TIME AFTER TIME

prologus.

PROLOGUE: 

"The Past"

PANDORA.

The wind whipping on my face is exactly what I needed, my bare feet fly across the jungle's floor so quickly I barely feel the earth beneath me. Then I'm swinging from branch to vine to branch and embracing my inner spirit that demands to be free. I keep running until that spark in my chest explodes and my body roars from adrenaline. This is around the same time my lungs need a break. And my little sister managed to catch up with me.

"Did you not hear me calling you back there?" Her innocent voice is on the verge of fury, her lungs untouched by the necessary sprint. 

My palms are pressed to my knees, my back pressing against the smooth trunk of the large grove tree as I double over to catch my breath. The energy from the tree aids in slowing my breathing. My sister pushes a vine out of her face so her glare can shoot at me directly when I reply, "I heard you, but I knew it'd be more fun once you caught up with me, Pearl." I laugh and pinch her shoulder playfully, "Lighten up! I'm glad you're here, I need your help finding the waterfall."

Pearl groans, "Enough with the waterfall. It's just a myth, plus Mom told us"—

"Enough about Mom," I groan in response as I push away her worries with the fan of my hand. "You worry too much."

"You don't worry enough!" Her arms cross tightly across her chest as she continues her typical lecture, "Your twenty-first birthday is coming up so you should be training, preparing to take Mom's place as Mother of Oasis." I scoff at her words and begin to climb up the large tree. I needed higher ground if I were going to find the very real waterfall I saw last week on my way back from running my perimeter. I heard rumors that when you dove from the top and into the lagoon you were blessed with a vision of your destiny. Or it transported you to Hell - different witches and writings said different things. I was determined to find out for myself. 

"Would you quit running from me? I came out here to bring you back, we aren't supposed to be out past midnight without the other Primrose." She shoves another vine out of her view, "Pandora! Stop pretending you can't hear me."

I blow a raspberry unfazed, "Seriously, you're going to have an aneurysm - or worse, give me one - if you don't lighten up."

"I'm done entertaining your"-

My gasp cuts her words short, my finger slices through the air and points west towards rushing water. "There it is, I knew it!"

This time when I'm on the move my sister doesn't try to stop me. Instead, she glides behind me, swiftly casting to conjure a pair of wings made from light. While I snuck off every chance I got, my younger sister was the model witch when it came to her studies. She had already begun casting spells that were advanced for her age. 

I swing from the nearest vine, allowing the wind to keep me moving towards my destination. I didn't need casting to feel the breeze guide me to where I needed to be. When we stand side by side at the top of the waterfall, I kneel and retrieve the piece of parchment I kept in my pack to draw the surrounding geography. The map showed the Oasis island, and now - finally - the location of the notorious waterfall, southwest of the island's center.

"Let's go tell Mom," I hear my little sister's fear just as I scoff. 

"Tell her what? We still need to jump."

I hear her squeak. "You cannot be serious." Her large eyes widen seeing where I looked, gaze free from humor. "No, Pan. I am not jumping."

My shoes were already off. 

"Fine, then, I will."

I don't let her get another word in before I set my pack beside my shoes, strip off my satin clothes, and take a leap of faith. My laugh sails through the air only to be cut off when I plummet. Water surrounds me, pushes me with the current and then I push my arms and kick my legs until I surface then allow air to fill my lungs. My sister awaits at the top and from here I could see her anxious expression. I shake my head, then swim on my back. "Show me. Hell.. or my destiny," I whisper to the ancient waters as my eyes watch the night sky above. The stars are bright, beckoning me to look away. So I do and look to the forest instead. 

There, between the trees, I see it. My destiny or Hell, is still undecided, but I am not afraid as the glowing eyes of the demon track my movements. 

Neither of us spoke for a long moment. We just stared at one another. His eyes tracked my body in the pool. I knew that demons could not touch water, so I was safe. So I tred my arms until my toes could touch the smooth rocks near the shallow end. 

Pearl would return with the other Primrose soon. Or worse, our Mom. 

"You're not afraid," the demon's voice silenced the birds, even the wind around us. It was as if every creature's Spirit halted in this demon's presence. 

My eyebrows furrow when I let the words settle, "You're not speaking Sparta." I was referring to the ancient language I had studied when my professors told me it wouldn't be in our History curriculum. So I ventured to the most ancient corners of our library to study the dark language. 

The demon shifts and I see the way the moonlight washes his expression - he was shocked, maybe even impressed. "I've never met a witch that knew Sparta."

Clearing my throat I recite one of the few terms I knew, You are a fool, then.

That was the first time, and not the last, that I would hear a demon's laugh. He muttered something in the forbidden language and when I asked him what it meant he translated, "A fool is never a fool amongst another."

Silence settled over us again while I felt the pull of a grin on my face. And then, before the joy could solidify, a breeze carried from the west. The Primrose were coming. As if sensing it too, he turned towards the west, slinking back into the shadows. I surprised myself when I swam to the edge of the pool, my fingertips kissing the shadows. Then my body was pulled from the water and I stood on the forest's edge. We were only a few feet from one another but I gasped. His energy did not belong in the Oasis. It was not the comforting, soft brush of Spirit I felt from every being on the island. His energy was sharp, biting, and lethal. It was Chaos energy.

And still, I stepped towards him and despite the warnings and logic, my defiant spirit was replenished as I dared to ask, "What is your name?"

His name was Lucius. And I was never afraid of him. The second time I met him on the island, I asked him how he got to Oasis. He told me the first time was an accident, but the second time he searched for me. 

I told him my name the third time we met. I knew the stories and the horrors of what happened when you told a demon your name but he was different. Lucius was curious and intellectual. He taught me things about the magical world I never knew about. I never told a soul, not even my sister. 

I think of that day at the Waterfall often. Of how that magical pool did live up to the rumors. Because while he was my destiny, Lucius did indeed lead me to Hell.