Time Guards - The Italian Quest

Chapter XVII

Bernadette took Viola and Constance out into the deserted street and started setting her pocket watch.

"What? Why are we going to bail on the guys?" Viola asked.

"I have no idea what you are saying," said Bernadette. She set her watch and then looped her arms around Viola and Constance's, "Hold on tight."

Viola had not time to ready herself to travel so she found that she was soon stumbling, the feeling of air rushing around her and jolt almost as worse as her first trip. She fell on the group, but at least there was ground. Viola opened her eyes to find that she was lying on tarmac, Bernadette and Constance helping her up.

"What on earth was that?"

Bernadette just gave one of her impish smiles and Viola sighed before looking at where they now were. Gone were the Florentine streets and Leonardo's hectic studio. Instead she was now standing on the edge of a littered street. Sky scrapers made of glass towered on either side, casting the street into a dark shadow. They were standing on the very edge of the street, looking on at the dichotomy before them.

It looked like a protest march, with people in dark t-shirts and holding banners standing opposite what Viola believed must be law enforcers, men and women in dark uniform holding guns and batons.

"Bernadette, why are we here? Where is here?"

She showed them her watch, "The year 2301 on the fifth of May, the fifth month, at five o'clock. We are standing in Stoven, the capital of the New Western Alliance."

"The fifth hour," whispered Constance in dread.

Bernadette nodded and then explained for Viola, "This is when the New Western Alliance finally recognized that they have legalized slavery. You see the riddle was meant to prove not only our intelligence but that we can time travel and maybe our emotional strength," she repeated it, "Standing tall and brave, two stood on their own. The trilogy of threats united, killed the men's lives. Now tell me how do you kill a two men, like had happened on that day, when nothing and no one touched them and yet two bodies were carried away? V"

"Vespansiano mentions four numbers in his riddle. Two stood on their own, a trilogy of threats, when nothing and no one. 2301, the year. Then his initial is his name but it also is a references this moment which goes down in history as the fifth hour. When slavery is officially legalized. So now we just have to watch to see how two men are going to die. That's why the riddle seemed too vague because the answer is here not in the words themselves."

"That's not the important part," said Viola blinking, "We can't just watch while two people are going to be killed."

"We can't change time," said Constance, "This is going to be hard, Viola, but we cannot interfere. By just changing one event we can alter the whole of history. However, no one is going to die today. I learnt about the fifth hour, today the two leaders in the campaign against slavery are going to be sold into slavery. As good as being dead."

Viola watched the scene unfold in front of her. The crowd yelled at the police as three men came out from crowd, the leaders, to head the protest. Three? Viola, slightly confused continued watching. Bernadette grabbed her hand, to stop her in case she tried to stop what was about to happen.

"Freedom. Freedom. Freedom," the crowd began to shout.

The enforces began to speak, forced to shout to be heard over the crowd, "You will stop this protest. You are not a recognized public campaign."

"We are and you know it, puppet," shouted one of the men, "Freedom to all people! You will not pass your bill." The people began to cheer and the chanting continued.