this thing?”
Tempus paused in his pacing for long enough to turn his head and gaze towards Amaretto.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Grain Redux... Traveling and Amaretto enters a new Dimension...
The world that swallowed her was bright and filled with sound. It was like a tunnel that seemed to fall in an endless pit. Lights in dots of all sizes whizzed past Amaretto's face and upwards. The sounds of a thousand voices and more filtered past her ears in such a rapid succession that they hardly registered. Most of it was a blur. She looked up, but could not see her aunt through the light. She looked down, but saw nothing except a small pinprick.
Then there was darkness. The darkness of the pinprick widened into a hole and then it seemed to swallow her up and Amaretto felt herself falling through the air and then crashed to the floor. She lay there gasping and choking, starring at the ceiling when a blip appeared before her. She stared at the dot and then heard a sound. Above her, the sudden form of her aunt falling was the next thing that she saw. She tried to move out of the way, but it was in vain. Katherine fell directly on top of Amaretto.
"Please, get off of me."Amaretto sucked in breath as Katherine rolled off of her and then took in ragged breaths of her own.
"That was not a fun trip at all," muttered Katherine.
"Could have fooled me," Amaretto responded acidly.
Katherine sighed and then sat up, dusting herself off. She looked around for a moment and then said, "Wait, where is my purse?" Amaretto tried to give her a look which she hoped was as scathing as possible. She was however very surprised by the look of understanding that crossed her aunt's face. Katherine stuck her arm out and from above them the purse fell. The straps whipped around her wrist perfectly and the bag slipped down , coming to rest and hang from the crook of her elbow.
Amaretto felt her jaw drop. Katherine simply reached into the bag and pulled out a compact. She flipped open the small mirror and began to check her make up. "Well now," she said snapping it shut after a moment, "Let us see where we are."
Amaretto reached out a hand and Katherine helped her to stand up. As she brushed herself off, she reached up a hand to check and see if the necklace was still around her neck. The Hourglass was warm to the touch and Amaretto sighed for just a moment. She watched as Katherine walked over to the end of the small alleyway and then nodded her head. She turned around and at that moment, there appeared to be a popping sound. There was a rush of air and then the world seemed to tilt back into focus. A rush of air swished past Amaretto and she took a breath and she could taste the subtle tang of smog in the air. Rain started to fall from the sky and pierce the area in the small alleyway around her and her aunt. Katherine reached into her purse and pulled out a small parasol umbrella and opened it. Amaretto looked up at her aunt. "What just happened?"
"Oh, the bubble, that was just the adjustment happening. Whenever you travel through time and space, the world creates a small bubble that allows your whole being to adjust to the new world that it is on and also where you have been. You will get used to it soon."
"I don't want to get used to it! I want to go home!" Amaretto's voice was terse and she was beginning to get angry.
"I'm sorry Ama, but you're going to have to face it; we aren't on Earth Secundus anymore. People will want your Hourglass here too..."
Amaretto looked at her aunt with confusion playing through her features. "Earth Secundus? What's that?"
Katherine sighed in an exasperated tone. "My darling little Ama, that is where you are from. That is the reality where you grew up and where you are most comfortable. This place however, while it is close to your time is very different. It runs on a different time axis and has a whole different history.
Katherine looked out at the street and as she did so Amaretto frowned at her. "Reality and time axis," she mumbled to herself, "I don't understand what you are talking about."
Katherine seemed not to notice Amaretto mumbling and said, "What that history may have been, I am not sure. I will say this however: God save the Realm!" With that she pointed upwards. Amaretto allowed for her eyes to wander in the direction in which her aunt was pointing and she gasped. Fluttering and flying in the wind was the Union Jack, but it was slightly different. In the center, superimposed above the traditional colors, was a large bronze gear with a ring of gold in the center.
"What is that?" Amaretto pointed to the flag and looked at her aunt with surprise.
"That my dear," began Katherine, "Is the sign of the Empire and realm of New Machina, also known as the Second Great Empire of England, upon which the sun has never set." Amaretto blinked a few times at this answer. Katherine watched in amusement as Amaretto's mouth dropped open.
"New Machina? What happened to just normal England?" Amaretto turned back to look at the flag as her aunt shrugged.
"That's something that Tempus would be able to answer and explain easier than I. Speaking of which, since we wound up here, he must be somewhere nearby..." Katherine trailed off as Amaretto's head whirled. She had too many questions about what was going on. Wasn't this supposed to be a trial period? First it was the glass, then it was la sorcieire, now it was this. Amaretto felt like her head was going to explode.
Her aunt suddenly chimed happily. "there it is! Come on, let's go before we are noticed." Amaretto's hand was grabbed by her aunt and she felt herself being dragged across the street into a watch shop. The rain that poured down from the sky sloughed down and caught her off guard, but when she got into the shop, she realized that she was soaked. That was second however to the silent ticking that seemed to fill all of the silence next.
Then there was darkness. The darkness of the pinprick widened into a hole and then it seemed to swallow her up and Amaretto felt herself falling through the air and then crashed to the floor. She lay there gasping and choking, starring at the ceiling when a blip appeared before her. She stared at the dot and then heard a sound. Above her, the sudden form of her aunt falling was the next thing that she saw. She tried to move out of the way, but it was in vain. Katherine fell directly on top of Amaretto.
"Please, get off of me."Amaretto sucked in breath as Katherine rolled off of her and then took in ragged breaths of her own.
"That was not a fun trip at all," muttered Katherine.
"Could have fooled me," Amaretto responded acidly.
Katherine sighed and then sat up, dusting herself off. She looked around for a moment and then said, "Wait, where is my purse?" Amaretto tried to give her a look which she hoped was as scathing as possible. She was however very surprised by the look of understanding that crossed her aunt's face. Katherine stuck her arm out and from above them the purse fell. The straps whipped around her wrist perfectly and the bag slipped down , coming to rest and hang from the crook of her elbow.
Amaretto felt her jaw drop. Katherine simply reached into the bag and pulled out a compact. She flipped open the small mirror and began to check her make up. "Well now," she said snapping it shut after a moment, "Let us see where we are."
Amaretto reached out a hand and Katherine helped her to stand up. As she brushed herself off, she reached up a hand to check and see if the necklace was still around her neck. The Hourglass was warm to the touch and Amaretto sighed for just a moment. She watched as Katherine walked over to the end of the small alleyway and then nodded her head. She turned around and at that moment, there appeared to be a popping sound. There was a rush of air and then the world seemed to tilt back into focus. A rush of air swished past Amaretto and she took a breath and she could taste the subtle tang of smog in the air. Rain started to fall from the sky and pierce the area in the small alleyway around her and her aunt. Katherine reached into her purse and pulled out a small parasol umbrella and opened it. Amaretto looked up at her aunt. "What just happened?"
"Oh, the bubble, that was just the adjustment happening. Whenever you travel through time and space, the world creates a small bubble that allows your whole being to adjust to the new world that it is on and also where you have been. You will get used to it soon."
"I don't want to get used to it! I want to go home!" Amaretto's voice was terse and she was beginning to get angry.
"I'm sorry Ama, but you're going to have to face it; we aren't on Earth Secundus anymore. People will want your Hourglass here too..."
Amaretto looked at her aunt with confusion playing through her features. "Earth Secundus? What's that?"
Katherine sighed in an exasperated tone. "My darling little Ama, that is where you are from. That is the reality where you grew up and where you are most comfortable. This place however, while it is close to your time is very different. It runs on a different time axis and has a whole different history.
Katherine looked out at the street and as she did so Amaretto frowned at her. "Reality and time axis," she mumbled to herself, "I don't understand what you are talking about."
Katherine seemed not to notice Amaretto mumbling and said, "What that history may have been, I am not sure. I will say this however: God save the Realm!" With that she pointed upwards. Amaretto allowed for her eyes to wander in the direction in which her aunt was pointing and she gasped. Fluttering and flying in the wind was the Union Jack, but it was slightly different. In the center, superimposed above the traditional colors, was a large bronze gear with a ring of gold in the center.
"What is that?" Amaretto pointed to the flag and looked at her aunt with surprise.
"That my dear," began Katherine, "Is the sign of the Empire and realm of New Machina, also known as the Second Great Empire of England, upon which the sun has never set." Amaretto blinked a few times at this answer. Katherine watched in amusement as Amaretto's mouth dropped open.
"New Machina? What happened to just normal England?" Amaretto turned back to look at the flag as her aunt shrugged.
"That's something that Tempus would be able to answer and explain easier than I. Speaking of which, since we wound up here, he must be somewhere nearby..." Katherine trailed off as Amaretto's head whirled. She had too many questions about what was going on. Wasn't this supposed to be a trial period? First it was the glass, then it was la sorcieire, now it was this. Amaretto felt like her head was going to explode.
Her aunt suddenly chimed happily. "there it is! Come on, let's go before we are noticed." Amaretto's hand was grabbed by her aunt and she felt herself being dragged across the street into a watch shop. The rain that poured down from the sky sloughed down and caught her off guard, but when she got into the shop, she realized that she was soaked. That was second however to the silent ticking that seemed to fill all of the silence next.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Grain Redux... In which a test run is agreed to...
"So I should think of this as a test then?" Amaretto frowned and looked at her aunt. Katherine smiled sadly.
"A test seems to be an interesting way to put it, but yes. This is a test. However, this test has no room for failure." Katherine shook her head ant then looked back at La sorcière who simply stared back in incomprehension. Amaretto was not pleased with the situation and didn't look it either.
"I must say that this seems a little bit rushed... I don't like this at all." Amaretto bit her lip.
La sorcière looked at her with clear eyes that seemed to pierce Amaretto to the core. "When you loose someone close to you, then you can come back to me and tell me that it seems odd. She is normally the only person that I may talk to. If no one goes to save her then I may never talk to anyone ever again except for those who have a wish and those who are on a pilgrimage."
Amaretto looked away, feeling shame color her face. The small girl looked as if she was about to say something when the water around them began to boil.
"What's happening?" Amaretto looked around panicking not sure what it was that she was supposed to do.
Katherine frowned and slightly stumbled as she tried to look up something on her palm pilot. "I have no idea. There is no information on an earthquake today." Amaretto was about to say something, but Katherine prattled onwards. "Though we are in Monde Creux, I don't think that I get reports on the palm for this then."
"I think this is something else though," said La sorcière. Amaretto tried to step back when she almost tripped over her own feet. She fell forward onto her knees. Her ears picked up a slight keening noise. Leaning forward, she realized that it was coming from the mirror below.
"The sound... it sounds like the same one we heard from when we were with Tempus." Amaretto spoke, trying to get her aunt's attention and failed at it. "Aunt Katherine!"
The Godmother didn't look at her but had a surprised and slightly worried look on her face. Amaretto took her index finger and poker her aunt in the side.
"OW! That was uncalled for!" Katherine narrowed her eyes as she looked at Amaretto with displeasure.
"Just listen!" Amaretto pointed at the mirror.
Katherine rolled her eyes and listened for a moment and then knit her brows in frustration. "It does sound the same," she began.
La sorcière pointed to a section of the mirror that cleared and said, "That is why. An alarm has been set off."
"Another alarm, great," Amaretto complained. She looked in the direction that La sorcière was pointing in.
At that moment, there was a sudden screech in the glass around them and the otherwise turbulent water turned a rather rapid shade of greenish red. It was probably the most vile color that Amaretto had ever seen. Katherine looked at it an said so.
"Quickly," La sorcière said.
Katherine held up her hand and shook her head. "There must be something that is tripping an alarm somewhere. What is this alarm for?"
La sorcière waved her hand at the water below them and the whole mirror turned into its innocuous sheet of glass once more. There, displayed on the crystalline surface was a picture of a group of people who were walking across the deserted sands of Monde Creux. They were dressed in a rather strange motley of clothes, but the one thing that stood out was the fact that they were wearing large wooden masks that covered their faces.
"Are they walking towards here?"
La sorcière nodded her head. "That is what it looks like. It appears that she has sent people after you."
Amaretto sneered at first and then her face shifted to confusion. "There is no reason to... wait what?"
La sorcière raised her hand and the whole of the mirror solidified again. Amaretto tried to say something, but Katherine interrupted her by waving her palm pilot around. "I just got an email dictating that the Hourglass is about to be contested! This is not good."
Amaretto looked like she was getting sick. "Contested? What does that mean? Someone else is going to be able to have this thing? I say let them."
Katherine grinned. "It means that if we don't move, we are going to be killed."
"Is that supposed to be funny?"
"Not at all, it is merely the truth." Katherine began to giggle slightly.
Amaretto looked to the girl who was frantically moving towards her side. "you have to get out of here now," said La sorcière. "I cannot allow for her to get her hands on your hourglass!" La sorcière raised her hands and the chamber took on a somber hue at that moment.
"Who is she?" amaretto's voice was full of confusion. She looked at her aunt who was frantically using her palm pilot.
La sorcière ignored her though. "I'm going to send you through paralax..."
"Para-what?" amaretto tried to say more, but was cut off at that moment.
"A test seems to be an interesting way to put it, but yes. This is a test. However, this test has no room for failure." Katherine shook her head ant then looked back at La sorcière who simply stared back in incomprehension. Amaretto was not pleased with the situation and didn't look it either.
"I must say that this seems a little bit rushed... I don't like this at all." Amaretto bit her lip.
La sorcière looked at her with clear eyes that seemed to pierce Amaretto to the core. "When you loose someone close to you, then you can come back to me and tell me that it seems odd. She is normally the only person that I may talk to. If no one goes to save her then I may never talk to anyone ever again except for those who have a wish and those who are on a pilgrimage."
Amaretto looked away, feeling shame color her face. The small girl looked as if she was about to say something when the water around them began to boil.
"What's happening?" Amaretto looked around panicking not sure what it was that she was supposed to do.
Katherine frowned and slightly stumbled as she tried to look up something on her palm pilot. "I have no idea. There is no information on an earthquake today." Amaretto was about to say something, but Katherine prattled onwards. "Though we are in Monde Creux, I don't think that I get reports on the palm for this then."
"I think this is something else though," said La sorcière. Amaretto tried to step back when she almost tripped over her own feet. She fell forward onto her knees. Her ears picked up a slight keening noise. Leaning forward, she realized that it was coming from the mirror below.
"The sound... it sounds like the same one we heard from when we were with Tempus." Amaretto spoke, trying to get her aunt's attention and failed at it. "Aunt Katherine!"
The Godmother didn't look at her but had a surprised and slightly worried look on her face. Amaretto took her index finger and poker her aunt in the side.
"OW! That was uncalled for!" Katherine narrowed her eyes as she looked at Amaretto with displeasure.
"Just listen!" Amaretto pointed at the mirror.
Katherine rolled her eyes and listened for a moment and then knit her brows in frustration. "It does sound the same," she began.
La sorcière pointed to a section of the mirror that cleared and said, "That is why. An alarm has been set off."
"Another alarm, great," Amaretto complained. She looked in the direction that La sorcière was pointing in.
At that moment, there was a sudden screech in the glass around them and the otherwise turbulent water turned a rather rapid shade of greenish red. It was probably the most vile color that Amaretto had ever seen. Katherine looked at it an said so.
"Quickly," La sorcière said.
Katherine held up her hand and shook her head. "There must be something that is tripping an alarm somewhere. What is this alarm for?"
La sorcière waved her hand at the water below them and the whole mirror turned into its innocuous sheet of glass once more. There, displayed on the crystalline surface was a picture of a group of people who were walking across the deserted sands of Monde Creux. They were dressed in a rather strange motley of clothes, but the one thing that stood out was the fact that they were wearing large wooden masks that covered their faces.
"Are they walking towards here?"
La sorcière nodded her head. "That is what it looks like. It appears that she has sent people after you."
Amaretto sneered at first and then her face shifted to confusion. "There is no reason to... wait what?"
La sorcière raised her hand and the whole of the mirror solidified again. Amaretto tried to say something, but Katherine interrupted her by waving her palm pilot around. "I just got an email dictating that the Hourglass is about to be contested! This is not good."
Amaretto looked like she was getting sick. "Contested? What does that mean? Someone else is going to be able to have this thing? I say let them."
Katherine grinned. "It means that if we don't move, we are going to be killed."
"Is that supposed to be funny?"
"Not at all, it is merely the truth." Katherine began to giggle slightly.
Amaretto looked to the girl who was frantically moving towards her side. "you have to get out of here now," said La sorcière. "I cannot allow for her to get her hands on your hourglass!" La sorcière raised her hands and the chamber took on a somber hue at that moment.
"Who is she?" amaretto's voice was full of confusion. She looked at her aunt who was frantically using her palm pilot.
La sorcière ignored her though. "I'm going to send you through paralax..."
"Para-what?" amaretto tried to say more, but was cut off at that moment.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Grain Redux... In which all is revealed...
Amaretto grasped her aunt's hand and stepped onto the small glass enclosure. La sorcière smiled at them and motioned for them to follow her to the direct center of the dome and as they did so, the area that they were not on began to dissolve into water.
"This large lake that we are standing on is known as the Water Mirror," began La sorcière. "It is one of two mirrors that are known to produce visions that are truthful."
Amaretto cut in at this moment. "Truthful? You mean that there are others that can lie?"
La sorcière shook her head. "Not in the way that you are thinking no. What I mean to say is that these two mirrors are the only way that someone can see a possible future that is truthful. Not only that, but this is one of two mirrors that one can see the Possibilities in, the other being the Sand Mirror."
