The Time Hopper

Healing And Acceptance

We followed Loshi to the curtain, stopping when she did, though I drew the line at bowing. I'd like to say it was pride, but in truth I was worried that bending over would make me dizzy and I'd fall over again. I think Riley was just following my lead. She straightened when the man called for us to enter and held the gauzy curtain aside, gesturing for us to step through. 

"You aren't joining us?" I asked as I stepped through, having a quick look around. She shook her head. 

"I have not been invited. I'll be waiting out here, don't worry." She assured me, letting the curtain drop behind us. The twins were sat where they were before, with two cushions on the floor a few paces in front of them, just before the curtain. Riley and I hung back at the edge of the curtain, exchanging an uncertain look with each other as they stared blankly ahead. Eventually, I cleared my throat. 

"Come. Sit." They spoke as one, both moving at the same time to point at the cushion in front of them. Officially creeped out, it took Riley tugging on my arm to make me walk over and kneel opposite them, and I kept him and the book in my grip at all times. 

"You wished to speak to us, Child Of Time." The woman said, piercing eyes fixed on me. I nodded, though didn't speak until Riley squeezed my hand and gave me a prompting look. 

"Oh, right, yeah. So, you aren't aligned with Consequences or Obsivian, right?" I double checked, not wanting to out myself. The twins smiled for a moment before their faces resumed their impassive masks. 

"We are not aligned with either of them." The woman assured me. 

"However, we can not tell who you are aligned with. Your soul has been touched by both, and I have never been able to read your kind well. Your human friend has absorbed some of your magic, so his mind remains defended as well." The man stated, setting his milky, sightless eyes on me. Riley looked at me and I shrugged; even if he was telling the truth, I had no way of knowing if I really had rubbed off on him. 

"I'm not aligned with either, not anymore. Well, I never was aligned with Obsivian, but now I don't consider myself to be with Consequences anymore, either." I explained, trailing off. I was trying to figure out how to put my requests, but I couldn't quite find the words. The twins waited patiently, but Riley did not. After less than a minute, he sighed and took over. 

"What Sadie wants to say is that we recently learned that they both kind of suck, and Consequences is probably going to kill her if Obsivian doesn't beat him to it, so now we're looking for somewhere safe to stay until we've figured out what to do. Thing is, we can't just abandon the other children of the elements to be killed by the two of them, so we're looking for somewhere they can stay as well." Riley summarized, glancing at me to see if I wanted to add anything. I shrugged, because he'd pretty much said everything important. The twins moved to look at each other, staring into each other's eyes for a moment and having a silent conversation before turning back to us. 

"We are a temple, a sanctuary, we will not turn away anyone who comes to us for help." The woman intoned. I frowned, because that wasn't an outright yes and that was what I wanted from them. 

"Okay, but are you willing to do it? Because it isn't just a few people tipping up, its the most wanted people on the planet coming and hiding here. Like, I will do everything in my power to keep us hidden and make sure we aren't followed, but if they find out that we're here they will rip this place apart. You have to be willing to do this, not just living by your principles of not sending people away." Vaguely, I knew that I was keeping up my old habit of talking myself out of a good thing, but I just couldn't stop myself. I had no common sense to speak of, and even Riley's incredulous look wasn't enough to shut me up for once. The twins fell quiet, turning to each other again as I waited for a response. It was the man who answered me.