The Time Capsule

Chapter Thirteen.

The room had a giant four-poster bed with red satin sheets and a black comforter. The curtains strung up on the posts were black and red velvet, and the walls of the hotel room were... as one might be able to guess... black. The bed had a small nightstand beside it with a tray full of cookies and a glass beside it filled to the brim with milk. The carpet of the room was a deep red, the color of blood. A small circular table was off to the side, with a laptop on it and a vase of red carnations.
There were no windows, no paintings, just a table, a bed, flowers, and a bathroom. It seemed odd to Nadia. Well, actually, everything seemed odd. She was taken to the Time Pit, which she had assumed was a dank prison. Instead, this was a hotel for people awaiting further punishment from the High Council. A lush, beautiful hotel.
Nadia sat down on the bed, looking at the cookies and milk suspiciously. 'What if they're poisoned? They wouldn't poison me in the Time Pit, would they? Maybe I shouldn't eat those. But I'm so hungry...' She tentatively took a bite of the cookie. "So good! Maybe Time Punishments have at least a few good things about them." After eating all the cookies and drinking all the milk, she stood up, rubbing her eyes and stretching. "I need to figure out how to escape. I'm just so... calm."
Nadia felt an odd sense of peace overcome her. It was like the Time Pit was sucking her worries away, letting her just... be. 'What was I worried about? I can't seem to remember. Oh, yeah. Something about a Council? No... Maybe? Why don't I just take a nap for a little while? It won't hurt anything.'
A note swiftly appeared on the nightstand beside Nadia. She blinked a couple of times, trying to focus on the note. It read, 'Do not trust anyone. This place distracts you. It will take away your pain. This is a punishment in itself. Beware. -Roman Adair'
'Who is Roman Adair? Sounds vaguely familiar. Probably a friend. Why is he wanting me to focus? I like this place.'
Nadia yawned, curling up on the bed, feeling like she was floating on air. Her fears that plagued her were all gone. The only thing that remained was the memory of an hourglass. The thing that started it all. She felt her eyelids slowly fall closed, and the last thing she heard was beautiful, blissful, enchanting music. The funny thing was, it sounded ominously like her childhood music box.
Darkness surrounded her. A creeping entity that slowly sucked away her surroundings, taking her to the world of dreams. Or, as some people might call it, the Dream Realm. So far, there was the Time Realm, the Dream Realm, the Time Pit, the Council Realm, the Earth Realm, and the... Time Loop Realm? Nadia was mixing them up already. Wait... where did she get the idea that the Dream Realm existed?
"Your internal conflict amuses me." A disembodied voice spoke out in the darkness of her dreams.
"Who's there?" Nadia tensed, spinning around to try to find her attacker.
"You know how there's Fate? And the Keeper of Time? And the Council? Well, there's one more being Roman Adair didn't share with you. I, the controller of dreams. The one that decides where each idea goes and how, but only in the state of sleep."
Nadia couldn't get over the fact that there was a strange voice in her head. A woman's voice. But where was she hiding?
"I'm everywhere, Nadia Wolfe. I am the Dream Keeper." A face appeared in the blackness, pale as moonlight, the same tone that Roman had. The rest of the Dream Keeper's body appeared.
She had a brilliant white chin-length bob and black eyes that reminded her too much of the Keeper of Time. The woman was tall, very tall, and looked vaguely inhuman.
"Your observations are very close. Not close enough, however. I am Roman's sister. I'm not surprised at all that he didn't care to mention me. The little brat. I'm his elder sister, Rosamund."
Nadia's thoughts consumed her. 'How is she-Why didn't he mention her? What did he do to make her angry? How are they related? How did they both become Keepers? I need answers.'
"Why have you come to visit me? And why has Roman never spoken of you before this? I don't get it. You're related. You're both siblings. Why all the secrecy?"
Rosamund rolled her eyes. "He doesn't like me because we had a bit of a falling out... a couple of hundred years ago, but he STILL has not gotten over it." She closed her eyes for a moment, holding out her hands. "You have no power in this realm, brother. I will not allow you to enter." She moved her hands all around, summoning what looked to be magic to block the Keeper of Time from this realm.
"Wait! You can let him enter. I have some questions for him." Nadia held her breath, gauging Rosamund's expression. Rosamund had an indifferent expression, then, finally, she sighed heavily, opening up a portal and allowing Roman to step through. He glanced around at the darkness with distaste apparent on his face.
"Have you no class? No decorations? Not even a simple loveseat? How crude." The Keeper of Time looked over at Nadia, and then at his sister.