"Possibilities?" Amaretto had cut in again and Katherine shook her head.
"Perhaps we should start at a different place Ama darling," her aunt said. "Your hourglass runs on something called 'Possibility'. It is that small thing that allows anything in the known universe to actually work. It is how your Hourglass actually allows you to transfer from place to another without any consequences. It is the possibility of the fact that the action could happen and therefor, the hourglass permits it. Does that make more sense in the first place?"
Amaretto nodded at her Aunt's explanation and then frowned. "Are you trying to say that this glass doesn't actually travel? It's only the possibility of that travel that makes it happen?"
La sorcière nodded her head. "That is correct. It is in that thinking that you are able to do it. It is also these possibilities that the Mirrors are able to watch. Nothing more and nothing less." Amaretto nodded and then motioned for La sorcière to continue. The girl nodded.
"It is here that we discovered what had happened. I have one person to whom I must answer to, and we call her the Lady. I work in service to her and she is known to be more powerful than I, though most do not known it. She is the one who allows the Hourglasses to work. She is the one who works the other mirror, almost like my twin. We often talk to each other in order to correlate what it is that we see, and make changes accordingly. However, it has always been known that one cannot change what is written in stone."
"You are babbling on," Katherine said.
La sorcière paused for a moment and then blushed. "You are right. I digress. To put it simply, the Lady has not been in contact with me for quite some time. I later discovered that she had been," La sorcière covered her mouth for a moment as if she was choking on something and then said, "kidnapped."
Amaretto scoffed. "Kidnapped? You called us here because of a simple kidnapping?"
Katherine frowned. "Amaretto, this is unfortunately a rather big deal. This is bigger than I initially thought."
"No, this is a simple thing of there being nothing to think of at this moment," said Amaretto. "If she says anything more, then we will be obliged to help."
"We are already obliged," said Katherine in a small voice.
"What? NO! I refuse!" Amaretto stomped her foot down and the glass rang out with crystal clarity. La sorcière simply shook her head.
"It is not that simple. She was not only kidnapped, but imprisoned. Beneath the Sand mirror."
"Beneath the, I don't know where you are getting your script from but this is it, I am done, I don't want to hear any more." Amaretto began to try to stalk off of the glass, but was surprised when she realized that it was all water. The water itself shimmered for a moment and then a picture began to form. A young blond girl was sitting in a large cavern and all around her was stone, much like the cavern that they stood in now, only this one was centered around what looked to be a large writhing mass of sand rather than a glass dome. The sands seemed to writhe and above it, the ledge on which the girl sat. She looked down at the sand and seemed to move her lips, no words issuing forth from them, but as she did so, the sand reacted and upwards surging from the swirling mass, a woman's form. the form grew until it was a large shape, taking over half of the cavern.
The girl spoke out loud and then the sand form placed its hands in front of it, almost as if it was forming another mirror when the picture seemed as if it was accruing static. Then, quite suddenly, they watched as the girl was pulled downwards into the sand pit and spewing froth from it, the shape of another woman made of sand, this one solidified until it became an almost exact duplicate of the first girl. The second one, looked down beneath her feet and smiled maliciously as she looked down. Below her, the original blond, whom Amaretto assumed to be the Lady, seemed to be shackled in a room far below the surface.
"I need your help to free her." La sorcière's voice was quiet, but Amaretto knew what it was that the woman was thinking.
"I said no the first time and I'll say it again now. No." Amaretto crossed her arms and looked at her Aunt. "Why does it have to be us anyway? Why couldn't it have been someone else?"
The small sorceress looked at Amaretto straight in the eyes and then frowned. Amaretto stared back at her and they both said nothing as they stood there. Katherine reached into her purse and pulled out her palm pilot and then with her stylus, began to rapidly began to work on it. The silence seemed to stretch on and then the small girl said, "Why ever not you?"
This took Amaretto by surprise and she put her hands on her hips. "I can think of several reasons, the foremost that this is not my problem at all."
"However it is your problem," Katherine said absentmindedly.
Amaretto turned to her aunt, the frown still on her lips, making a slight pout. "what do you mean that it is my problem."
"Well, you see it's like this," her aunt replied, pulling a pair of glasses from her purse to put them on. She then began to then read from her palm pilot, holding it aloft. "It says here, 'When one is given an Hourglass, hereafter referred to as a Glass," her aunt made a small quotation mark with her free hand. "They are entered into a legal and binding contract in this and any other reality, hereafter referred to as the domains." Another set of air-quotes were made. Amaretto waved her hands in front of her aunt to make her stop. Katherine paused. "If you want to read it, it's all right here." She lifted the palm pilot.
"So you are saying that because you gave me this hourglass, that I am no accountable to the whims of this little girl?"
"Correction," La sorcière said, "I am the one who says that you must listen. The law is clear on this and has already been laid out since the beginning o the possibility of such." The words were clear and the harshness of them made Amaretto shiver.
La sorcière moved forward slowly from where she was standing away from where Katherine and Amaretto were standing. As she walked away, Amaretto noticed a distant quality in her eyes as she spoke. "A single possibility from the universe that signifies what can, will, and should happen. Though even with this sand, one can never say that a 'one-grain possibility' is impossible." La sorcière continued to walk across her watery mirror where it would form solid underneath her feet as she walked.
She waved her hand in front of her and the water slid upwards underneath almost as if in an effort to be caressed by her hand. The water formed a small shape and then expanded into something that looked like an hourglass and then began to pour sand from the top to the bottom one grain at a time. "If one grain of sand holds the future of a single posibility, then it is enough to suppose and assume that multiple grains hold multiple posibilities." At this moment, the faux hourglass began to pass more grains. "When bringing these grains together, one can act on these seperate realities. In doing so, one must have a catalyst; for example, an hourglass..."
La sorcière trailed off and Amaretto screamed at her. "I don't care what you say! I am not going to do this!"
Katherine placed her hand on her god-daughter's shoulder and then said, "There is no choice in this matter."
"Everyone has a choice," replied amaretto bitterly. She stared as the mirror once again replayed the images of what happened at what La sorcière called the Sand Mirror. As she watched it, she felt something stirring inside of her. It was a stark sense of pity. She looked over to La sorcière and then felt the pity raise in her as she watched the small girl watch as the one person she could talk to always vanished beneath a sea of sand.
"In this case, it is the one thing that you must do." Katherine stared hard through her glasses at the small palm pilot in her hand. "Think of it as your first time trial and then you are free to do what you want?"
Amaretto nodded her head once. "All right then. If this is a trial run, that means if I don't like it, I can return it."
Her aunt nodded her understanding.
"This large lake that we are standing on is known as the Water Mirror," began La sorcière. "It is one of two mirrors that are known to produce visions that are truthful."
Amaretto cut in at this moment. "Truthful? You mean that there are others that can lie?"
La sorcière shook her head. "Not in the way that you are thinking no. What I mean to say is that these two mirrors are the only way that someone can see a possible future that is truthful. Not only that, but this is one of two mirrors that one can see the Possibilities in, the other being the Sand Mirror."
"Possibilities?" Amaretto had cut in again and Katherine shook her head.
"Perhaps we should start at a different place Ama darling," her aunt said. "Your hourglass runs on something called 'Possibility'. It is that small thing that allows anything in the known universe to actually work. It is how your Hourglass actually allows you to transfer from place to another without any consequences. It is the possibility of the fact that the action could happen and therefor, the hourglass permits it. Does that make more sense in the first place?"
Amaretto nodded at her Aunt's explanation and then frowned. "Are you trying to say that this glass doesn't actually travel? It's only the possibility of that travel that makes it happen?"
La sorcière nodded her head. "That is correct. It is in that thinking that you are able to do it. It is also these possibilities that the Mirrors are able to watch. Nothing more and nothing less." Amaretto nodded and then motioned for La sorcière to continue. The girl nodded.
"It is here that we discovered what had happened. I have one person to whom I must answer to, and we call her the Lady. I work in service to her and she is known to be more powerful than I, though most do not known it. She is the one who allows the Hourglasses to work. She is the one who works the other mirror, almost like my twin. We often talk to each other in order to correlate what it is that we see, and make changes accordingly. However, it has always been known that one cannot change what is written in stone."
"You are babbling on," Katherine said.
La sorcière paused for a moment and then blushed. "You are right. I digress. To put it simply, the Lady has not been in contact with me for quite some time. I later discovered that she had been," La sorcière covered her mouth for a moment as if she was choking on something and then said, "kidnapped."
Amaretto scoffed. "Kidnapped? You called us here because of a simple kidnapping?"
Katherine frowned. "Amaretto, this is unfortunately a rather big deal. This is bigger than I initially thought."
"No, this is a simple thing of there being nothing to think of at this moment," said Amaretto. "If she says anything more, then we will be obliged to help."
"We are already obliged," said Katherine in a small voice.
"What? NO! I refuse!" Amaretto stomped her foot down and the glass rang out with crystal clarity. La sorcière simply shook her head.
"It is not that simple. She was not only kidnapped, but imprisoned. Beneath the Sand mirror."
"Beneath the, I don't know where you are getting your script from but this is it, I am done, I don't want to hear any more." Amaretto began to try to stalk off of the glass, but was surprised when she realized that it was all water. The water itself shimmered for a moment and then a picture began to form. A young blond girl was sitting in a large cavern and all around her was stone, much like the cavern that they stood in now, only this one was centered around what looked to be a large writhing mass of sand rather than a glass dome. The sands seemed to writhe and above it, the ledge on which the girl sat. She looked down at the sand and seemed to move her lips, no words issuing forth from them, but as she did so, the sand reacted and upwards surging from the swirling mass, a woman's form. the form grew until it was a large shape, taking over half of the cavern.
The girl spoke out loud and then the sand form placed its hands in front of it, almost as if it was forming another mirror when the picture seemed as if it was accruing static. Then, quite suddenly, they watched as the girl was pulled downwards into the sand pit and spewing froth from it, the shape of another woman made of sand, this one solidified until it became an almost exact duplicate of the first girl. The second one, looked down beneath her feet and smiled maliciously as she looked down. Below her, the original blond, whom Amaretto assumed to be the Lady, seemed to be shackled in a room far below the surface.
"I need your help to free her." La sorcière's voice was quiet, but Amaretto knew what it was that the woman was thinking.
"I said no the first time and I'll say it again now. No." Amaretto crossed her arms and looked at her Aunt. "Why does it have to be us anyway? Why couldn't it have been someone else?"
The small sorceress looked at Amaretto straight in the eyes and then frowned. Amaretto stared back at her and they both said nothing as they stood there. Katherine reached into her purse and pulled out her palm pilot and then with her stylus, began to rapidly began to work on it. The silence seemed to stretch on and then the small girl said, "Why ever not you?"
This took Amaretto by surprise and she put her hands on her hips. "I can think of several reasons, the foremost that this is not my problem at all."
"However it is your problem," Katherine said absentmindedly.
Amaretto turned to her aunt, the frown still on her lips, making a slight pout. "what do you mean that it is my problem."
"Well, you see it's like this," her aunt replied, pulling a pair of glasses from her purse to put them on. She then began to then read from her palm pilot, holding it aloft. "It says here, 'When one is given an Hourglass, hereafter referred to as a Glass," her aunt made a small quotation mark with her free hand. "They are entered into a legal and binding contract in this and any other reality, hereafter referred to as the domains." Another set of air-quotes were made. Amaretto waved her hands in front of her aunt to make her stop. Katherine paused. "If you want to read it, it's all right here." She lifted the palm pilot.
"So you are saying that because you gave me this hourglass, that I am no accountable to the whims of this little girl?"
"Correction," La sorcière said, "I am the one who says that you must listen. The law is clear on this and has already been laid out since the beginning o the possibility of such." The words were clear and the harshness of them made Amaretto shiver.
La sorcière moved forward slowly from where she was standing away from where Katherine and Amaretto were standing. As she walked away, Amaretto noticed a distant quality in her eyes as she spoke. "A single possibility from the universe that signifies what can, will, and should happen. Though even with this sand, one can never say that a 'one-grain possibility' is impossible." La sorcière continued to walk across her watery mirror where it would form solid underneath her feet as she walked.
She waved her hand in front of her and the water slid upwards underneath almost as if in an effort to be caressed by her hand. The water formed a small shape and then expanded into something that looked like an hourglass and then began to pour sand from the top to the bottom one grain at a time. "If one grain of sand holds the future of a single posibility, then it is enough to suppose and assume that multiple grains hold multiple posibilities." At this moment, the faux hourglass began to pass more grains. "When bringing these grains together, one can act on these seperate realities. In doing so, one must have a catalyst; for example, an hourglass..."
La sorcière trailed off and Amaretto screamed at her. "I don't care what you say! I am not going to do this!"
Katherine placed her hand on her god-daughter's shoulder and then said, "There is no choice in this matter."
"Everyone has a choice," replied amaretto bitterly. She stared as the mirror once again replayed the images of what happened at what La sorcière called the Sand Mirror. As she watched it, she felt something stirring inside of her. It was a stark sense of pity. She looked over to La sorcière and then felt the pity raise in her as she watched the small girl watch as the one person she could talk to always vanished beneath a sea of sand.
"In this case, it is the one thing that you must do." Katherine stared hard through her glasses at the small palm pilot in her hand. "Think of it as your first time trial and then you are free to do what you want?"
Amaretto nodded her head once. "All right then. If this is a trial run, that means if I don't like it, I can return it."
Her aunt nodded her understanding.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Grain Redux... In which Amaretto meets La Sorcière...
As Amaretto and her godmother stepped out of the corvette-tank, Katherine began to walk forwards. As she did so, Amaretto frowned and said, "What about the car?"
Katherine waived a hand at it absently. "It will keep."
She continued to walk towards the strange temple after her aunt. "You know. It looks like something straight out of an Indiana Jones film."
Kathrine paused at the the steps and then paused to root around in her purse. She then pulled out a pair of 'queen' high heel open-toe sandals with a bow detail. Katherine looked to her godchild and then said, "They are pale pink python with light gold." She smiled and Amaretto rolled her eyes.
"Do you always have to do that?"
Katherine smiled. "You mean pull a new pair of shoes when the occasion warrants?"
"Something like that," said Amaretto.
They walked into the first antechamber of the room and what Amaretto saw made her wonder. There was a small hall at the end of the antechamber and through the hall, there was a small doorway with the glow of light at the end of it. The hall was carved through the rock as well and the sides were carved into beautiful reliefs and as she walked towards the other end of the hall, she noted that the women all had sad smiles.
As she stepped from the hall into the new cavern, her mouth seemed to drop open at what she saw. The cavern itself seemed to keep raising up into the solitary mountain and along the walls, carved from the living rock, there was nothing but caryatids and statues of people, doing all manner of things that were akin to life. Amaretto stared at them in awe looking around at all of them. Amongst the statues, hundreds upon thousands of candles were placed in niche and convenient spots so that the light would be bale to be cast everywhere. Flickering flames swayed to the rhythm of their own wind.
That was not what made her stare however though. In the center of the room, on the floor, spanning almost thirty feet across, was a large glass dome. The sides were almost all but bolted to the floor by a large gold band that had runes all across it. The strange runes that danced across the gold band, made it seem as if they were constantly shifting, though the glass itself never did. The glass dome didn't seem to raise above ground level anymore than two inches.
In the direct center of the strange glass dome, standing on the top was a small girl who had dark colored hair which was tied up into several braids and long sticks were used to keep them up as they trailed down the sides of her face. Her eyes were a deep sable green and golden flecks swam in there. She stared at her two new arrivals and then clasped her hands firmly in front of her.
"It seems that you have finally come around and shown up now." the girls voice was musical and floated on the air in between the candles and flowed around the whole room and echoed softly as well.
Amaretto blinked at that moment and then heard her godmother curse. "I didn't wear the right kind of shoes. This is horrible," was all she said under her breath as she pulled her PDA from her purse and then nodded. "This girl in front of us is indeed who we are looking for. This is la sorcière. Be nice then."
Amaretto almost didn't say anything at first and then she scoffed. "This girl is her?"
La sorcière smiled and then said, "It is quite all right. I don't expect you to understand." The girl smiled.
"So this is la sorcière? Not much of what I thought that she would be," Amaretto paused, not sure of what it was that she was to be expecting.
"Taller perhaps?" Katherine's voice was not at all what Amaretto had expected to answer her and actually la sorcière giggled at the joke.
"I don't think that I have ever heard that one before." As musical voice responded, it drifted once again and Amaretto noticed that the candles all responded and swayed. Amaretto looked at the woman that everyone seemed to be calling "the witch of time and space" and was still rather unimpressed.
"So then," began Amaretto, "What is it that I am here for?"
La sorcière smiled. "there is a small problem, one that you can fix, but do not necessarily have to."
Amaretto put her hands up almost as if in defense against the words that La sorcière was saying.
"Don't try to talk circles around me; I've seen the lord of the rings. I've also read plenty of books. You can't say that I can turn you down cause there is always some terrible consequence for doing so." Amaretto looked rather proud for a moment. She then felt that she had figured it all out. "So if you do tell me why I am here, the I will feel obligated to you. Which when I think about it, that is not so good. I don't like that idea.
La sorcière looked amused and Katherine looked a little aghast. "She might have a point," La sorcière said, "However, I cannot argue on this one." Her voice was quiet, but the authority was there. "Unfortunately, you have to hear it anyway."
The small girlish body began to move its way slowly across the glass surface. Amaretto watched the bare feet hit the surface hit the surface without a sound. La sorcière stopped in front of Amaretto and then stared at her with clear eyes.
