Her Loving Captor

13

Nana

A smile graced her smooth ancient face as she sensed Eric and Dani's bond shift. It was a subtle change, something her mortal self would never have perceived and still not the fullness of what should be. Once again she thanked the other gods for their choice of punishment. It had taken her a long time to appreciate it, to learn all the things she could do, but she had.

There were so many secrets, more than she'd ever suspected even in the aeons past when she'd been at her full strength. Now she was more than she had ever been, able to see the entirety of time and all the webs it formed. She couldn't see it as Time did but no other could come close to what she could do. Could weave the threads of life to an end of her choosing.

Even as she rejoiced that her granddaughter was moving in the way she'd guided her, she knew she had to move quickly. Time was awakening to himself faster than the other primes and he could stop her in her tracks. Which wouldn't bode well for all the realities the universe had.

Fate wasn't sure what she could do to help him and his mate, their troubles were more than she'd ever been able to reconcile. Yet she strove just as much to find a way for him. The primes had to take back their place if the worlds were to survive.

She remembered her mistake when it all began, one that had seemed the path of wisdom when she had been too young to understand what darkness was. When the world itself had been too young and had little knowledge of the true darkness. A mistake that had been the words of Peace.

It was easier to blame herself, to blame Peace instead of where the true blame might be placed. At the foot of creation. But that way lay a pit she could never dig herself out of. Creation was a mystery, something that predated even the primes, an unknown power that encompassed all.

Yet it had erred when it came to the Primes.

With a shake of her head to rid herself of the dangerous train of thought, she made her way down the path to the well. It was a mirror of the well of souls and she still had a task where that well was concerned. Something that would offset the lack that creation had left.

Maybe it was conceited of her to think that, most times she thought so, but it was a task she knew was necessary if they were to avoid the same thing happening again. Maybe she was the instrument of creation, the one set to right what had been an oversight.

If it had been an oversight.

But that thought would lead to the idea that creation had meant for all this strife. For Peace to be shattered and mankind to be left to the fragile care of hope. Was that what free will was all about? Had creation meant to give them the rise of darkness so they could choose to find the honour within them?

Only there were so few willing to follow the path of honour with each age that passed.

With a derisive laugh, she shook her head again, willing the dark thoughts away. "You old fool," she chided herself. "You have lived too long if you're starting to believe your efforts mean more than they do."

She knew better than to be self-congratulatory. Dani and Eric still had a ways to go before their bond was solid, before their powers would hold back the threat that she foresaw. One that painted unspeakable horrors to her sight beyond its presence.

Yet there was a thread of hope that she followed. One that tightened its grip on her the longer she focused on it, tainting even the actions of her past with it. Until she sometimes saw herself as its servant than its manipulator. For all her grandchildren called her a puppeteer.

Overreaching, she acknowledged with a self-deprecating smile. If an accusation ever fit her, that would be it. All her life she had been overreaching and it was only with her great age that she'd come to realise it. But now it was too late to change. She was too old and set in her way.