"What has she told you?" He abruptly asked, crossing his arms.
"That you're related to her. She's your older sister. And that you had a falling out a while back, and now you don't get along. Care to share anything else vitally useful?" Nadia also crossed her arms, and so did Rosamund. They looked like an angry triangle.
"I am her brother. I didn't want to mention the Dream Keeper because I felt like it wasn't important to the topic at hand. Now, I see that I perhaps... misjudged the situation." Roman looked like he was about to break something. "However, Rosa, I don't appreciate you manipulating my prodigy. You have no idea what I've been doing lately, so don't act like you have all the answers."
Rosa snapped her fingers, and a comfortable-looking white L-shaped couch appeared. She leisurely sat down on it and inclined her head for them to join her. "I wasn't acting like I had all the answers. You're the one who barges into MY realm without anything nice to say." Nadia was getting increasingly uncomfortable. as she sat down at the very edge of the couch, she was looking everywhere except at the two Keepers.
"Excuse me? You just took Nadia from the Time Pit, which can be considered a great offense against the Council. If anyone notices that she went missing, you might get punished. You have no stealth." Roman eyes were darkening even more, if that was possible.
Rosamund was about to speak when Nadia stood up, responding to their argument. "ENOUGH. You are both acting like children. I know that's not true, because you're probably thousands of years old. I hate it when people act like I'm not in the room. Well, I am. And I get to have a say in the matter. I have been stuck in a time loop for a YEAR. I've seen my aunt die numerous times, been arrested for accidentally and on purpose interacting with Loopers because SOMEONE -"
She glared at Roman. "Has been taking his time. I have been thrown into the Time Pit, which, by the way, is too relaxing for anyone to focus. Now I'm stuck between a sibling quarrel, when I could get into even MORE trouble because you ripped me out of my second prison? I am EXHAUSTED because of everything I've been through, and you two have no sympathy for the fact that Fate and the Council are both after me at all times. And now I'm not even sure if the Keeper of Time can be trusted because you sure don't seem like you're helping." She finished her rant, angrily spitting out the last words as she took a heavy breath.
Silence encompassed the group. "Well? Now, are you done with your idiotic behavior?" Nadia noticed the two staring open-mouthed at her, and she clenched her jaw. "What? What's the matter?" As soon as she said it, she looked at her surroundings.
All around her, memories played out in different areas of the darkness. One memory had her taking the time capsule out of the ground. Another showed her getting into a car wreck. It continued with Nadia being in the library and talking to the two Loopers. The memories were everywhere.
"In all my years of being a Keeper, I have never been witness to this kind of... raw power." Rosamund whispered, awe and horror on her face. "How did you...?"
Nadia looked around again, confusion taking over her thoughts. "What do you mean? You control the Dream Realm. Not me. I didn't do this. You must have. Right?"
Rosa shook her head. "While you were yelling. The memories started to pop up with your anger. It was almost like you... controlled it. You're right. I control the Dream Realm. But I was not doing that. Not one bit. You just made it happen. That's impossible. You're a mere mortal."
Roman Adair just stared, tilting his head, his thoughts masked by a curious expression on his face. "You can control the Dream Realm. How strange... What else can you do? And are you really magical? Maybe you're adopted. Perhaps born from a Keeper. Adopted into a mortal family."
Nadia gritted her teeth. "So you're saying that my entire life might be a lie? If a Keeper gave birth to me, does that somehow pass on their magical powers? Wait, wait, wait. I am not magical. It must have been a hoax. Maybe when I was angry at you, you got so emotional that..."
"I controlled the Dream Realm? Or Rosamund did? With your memories?" Roman's voice was dry and sarcastic. "Doubtful."
"We'll figure this out later. As for now, we need to get you back to the Time Pit before people start getting suspicious." Rosamund responded, standing up and waving her hands to clear the memories.
"I'm going back there? But I lose my sense of self-awareness when I'm there. I feel so relaxed. TOO relaxed." Nadia argued, turning paler by the second. She was terrified to lose that.
"We have no choice. Well, we do. But if we keep you from the Council, then we'll be in way bigger trouble. Now, on the count of three, you'll go back." Roman grimly smiled at the situation. Rosamund looked semi-happy about this for some strange reason.
"One." Her heartbeat pounded. Her thoughts were everywhere all at once. "Two." 'I have magic. I don't know how to escape this punishment.' "Three." The last thing Nadia saw were the faces of Roman and Rosa, their black eyes seeing into her soul.