"There are those who even I answer to here in my Hollow World. Even I am not entirely a slave to what I see, though I may never leave." Amaretto watched as La sorcière tried to step off of the glass surface and the surface contorted and a lash of water surged upwards and like a manacle, clamped around her foot right before it could touch the ground. The shackle and watery chains tightened and Amaretto could see a look of slight pain on the girls face. She pulled her foot back and stepped back onto the mirror.
"As you can see, even if I wanted to leave to help I cannot." La sorcière words were true to her voice and Amaretto could only nod her head.
"I think that I understand you." Amaretto's voice was quiet.
Katherine nodded herself and then said, "Well, we can't stand here all day now can we?" With that, she stepped up onto the glass and her shoes made a resounding crack upon it. The sound echoed all around the area and she turned around and held out a hand or her godchild. "Come along now. I don't have all day and we should see what she wants without any more trouble. There's a sale at Gucci that I really want to get to as some point in time." She smiled her winning smile and Amaretto could feel her eyes rolling into her skull even though she tried to will them not to.
Katherine waived a hand at it absently. "It will keep."
She continued to walk towards the strange temple after her aunt. "You know. It looks like something straight out of an Indiana Jones film."
Kathrine paused at the the steps and then paused to root around in her purse. She then pulled out a pair of 'queen' high heel open-toe sandals with a bow detail. Katherine looked to her godchild and then said, "They are pale pink python with light gold." She smiled and Amaretto rolled her eyes.
"Do you always have to do that?"
Katherine smiled. "You mean pull a new pair of shoes when the occasion warrants?"
"Something like that," said Amaretto.
They walked into the first antechamber of the room and what Amaretto saw made her wonder. There was a small hall at the end of the antechamber and through the hall, there was a small doorway with the glow of light at the end of it. The hall was carved through the rock as well and the sides were carved into beautiful reliefs and as she walked towards the other end of the hall, she noted that the women all had sad smiles.
As she stepped from the hall into the new cavern, her mouth seemed to drop open at what she saw. The cavern itself seemed to keep raising up into the solitary mountain and along the walls, carved from the living rock, there was nothing but caryatids and statues of people, doing all manner of things that were akin to life. Amaretto stared at them in awe looking around at all of them. Amongst the statues, hundreds upon thousands of candles were placed in niche and convenient spots so that the light would be bale to be cast everywhere. Flickering flames swayed to the rhythm of their own wind.
That was not what made her stare however though. In the center of the room, on the floor, spanning almost thirty feet across, was a large glass dome. The sides were almost all but bolted to the floor by a large gold band that had runes all across it. The strange runes that danced across the gold band, made it seem as if they were constantly shifting, though the glass itself never did. The glass dome didn't seem to raise above ground level anymore than two inches.
In the direct center of the strange glass dome, standing on the top was a small girl who had dark colored hair which was tied up into several braids and long sticks were used to keep them up as they trailed down the sides of her face. Her eyes were a deep sable green and golden flecks swam in there. She stared at her two new arrivals and then clasped her hands firmly in front of her.
"It seems that you have finally come around and shown up now." the girls voice was musical and floated on the air in between the candles and flowed around the whole room and echoed softly as well.
Amaretto blinked at that moment and then heard her godmother curse. "I didn't wear the right kind of shoes. This is horrible," was all she said under her breath as she pulled her PDA from her purse and then nodded. "This girl in front of us is indeed who we are looking for. This is la sorcière. Be nice then."
Amaretto almost didn't say anything at first and then she scoffed. "This girl is her?"
La sorcière smiled and then said, "It is quite all right. I don't expect you to understand." The girl smiled.
"So this is la sorcière? Not much of what I thought that she would be," Amaretto paused, not sure of what it was that she was to be expecting.
"Taller perhaps?" Katherine's voice was not at all what Amaretto had expected to answer her and actually la sorcière giggled at the joke.
"I don't think that I have ever heard that one before." As musical voice responded, it drifted once again and Amaretto noticed that the candles all responded and swayed. Amaretto looked at the woman that everyone seemed to be calling "the witch of time and space" and was still rather unimpressed.
"So then," began Amaretto, "What is it that I am here for?"
La sorcière smiled. "there is a small problem, one that you can fix, but do not necessarily have to."
Amaretto put her hands up almost as if in defense against the words that La sorcière was saying.
"Don't try to talk circles around me; I've seen the lord of the rings. I've also read plenty of books. You can't say that I can turn you down cause there is always some terrible consequence for doing so." Amaretto looked rather proud for a moment. She then felt that she had figured it all out. "So if you do tell me why I am here, the I will feel obligated to you. Which when I think about it, that is not so good. I don't like that idea.
La sorcière looked amused and Katherine looked a little aghast. "She might have a point," La sorcière said, "However, I cannot argue on this one." Her voice was quiet, but the authority was there. "Unfortunately, you have to hear it anyway."
The small girlish body began to move its way slowly across the glass surface. Amaretto watched the bare feet hit the surface hit the surface without a sound. La sorcière stopped in front of Amaretto and then stared at her with clear eyes.
"There are those who even I answer to here in my Hollow World. Even I am not entirely a slave to what I see, though I may never leave." Amaretto watched as La sorcière tried to step off of the glass surface and the surface contorted and a lash of water surged upwards and like a manacle, clamped around her foot right before it could touch the ground. The shackle and watery chains tightened and Amaretto could see a look of slight pain on the girls face. She pulled her foot back and stepped back onto the mirror.
"As you can see, even if I wanted to leave to help I cannot." La sorcière words were true to her voice and Amaretto could only nod her head.
"I think that I understand you." Amaretto's voice was quiet.
Katherine nodded herself and then said, "Well, we can't stand here all day now can we?" With that, she stepped up onto the glass and her shoes made a resounding crack upon it. The sound echoed all around the area and she turned around and held out a hand or her godchild. "Come along now. I don't have all day and we should see what she wants without any more trouble. There's a sale at Gucci that I really want to get to as some point in time." She smiled her winning smile and Amaretto could feel her eyes rolling into her skull even though she tried to will them not to.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Grain Redux... In which we discover the Corvette is not all that it seems...
While following her aunt, there was not much to do. The world around them was desolate and bleak. There also seemed to be nothing but the strange sand everywhere. The monotonous gray sky stretched onwards. Occasionally, there were streaks of dark blues, but other than that there was almost no color to the sky at all. A crescent Moon hung in the sky, shedding pale white light. The Moon itself was rather awful to look at as well. Amaretto was about to complain when she realized that her aunt was no longer carrying her shoes.
"Aunt Katherine, where are your shoes?"
Katherine stopped and paused and then said, "I traded them out for these loafers." As if to emphasize her point, she lifted her foot up off the ground and showed Amaretto a pair of canvas and suede loafers that were encasing her feet. "As we both know," she prattled on, "High heels are not suitable for the desert."
"But where did they go Aunt Katherine?" Amaretto's voice was slightly terse.
"I put them in my bag."
"In your bag?"
Katherine nodded her hand and then pulled up her purse. "I keep all my shoes in here."
Amaretto blinked. "Excuse me?"
Katherine pointed towards her bag and said, "I keep all of my shoes in there. There's plenty of space in there."
Amaretto snorted. "Who the hell are you. A British nanny?"
"Do I look like I am practically perfect in every other way?" Katherine huffed.
"Hah, didn't you once say that your favorite drink was whisky? That hardly points towards perfection." Amaretto snorted.
"So I like to nip a little now and then, that makes me a British nanny more than some. Still, we aren't going to get anywhere without this." Katherine had paused in her walking and she pulled out a little dust from the inside of her purse and raised it in the palm of her hand. raising her hand to her lips, she blew on it and the dust swirled off of his hands and then from the within the small swirl, it grew even larger and then began to encompass the space before them. Amaretto took a breath and when she released it, there stood her aunt's car.
"Your answer to this is a 1969 Skyline Corvette?" Amaretto seemed to stare at it with a rather voided interest.
"Yes, but it has tank wheels. That should get us through the desert a little quicker and closer to our destination." Katherine had a smirk on her face and then climbed into the driver's seat. Amaretto looked at where the wheels should have been and sure enough, there were tank treads on the bottom.
"They are called treads, not wheels," was all she said as she climbed into the passenger seat. Katherine chuckled and then turned the key in the ignition. The car rumbled and then sped onwards towards the horizon again.
Sand whipped past along with the wind. Amaretto didn't know where they were going, but she now knew that Monde Creux was nothing but sand and emptiness. The sand continued to pass by for several minutes before Amaretto finally said, "There's nothing here."
"The woman is here. There as a mater of fact." Katherine pointed her finger towards a small spot on the horizon and as Amaretto stared at it, she realized that there was indeed something that looked like a mountain there.
"What is that?"
"That is where la sorcière is, watching over the Water Mirror."
This piqued Amaretto's interest however. "The Water Mirror? What is that, a large lake?"
Katherine snorted. "Your powers of perception are as sharp as ever. However, you are wrong. You will see when we get there." Amaretto made a sound that was oddly like a grumble. they continued on before amaretto broke the silence once more.
"What happened while we were at Tempus'?"
Aunt Katherine's face went stony. "The alarm went off. That was all."
"What kind of alarm was it?"
"It was simply an alarm," Katherine said heatedly. "It was only important that we keep our appointment so that,"
Amaretto interrupted, "There has to be a reason why we were whisked off so suddenly. Why did Tempus send us to Monde Creux so quickly?"
Kathrine answered testily, "La sorcière will be able to tell you soon enough."
"Soon enough? We aren't even there yet!"
Katherine shook her head. "Shows how much you know. Here in Monde Creux, Time is not constant." Katherine pointed upwards and there it was, staring at them with grim efficiency, the side of a single mountain and carved into the side of the rock, a large temple.
The architecture was simple. Three arches, side by side, more arches above it, but in each of the arches except the middle one on the bottom, a thousand candles were lit. The light had a splendid effect, as directly in the center archway, a single statue was there. It was a rather large woman dressed in long and flowing robes, with her hands out in front of her. Katherine pulled up the tank-car in front of the temple and then smiled at her god-daughter.
"Next stop, la sorcière, the woman who can tell you everything."
Amaretto turned away from the temple to look Katherine. "Everything?"
Katherine reached into her purse and then pulled out a pair of movie star sunglasses, product of Gucci of course. Putting them on she smiled and then said, "Everything."
"Aunt Katherine, where are your shoes?"
Katherine stopped and paused and then said, "I traded them out for these loafers." As if to emphasize her point, she lifted her foot up off the ground and showed Amaretto a pair of canvas and suede loafers that were encasing her feet. "As we both know," she prattled on, "High heels are not suitable for the desert."
"But where did they go Aunt Katherine?" Amaretto's voice was slightly terse.
"I put them in my bag."
"In your bag?"
Katherine nodded her hand and then pulled up her purse. "I keep all my shoes in here."
Amaretto blinked. "Excuse me?"
Katherine pointed towards her bag and said, "I keep all of my shoes in there. There's plenty of space in there."
Amaretto snorted. "Who the hell are you. A British nanny?"
"Do I look like I am practically perfect in every other way?" Katherine huffed.
"Hah, didn't you once say that your favorite drink was whisky? That hardly points towards perfection." Amaretto snorted.
"So I like to nip a little now and then, that makes me a British nanny more than some. Still, we aren't going to get anywhere without this." Katherine had paused in her walking and she pulled out a little dust from the inside of her purse and raised it in the palm of her hand. raising her hand to her lips, she blew on it and the dust swirled off of his hands and then from the within the small swirl, it grew even larger and then began to encompass the space before them. Amaretto took a breath and when she released it, there stood her aunt's car.
"Your answer to this is a 1969 Skyline Corvette?" Amaretto seemed to stare at it with a rather voided interest.
"Yes, but it has tank wheels. That should get us through the desert a little quicker and closer to our destination." Katherine had a smirk on her face and then climbed into the driver's seat. Amaretto looked at where the wheels should have been and sure enough, there were tank treads on the bottom.
"They are called treads, not wheels," was all she said as she climbed into the passenger seat. Katherine chuckled and then turned the key in the ignition. The car rumbled and then sped onwards towards the horizon again.
Sand whipped past along with the wind. Amaretto didn't know where they were going, but she now knew that Monde Creux was nothing but sand and emptiness. The sand continued to pass by for several minutes before Amaretto finally said, "There's nothing here."
"The woman is here. There as a mater of fact." Katherine pointed her finger towards a small spot on the horizon and as Amaretto stared at it, she realized that there was indeed something that looked like a mountain there.
"What is that?"
"That is where la sorcière is, watching over the Water Mirror."
This piqued Amaretto's interest however. "The Water Mirror? What is that, a large lake?"
Katherine snorted. "Your powers of perception are as sharp as ever. However, you are wrong. You will see when we get there." Amaretto made a sound that was oddly like a grumble. they continued on before amaretto broke the silence once more.
"What happened while we were at Tempus'?"
Aunt Katherine's face went stony. "The alarm went off. That was all."
"What kind of alarm was it?"
"It was simply an alarm," Katherine said heatedly. "It was only important that we keep our appointment so that,"
Amaretto interrupted, "There has to be a reason why we were whisked off so suddenly. Why did Tempus send us to Monde Creux so quickly?"
Kathrine answered testily, "La sorcière will be able to tell you soon enough."
"Soon enough? We aren't even there yet!"
Katherine shook her head. "Shows how much you know. Here in Monde Creux, Time is not constant." Katherine pointed upwards and there it was, staring at them with grim efficiency, the side of a single mountain and carved into the side of the rock, a large temple.
The architecture was simple. Three arches, side by side, more arches above it, but in each of the arches except the middle one on the bottom, a thousand candles were lit. The light had a splendid effect, as directly in the center archway, a single statue was there. It was a rather large woman dressed in long and flowing robes, with her hands out in front of her. Katherine pulled up the tank-car in front of the temple and then smiled at her god-daughter.
"Next stop, la sorcière, the woman who can tell you everything."
Amaretto turned away from the temple to look Katherine. "Everything?"
Katherine reached into her purse and then pulled out a pair of movie star sunglasses, product of Gucci of course. Putting them on she smiled and then said, "Everything."
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Grain REdux... In which Amaretto and Katherine travel through dimensions,,,
Amaretto tried to answer back, but all she heard was a popping sound and then, she was in her bedroom. Her bedroom was a mess as it always was, but this time she was deposited into that mess with her Godmother, and that did not do well for Katherine at all. However, Amaretto ignored her aunt as she found a bra that was sitting on her head.
“Ama darling,” her aunt drawled. “When was the last time that you cleaned your room?”
“Not now Auntie. I have to look around for the box,” said Amaretto. She had initially looked at the dresser top when she came in but noticed that the box was not there.
Katherine looked petrified. “You lost the box? With the Glass still inside?” Katherine fished into her purse and pulled out her palm pilot. Taking the stylus, she frantically tapped around and searched through the memory with wide eyes, sending frantic emails and half starts of other messages to various people. Thanks to the speed of the Internet, she didn't have to use magic (which could have taken her days), to learn what she did in less than three minutes.
“Doom. We're doomed.” Her voice had a bit of finality to it and she sat down on the bed with a look of despair and defeat.
Amaretto continued to look around her room, now searching though her dirty clothes that she had thrown in a corner. “What do you mean by doomed?”
“I mean that I'm going to get sacked, canned, downsized, outsourced...” Aunt Katherine continued to named all the words except for the term 'fired'. It didn't seem as if she had the heart. Amaretto frowned and ignored her rather dramatic aunt as she continued to search for the Glass. It took her a few moments to realize that her dresser had shifted forward. Amaretto grabbed the dresser and yanked it forward. There nestled in the back behind the dresser, was the box that her Aunt had given her for her eighth birthday.
She smiled and called to her aunt. “I found it!” At this her aunt stopped her mindless rambling.
“You did? Where was it?”
“It had fallen behind the dresser.”
“If you kept your room clean,” Her aunt started, “Then we wouldn't have wasted all this time thinking that I was going to get fired as your Fairy godmother.”
Amaretto rolled her eyes and then opened the box with such force that she snapped the hinges on the box. Her Aunt was surprised. “My, what a strong grip you have.”
Amaretto ignored the quip however. She saw the familiar glass shape under her hand and lifted it out. Her aunt stood up and walked over to behind her and then paused for a moment. “You have to take the catch off before you can tip it. Once you tip that Glass, Tempus' coordinates should kick in and it is Monde Creux for us to see la sorcière du temps et de l'espace. How fun.”
Amaretto found the familiar catch and unclipped it from the glass. The single ruby in the bottom seemed to glitter for a moment and then she saw the glass tilt. She turned around and looked at her aunt with a horrified look. Katherine simply grabbed onto her by the shoulder and smiled. “Here we go my little Amaret!” Her voice was excited and she even had a little glint in her eyes.
At that moment, once more, Amaretto heard that familiar popping sound, which made her wonder, why didn't traveling though time and space not have another sound, like a whoosh or a bang? She didn't have time to contemplate it however as she and her aunt Katherine were skyrocketed though that time and space towards Monde Creux.
The first thing that Amaretto saw was sand. The second thing that she saw was Aunt Katherine flying through the air, or more aptly falling, directly at her. She shrieked and rolled to the side. Aunt Katherine hit the ground with a muffled thump, her legs and arms flying akimbo. Katherine was stuck in what appeared to be a small sand dune and Amaretto looked around as her Aunt tried to get herself out of it.
