Chrono X Angel, Book 8: The Sands of Time

Chapter 6

For the first time in a very long time, Sarah O'Malley found herself truly speechless. Both she and Usoko were rushing through the Time Stream, a strange tunnel-like place existing both within and outside the flow of regular time, that allowed for transit through history. It was without true form, and yet at the same time had substance enough for the two ladies to walk in theory. Of course, neither particularly found themselves in the mood for a stroll at this very moment, instead soaring down the path at speed. Around them were windows of differing sizes, each a different color. They were effectively portals to different times and places each girl knew. New Atlantis and Usoko's transformation to Seraphim, the stormy night when Sarah first arrived at Castle von Orlok, Kuroko's first birthday, Sarah's own death, and countless dozens and dozens more moments were rushed by as the pair made their way for their destination. They had been told to ignore all personal moments, to only focus on their destination and it would appear. In this case, the time was the Summer of 1999. The place, Los Angeles, California. Usoko knew for sure that her mother had lived in the fittingly nicknamed "City of Angels" for a few years before she had been born, having moved there from Fumizaki when she had gotten married to Charles. Considering the two were married in 1994, that meant Usoko felt fairly confident she would find her mother at the same address she had spent the first six or so years of her life at. It felt as though the pair had been flying for years, hell it might actually have been given how weird time behaved in here, but finally their "off ramp" presented itself in the form of a shimmering doorway. Usoko could just make out some large shapes beyond the portal, but otherwise it was much too distorted to know for sure where they were about to be let out. With one last push, both girls soared through and landed in a heap near some construction machinery. It was early in the morning, and the sunlight was playing tricks with the fog, turning distant buildings into warped, almost alien shapes. Immediately Usoko recognized this as the last spot from that bizarre dream of hers, and knew right then and there they had done it. Although, she still needed to be totally sure...

"Sarah, you good?" She asked of the plushie that was currently extricating herself from the side of a nearby dump truck she had been shot into. Apparently Sarah's arrival had been a bit rougher than her own. Oops.

"I will be in a moment," she grunted in reply, "Guess time travel isn't an exact science after all..."

"Guess not," sighed Usoko, trying not to laugh as she assisted Sarah in pulling herself free. A few seconds more and there was a brand new Sarah Plush-shaped dent in the truck's door, but the Banshee herself was free.
"So hey, you were around back then. Or... now, I guess. Right? Think you'd be able to tell if it's 1999?"

"If ya turned on th' radio I might," answered Sarah, attempting to flatten out her felt hair that had gotten a bit tattered, "The music of this era was quite, ah, memorable."

Moving over to a nearby portable radio likely left behind by one of the crewmen of the quarry, Usoko fumbled for the "on" button for several seconds. Upon pressing it, the two were greeted by a voice loudly proclaiming "Iiiiiiiiit's beeeeeen-"

"Aye, 1999 it is," declared Sarah with absolute certainty as the song continued, "Or just before, I remember hearing that one on the air a lot. Why don'tcha check and make sure we're actually in LA too, come t'think. I didn't exactly bring period-appropriate cash, so we're in for a hike if we aren't."

Heeding Sarah's advice, but not really able to discern their current location due to the fog, Usoko flew up high to get a better vantage point. There in the distance, maybe twenty or so miles out, was downtown Los Angeles.  There were definitely fewer skyscrapers than she remembered, but then this was almost twenty five years ago, so it made enough sense to her. Still, it was really weird to think she was so far back in the past that she had not even been born yet. She quickly flew back down to Sarah, informing the Banshee of their distance from town. Not an issue for Sarah of course, but before long Usoko was going to need something to eat. She had run out of snacks while searching in the pyramid, and it had been several hours more since her last real meal. Without any era-appropriate money, Usoko was either going to have to steal something to eat or...