Millennia Apart

The Story

"Come on, Eллa, it's time for bed," Mama called out from the bedroom. Ella was seven years old, and absolutely captivated by the television. A tiny little gremlin, she was of the opinion that sleep was only for the sick and elderly, and she was neither. Despite her staunch opposition towards going to bed, she loved her Mama's stories.

Moving as slow as possible, she tore her gaze away from the screen and trudged towards her room.

"ты медленный, Eллa," Mama chastised as Ella walked in, her big brown eyes sorrowful, in contrast to the mischievous smile on her face.

"Mama no Russian, not tonight, ple-ease?" she whined. Mama was from Moscow, and would occasionally speak in her native tongue in a desperate attempt to get her daughter to speak it, but Ella was adamant and had a poignant disinterest towards learning Russian.

"I said 'you are slow,' you naughty girl," Mama mumbled, tucking her into bed, right next to her ugly, bright orange teddy bear. "Ready for story, Ангел?"

"Да," she whispered, feeling proud of herself for having spoken Russian, albeit only a word. At least Mama would be happy.

"Good girl. Now close your eyes and listen." Ella grinned as she shut her eyes, preparing herself for a story about dragons and knights and warrior princesses. Ella's Mama had the best stories in the world.

"Long long time ago, world was big ocean. There was one island, very small, where two friends lived together. When they were children, before world became ocean, monster lived in water. His name was Fiero. Fiero did not like people because they did not like him. One day, evil king sent his army to capture Fiero. Evil king wanted to have power, and control his people. So army went, and put big net in middle of ocean. Fiero was smart monster, and saw army put net. He hit the boats with his tail, right inside net. King's net had electric current, and when soldiers fell in, almost all died. Except General and her best friend, Lieutenant. They stared as their comrades' bodies floated on water, Fiero's gaze fixed on them.

'You should die,' monster growled.

'You cannot kill us," General taunted, as she swam closer.

Lieutenant also swam towards his friend, both of them now close to Fiero.

'If I cannot kill you, I will kill your King.'

'And we will not stop you. He sent us to die."

Fiero went to land, and killed King, and all other people. He smashed land with his enormous wing, sending it underwater. Only land left was island, where General and Lieutenant began to live. Fiero became friends with them, and they all lived together, in peace, for thousands and thousands of years,' Mama finished, smiling as she saw Ella fast asleep.

"Good night, Ангел," she turned off the lamp and left the room, silent except for the little girl's soft snores.

Mama went into the kitchen, fixing herself a quick meal of rice and potatoes. If she was being honest with herself, raising Ella was tiring, but she was so adorable, and full of love, that when they were together, she could forget about all her troubles.

Just then, the phone stuffed inside the back of the highest kitchen cabinet rang with an obnoxious trill.

With a sigh, she reached for it, letting the bags of flour and pasta drop to the floor. So much for finishing a meal in peace.

"Hello, Medrina," a thick, gravelly voice came through the receiver as she pressed it to her ear.

"Solov."

"What, no 'How are you, Solov'? What happened to niceties?"

"Niceties are for people you have reason to be polite to. Not people of baseless character who have ruined your life."

"British air made you brave," the voice noted, the joviality vanishing from in it in an instant.

"I would have said same thing even if you were standing in front of me," Medrina hissed.

"It's the girl isn't it," an unpleasant chuckle, "How is she?"

"That does not concern you."

"Doesn't it? Seeing as I gave her to you?"

"That does not change that she is my daughter."

"She is not your daughter," the voice was now cold, and if it were anyone but Medrina on the other side, they would have ended the call.

"She is your experiment. To me she is girl, with dreams. She wants to be ballerina. Like Anna Pavlova."

"Well, treating her like a proper girl doesn't seem to work very well, does it? Say your goodbyes, Medrina, I shall come to get her in morning."

"Solov," she began, before hearing the all too familiar click. She sank to the floor, leaning against the cabinet. She never thought this would happen. She had prepared for everything but this.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted the stove off the counter, revealing an assortment of guns. She took one, holstering it within her belt. That would have to do. On a few sheets of paper, she wrote her entire history, describing to Ella what she was. She walked out the front door, letter in hand, to the house of the only person she trusted.

Ekaterina was fast asleep when Medrina knocked on her door. It was three in the morning. Just like when they were children, her friend never slept. Ekaterina Kashkov was living in London as Michelle Jamieson, a reputed journalist. She had long dark hair, bright blue eyes, and soft features. Save her hair, she looked every bit like the Russian models that adorned the covers of magazines. Medrina, on the other hand, had blond hair and harder features. She was quite young, but had traces of wrinkles around her eyes.

"Medrina, you really can't go around knocking on people's doors in the middle of the night. Some of us do prefer to have a good night's sleep," Ekaterina scolded, with a nearly perfect accent. The only trace of Russian in her voice was in her 'R's, which most people presumed was the remains of Scottish accent. The people she worked with had a general disdain towards those from Slavic nations.

"Красивая, he wants Ella."

"Our Ella? Who?"

"Solov. He's coming tomorrow morning."

"He can't take her away."

"We both know he can. We just never thought he would."

"Don't lawyer me. Why's he taking her?"

"He thinks I'm unfit. We said we would raise her like little girl. Not warrior. I told her she wants to be ballerina."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was angry."

"You were angry? That's your excuse?"

"I'm sorry, Kat."

"I know. I am too," she replied, pulling the other, shorter woman into a hug.

A few seconds later, Medrina pulled away, eyes filling with tears. She drew the letter out of her pocket and gave it to Ekaterina saying, "When she leaves Solov, give this to her."

"Where are you going?"

"To find the other one."