The surrounding area was a bleak black sky and what seemed like an endless expanse of sand. Sand covered everything and was everywhere and Amaretto felt as bleak as her surroundings looked. Katherine soon managed to get the sand out of her hair, but not out of her shoes.
“I swear that these shoes are ruined. That makes me so mad.” Her aunt growled as she held up her pair of Prada. She looked at her godchild and then said, “Now aren't you glad you are wearing suitable jeans?”
Amaretto paused for a moment and then did have to silently agree that her aunt had been right. The Jeans were a godsend. At least her other pants would not get sand all over them. Then she remembered. “Wait! What happened to our bag of clothes?”
“I left them in your room when we made the jump,” said her aunt as she began to search around in her purse once more. This made Amaretto sigh with relief. No lost pants. They had been hard to come by. Her aunt continued on however without another thought. “Though I seem to have also lost my lip balm as we made the jump. How annoying, chapped lips and nothing to soothe them.” Her aunt sighed and then stood up from the sand dune that she was sitting on.
“Come along then. I am more than sure that la sorcière has been expecting us.” Katherine began to trudge in a random direction where there seemed to be nothing but sand.
“Expecting us?" Amaretto looked rather annoyed and peeved. "Aunt Katherine, there is nothing here. Are you sure that Tempus sent us in the right direction? Oh, and before we go any further, can someone explain all of this to me in the first place and how it can be happening?”
Amaretto looked at her aunt and then walked over and pinched her.
Katherine jumped and began rubbing her hand. “Dear lord! Does it run in your family?”
Amaretto looked at her quizzically. “Does what run in my family?”
“When I first met your mother, she pinched me to make sure that it wasn't a dream. I figured that was why you pinched me now.”
“That is why I pinched you; but my mother did it too?” Amaretto looked a little concerned.
Katherine rolled her eyes before she answered in a huffy voice. “Yes when I told her that I was going to be your godmother.”
“Well if a strange woman walked up to you and said that, wouldn't you want to know if it was a dream too?” Amaretto scowled.
Katherine rolled her eyes. “No, I would thank my lucky stars. It's fine if you back talk to me, I know your are a teenager. However, la sorcière might have a different reaction if you do it to her.” Katherine continued to walk and Amaretto had no choice in but following her.
“Ama darling,” her aunt drawled. “When was the last time that you cleaned your room?”
“Not now Auntie. I have to look around for the box,” said Amaretto. She had initially looked at the dresser top when she came in but noticed that the box was not there.
Katherine looked petrified. “You lost the box? With the Glass still inside?” Katherine fished into her purse and pulled out her palm pilot. Taking the stylus, she frantically tapped around and searched through the memory with wide eyes, sending frantic emails and half starts of other messages to various people. Thanks to the speed of the Internet, she didn't have to use magic (which could have taken her days), to learn what she did in less than three minutes.
“Doom. We're doomed.” Her voice had a bit of finality to it and she sat down on the bed with a look of despair and defeat.
Amaretto continued to look around her room, now searching though her dirty clothes that she had thrown in a corner. “What do you mean by doomed?”
“I mean that I'm going to get sacked, canned, downsized, outsourced...” Aunt Katherine continued to named all the words except for the term 'fired'. It didn't seem as if she had the heart. Amaretto frowned and ignored her rather dramatic aunt as she continued to search for the Glass. It took her a few moments to realize that her dresser had shifted forward. Amaretto grabbed the dresser and yanked it forward. There nestled in the back behind the dresser, was the box that her Aunt had given her for her eighth birthday.
She smiled and called to her aunt. “I found it!” At this her aunt stopped her mindless rambling.
“You did? Where was it?”
“It had fallen behind the dresser.”
“If you kept your room clean,” Her aunt started, “Then we wouldn't have wasted all this time thinking that I was going to get fired as your Fairy godmother.”
Amaretto rolled her eyes and then opened the box with such force that she snapped the hinges on the box. Her Aunt was surprised. “My, what a strong grip you have.”
Amaretto ignored the quip however. She saw the familiar glass shape under her hand and lifted it out. Her aunt stood up and walked over to behind her and then paused for a moment. “You have to take the catch off before you can tip it. Once you tip that Glass, Tempus' coordinates should kick in and it is Monde Creux for us to see la sorcière du temps et de l'espace. How fun.”
Amaretto found the familiar catch and unclipped it from the glass. The single ruby in the bottom seemed to glitter for a moment and then she saw the glass tilt. She turned around and looked at her aunt with a horrified look. Katherine simply grabbed onto her by the shoulder and smiled. “Here we go my little Amaret!” Her voice was excited and she even had a little glint in her eyes.
At that moment, once more, Amaretto heard that familiar popping sound, which made her wonder, why didn't traveling though time and space not have another sound, like a whoosh or a bang? She didn't have time to contemplate it however as she and her aunt Katherine were skyrocketed though that time and space towards Monde Creux.
The first thing that Amaretto saw was sand. The second thing that she saw was Aunt Katherine flying through the air, or more aptly falling, directly at her. She shrieked and rolled to the side. Aunt Katherine hit the ground with a muffled thump, her legs and arms flying akimbo. Katherine was stuck in what appeared to be a small sand dune and Amaretto looked around as her Aunt tried to get herself out of it.
The surrounding area was a bleak black sky and what seemed like an endless expanse of sand. Sand covered everything and was everywhere and Amaretto felt as bleak as her surroundings looked. Katherine soon managed to get the sand out of her hair, but not out of her shoes.
“I swear that these shoes are ruined. That makes me so mad.” Her aunt growled as she held up her pair of Prada. She looked at her godchild and then said, “Now aren't you glad you are wearing suitable jeans?”
Amaretto paused for a moment and then did have to silently agree that her aunt had been right. The Jeans were a godsend. At least her other pants would not get sand all over them. Then she remembered. “Wait! What happened to our bag of clothes?”
“I left them in your room when we made the jump,” said her aunt as she began to search around in her purse once more. This made Amaretto sigh with relief. No lost pants. They had been hard to come by. Her aunt continued on however without another thought. “Though I seem to have also lost my lip balm as we made the jump. How annoying, chapped lips and nothing to soothe them.” Her aunt sighed and then stood up from the sand dune that she was sitting on.
“Come along then. I am more than sure that la sorcière has been expecting us.” Katherine began to trudge in a random direction where there seemed to be nothing but sand.
“Expecting us?" Amaretto looked rather annoyed and peeved. "Aunt Katherine, there is nothing here. Are you sure that Tempus sent us in the right direction? Oh, and before we go any further, can someone explain all of this to me in the first place and how it can be happening?”
Amaretto looked at her aunt and then walked over and pinched her.
Katherine jumped and began rubbing her hand. “Dear lord! Does it run in your family?”
Amaretto looked at her quizzically. “Does what run in my family?”
“When I first met your mother, she pinched me to make sure that it wasn't a dream. I figured that was why you pinched me now.”
“That is why I pinched you; but my mother did it too?” Amaretto looked a little concerned.
Katherine rolled her eyes before she answered in a huffy voice. “Yes when I told her that I was going to be your godmother.”
“Well if a strange woman walked up to you and said that, wouldn't you want to know if it was a dream too?” Amaretto scowled.
Katherine rolled her eyes. “No, I would thank my lucky stars. It's fine if you back talk to me, I know your are a teenager. However, la sorcière might have a different reaction if you do it to her.” Katherine continued to walk and Amaretto had no choice in but following her.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Grain REdux... In which Amaretto meets with a Time Keeper named Tempus and not much is revealed...
A brisk walk down the mall corridor led them to another place. This time, Amaretto eyed her aunt suspiciously as they entered. Inside, there was an old man sitting behind the counter who simply smiled when he saw them. He had on horn-rimmed glasses and his hair was a stark white. His back was a little stooped and on top of that, he wore the ugliest cardigan sweater that Amaretto had ever seen in her life.
“Well Katherine, is this the girl that you were talking about to me so adamantly? She seems rather nice.” The old man adjusted his glasses and then smiled as he motioned them into the back of the store where a curtain hung. As he walked through the back, Katherine smiled and then motioned for Amaretto to follow.
“Don't worry. He doesn't bite. He really is harmless.” She then vanished behind the curtain and Amaretto had no choice but to follow her strange aunt behind the curtain. As she followed behind the curtain, she felt as if she was transported to a whole other place. There was a whooshing sound near her and then her stomach jumped. She stumbled past the curtain and found herself in a rather large room. In front of her, a small round table had been set for the equivalent of tea time and her aunt was being seated by a young man with strong dark hair and piercing eyes and a rather sensuous smile. Behind the table, a single lever and above them, infinite darkness seemed to seep around them. Next to the table, a small wooden construct that looked to have a rounded plug at the top for something small to fit inside.
As soon as Katherine was finished being seated, the young man continued to smile and pulled a chair from the table, and motioned for Amaretto to sit. She frowned at the man when he did so.
“Oh come now girl,” said her aunt. “I told you that he doesn't bite. That would hardly be cordial for him to do. To be honest, it is down right rude.” Amaretto looked at her aunt and then back at the man and then back again to her aunt's exasperated expression. As she turned back to look at the man, she realized that he was wearing the hideous cardigan sweater that the old man had been wearing.
“This is that old man that was siting outside? That's impossible!”
The man shook his head and then frowned. “In the worlds of time and space, nothing is impossible Amaretto. I do hope that I am allowed to call your that and that there is no problem with me doing so.”
Amaretto gawked at the man. Her mouth had initially dropped open when he spoke, but then it closed and formed into a frown. “What are we doing here then Aunt Katherine?”
Her aunt was busy pouring tea into a simple bone china teacup with a beautiful print of blue flowers on the side. She finished pouring the tea before she chose to answer that question. She spoke as she poured a little milk into her tea. “He is a Time Regulator. He is here to explain the basics of your Hourglass for you. Lucky Lucky me, I did not have to deal with your usage of the glass except for that initial time when you were eight.” She placed a lump of sugar into her tea and then as if upon second though added another one. She then pulled out her palm pilot and poked around at it.
“The appointment was made for today initially as you were not supposed to receive the glass until you were eighteen years, three days, twelve hours, forty minutes and six seconds old.” She smiled and then placed the palm pilot on the table and sipped at her tea. She instantly made a face and then reached into her purse for a flask which she promptly took a swig from and then poured the rest of the contents into her tea. Amaretto slowly took a few steps forward, still clearly weary of the man who was standing there and holding the chair out for her. She sat down and then the man proceeded to pour tea for her as well. He offered her the milk and she kindly shook her head and then he pushed the sugar bowl in front of her before he sat down himself.
Pouring another cup of tea, he proceeded to put a single lump of sugar into his tea and then popped a second one in his mouth. His eyes twinkled and he gave an impish grin as he ate it.
“Amaretto, you will have to listen carefully to everything that he says alright?” Katherine sipped her tea and then settled to relax.
The man sipped his tea and then spoke in a rather charmingly deep voice that did not seem to fit with his boyish looks. “My name is Alexander Anthony Taylor Ryan Tempus. Everyone calls me Tempus for short, or even “Keeper” at times. You can call me as you like.” He smiled rather disarmingly and Amaretto actually blushed.
“Now you might have some questions for me about the Dimensional shifter so ask away. That is what this meeting is for.”
“Who the hell are you would be a better place to start,” mumbled Amaretto. Katherine was sipping her tea when she spewed at what she heard. The man smiled and then spoke with a frank tone of voice.
“I told you, I am a Keeper, a Time Keeper to be frankly honest. I allow for people who have Hourglasses to be able to travel to their destinations. Think of me as an all encompassing travel agent. It's kinda nice to be honest.”
“A travel agent?” Amaretto ignored her aunt while she tried to clean up the table with a napkin where she had all but practically spewed her tea.
“Yes. I am the one who makes sure that your Glass works at all times. If it didn't you might never know where you might end up. I also recharge it for you when that is needed from time to time and help with the general maintenance of it.”
Amaretto looked puzzled for a moment. “So you are like a mechanic of sorts?”
Tempus smiled. “That analogy works better than the Travel agent, it's true, but I do more of both jobs to be honest. I also make a wicked peach cobbler.” A this he grinned rather largely. Amaretto felt a twitch in her left eye and then almost cracked a smile. Instead, Tempus continued to talk.
“I will insist though that if you want to have some you tell me so I can make you some. I have many clients from across the ages and they all seem to love it. It was the previous Keeper's recipe.”
“So there have been Keepers other than you?”
Tempus blinked in a blank stare and then smiled. “Yes and no.”
Amaretto felt the twitch in her left eye and rubbed at it in an effort to make it go way. “That answer is hardly worth mentioning. It was like shaking a magic eight ball and getting the 'Reply hazy, try again' answer.”
Tempus grinned and said, “Yes, well, what I mean to say is that outside of this temporal space, I could look like anyone, but within here, I should always look like myself until I choose to go on with my life. You see, all the Keepers are in a state of time stasis so that they do not age until they are done with their time. All the people on the outside are usually the people who have been previous guardians.”
“So the old man outside was originally a Keeper until he got bored?”
“Yup. It's his cobbler recipe. He was instituted somewhere around the early 1900's. He was also from a different plane of existence as well.”
“Plane of existence? What does this mean here? Aunt Katherine mentioned it as well when I was younger and it still makes no sense.”
Katherine chose this moment to interject. “You actually remember that? Oh dear, I thought you forgot.”
Amaretto replied rather snappishly. “It's rather hard to forget that you lost three hours at once point in your life due to a time traveling Hourglass.”
“It is not a time traveling hourglass.” Tempus placed his teacup down and spoke with a firm voice. Amaretto turned, a little shocked that the playful man he was before had turned all serious. He folded his hands on the table top and then looked at Amaretto.
“Listen carefully. Every time you make a decision a world is created in the conscious span of the universe. Thus it creates a filtered multiverse of many different worlds and many different things. Time is a three dimensional thing, so far as spanning into a fourth dimensional paradoxical state.”
Amaretto blinked at him as if he was talking in gibberish.
Tempus paused and then laughed nervously. “Whoopsie. I meant to talk more normally. Let's try that again in a lot simpler terms: You can cross dimensions of time and space to visit other worlds, and even pass through time on rare occasions.”
“I can cross dimensions and time?” Amaretto seemed truly impressed at the idea. However, before Tempus could respond, a loud sound suddenly chimed through the whole of the room. Tempus immediately stood up and then began rushing about, trying to remove all of the china and tea, and then just rolled his eyes as the siren grew louder.
“Bloody Hell,” he muttered. As soon as he said that, a thousand bells like a cathedral sounded and he made a grab for the lever that had been on the other side of the table. As he pulled the lever, the bells all stopped and a soft chime could be heard. Suddenly, a bright flash of light lit up the area. Amaretto could see more and more spotlights flashing on. The lights seemed to go on forever at first and then suddenly, they stopped. Amaretto looked up and she was shocked at what she saw.
The room in which they were standing, turned out to be massively taller than what Amaretto had initially thought. Large clockwork gears, dials, bezels, springs and all other manner of clock pieces were attached to the small pedestal that sat in the center of the room just behind the small table. The makings of what appeared to be a fifty foot clock ticked silently behind them all. A little ways up, there was a platform where Tempus was quickly making a bee line. He ran up a set of stairs on the side and looked back at Amaretto. :Kindly close your mouth, we do have a fly here, I don't want you to trap it by accident.” Amaretto quickly slammed her mouth shut.
On the other side of the table, Katherine was on her palm pilot, furiously typing things into it. At the same time, she pulled an ear piece out of her purse and then dialed a number on her cell phone. As Amaretto watched, Katherine talked and talked and talked, and her words were swift and guttural. Tempus was busy pushing buttons and Katherine was talking what sounded like German on the phone. Amaretto stayed where she was and then looked at Tempus who started to talk as he pushed buttons and pulled levers and checked gages.
“I am terribly sorry that this was cut short, but I am going to have to make sure that certain things work out properly.” He pulled another lever and then checked something with several needles that seemed to be spinning. “I wish that we could have had a nice conversation about all the things that you need to do, but I am afraid that, as it usually does, time has gotten away from us. I wish that you had your Hourglass with you at the moment, but we are going to have to do this a whole different way.” He pulled another lever and suddenly a keyboard and monitor popped out. Tempus then pointed to her aunt and said, “You should get her before she reams those other faeries a new one.”
Amaretto ran to her aunt's side as Tempus began to type furiously across the keyboard. There was a whistle call and then the whole of the “clock” boomed across the entire room, the chime echoing. Katherine paused in her speaking of Gaelic, and looked at Tempus.
“Is it time yet?”
Tempus nodded his head. Katherine nodded her head and spoke into the phone again and then clicked the phone off. “I guess then that Amaretto and I are ready.”
Amaretto blinked and looked at her aunt. “Ready? Who said anything about being ready? I still don't know what is even going on!” Amaretto looked panicked for a moment and then looked back at Tempus. He had unfolded a chair from somewhere on the platform and had sat down and was now furiously typing away on his small keyboard. Several more monitors had popped up and he was typing at a furious pace.
“This is what is going to happen. I am going to have to send you off back to your own home so that you can pick up your Hourglass. From there, I am going to program it so that when you tilt it you will be taken straight to Monde Creux. There you will see la sorcière du temps et de l'espace. She will help you move on from there to where you need to go.” He tapped in a few more things and then tossed a small pocket watch to Amaretto.
