Newborn Eyes

Persuasion

Ty and I were glued together. Wherever he went, I went and vice versa. Victor finally got the machine up and running with a button that allowed me to preset the deaths. I made the machine decide whether or not the person deserved to die. If the person was just dying of old age so be it. If a person got shot in the heart then obviously they were going to die. But I took into thought the people who were in hospitals or starving. The people that were on the edge of death and needed a miracle to save them. Those people I took into careful consideration. I had the machine give me a 2 minute summary of each persons life and decided which instances were worthy to save. After a few cases the machine learned how I responded so I hardly ever needed to be near the machine.

All my free time I spent with Ty. He showed me around the town and took me out on dates. It was more that I could have ever imagined. The perfect relationship. I went back in time to change the fate of an entire race and become that race myself but I never imagined I would meet someone as amazing as Ty. The most memorable and important date we went on is happening right now. He took me to the indoor garden in the Xena headquarters for a picnic on our 6 month anniversary. This doesn't seem like much until he gets down on one knee in front of me. I am speechless but somehow I hear myself saying "Are you proposing?"

He takes out a box and opens it to reveal a thin silver band with a small ruby as the gem. "I'm hoping that eventually as we grow as a couple that I will be the one to marry you, but for right now it's a promise ring. I promise to always protect you and take care of you no matter what troubles we go through. And I hope you will wear this ring until the day I finally put an engagement ring on that finger."

I stare down at him with tears in my eyes. This man wants to marry me. And he's not even a man. We're both still teenagers and he already knows what he wants, who he wants. And I'm pretty sure I want that too.

****
I stand in my room admiring the ring. Of course I accepted it. Now I'm picking out the perfect outfit that matches the ruby. I pick out a long red dress. The fabric is tight on my body but the ruffles keep it from looking inappropriate.

I open the doors to my room and carefully walk down the cascading stairs. Cain stands at the bottom looking up at me with worry in his eyes. "Cain what's wrong?"

"It's Tyler," he responds, "He's gone."

I can hear my heart beating in my ears. Cain's words keep running through my head. Ty's gone. Ty is gone.

I stagger and trip down a few steps before Cain catches me. "How?" I ask, "How can he be gone? He was just here!"

Cain looks at me with a sympathetic look and shakes his head. "I don't know, he was getting ready for your dinner together when he just disappeared. The only guard that saw him says that Tyler looked possessed but he found himself immobile and unable to follow him."

Unable? Who has the power to immobilize someone? A Xena perhaps but why would they work against their own kind? Cain interrupts my train of thought by saying, "I have hired someone to come in and shine some light on who has captured Tyler. I think you have met him before."

I regain myself and stand up straight, looking at Cain in confusion. "I've met him before?"

Before Cain could answer my question, a boy with a mullet enters the room. "Carter?" I question.

I can't believe my eyes. It's the boy from the auto shop. The one that sent me back in time to save Ty's life. He looks at me with a confused expression. Oh yeah, I forgot that he hasn't met me yet because we're back in time. "I'm Constance," I announce, "Your future self sent me back in time in your time machine to save the world. Oh and he also told me to tell you to lose the mullet. It's a bad look."

Carter laughs and says, "Well I have a hair appointment later this week so he shouldn't worry so much. I'm actually in the process of building the time machine so it's good to know it works."

Carter and I laugh together before Cain clears his throat. "You said that you knew who took my son?" he addresses Carter.

Carter motions us over to him and we move to stand on either side of him. In Carter's hands is a purple colored ball. He explains to us that it is a crystal ball that he had acquired from a friend. He waves his hand over the ball and an image appears.

A man in a black cloak appears in the ball. His head is covered in a cloak so we cannot see his face. The image shows that he is outside of the garden where Ty is picking a bouquet of flowers. We see the man stare with intensity at Ty, making Ty drop the flowers. I gasp as I realize what is going on. "He has the same powers as Ty!" I announce, "Ty said that if someone with his powers was powerful enough they could control other people. I think he's controlling Ty!"

We watch as the man makes Ty walk to a car and get inside. The man finally removes his cloak and I get a good look at his face. He has brown eyes and short black hair. There's nothing irregular about him except for a scar along his right cheek that looks like it was cut by a knife. I gasp, realizing that I know this man who kidnapped Ty. I would know that scar anywhere because I was the one who gave it to him. This man is my brother.