Through the Painting

A Robin Egg

Addilyn brought her eyes up to meet Brea's intent gaze. She felt as if she were staring into a vast ocean. Thoughts and emotions were quickly swept away by the current before she had a chance to interpret and understand them. She was walking into this lesson completely blind. Brea most definitely had the upper hand in this situation.

 Well, there was Blaise's plan of course. She needed to learn to control her ability first though. Gaining control would involve conquering the fiery tempest lurking in the darkest corners of her head. It was something she dreaded facing. 

 Brea's military disposition flickered momentarily when she recognized the fear on Addilyn's face. A terror well concealed most of the time. A feeling Brea could relate to on so many levels. Pushing those thoughts aside, she brought herself back to the task at hand. She gestured for Addilyn to take a seat.

"Alright Addilyn, I need you to envision something. A place. Somewhere you remember quite well."

"Okay. I've got it." It didn't take Addilyn long to find such a place. In her head she was already walking among the lilacs and the roses of her childhood garden.

"Now, look around you. There should be something peculiar or out of place. Whatever it is, it should stand out from everything else. It might perhaps be an object. Look carefully, for it is going to be a very subtle difference." Peering curiously at the garden, Addilyn noticed the odd thing Brea was referring to. Anyone else seeing the garden wouldn't have thought anything strange of it. To Addilyn however, it was very bizarre. 

It was the nest which her mother had shown her all those years ago. The nest with the baby birds was different. Whenever she revisited the garden in her head the nest was filled with the baby birds. However, the baby birds that once resided within the nest were gone. In their place was a singular robin egg. The egg was shimmering slightly and had an almost glossy finish to it.

"If you've found it, I want you to reach out and touch it." Doing as she was told, Addilyn extended her quivering finger and with a delicate maneuver, she touched the egg. Upon impact the egg glowed, exuding a marvelous golden light. In the same instant the garden that once surrounded her vanished and was replaced by something else. 

She shuddered as she realized she was going to have to do something she had long feared. A particular memory was going to be relived, right before her very eyes. And this memory was not one she could enjoy with some popcorn and a soda. 

A tremor began in her hand as she braced herself for what was to come. The show was beginning. She watched utterly helpless, unable to change anything. In order to travel through time to fix the tear, she was going to have to do this. 

She took a deep breath and exhaled, concentrating. She could still hear Blaise's voice telling her his plan. You're going to need to focus once you're watching the memory. I know it hurts but it's the only way to harness your ability. And in order to fix the rip in time, you and I are going to need to go back in time. She was about to watch was the memory that had started a long chain of events. This was the day she lost everything.