“That will initiate the time change between here and your house, allowing you to be able to step through to the other side. No portals here I'm afraid. I've input your destination inside of Monde Creux. You both should be fine.” With that, he nodded and then puled a lever. Amaretto frowned and then tried to say something, holding out the pocket watch. The watch clicked open and the inside started spinning furiously.
As Amaretto stared at it, she heard Tempus call out to her. He was standing there and smiling at her from the platform in front of the clock. “Make sure you take a water bottle. And always remember that the answer is not 42, it's actually three.”
“Well Katherine, is this the girl that you were talking about to me so adamantly? She seems rather nice.” The old man adjusted his glasses and then smiled as he motioned them into the back of the store where a curtain hung. As he walked through the back, Katherine smiled and then motioned for Amaretto to follow.
“Don't worry. He doesn't bite. He really is harmless.” She then vanished behind the curtain and Amaretto had no choice but to follow her strange aunt behind the curtain. As she followed behind the curtain, she felt as if she was transported to a whole other place. There was a whooshing sound near her and then her stomach jumped. She stumbled past the curtain and found herself in a rather large room. In front of her, a small round table had been set for the equivalent of tea time and her aunt was being seated by a young man with strong dark hair and piercing eyes and a rather sensuous smile. Behind the table, a single lever and above them, infinite darkness seemed to seep around them. Next to the table, a small wooden construct that looked to have a rounded plug at the top for something small to fit inside.
As soon as Katherine was finished being seated, the young man continued to smile and pulled a chair from the table, and motioned for Amaretto to sit. She frowned at the man when he did so.
“Oh come now girl,” said her aunt. “I told you that he doesn't bite. That would hardly be cordial for him to do. To be honest, it is down right rude.” Amaretto looked at her aunt and then back at the man and then back again to her aunt's exasperated expression. As she turned back to look at the man, she realized that he was wearing the hideous cardigan sweater that the old man had been wearing.
“This is that old man that was siting outside? That's impossible!”
The man shook his head and then frowned. “In the worlds of time and space, nothing is impossible Amaretto. I do hope that I am allowed to call your that and that there is no problem with me doing so.”
Amaretto gawked at the man. Her mouth had initially dropped open when he spoke, but then it closed and formed into a frown. “What are we doing here then Aunt Katherine?”
Her aunt was busy pouring tea into a simple bone china teacup with a beautiful print of blue flowers on the side. She finished pouring the tea before she chose to answer that question. She spoke as she poured a little milk into her tea. “He is a Time Regulator. He is here to explain the basics of your Hourglass for you. Lucky Lucky me, I did not have to deal with your usage of the glass except for that initial time when you were eight.” She placed a lump of sugar into her tea and then as if upon second though added another one. She then pulled out her palm pilot and poked around at it.
“The appointment was made for today initially as you were not supposed to receive the glass until you were eighteen years, three days, twelve hours, forty minutes and six seconds old.” She smiled and then placed the palm pilot on the table and sipped at her tea. She instantly made a face and then reached into her purse for a flask which she promptly took a swig from and then poured the rest of the contents into her tea. Amaretto slowly took a few steps forward, still clearly weary of the man who was standing there and holding the chair out for her. She sat down and then the man proceeded to pour tea for her as well. He offered her the milk and she kindly shook her head and then he pushed the sugar bowl in front of her before he sat down himself.
Pouring another cup of tea, he proceeded to put a single lump of sugar into his tea and then popped a second one in his mouth. His eyes twinkled and he gave an impish grin as he ate it.
“Amaretto, you will have to listen carefully to everything that he says alright?” Katherine sipped her tea and then settled to relax.
The man sipped his tea and then spoke in a rather charmingly deep voice that did not seem to fit with his boyish looks. “My name is Alexander Anthony Taylor Ryan Tempus. Everyone calls me Tempus for short, or even “Keeper” at times. You can call me as you like.” He smiled rather disarmingly and Amaretto actually blushed.
“Now you might have some questions for me about the Dimensional shifter so ask away. That is what this meeting is for.”
“Who the hell are you would be a better place to start,” mumbled Amaretto. Katherine was sipping her tea when she spewed at what she heard. The man smiled and then spoke with a frank tone of voice.
“I told you, I am a Keeper, a Time Keeper to be frankly honest. I allow for people who have Hourglasses to be able to travel to their destinations. Think of me as an all encompassing travel agent. It's kinda nice to be honest.”
“A travel agent?” Amaretto ignored her aunt while she tried to clean up the table with a napkin where she had all but practically spewed her tea.
“Yes. I am the one who makes sure that your Glass works at all times. If it didn't you might never know where you might end up. I also recharge it for you when that is needed from time to time and help with the general maintenance of it.”
Amaretto looked puzzled for a moment. “So you are like a mechanic of sorts?”
Tempus smiled. “That analogy works better than the Travel agent, it's true, but I do more of both jobs to be honest. I also make a wicked peach cobbler.” A this he grinned rather largely. Amaretto felt a twitch in her left eye and then almost cracked a smile. Instead, Tempus continued to talk.
“I will insist though that if you want to have some you tell me so I can make you some. I have many clients from across the ages and they all seem to love it. It was the previous Keeper's recipe.”
“So there have been Keepers other than you?”
Tempus blinked in a blank stare and then smiled. “Yes and no.”
Amaretto felt the twitch in her left eye and rubbed at it in an effort to make it go way. “That answer is hardly worth mentioning. It was like shaking a magic eight ball and getting the 'Reply hazy, try again' answer.”
Tempus grinned and said, “Yes, well, what I mean to say is that outside of this temporal space, I could look like anyone, but within here, I should always look like myself until I choose to go on with my life. You see, all the Keepers are in a state of time stasis so that they do not age until they are done with their time. All the people on the outside are usually the people who have been previous guardians.”
“So the old man outside was originally a Keeper until he got bored?”
“Yup. It's his cobbler recipe. He was instituted somewhere around the early 1900's. He was also from a different plane of existence as well.”
“Plane of existence? What does this mean here? Aunt Katherine mentioned it as well when I was younger and it still makes no sense.”
Katherine chose this moment to interject. “You actually remember that? Oh dear, I thought you forgot.”
Amaretto replied rather snappishly. “It's rather hard to forget that you lost three hours at once point in your life due to a time traveling Hourglass.”
“It is not a time traveling hourglass.” Tempus placed his teacup down and spoke with a firm voice. Amaretto turned, a little shocked that the playful man he was before had turned all serious. He folded his hands on the table top and then looked at Amaretto.
“Listen carefully. Every time you make a decision a world is created in the conscious span of the universe. Thus it creates a filtered multiverse of many different worlds and many different things. Time is a three dimensional thing, so far as spanning into a fourth dimensional paradoxical state.”
Amaretto blinked at him as if he was talking in gibberish.
Tempus paused and then laughed nervously. “Whoopsie. I meant to talk more normally. Let's try that again in a lot simpler terms: You can cross dimensions of time and space to visit other worlds, and even pass through time on rare occasions.”
“I can cross dimensions and time?” Amaretto seemed truly impressed at the idea. However, before Tempus could respond, a loud sound suddenly chimed through the whole of the room. Tempus immediately stood up and then began rushing about, trying to remove all of the china and tea, and then just rolled his eyes as the siren grew louder.
“Bloody Hell,” he muttered. As soon as he said that, a thousand bells like a cathedral sounded and he made a grab for the lever that had been on the other side of the table. As he pulled the lever, the bells all stopped and a soft chime could be heard. Suddenly, a bright flash of light lit up the area. Amaretto could see more and more spotlights flashing on. The lights seemed to go on forever at first and then suddenly, they stopped. Amaretto looked up and she was shocked at what she saw.
The room in which they were standing, turned out to be massively taller than what Amaretto had initially thought. Large clockwork gears, dials, bezels, springs and all other manner of clock pieces were attached to the small pedestal that sat in the center of the room just behind the small table. The makings of what appeared to be a fifty foot clock ticked silently behind them all. A little ways up, there was a platform where Tempus was quickly making a bee line. He ran up a set of stairs on the side and looked back at Amaretto. :Kindly close your mouth, we do have a fly here, I don't want you to trap it by accident.” Amaretto quickly slammed her mouth shut.
On the other side of the table, Katherine was on her palm pilot, furiously typing things into it. At the same time, she pulled an ear piece out of her purse and then dialed a number on her cell phone. As Amaretto watched, Katherine talked and talked and talked, and her words were swift and guttural. Tempus was busy pushing buttons and Katherine was talking what sounded like German on the phone. Amaretto stayed where she was and then looked at Tempus who started to talk as he pushed buttons and pulled levers and checked gages.
“I am terribly sorry that this was cut short, but I am going to have to make sure that certain things work out properly.” He pulled another lever and then checked something with several needles that seemed to be spinning. “I wish that we could have had a nice conversation about all the things that you need to do, but I am afraid that, as it usually does, time has gotten away from us. I wish that you had your Hourglass with you at the moment, but we are going to have to do this a whole different way.” He pulled another lever and suddenly a keyboard and monitor popped out. Tempus then pointed to her aunt and said, “You should get her before she reams those other faeries a new one.”
Amaretto ran to her aunt's side as Tempus began to type furiously across the keyboard. There was a whistle call and then the whole of the “clock” boomed across the entire room, the chime echoing. Katherine paused in her speaking of Gaelic, and looked at Tempus.
“Is it time yet?”
Tempus nodded his head. Katherine nodded her head and spoke into the phone again and then clicked the phone off. “I guess then that Amaretto and I are ready.”
Amaretto blinked and looked at her aunt. “Ready? Who said anything about being ready? I still don't know what is even going on!” Amaretto looked panicked for a moment and then looked back at Tempus. He had unfolded a chair from somewhere on the platform and had sat down and was now furiously typing away on his small keyboard. Several more monitors had popped up and he was typing at a furious pace.
“This is what is going to happen. I am going to have to send you off back to your own home so that you can pick up your Hourglass. From there, I am going to program it so that when you tilt it you will be taken straight to Monde Creux. There you will see la sorcière du temps et de l'espace. She will help you move on from there to where you need to go.” He tapped in a few more things and then tossed a small pocket watch to Amaretto.
“That will initiate the time change between here and your house, allowing you to be able to step through to the other side. No portals here I'm afraid. I've input your destination inside of Monde Creux. You both should be fine.” With that, he nodded and then puled a lever. Amaretto frowned and then tried to say something, holding out the pocket watch. The watch clicked open and the inside started spinning furiously.
As Amaretto stared at it, she heard Tempus call out to her. He was standing there and smiling at her from the platform in front of the clock. “Make sure you take a water bottle. And always remember that the answer is not 42, it's actually three.”
Monday, January 4, 2010
Grain Redux... In which a Corvette is seen and Amaretto goes jean shopping...
Fast forward to Francesca Amaretto Covington being Seventeen years, thirty two weeks, five days, ten hours, fifteen minutes and fifty six seconds old. Amaretto was now called Ama by all of her friends. She was now in high school and she had completely forgotten about the hourglass. Actually, that is false, she had not forgotten about it, so much as she now thought of it only as a festive trinket. As she grew older, she began to want to see aunt Katherine less and less, and Katherine wound up having other children to also watch as well. Lives moved on since Amaretto's eighth birthday.
It was also by chance that she was walking home when the a 1969 Skyline corvette rolled up next to her.
“Hello there my dear! I am here to take you home. Hop on in.” Amaretto turned at the familiar voice. Her aunt was sitting there in the car, with the top down. Her long orange hair splayed out in a halo around her head and there was no stopping that she was once again in her purple phase. Her entire outfit was purple and the jewelry was purple as well. Purple was practically radiating from the drivers seat of the car. Amaretto felt a little put off. Thankfully, none of her friends were around.
She stood next to the door as her aunt appraised her and her clothing. “I see that you dyed your hair blond almost... a half a year ago. The blond ends are a nice accent to your brown hair.” Amaretto rolled her eyes.
“What are you doing here Aunt Katherine?”
“Well first of all, we need to get you some more clothes than that. Those are not suited to travel at all my dear.” Amaretto looked down at what she was wearing, a pair of skinny leg jeans that were in black color and were secretly bondage pants. They were one of her favorite pants. They had amazing pockets in the back and had four straps that criss-crossed from each other. She had a shirt that promoted the Smiths and their music and a hoodie that had a zipper in the front and a deep hood. Chains wrapped around the arms and proclaimed on the back that she was “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die”.
“How is this not travel appropriate?” Amaretto eyed her aunt and her aunt stared right back into her eyes.
“Just get into the car Francesca. You and I have to talk right now.” Her aunt put the car into park and then reached out and unlocked the passenger door and then swung it open. Amaretto was forced to step back as the door swung open and then she stepped into the car and sat down, closing the passenger door behind her.
“All right, I'm in the car, what now?”
“Now we get you a pair of decent jeans and then we raid your jewelry chest and you will soon be able to fulfill a promise that I made a long while back.”
Amaretto raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me? Raid my jewelry chest? I don't own a jewelry chest.”
“No, but you have a small wooden box that I gave to you when you were eight and I need you to listen very carefully now. I need you to start watching out now. How old are you my dear?”
“I'm seventeen right now.”
“Yes and soon you will be eighteen, and I need to get you prepared for this. I need you to be a little less ungrateful that I am your faerie godmother.”
“You are not my faerie godmother, you are just my godmother.”
“You see, that is where you are wrong. I am indeed a faerie and a godmother, yours to be more precise.”
“I don't believe you because you are crazy. I don't believe anyone who is crazy. You most certainly are crazy after saying that are you not?” Amaretto rolled her eyes and then made to open the door. At that moment, Katherine decided to put her foot on the gas pedal and the tires squealed and screeched as they pulled out into the middle of the road and her aunt seemed annoyed. Amaretto struggled to put her belt on as quickly as she could and jerked it into place at the last moment.
“What the hell are you doing?” Amaretto's voice was a squeal and she clutched onto the door as they pealed down the road at excessive speeds. Katherine didn't say anything as they traveled, but she watched as the familiar setting speed past at an incredible rate. The corvette sped and weaved and dodged some cars before it stopped rather abruptly at a local mall.
Aunt Katherine smiled and pulled the car's gear into park and then smiled. “I got the automatic because it was determined that I would never go below fifth gear if I could help it.” She smiled at Amaretto who was still clutching the side door with a rather heavy grip.
“You could have almost killed us.”
“I didn't kill us however, and it would be quite impossible for me to do anything of the sort if you had been paying attention.” Aunt Katherine gripped her purple purse and then smiled as she strode towards the mall entrance. “Don't sit in the car too long, you will soon have to come out or the security chime will sound off. Don't want to stick around for that on I am sure.”
As her aunt continued to walk away, Amaretto managed to release her death grip on the door and unbuckle her seatbelt. She opened the door and tried to stand and found that her legs were almost jelly from the speed. It surprised her as there was no way that they could have traveled that fast. As she looked at the clock on the dashboard, her eyes almost popped out of her head. She had merely walked five minutes from the school before her aunt had shown up. The closest mall was a good twenty five minutes away, if not longer. Somehow, the trip had taken them less than ten.
She wobbled as she closed the door and then began to walk after her aunt. The woman walked fast in her high-heeled Prada shoes. As they finally made the door, they walked around the inside until they found a Lucky Brand Jeans store. Her aunt walked in with a cool click of her heels and stopped in the doorway. Amaretto paused behind her. “Why are we stopping in the middle of the doorway?”
Aunt Katherine smiled for a moment and then said in a low voice, “Watch this.” She lifted her right heel just a bit and then brought the heel down with a resounding crack against the wood-laid floor. The crack that came from the wood resounded everywhere and then suddenly two people who were behind the counter looked up and turned pale.
One of them, a boy who could only have been a freshman in college at the most, suddenly rushed around the counter and with broad steps walked up to her aunt and almost all but bowed in front of her. “Lady Katherine! What a pleasure to see you again!” The boy looked like he was bowing and scraping in front of her aunt and Amaretto felt like she was about to be sick. She had never seen anything like this ever before. Her aunt however looked like the cat who had just gotten the canary.
“Well then, Andrew was it? My charge here is looking for some jeans. Something that she can walk around in and is durable for some rather strenuous work, and yet at the same time, I want you to make her look sexy. Can you do that Andrew?”
Amaretto paused as green eyes appraised her and then Andrew snapped his fingers. The girl who had been behind the counter with him suddenly rushed over. “Angela, let's get to work. We have a bit of work on our hands and we needed to finish it yesterday.”
Both proceeded to take Amaretto into the back and then began the impromptu makeover. Almost fifteen minutes and 18 pairs of jeans later, she had two pairs of hip hugging, long-legged jeans. Afterwards, her aunt purchased them, promised to come back into the Lucky Brand and then promptly rushed out with her god-niece.
It was also by chance that she was walking home when the a 1969 Skyline corvette rolled up next to her.
“Hello there my dear! I am here to take you home. Hop on in.” Amaretto turned at the familiar voice. Her aunt was sitting there in the car, with the top down. Her long orange hair splayed out in a halo around her head and there was no stopping that she was once again in her purple phase. Her entire outfit was purple and the jewelry was purple as well. Purple was practically radiating from the drivers seat of the car. Amaretto felt a little put off. Thankfully, none of her friends were around.
She stood next to the door as her aunt appraised her and her clothing. “I see that you dyed your hair blond almost... a half a year ago. The blond ends are a nice accent to your brown hair.” Amaretto rolled her eyes.
“What are you doing here Aunt Katherine?”
