The Rift

Chapter 16 Part 2

              Marie took a deep breath, her hands shaking as she dissipated the dark sphere. Around her, the adults in her family sat frozen in their chairs with their mouths frozen shut as well, but not her nieces and nephews. Jack shot to his feet and stumbled backwards, shielding his siblings. Marie raised her hands. "It's okay! We're not here to hurt you." He relaxed a little but kept his hazel eyes glued to her and Elsa. Marie stood up straight. "We're here to protect you." She paused to consider her words, but ended up saying, "You're all in danger."

Mumbling sounded to Marie's right as her mother tried to shift in her chair. Marie nodded at Elsa, who unfroze Theresa's mouth. She gasped dramatically for air. "What do you mean?" Theresa asked. "Danger from what?"

Marie clenched her hands into fists. "Amos."

This time, Tina mumbled something, and Theresa scoffed. "For Pete's sake, Marie! Unfreeze us already!"

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "Only if you promise to listen," she said while glaring at Marie's family. "And nothing else." The adults nodded, and Elsa unfroze them. She wiped her hands on her dress. "My name is Elsa. I'm from Arendelle." Her calm blue eyes washed over Marie, immediately easing her. "Marie came to my world the night she went missing in the forest."

Elsa nodded to Marie, who took over. Marie conjured another dark ball in her hand. "There exists a balance between light and darkness." She reached within the dark ball to pull out the light with her fingers and felt a rush of relief when the light separated itself from the darkness, albeit stubbornly. "Magic, if you will."

"What? You're dabbling into magic now?" Theresa asked brashly. Several people hushed her, and she leaned back and crossed her arms with a frown.

Marie held the magic in both of her hands. "It's a balance. One cannot exist without the other, so when they get out of balance, the light and darkness choose someone to help rebalance it." She drew the spheres closer to her. "I know this might be hard to believe, but Grandpa John was tasked with this role. He was pulled to Elsa's world to rebalance the light and dark along side another man. There's always two. But he failed and lost his memory when he got pulled back to our world." Marie looked at her family. "This is what happened to me in the forest. I was pulled to Elsa's world and tasked to rebalance the light and darkness alongside her. I was there for over a month and was pulled back to this world and lost my memory."

"A month?" Tina commented. "You were only gone for a few hours."

"Time flows differently between our realms," Elsa explained. "It's been two years since Marie was pulled back in this world, but in my world, it's only been a year."

"You said we're in danger," John stated, pointing at Marie's hands. "That doesn't look dangerous."

Marie moved her hands in a fluid motion as she dispersed her magic. "It's not me you should be worried about," she said slowly. "Remember when I said that Grandpa John had the ability to have magic? It runs in the family, meaning-"

"Amos," Theresa finished. Everyone at the table fell silent as Elsa and Marie exchanged glances. Theresa covered her mouth. "Do you mean that Amos has this magic like you do?"

"He has light magic," Elsa replied. "He has made a threat to harm this family if..." She looked at Marie.

"If I don't join him," Marie finished. She looked down at her hands. "He's using light as a weapon to hurt people." Marie felt herself tremble, but she tried to contain it. "He keeps following us and has attacked people in public. A girl was even hospitalized because of him." Marie was aware that the children were frightened by her words, but she pressed on. "He needs to be stopped, which is why I'm here. You needn't worry as long as Elsa and I are-"