“Well first of all, we need to get you some more clothes than that. Those are not suited to travel at all my dear.” Amaretto looked down at what she was wearing, a pair of skinny leg jeans that were in black color and were secretly bondage pants. They were one of her favorite pants. They had amazing pockets in the back and had four straps that criss-crossed from each other. She had a shirt that promoted the Smiths and their music and a hoodie that had a zipper in the front and a deep hood. Chains wrapped around the arms and proclaimed on the back that she was “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die”.
“How is this not travel appropriate?” Amaretto eyed her aunt and her aunt stared right back into her eyes.
“Just get into the car Francesca. You and I have to talk right now.” Her aunt put the car into park and then reached out and unlocked the passenger door and then swung it open. Amaretto was forced to step back as the door swung open and then she stepped into the car and sat down, closing the passenger door behind her.
“All right, I'm in the car, what now?”
“Now we get you a pair of decent jeans and then we raid your jewelry chest and you will soon be able to fulfill a promise that I made a long while back.”
Amaretto raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me? Raid my jewelry chest? I don't own a jewelry chest.”
“No, but you have a small wooden box that I gave to you when you were eight and I need you to listen very carefully now. I need you to start watching out now. How old are you my dear?”
“I'm seventeen right now.”
“Yes and soon you will be eighteen, and I need to get you prepared for this. I need you to be a little less ungrateful that I am your faerie godmother.”
“You are not my faerie godmother, you are just my godmother.”
“You see, that is where you are wrong. I am indeed a faerie and a godmother, yours to be more precise.”
“I don't believe you because you are crazy. I don't believe anyone who is crazy. You most certainly are crazy after saying that are you not?” Amaretto rolled her eyes and then made to open the door. At that moment, Katherine decided to put her foot on the gas pedal and the tires squealed and screeched as they pulled out into the middle of the road and her aunt seemed annoyed. Amaretto struggled to put her belt on as quickly as she could and jerked it into place at the last moment.
“What the hell are you doing?” Amaretto's voice was a squeal and she clutched onto the door as they pealed down the road at excessive speeds. Katherine didn't say anything as they traveled, but she watched as the familiar setting speed past at an incredible rate. The corvette sped and weaved and dodged some cars before it stopped rather abruptly at a local mall.
Aunt Katherine smiled and pulled the car's gear into park and then smiled. “I got the automatic because it was determined that I would never go below fifth gear if I could help it.” She smiled at Amaretto who was still clutching the side door with a rather heavy grip.
“You could have almost killed us.”
“I didn't kill us however, and it would be quite impossible for me to do anything of the sort if you had been paying attention.” Aunt Katherine gripped her purple purse and then smiled as she strode towards the mall entrance. “Don't sit in the car too long, you will soon have to come out or the security chime will sound off. Don't want to stick around for that on I am sure.”
As her aunt continued to walk away, Amaretto managed to release her death grip on the door and unbuckle her seatbelt. She opened the door and tried to stand and found that her legs were almost jelly from the speed. It surprised her as there was no way that they could have traveled that fast. As she looked at the clock on the dashboard, her eyes almost popped out of her head. She had merely walked five minutes from the school before her aunt had shown up. The closest mall was a good twenty five minutes away, if not longer. Somehow, the trip had taken them less than ten.
She wobbled as she closed the door and then began to walk after her aunt. The woman walked fast in her high-heeled Prada shoes. As they finally made the door, they walked around the inside until they found a Lucky Brand Jeans store. Her aunt walked in with a cool click of her heels and stopped in the doorway. Amaretto paused behind her. “Why are we stopping in the middle of the doorway?”
Aunt Katherine smiled for a moment and then said in a low voice, “Watch this.” She lifted her right heel just a bit and then brought the heel down with a resounding crack against the wood-laid floor. The crack that came from the wood resounded everywhere and then suddenly two people who were behind the counter looked up and turned pale.
One of them, a boy who could only have been a freshman in college at the most, suddenly rushed around the counter and with broad steps walked up to her aunt and almost all but bowed in front of her. “Lady Katherine! What a pleasure to see you again!” The boy looked like he was bowing and scraping in front of her aunt and Amaretto felt like she was about to be sick. She had never seen anything like this ever before. Her aunt however looked like the cat who had just gotten the canary.
“Well then, Andrew was it? My charge here is looking for some jeans. Something that she can walk around in and is durable for some rather strenuous work, and yet at the same time, I want you to make her look sexy. Can you do that Andrew?”
Amaretto paused as green eyes appraised her and then Andrew snapped his fingers. The girl who had been behind the counter with him suddenly rushed over. “Angela, let's get to work. We have a bit of work on our hands and we needed to finish it yesterday.”
Both proceeded to take Amaretto into the back and then began the impromptu makeover. Almost fifteen minutes and 18 pairs of jeans later, she had two pairs of hip hugging, long-legged jeans. Afterwards, her aunt purchased them, promised to come back into the Lucky Brand and then promptly rushed out with her god-niece.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Grain Redux... In which Time travel is presented and explained and Amaretto loses Three hours of her life...
As she sat on the couch, her aunt continued to watch the soap opera in front of her.
She asked her aunt hat had happened. “How did I lose three hours of my life then?”
Aunt Katherine, eyes glued to the TV, responded without even turning to look back. “You used the hourglass of course. You twisted it too hard and thankfully, your house acted like a black hole and kept you in the same spot and only shifted you three hours forwards.” She sipped her martini and then smiled as she picked at one of the olives and ate it.
“How could I possibly dash forward three hours? That is impossible.” Amaretto frowned at her aunt.
Her aunt sighed again and then said, “I say again, you used the hourglass. That's what I've been trying to tell you. You seem not to be able to grasp this concept. Can't we just figure this out when my soaps are off?”
Amaretto frowned and then spoke. “No, I need you to tell me right now!”
Katherine frowned and then placed her martini down and said. “All will be explained again at promptly...” she pulled her palm pilot out and then said, “At four twenty-seven and zero seconds.” As she said this, she picked up her martini again and began to sip from it.
“That still does not necessarily make any sense.” Amaretto was beginning to get agitated, however, her “faerie” godmother was not to be bothered. She sipped at her martini and then muted the TV.
“We have commercials on at this moment so I'm gonna make it quick.” She put her martini down and picked her palm pilot back up again. She then began to read off verbatim what was written on the small screen.
“Well, it appears that at 1:27, you made a 6,660 degree turn of the hourglass, in an unknown effort to see the glass turn. You then jumped forward three hours in which you had already returned to be hiding behind the couch while I once again explained what happened to you for the second time.”
Amaretto interrupted. “A second time?”
“Yes a second time. This would be the first time that I am telling you.”
Amaretto nodded again and then apologized quickly and then allowed for her aunt to continue with what it was that she wanted to say.
Katherine nodded and once again started to read again what was on her palm pilot. “I had the second you go into the kitchen and make me a martini. I then explained to you how to use the hourglass. Which I then sent you back with, however, we got off a little bit and I wound up not sending you back far enough and you appeared at one thirty nine and thirty-two seconds, with my martini in your hand. You handed off my martini to me and then you tripped over your own feet and then hit your head and the glass twisted only twenty-two degrees and you jumped forward a minute and five seconds. That was when you crashed on the couch.”
“I crashed on the couch?”
“Yes, you fell on the couch and fell asleep for only a few minutes. You then woke up and became belligerent.”
Amaretto frowned and then said, “I am not belligerent.”
Katherine put her palm pilot down and then frowned as she picked up her martini. “You make an excellent martini, but a horrible liar. Don't worry, your mom won't be home until after you come through a second time at around four thirty.”
Amaretto nodded and then said, “What time does mom get home?”
“Around Five.”
“Then we have enough time to truly explain what it is that you gave me.”
Katherine shook her head and slowly turned up the volume. “My shows are back on. Wait till Four thirty, you'll hear the whole explanation.” Katheinre sipped at her martini and then looked as she realized that she finished it. “Could you be a dear and make your aunt another one?” Katherine held out her martini glass and Amaretto rolled her eyes.
“Thank you my dear little Ama.” Katherine smiled and Amaretto took her glass and then walked to the kitchen and made her another martini. Amaretto took the Belvedere vodka and poured it into a shaker with ice and then poured vermouth in as well. She then shook it until the shaker frosted and then poured it into the tall martini glass over three olives on a toothpick; just the way that her aunt liked it. She picked it up and then walked out to the living room where her aunt was now screaming at a new couple on the television.
They sat and watched television that included Oprah and then Katherine's palm pilot suddenly began screeching an alarm. Katherine looked surprised and then put her martini down and then picked up her palm pilot. “Oh! Apparently it is time for you to go hide behind the couch against the wall.”
Amaretto frowned and then said, “When did you program that in there if you didn't know that it was going to happen?”
“I don't think I programed that,” Katherine looked confused and then put the palm pilot down. “Hurry up and get back behind the couch, I think you only have a minute left.”
Amaretto scrambled behind the couch and then there was a resounding pop. She peeked over the other side of the couch and then saw herself looking around rather confused in the middle of the living room. Katherine blinked and then spoke out loud. “I see, so there you are. I've been expecting you.”
Amaretto's double from the past looked around and then spoke in a slightly panicked voice. “Where am I? What happened?”
Katherine picked up her palm pilot and placed the martini down. “In that order, you are in your own living room and you turned the hourglass a total of six thousand six-hundred and sixty degrees. In full disclosure of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, time does not move at a fixed rate. For example, cocks that are in motion, appear to be ticking more slowly than their stationary counterparts.”
The second Amaretto blinked and then said, “What?”
Katherine waved her hands in the air and then stood up. “When you add gravity to the theory, spacetime tends to bend.”
Amaretto continued to watch from behind the couch as herself from the past remained confused. Her past self spoke, “Wait, why are you trying to tell me something about time and space and... this is all so confusing. I think I have to sit down.”
As her double sat down, Amaretto made sure that she paid close attention to the whole situation. After all, she would soon be forgetting this whole conversation with a quick bump on her head.
“No, there s no need to worry yourself. Just listen to what your Aunt Katherine has to say and you will be right as rain.” Katherine managed to pick up her martini in her other hand and then took a sip. To the Amaretto seated on the living room floor she began to talk.
“The gift which you have is actually called an Hourglass, or a Glass for short. It has the property to alter time, or more actively, allow one to relocate themselves through theory, or more accurately, to travel across the multitudinous worlds that spawn our very fabric of existence. It works on a principle of inevitability and necessity. It's all really complicated and I'm not quite sure how it is supposed to work, but it works is what matters.”
Amaretto's other self remained seated on the floor, absorbing all the information in that their shared Aunt Kathrine was giving to both her and the one who was hiding behind the couch. Katherine slurped at her second martini and then frowned. The martini was almost empty. She placed it down and then picked the stylus out of the palm pilot and began to poke around the screen with it.
“I know that this all must seem horribly out of place for someone like you and to make absolutely no sense at all, but I promise if you just listen to me and pay attention that you will know what is going on.” The second Amaretto from the past rolled her eyes.
“I already know that it can jump me through time, I want to know how.”
“I'm afraid that the explanation that you are looking for involves higher math, physics, and a lot of talking, all of which I am not up for in anyway shape or form.” At this moment, Katherine picked up her martini glass and sloshed down the rest of it. As she did so, she held it out in front of her and passed it to the past Amaretto. Present Amaretto rolled her eyes at exactly the same time that past Amaretto did so. Some things, even when dilated by time, still did not change.
Past Amaretto moved towards the kitchen and proceeded to make a martini. When she came back, Aunt Katherine was sitting down again, and this time, she appeared to have a handle on everything that she was about to explain.
“Now we don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to explain this to you in a short amount of time, so that this can all be fixed. The Glass can control the flow of how you travel within dimensions and planes and time by spinning the chambers a certain amount of degrees. It's all actually a lot more simple than one can think of.”
“So this hourglass can transport me to different points in time?” Both present and past Amaretto's fondled the hourglasses that were around their necks. Their Aunt Katherine nodded her head as if Amaretto had been told for hours and only now figured it out.
“Yes, what happens is that you spin the hourglass in the frame. Depending on how many times you spin it, you can go almost anywhere in time. However, using it that way uses sand of course. There is always a Timekeeper that you can go to meet and he can always recharge the glass up for you again.”
At this, Amaretto cocked her head and Katherine waved her hand already knowing what her godchild was going to ask her. “Yes, there is more than one glass, you just happen to be lucky enough to be able to have this one.”
Amaretto nodded and then said, “So then how this works is I just spin the glass and I'll be able to go back?”
“Well you will have to do it that way cause otherwise you will have been missing for almost three hours and my past self just can't take it. Please go back and save my mind.”
The past Amaretto, soon to become the present Amaretto nodded her head and then picked up the martini in her hand. “I should perhaps take this back with me as a present for worrying you.”
“Sometimes girl, you are after my own heart with how sweet you are, and you are only eight to boot.” Katherine gave past Amaretto a hug and then said, “Also make sure you remember, there is a catch on the side of the frame so that the Glass does not spin inadvertently when you least expect it, thus skyrocketing you somewhere you don't want to be.”
Amaretto nodded and then smiled as her aunt reached out and tilted the glass so that she could travel back in time. Almost as if with an after thought, her aunt added, “Watch out for your feet!” Amaretto winked out of existence and there was another popping sound. A minute passed and then the Amaretto who was hiding behind the couch heard her aunt say, “Damn, now I know how that martini glass disappeared.”
At this, Amaretto came out from behind the couch and gave her aunt a cross look. “Watch out for my feet? What was that all about?”
“Well, when you make the initial jump, you hand me my martini and then trip over your feet. At that moment, you manage to hit your head and tilt the glass twenty two degrees, which causes a minuscule jump forward which precipitates this whole thing. All because you still have not engaged the safety clasp on your hourglass.”
At that moment, Amaretto seemed to catch on to what her aunt was saying and quickly engaged the safety clasp on her Glass. It was a thin rod that seemed to be an excess piece, but it kept the hourglass in place, and that was all that Amaretto was worried about.
“Is there anything else that you would like for me to explain?”
Amaretto smiled. “Nothing that cannot wait till later on. Thank you for the wonderful gift again this year.”
Katherine smiled, still unknowing that the hourglass that she had given to her godchild was in fact the last one like it. Amaretto thought it nice and wore it a total of five times before she placed it back in the box and then placed the box on top of her dresser, only to be forgotten until Amaretto turned into a teenager.
She asked her aunt hat had happened. “How did I lose three hours of my life then?”
Aunt Katherine, eyes glued to the TV, responded without even turning to look back. “You used the hourglass of course. You twisted it too hard and thankfully, your house acted like a black hole and kept you in the same spot and only shifted you three hours forwards.” She sipped her martini and then smiled as she picked at one of the olives and ate it.
“How could I possibly dash forward three hours? That is impossible.” Amaretto frowned at her aunt.
Her aunt sighed again and then said, “I say again, you used the hourglass. That's what I've been trying to tell you. You seem not to be able to grasp this concept. Can't we just figure this out when my soaps are off?”
Amaretto frowned and then spoke. “No, I need you to tell me right now!”
Katherine frowned and then placed her martini down and said. “All will be explained again at promptly...” she pulled her palm pilot out and then said, “At four twenty-seven and zero seconds.” As she said this, she picked up her martini again and began to sip from it.
“That still does not necessarily make any sense.” Amaretto was beginning to get agitated, however, her “faerie” godmother was not to be bothered. She sipped at her martini and then muted the TV.
“We have commercials on at this moment so I'm gonna make it quick.” She put her martini down and picked her palm pilot back up again. She then began to read off verbatim what was written on the small screen.
“Well, it appears that at 1:27, you made a 6,660 degree turn of the hourglass, in an unknown effort to see the glass turn. You then jumped forward three hours in which you had already returned to be hiding behind the couch while I once again explained what happened to you for the second time.”
Amaretto interrupted. “A second time?”
“Yes a second time. This would be the first time that I am telling you.”
Amaretto nodded again and then apologized quickly and then allowed for her aunt to continue with what it was that she wanted to say.
Katherine nodded and once again started to read again what was on her palm pilot. “I had the second you go into the kitchen and make me a martini. I then explained to you how to use the hourglass. Which I then sent you back with, however, we got off a little bit and I wound up not sending you back far enough and you appeared at one thirty nine and thirty-two seconds, with my martini in your hand. You handed off my martini to me and then you tripped over your own feet and then hit your head and the glass twisted only twenty-two degrees and you jumped forward a minute and five seconds. That was when you crashed on the couch.”
“I crashed on the couch?”
“Yes, you fell on the couch and fell asleep for only a few minutes. You then woke up and became belligerent.”
Amaretto frowned and then said, “I am not belligerent.”
Katherine put her palm pilot down and then frowned as she picked up her martini. “You make an excellent martini, but a horrible liar. Don't worry, your mom won't be home until after you come through a second time at around four thirty.”
Amaretto nodded and then said, “What time does mom get home?”
“Around Five.”
“Then we have enough time to truly explain what it is that you gave me.”
Katherine shook her head and slowly turned up the volume. “My shows are back on. Wait till Four thirty, you'll hear the whole explanation.” Katheinre sipped at her martini and then looked as she realized that she finished it. “Could you be a dear and make your aunt another one?” Katherine held out her martini glass and Amaretto rolled her eyes.
“Thank you my dear little Ama.” Katherine smiled and Amaretto took her glass and then walked to the kitchen and made her another martini. Amaretto took the Belvedere vodka and poured it into a shaker with ice and then poured vermouth in as well. She then shook it until the shaker frosted and then poured it into the tall martini glass over three olives on a toothpick; just the way that her aunt liked it. She picked it up and then walked out to the living room where her aunt was now screaming at a new couple on the television.
They sat and watched television that included Oprah and then Katherine's palm pilot suddenly began screeching an alarm. Katherine looked surprised and then put her martini down and then picked up her palm pilot. “Oh! Apparently it is time for you to go hide behind the couch against the wall.”
Amaretto frowned and then said, “When did you program that in there if you didn't know that it was going to happen?”
“I don't think I programed that,” Katherine looked confused and then put the palm pilot down. “Hurry up and get back behind the couch, I think you only have a minute left.”
Amaretto scrambled behind the couch and then there was a resounding pop. She peeked over the other side of the couch and then saw herself looking around rather confused in the middle of the living room. Katherine blinked and then spoke out loud. “I see, so there you are. I've been expecting you.”
Amaretto's double from the past looked around and then spoke in a slightly panicked voice. “Where am I? What happened?”
Katherine picked up her palm pilot and placed the martini down. “In that order, you are in your own living room and you turned the hourglass a total of six thousand six-hundred and sixty degrees. In full disclosure of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, time does not move at a fixed rate. For example, cocks that are in motion, appear to be ticking more slowly than their stationary counterparts.”
The second Amaretto blinked and then said, “What?”
Katherine waved her hands in the air and then stood up. “When you add gravity to the theory, spacetime tends to bend.”
Amaretto continued to watch from behind the couch as herself from the past remained confused. Her past self spoke, “Wait, why are you trying to tell me something about time and space and... this is all so confusing. I think I have to sit down.”
As her double sat down, Amaretto made sure that she paid close attention to the whole situation. After all, she would soon be forgetting this whole conversation with a quick bump on her head.
“No, there s no need to worry yourself. Just listen to what your Aunt Katherine has to say and you will be right as rain.” Katherine managed to pick up her martini in her other hand and then took a sip. To the Amaretto seated on the living room floor she began to talk.
“The gift which you have is actually called an Hourglass, or a Glass for short. It has the property to alter time, or more actively, allow one to relocate themselves through theory, or more accurately, to travel across the multitudinous worlds that spawn our very fabric of existence. It works on a principle of inevitability and necessity. It's all really complicated and I'm not quite sure how it is supposed to work, but it works is what matters.”
Amaretto's other self remained seated on the floor, absorbing all the information in that their shared Aunt Kathrine was giving to both her and the one who was hiding behind the couch. Katherine slurped at her second martini and then frowned. The martini was almost empty. She placed it down and then picked the stylus out of the palm pilot and began to poke around the screen with it.
“I know that this all must seem horribly out of place for someone like you and to make absolutely no sense at all, but I promise if you just listen to me and pay attention that you will know what is going on.” The second Amaretto from the past rolled her eyes.
“I already know that it can jump me through time, I want to know how.”
“I'm afraid that the explanation that you are looking for involves higher math, physics, and a lot of talking, all of which I am not up for in anyway shape or form.” At this moment, Katherine picked up her martini glass and sloshed down the rest of it. As she did so, she held it out in front of her and passed it to the past Amaretto. Present Amaretto rolled her eyes at exactly the same time that past Amaretto did so. Some things, even when dilated by time, still did not change.
Past Amaretto moved towards the kitchen and proceeded to make a martini. When she came back, Aunt Katherine was sitting down again, and this time, she appeared to have a handle on everything that she was about to explain.
“Now we don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to explain this to you in a short amount of time, so that this can all be fixed. The Glass can control the flow of how you travel within dimensions and planes and time by spinning the chambers a certain amount of degrees. It's all actually a lot more simple than one can think of.”
“So this hourglass can transport me to different points in time?” Both present and past Amaretto's fondled the hourglasses that were around their necks. Their Aunt Katherine nodded her head as if Amaretto had been told for hours and only now figured it out.
“Yes, what happens is that you spin the hourglass in the frame. Depending on how many times you spin it, you can go almost anywhere in time. However, using it that way uses sand of course. There is always a Timekeeper that you can go to meet and he can always recharge the glass up for you again.”
At this, Amaretto cocked her head and Katherine waved her hand already knowing what her godchild was going to ask her. “Yes, there is more than one glass, you just happen to be lucky enough to be able to have this one.”
Amaretto nodded and then said, “So then how this works is I just spin the glass and I'll be able to go back?”
“Well you will have to do it that way cause otherwise you will have been missing for almost three hours and my past self just can't take it. Please go back and save my mind.”
The past Amaretto, soon to become the present Amaretto nodded her head and then picked up the martini in her hand. “I should perhaps take this back with me as a present for worrying you.”
“Sometimes girl, you are after my own heart with how sweet you are, and you are only eight to boot.” Katherine gave past Amaretto a hug and then said, “Also make sure you remember, there is a catch on the side of the frame so that the Glass does not spin inadvertently when you least expect it, thus skyrocketing you somewhere you don't want to be.”
Amaretto nodded and then smiled as her aunt reached out and tilted the glass so that she could travel back in time. Almost as if with an after thought, her aunt added, “Watch out for your feet!” Amaretto winked out of existence and there was another popping sound. A minute passed and then the Amaretto who was hiding behind the couch heard her aunt say, “Damn, now I know how that martini glass disappeared.”
At this, Amaretto came out from behind the couch and gave her aunt a cross look. “Watch out for my feet? What was that all about?”
“Well, when you make the initial jump, you hand me my martini and then trip over your feet. At that moment, you manage to hit your head and tilt the glass twenty two degrees, which causes a minuscule jump forward which precipitates this whole thing. All because you still have not engaged the safety clasp on your hourglass.”
At that moment, Amaretto seemed to catch on to what her aunt was saying and quickly engaged the safety clasp on her Glass. It was a thin rod that seemed to be an excess piece, but it kept the hourglass in place, and that was all that Amaretto was worried about.
“Is there anything else that you would like for me to explain?”
Amaretto smiled. “Nothing that cannot wait till later on. Thank you for the wonderful gift again this year.”
Katherine smiled, still unknowing that the hourglass that she had given to her godchild was in fact the last one like it. Amaretto thought it nice and wore it a total of five times before she placed it back in the box and then placed the box on top of her dresser, only to be forgotten until Amaretto turned into a teenager.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Grain Redux... In which Amaretto gets a present and Spacetime is discussed...
Amaretto was eight years, two days, thirteen hours, twenty seven minutes and forty two seconds when Aunt Katherine gave her an extraordinary gift. Aunt Katherine was extraordinary wealthy in some way and insisted on using all of it to spoil Francis. Diana of course never stopped her, seeing as Katherine was her godmother, but she refused to take anything for herself. She worked two separate jobs in order to provide for her and her daughter and would not take charity. So Katherine, respecting that wish, used her money to spoil Francis rotten. In spite of this, Francis; whom Katherine insisted calling “Her little Amaret”, “Ama” or more often simply by her middle name of Amaretto, insisted on instilling values into the girl. Francis was never bratty and she was never willful for the gifts that she received. Francis was the most well mannered girl that anyone had ever met. She did have a stubborn streak sometimes, but that was perfectly acceptable to Aunt Katherine.
“All women should be stubborn sometimes. It is the only way that they can ever get their husbands in line,” Aunt Katherine would say. As far as Amaretto had seen though, Aunt Katherine never had a husband. Aunt Katherine only had a string of fabulous boyfriends.
“Men should be like tissues,” her aunt would say whenever the girl would ask her about this. “They should be strong, durable, and disposable.”
Amaretto would nod at this advice and then secretly disregard it. Her aunt would give her a lot of advice and sometimes Amaretto would listen to it, and sometimes she would not. The day after her eight birthday when her Aunt Katherine gave her a gift however was exceptionally interesting. That day, Aunt Katherine came dressed in forest greens, sea greens, and all the other greens in between. Her earrings were giant large round emeralds, she had a a topaz the size of a birds egg hanging from her neck and several rings on her fingers.
Amaretto frowned and then nodded when Aunt Katherine walked into the room asking her if she wanted a present. Aunt Katherine's presents were always strange but interesting. Just last year, she had gotten the girl a sextant and a Barbie. The year before, Amaretto had received a stack of books. The year before that, Aunt Katherine had given her eighty-two separate colored hair ribbons, all festively decorated. Aunt Katherine had also every year given her a dress in a new festive color for her to wear. Amaretto didn't wear them often though because of how odd they looked to her. The previous year, the color had been a captivating yellow and she wasn't sure if she wanted that.
This year however, all that her aunt gave her was a small wooden box. Amaretto did not want to say that she was disappointed, but she most certainly looked it at that moment. Katherine chuckled as she was wont to do and then said, “All you have to do is open it you silly girl, and you will see the most amazing thing in the world.”
Amaretto opened the box and gasped aloud when she saw what was within the small confines of the box. There within, settled on a small satin pillow, was a beautiful hourglass. The whole thing was made from gold and on the top there was a small little red gem. Encircling it were thin bands of silver, especially in the middle where it clearly stated:
Il tempo vola, savor ogni momento. I dadi di tempo, bloccano il sentimento. Vite di tempo, libertà del ritrovamento per sempre. Le bugie di tempo, non la dimenticano mai.
Which when translated from Italian means:
Time flies, savor each moment. Time dies, capture the sentiment. Time lives, find freedom forever. Time lies, never forget it.
This strange hourglass was pretty, and was also on a thick golden chain. As Amaretto stared at it, her Aunt came around and plucked it from her hand. Katherine then slung it, chain and all, over her head and smiled. “There we have it then. You look right smart with that on, now don't you.”
Aunt Katherine smiled in such a beatific way, that Amaretto ran off to see herself in the bathroom mirror. As she was running, she heard Aunt Katherine call out behind her saying, “If you don't mind when you come back, bring your aunt a martini!”
Amaretto dashed down the hall and into the bathroom and looked at the small hourglass that hung around her neck, she noticed a strange occurrence and phenomenon. The sand, which in a usual glass, flows from top to bottom, was most assuredly stuck at the top. She shook the glass and came up with nothing, she then tried to flip it upside down and found that the hourglass itself could spin inside of the frame. She stared at it and then gave it a vicious spin at the absolute last moment. The glass itself spun and then the room seemed to twist, her eyes saw stars and she blacked out.
An uncountable amount of time passed before Amaretto opened her eyes and looked up from the couch and stared at her Aunt, who was cautiously sipping from a rather large martini, three olives balanced precariously inside the glass by a rather thick toothpick.
She was lying on the couch and a blanket had been placed over her and at the moment, her aunt yelled something at the TV. She was watching Soap Operas.
“Oh Sami you can't do this again! You'll ruin your wedding to Lucas! Try to think this time, and tell the damn truth or Lexi will have you in her diabolical snare!”
Amaretto stared at aunt Katherine and then suddenly, Katherine swiveled her head to the side and stared back. Deep green eyes twitched for a moment and then Kathrine had a bored look on her face.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really,” Amaretto replied, sure that she had done something.
“You really gave the glass a spin didn't you. I lost you for about three hours.” Aunt Katherine looked mater-of-fact about it and Amaretto frowned. She had been lost for three hours? She had merely gone to the bathroom, there was no way one could loose her for three hours. She had been right there. She refused to believe that her aunt had swindled her mind in any way shape and or form. However, there was the case that it did seem later in the day, or actually, earlier in the day than it had started out as. Her mind thought that this assumption was incorrect and therefore pushed it away as a mere insecurity.
In fact however, her mind had indeed been right and her whole thought process had been right on the crux of the matter. When Amaretto had been given the gift by her Aunt Katherine, it had been 1:27 PM in the afternoon. She had then run to the bathroom and upon discovering the glass could turn in the holder, she gave it a hard spin which made the glass itself rotate in the frame for a total of 18 and a half turns, or a full 6,660 degrees. It was a horrible misunderstanding that occurred next.
According to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, it is predicted that time does not flow at a fixed rate: moving clocks appear to tick more slowly relative to their stationary counterparts. But this effect only becomes really significant at very high velocities that approach the speed of light. When "generalized" to include gravitation, the equations of relativity predict that gravity, or the curvature of spacetime by matter, not only stretches or shrinks distances (depending on their direction with respect to the gravitational field) but also will appear to slow down or "dilate" the flow of time.
In most circumstances in the universe, such time dilation is minuscule, but it can become very significant when spacetime is curved by a massive object such as a black hole; or in this case, the house in which Amaretto lived. You see, when she turned it, the hourglass' special properties kicked in and sent Amaretto three hours into the future. That is to say, for the next twelve minutes and thirty two seconds, Aunt Katherine was not quite sure what to do and was totally beside herself. She searched the house up and down and then sat down, at which point in time, Amaretto appeared from the kitchen with the martini that she later began to drink and promptly disappeared again, only to later appear a minute and five seconds later upon the couch crashing into a state of sleep that lasted only for another two minutes and fifty two seconds.
The facts were these: the hourglass was actually more of a special gift than Amaretto knew. Her Aunt was in fact, just the godmother that Amaretto indeed need, but not a normal godmother. Her godmother was indeed what she had told her mother. However, when Katherine had first met Diana Covington, she had unfortunately, or rather fortunately omitted the part in the front. You see, Katherine when she reached the hospital, she had a palm pilot which told her all the things that she needed to know.
You see when she reached the hospital, she was given the information that she needed and the words that she was supposed to say when she introduced herself. As she did, the palm pilot actually had a mix up, or a glitch as we call it these days, and the part where she was supposed to be her godmother was supposed to say the words “Fairy Godmother”. Now if you are wondering where that was supposed to come in, then you would be correct in assuming that Katherine was indeed a strange person. She was not a normal person either. In fact, Katherine was Seelie Sidhe, also known as Celtic faerie.
Now as we all know, the faerie are separated into two courts. The Seelie, or light court, and the Unseelie, which is the dark court. These two courts, while constantly fighting with each other have finally entered the century in which we are living. You see, no one walked the dark cobbled pathways at night after the evening. People now drove automobiles and now were on cell phones to find out if people were around and big cities that had too much light. There were no dark places and most certainly no more forests around, which had been given over to large byways and asphalt roads.
There was no way that people could be a part of that old world any more, so the Sidhe began to catch up. Soon, the Sidhe were more technologically advanced than anyone else in the world, understanding the intricacies of WiFi connections and cellular phones, fast cars, overnight parking, and the invention of the latte. All in all, both courts actually put aside their differences long enough to catch up to the technological world, and then once again started the war, only on a much grander scale that involved not only the faerie world, but the human one as well. Now the fight spanned over wireless networks, global corporations and even the stock market.
If one knew where to look in a corporation, then one knew that there were Sidhe involved in it. In this case, there were Sidhe involved in the whole gamut of corporations. This however does not explain the glitch. The glitch was caused by a hacker trying to get where they shouldn't be, in order to get a better leg up on day trading. The glitch caused Katherine, whose last name was unknown, to have the wrong information and thus, a lot of the things that should have been done were not done due to deletion.
This birthday present that she gave to Amaretto was in fact, not supposed to be handed to Amaretto until she had reached the majority of her age at twenty-one. Instead, the glitch had upended a rather large quantity of information. However, one cannot say that Amaretto's Aunt Katherine did not explain.
“All women should be stubborn sometimes. It is the only way that they can ever get their husbands in line,” Aunt Katherine would say. As far as Amaretto had seen though, Aunt Katherine never had a husband. Aunt Katherine only had a string of fabulous boyfriends.
“Men should be like tissues,” her aunt would say whenever the girl would ask her about this. “They should be strong, durable, and disposable.”
Amaretto would nod at this advice and then secretly disregard it. Her aunt would give her a lot of advice and sometimes Amaretto would listen to it, and sometimes she would not. The day after her eight birthday when her Aunt Katherine gave her a gift however was exceptionally interesting. That day, Aunt Katherine came dressed in forest greens, sea greens, and all the other greens in between. Her earrings were giant large round emeralds, she had a a topaz the size of a birds egg hanging from her neck and several rings on her fingers.
Amaretto frowned and then nodded when Aunt Katherine walked into the room asking her if she wanted a present. Aunt Katherine's presents were always strange but interesting. Just last year, she had gotten the girl a sextant and a Barbie. The year before, Amaretto had received a stack of books. The year before that, Aunt Katherine had given her eighty-two separate colored hair ribbons, all festively decorated. Aunt Katherine had also every year given her a dress in a new festive color for her to wear. Amaretto didn't wear them often though because of how odd they looked to her. The previous year, the color had been a captivating yellow and she wasn't sure if she wanted that.
This year however, all that her aunt gave her was a small wooden box. Amaretto did not want to say that she was disappointed, but she most certainly looked it at that moment. Katherine chuckled as she was wont to do and then said, “All you have to do is open it you silly girl, and you will see the most amazing thing in the world.”
Amaretto opened the box and gasped aloud when she saw what was within the small confines of the box. There within, settled on a small satin pillow, was a beautiful hourglass. The whole thing was made from gold and on the top there was a small little red gem. Encircling it were thin bands of silver, especially in the middle where it clearly stated:
Il tempo vola, savor ogni momento. I dadi di tempo, bloccano il sentimento. Vite di tempo, libertà del ritrovamento per sempre. Le bugie di tempo, non la dimenticano mai.
Which when translated from Italian means:
Time flies, savor each moment. Time dies, capture the sentiment. Time lives, find freedom forever. Time lies, never forget it.
This strange hourglass was pretty, and was also on a thick golden chain. As Amaretto stared at it, her Aunt came around and plucked it from her hand. Katherine then slung it, chain and all, over her head and smiled. “There we have it then. You look right smart with that on, now don't you.”
Aunt Katherine smiled in such a beatific way, that Amaretto ran off to see herself in the bathroom mirror. As she was running, she heard Aunt Katherine call out behind her saying, “If you don't mind when you come back, bring your aunt a martini!”
Amaretto dashed down the hall and into the bathroom and looked at the small hourglass that hung around her neck, she noticed a strange occurrence and phenomenon. The sand, which in a usual glass, flows from top to bottom, was most assuredly stuck at the top. She shook the glass and came up with nothing, she then tried to flip it upside down and found that the hourglass itself could spin inside of the frame. She stared at it and then gave it a vicious spin at the absolute last moment. The glass itself spun and then the room seemed to twist, her eyes saw stars and she blacked out.
An uncountable amount of time passed before Amaretto opened her eyes and looked up from the couch and stared at her Aunt, who was cautiously sipping from a rather large martini, three olives balanced precariously inside the glass by a rather thick toothpick.
She was lying on the couch and a blanket had been placed over her and at the moment, her aunt yelled something at the TV. She was watching Soap Operas.
“Oh Sami you can't do this again! You'll ruin your wedding to Lucas! Try to think this time, and tell the damn truth or Lexi will have you in her diabolical snare!”
Amaretto stared at aunt Katherine and then suddenly, Katherine swiveled her head to the side and stared back. Deep green eyes twitched for a moment and then Kathrine had a bored look on her face.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really,” Amaretto replied, sure that she had done something.
“You really gave the glass a spin didn't you. I lost you for about three hours.” Aunt Katherine looked mater-of-fact about it and Amaretto frowned. She had been lost for three hours? She had merely gone to the bathroom, there was no way one could loose her for three hours. She had been right there. She refused to believe that her aunt had swindled her mind in any way shape and or form. However, there was the case that it did seem later in the day, or actually, earlier in the day than it had started out as. Her mind thought that this assumption was incorrect and therefore pushed it away as a mere insecurity.
In fact however, her mind had indeed been right and her whole thought process had been right on the crux of the matter. When Amaretto had been given the gift by her Aunt Katherine, it had been 1:27 PM in the afternoon. She had then run to the bathroom and upon discovering the glass could turn in the holder, she gave it a hard spin which made the glass itself rotate in the frame for a total of 18 and a half turns, or a full 6,660 degrees. It was a horrible misunderstanding that occurred next.
According to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, it is predicted that time does not flow at a fixed rate: moving clocks appear to tick more slowly relative to their stationary counterparts. But this effect only becomes really significant at very high velocities that approach the speed of light. When "generalized" to include gravitation, the equations of relativity predict that gravity, or the curvature of spacetime by matter, not only stretches or shrinks distances (depending on their direction with respect to the gravitational field) but also will appear to slow down or "dilate" the flow of time.
In most circumstances in the universe, such time dilation is minuscule, but it can become very significant when spacetime is curved by a massive object such as a black hole; or in this case, the house in which Amaretto lived. You see, when she turned it, the hourglass' special properties kicked in and sent Amaretto three hours into the future. That is to say, for the next twelve minutes and thirty two seconds, Aunt Katherine was not quite sure what to do and was totally beside herself. She searched the house up and down and then sat down, at which point in time, Amaretto appeared from the kitchen with the martini that she later began to drink and promptly disappeared again, only to later appear a minute and five seconds later upon the couch crashing into a state of sleep that lasted only for another two minutes and fifty two seconds.
The facts were these: the hourglass was actually more of a special gift than Amaretto knew. Her Aunt was in fact, just the godmother that Amaretto indeed need, but not a normal godmother. Her godmother was indeed what she had told her mother. However, when Katherine had first met Diana Covington, she had unfortunately, or rather fortunately omitted the part in the front. You see, Katherine when she reached the hospital, she had a palm pilot which told her all the things that she needed to know.
You see when she reached the hospital, she was given the information that she needed and the words that she was supposed to say when she introduced herself. As she did, the palm pilot actually had a mix up, or a glitch as we call it these days, and the part where she was supposed to be her godmother was supposed to say the words “Fairy Godmother”. Now if you are wondering where that was supposed to come in, then you would be correct in assuming that Katherine was indeed a strange person. She was not a normal person either. In fact, Katherine was Seelie Sidhe, also known as Celtic faerie.
Now as we all know, the faerie are separated into two courts. The Seelie, or light court, and the Unseelie, which is the dark court. These two courts, while constantly fighting with each other have finally entered the century in which we are living. You see, no one walked the dark cobbled pathways at night after the evening. People now drove automobiles and now were on cell phones to find out if people were around and big cities that had too much light. There were no dark places and most certainly no more forests around, which had been given over to large byways and asphalt roads.
There was no way that people could be a part of that old world any more, so the Sidhe began to catch up. Soon, the Sidhe were more technologically advanced than anyone else in the world, understanding the intricacies of WiFi connections and cellular phones, fast cars, overnight parking, and the invention of the latte. All in all, both courts actually put aside their differences long enough to catch up to the technological world, and then once again started the war, only on a much grander scale that involved not only the faerie world, but the human one as well. Now the fight spanned over wireless networks, global corporations and even the stock market.
If one knew where to look in a corporation, then one knew that there were Sidhe involved in it. In this case, there were Sidhe involved in the whole gamut of corporations. This however does not explain the glitch. The glitch was caused by a hacker trying to get where they shouldn't be, in order to get a better leg up on day trading. The glitch caused Katherine, whose last name was unknown, to have the wrong information and thus, a lot of the things that should have been done were not done due to deletion.
This birthday present that she gave to Amaretto was in fact, not supposed to be handed to Amaretto until she had reached the majority of her age at twenty-one. Instead, the glitch had upended a rather large quantity of information. However, one cannot say that Amaretto's Aunt Katherine did not explain.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Grain Redux... In Which Francesca Amaretto Covington is Born, and gains a Godmother...
Her name was Francesca Amaretto Covington. Her mother had named her after the drink in which she had been drunk on excess when she had been conceived. Some called her Francis, others simply called her Frank. Those that knew her exceptionally well called her Amaretto. It was strange growing up, being named after a liquor, but the one thing that Amaretto knew was that it was better than being called Jose Cuervo or Jack Daniels. Those names would have been unbearable, even insufferable.
She had been born in Michigan on a cold and stormy night. The snow had piled up almost two and a half feet. Not very auspicious in and of itself, the hospital had almost lost power three times. Labor had taken four hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-six seconds. It had taken her mom all of five minutes and twelve seconds to be coherent enough to name her (apparently, she had thought of this a long while). She had smiled and then promptly passed out for three hours, twenty-two minutes and eighteen seconds.
During that time, Amaretto's mother had no visitors of any sort. It was not until two days later that she had been visited by the strange woman in purple. The woman had been dressed in tall stilettos that were obviously made by Gucci, and long purple slacks that were of dubious origin the way that they swayed around her. Her blouse was purple as well and finely buttoned up with smart buttons that looked like they had been carved out of amethyst. On each of her fingers, a single band of gold had been placed as if in an intricate dance. Her purse, also purple, was more than obviously done in coture fashion. No one would ever dream of buying that purse. It was simply hideous.
The woman's fiery red hair, about the only thing that wasn't purple, had been combed into a luscious mane of curls behind her head and carefully sculpted all the way past her shoulder blades and well to her waist. Her eyes were unseen by the sunglasses, carefully made by Donna Karren of New York, and also a tinted shade of purple from the frames down to the glass themselves. She clutched her handbag purse in her hands and stared straight at Ms. Diana Covington and smiled rather startlingly.
“Amaretto; what a pretty name. Did you come up with that yourself?” Her voice was crystal clear and as she tilted her head, large stones of pearl and amethyst appeared from within the frizz of her hair hanging from her ears. Francesca Amaretto's mother, Diana, tilted her own head and from her hospital bed and frowned at the stranger.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Her voice was flat and nowhere as musical as the stranger's but her inquisitive nature took over rather than fear. The woman in purple stood there and a look of shock appeared to cross her features. She then frowned and reached into her bag and pulled out a small palm pilot and began to click around on it at a furious pace. Diana simply sat there rather confused herself.
The stranger tisked and then removed her sunglasses. Startling purple eyes stared back at Diana and the new mother took a rather large breath. The eyes stared her down and then looked at the palm pilot and then the stranger said, “Mr. Diana Covington, to give birth to a Francesca Amaretto Covington at precisely three fifteen in the morning, labor to be lasting four hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-six seconds. That is you I presume?”
Diana, never to be one who was much for shock clearly allowed it to register across her face at this moment in time and nodded with a rather dumb shake in the affirmative. The woman smiled and let go of a rather pensive breath that made her seem like she had been holding it for hours and tucked the palm pilot back into her bag and zipped it up with a single motion. The woman then held out an expertly manicured hand, purple nail polish shining brilliantly in the dim lamplight of the room.
“My name is of no importance really, but here you may simply call me Katherine. I am to be Amaretto's Godmother.” Diana blinked once and then held out her hand in shock, to which Katherine took her hand and grasped it firmly, but gently and shook.
“Godmother?” Diana looked as if her head was swimming. She was more than sure that she had asked for an epidural, but she was more than positive that the effects had worn off by now. The thought that she was dreaming crossed her mind and in that moment, Diana pinched Katherine on the hand. Katherine pulled her hand back as an expression of pain bloomed across her face.
“What on earth did you do that for then? Here I am trying to tell you some good news to add to your already good fortune and you go about pinching me!” The woman looked mildly perplexed as well.
Diana shrugged. “I was making sure that it wasn't a dream.”
Katherine looked rather hurt and inspected her hand with her purple eyes. “You are supposed to pinch yourself for starters, not me, and it might leave an unsightly bruise. I bruise rather easily, so as of no concern to myself, I hope that it doesn't for your sake.” Katherine continued to prattle on about how delicate she was as Diana examined her skin. It was only now that Diana noticed how pale the woman's skin was.
“You seem so pale; do you perhaps not get enough sun then?” Diana was more curious with this woman than she was with her cracked up statement that she was going to be her daughter's godmother. She had never met the woman in her entire life up until now. Diana thought that it would be a good time to get to know this strange woman. It was not as if anyone else was going to visit her in the hospital. Diana's parents had died only a few years ago in a terrible car crash. She had no siblings, being an only child, and her parents were only children as well, so that ruled out cousins and aunts and uncles of the sort. She had not really been expecting the father either, who had been a drunken one night stand. She was not even aware that she had been pregnant until the morning sickness had hit her in the second month.
Katherine sat down in a chair that was adjacent to the bed and then smiled rather dreamily. “You must be so happy to have a child. A child truly is a magical thing.” Diana quickly found herself agreeing with the strange woman and soon called the nurses to bring Amaretto so that Katherine could see her. As soon as Katherine saw her, she made the most adorable face and cooed and fussed over the baby in a rather pleasing manner. Katherine stayed well through the day, talking about nothing in particular, then about the weather, then gossiping about people that Diana didn't know but soon found herself engrossed in hearing about and even watched soap operas on the television.
That day, Katherine stayed almost the entire day and then in the evening left of her own accord. Diana had not expected to see the woman ever again, but the next morning at nine forty-two and thirty-one seconds, Katherine showed up once again, all smiles and dressed all in purple once more. She sat down once again in the chair and began to talk to Diana as if she had never left and they were the greatest friends in the world. Diana rather enjoyed it.
For the next five days, Katherine never failed to come to visit her. On the day of her discharge, Katherine came to pick up Diana Covington in a beautiful Mazda RX8 that was painted purple. Katherine helped Diana to get back to her small apartment and helped the woman to get all of her affairs in order. It was so simple, but Katherine slowly became a natural part of Diana and Francis' lives. Diana never ever gave it another moment of thought and that was how Aunt Katherine became Francis' godmother.
She had been born in Michigan on a cold and stormy night. The snow had piled up almost two and a half feet. Not very auspicious in and of itself, the hospital had almost lost power three times. Labor had taken four hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-six seconds. It had taken her mom all of five minutes and twelve seconds to be coherent enough to name her (apparently, she had thought of this a long while). She had smiled and then promptly passed out for three hours, twenty-two minutes and eighteen seconds.
During that time, Amaretto's mother had no visitors of any sort. It was not until two days later that she had been visited by the strange woman in purple. The woman had been dressed in tall stilettos that were obviously made by Gucci, and long purple slacks that were of dubious origin the way that they swayed around her. Her blouse was purple as well and finely buttoned up with smart buttons that looked like they had been carved out of amethyst. On each of her fingers, a single band of gold had been placed as if in an intricate dance. Her purse, also purple, was more than obviously done in coture fashion. No one would ever dream of buying that purse. It was simply hideous.
The woman's fiery red hair, about the only thing that wasn't purple, had been combed into a luscious mane of curls behind her head and carefully sculpted all the way past her shoulder blades and well to her waist. Her eyes were unseen by the sunglasses, carefully made by Donna Karren of New York, and also a tinted shade of purple from the frames down to the glass themselves. She clutched her handbag purse in her hands and stared straight at Ms. Diana Covington and smiled rather startlingly.
“Amaretto; what a pretty name. Did you come up with that yourself?” Her voice was crystal clear and as she tilted her head, large stones of pearl and amethyst appeared from within the frizz of her hair hanging from her ears. Francesca Amaretto's mother, Diana, tilted her own head and from her hospital bed and frowned at the stranger.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Her voice was flat and nowhere as musical as the stranger's but her inquisitive nature took over rather than fear. The woman in purple stood there and a look of shock appeared to cross her features. She then frowned and reached into her bag and pulled out a small palm pilot and began to click around on it at a furious pace. Diana simply sat there rather confused herself.
The stranger tisked and then removed her sunglasses. Startling purple eyes stared back at Diana and the new mother took a rather large breath. The eyes stared her down and then looked at the palm pilot and then the stranger said, “Mr. Diana Covington, to give birth to a Francesca Amaretto Covington at precisely three fifteen in the morning, labor to be lasting four hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-six seconds. That is you I presume?”
Diana, never to be one who was much for shock clearly allowed it to register across her face at this moment in time and nodded with a rather dumb shake in the affirmative. The woman smiled and let go of a rather pensive breath that made her seem like she had been holding it for hours and tucked the palm pilot back into her bag and zipped it up with a single motion. The woman then held out an expertly manicured hand, purple nail polish shining brilliantly in the dim lamplight of the room.
“My name is of no importance really, but here you may simply call me Katherine. I am to be Amaretto's Godmother.” Diana blinked once and then held out her hand in shock, to which Katherine took her hand and grasped it firmly, but gently and shook.
“Godmother?” Diana looked as if her head was swimming. She was more than sure that she had asked for an epidural, but she was more than positive that the effects had worn off by now. The thought that she was dreaming crossed her mind and in that moment, Diana pinched Katherine on the hand. Katherine pulled her hand back as an expression of pain bloomed across her face.
“What on earth did you do that for then? Here I am trying to tell you some good news to add to your already good fortune and you go about pinching me!” The woman looked mildly perplexed as well.
Diana shrugged. “I was making sure that it wasn't a dream.”
Katherine looked rather hurt and inspected her hand with her purple eyes. “You are supposed to pinch yourself for starters, not me, and it might leave an unsightly bruise. I bruise rather easily, so as of no concern to myself, I hope that it doesn't for your sake.” Katherine continued to prattle on about how delicate she was as Diana examined her skin. It was only now that Diana noticed how pale the woman's skin was.
“You seem so pale; do you perhaps not get enough sun then?” Diana was more curious with this woman than she was with her cracked up statement that she was going to be her daughter's godmother. She had never met the woman in her entire life up until now. Diana thought that it would be a good time to get to know this strange woman. It was not as if anyone else was going to visit her in the hospital. Diana's parents had died only a few years ago in a terrible car crash. She had no siblings, being an only child, and her parents were only children as well, so that ruled out cousins and aunts and uncles of the sort. She had not really been expecting the father either, who had been a drunken one night stand. She was not even aware that she had been pregnant until the morning sickness had hit her in the second month.
Katherine sat down in a chair that was adjacent to the bed and then smiled rather dreamily. “You must be so happy to have a child. A child truly is a magical thing.” Diana quickly found herself agreeing with the strange woman and soon called the nurses to bring Amaretto so that Katherine could see her. As soon as Katherine saw her, she made the most adorable face and cooed and fussed over the baby in a rather pleasing manner. Katherine stayed well through the day, talking about nothing in particular, then about the weather, then gossiping about people that Diana didn't know but soon found herself engrossed in hearing about and even watched soap operas on the television.
That day, Katherine stayed almost the entire day and then in the evening left of her own accord. Diana had not expected to see the woman ever again, but the next morning at nine forty-two and thirty-one seconds, Katherine showed up once again, all smiles and dressed all in purple once more. She sat down once again in the chair and began to talk to Diana as if she had never left and they were the greatest friends in the world. Diana rather enjoyed it.
For the next five days, Katherine never failed to come to visit her. On the day of her discharge, Katherine came to pick up Diana Covington in a beautiful Mazda RX8 that was painted purple. Katherine helped Diana to get back to her small apartment and helped the woman to get all of her affairs in order. It was so simple, but Katherine slowly became a natural part of Diana and Francis' lives. Diana never ever gave it another moment of thought and that was how Aunt Katherine became Francis' godmother.
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