Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay was glad that Elliott understood why she wanted out. The fact that he knew about Rinaa's fate, she knew he'd understand her reasonings for it. So when they were back at the Atilli landscape she was highly grateful. When he said he'd give them a moment to settle themselves, she was even more thankful, but it was John who spoke her thoughts. She barely took notice of Elliott walking away to give them a moment, she was aware it had to be a shock for him also, knowing it was his half sister that she saw in such a manner. She felt selfish reacting like it was only her kid, but she couldn't help it. Her hormones of being pregnant were definitely not helping matters.

She started to slow her shakes as John rubbed her shoulder, but it was a gradual process. She didn't relax instantly like she usually did. Her mind was still racing, as it took her a good five minutes before she started to calm and stop shaking, unaware of Elliott glancing over ever few moments. She spent her time focusing on slowing her breathing so she could control her shaking. Then came the conversation topic she didn't want to talk about but knew she had to. She turned her head so she could see Elliott but kept it against John. "She already knows what the message was, minus the bit about her 'having the power to stop the darkness that will plague me'." She explained, using one hand to make air quotes with her fingers.

"So I guess I'm/we're... whoever, are going to have to tell her that bit. But I can't tell her about what I saw...I just can't put that on her shoulders" she said, having no idea if John would agree or not. She just really didn't want to be that parent that said 'we don't know if it'll happen or not but I saw you dead ontop of a car'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott was right, John knew that much, no matter what they'd just seen and been told, they had to make a plan. If they came out with no plan, it wouldn't take long for Fia to work out that something was amiss. John knew straight away that there was no way he was going to tell Fia there was a possibility of her ending up dead if things went wrong as one, that was pretty standard for their lives in general and two, they'd already seen what kind of effects knowing your days were numbered had on a teenager and the last thing he wanted wa sto put Fia through anything like what Rinaa was going through. "I agree, with can't tell her about the last bit, the bit only you saw, knowing your own death isn't something I'd wish on anybody."

Elliott nodded, in this case his opinions were the same as John's on this. "Same here. I'd say just tell her the bits mentioned about her in the message and make up some excuse about not wanting to tell her until you were sure you'd heard it right. And as for the other bit.... for once I'm on the side of don't tell, and if she does find out about that as well, I knew nothing as my brain short circuited during the time." "Fair point."

 

[MzHyde]

No-one could deny that Fia was a smart kid when it came to figuring people out if they were hiding things from her, along with the stubborn nature being strong enough to get anything out of people if she kept on at them. Kay was just glad that John was agreeing to not tell their daughter what she saw. It was proving bad enough on her own mind knowing that if she didn't let whatever was coming to happen, the universe would go for Fia. Or so they were getting from the image. Like John, she definitely didn't want to put Fia through anything remotely similar to Rinaa was going through.

She glanced at Elliott when he too agreed on what they should tell Fia and what they should keep from her. "agreed, and that excuse isn't far from the truth so it'd be easy to convince her of that. And don't worry..I'll keep you out of it Ell if it came to the other thing coming out. I don't want to put her through what Rinaa is going through" She replied after John did. During the talking, she had managed to stop shaking, exactly when she wasn't entirely sure, but she was becoming a lot calmer, even if her mind was still racing. She was so glad that no-one in the room could hear what they were talking about, and that this was considered a safe place to talk. "I guess...we should let Chas try and figure out his dream....I think for telling Fia, I want to do it not around everyone else, with no offence to the others, but I think it's fairer to Fia if the likes of Cliff's family, Moya and Rinaa aren't in hearing distance." She eventually said.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott nodded "the best lies are always based on the truth, and this case it is the truth. I might have seen something had I not bene blasted out by your unconscious mind." Elliott also knew that there was a high chance the others had seen him react physically to the memory shock, but he had an excuse for that covered, this was Kay's first time sharing a dream memory (the lats time being an ancestral memory which was completly different) and he could put his reaction down to her mind's inexperience at sharing a dream memory. "I'll back you up on that Ell." John nodded, knowing that there was very he little he wouldn't do to make sure Elliott was clear of blame (even if it meant he got into further shit, John's protective instincts were extremely polarised, either he'd do everything to protect somebody, or next to nothing).

Both nodded at Kay's next words, they'd just assumed that it was a certainty that they'd be explaining privately. Cliff's family had nothing to do with it, as did Moya, where as John had just assumed that Rinaa would have no interest in the whole thing or even any emotional attachment to the whole situation. If she was to get involved it would be with Chas' dreams, which he'd already theorised to involve Rinaa in some shape or form. "That goes without sayin' really, they have nothin' to do with this, they don't even know why this is going on and Fia'll understand why it has to wait too. Though I gotta admit I'm pretty interested to see what Chas saw, he doesn't get shaken easily after so many years hangin' around with me."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded at Elliott's words, knowing he was right. It was just a reason how she survived so long. After all, she used a decent lie to get out of being an inpatient at the hospital way back when she was young, and at school age. She was also completely fine with Elliott using herself as an excuse for any questions being brought up to his reaction. "That's fine with me" she told him. She knew John would back Elliott up through anything, he wouldn't have made a point to go all the way to Attil if he didnt. She actually admired him for his level of protectiveness over Elliott. She wouldn't ever say it out loud to anyone, but she did always hope he'd show that sort of support to her if she ever needed it.

With the next part of the chat being spoken, she listened and looked up at John when he gave his reply of agreement, glad that he knew it was the best cause of action. Even if it didn't need to be said, she felt the need to express out loud anyway. She also knew he was right in that Fia would understand why it had to wait before she got answers to the questions she'll no doubt be having by now. "Then let's get out of here and let Chas get his answers. I dont want him waiting any longer than he already has" she replied, now she felt a lot more calmer that it wouldn't affect her physical being on the outside. She already could tell she'd be tired and weak when she came back to the real world, she could feel it in herself strangely.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As soon as they'd confirmed that all that needed to be said between the three of them had been said Elliott went about releasing them all from the MindWalk. Kay was out first as Elliott knew she'd get more and more drained the longer she stayed in his head. Considering she'd eaten so little for breakfast, he expected that she'd be ravenous on top of all the other emotions when she returned to the physical world. John was pushed out next with Elliott coming out of it after another minute or so. John stretched ran a hand through his hair, stretching his arms out enough that an audible pop could be heard from his shoulder joints. Elliott resisted the urge to fall back onto the sofa, though that was partially due to the fact that Jay had shoved a plate of food into his hands, with a look that told him not eating it wasn't an option. She knew that MindWalking took up a lot of energy and if he didn't eat something there was a distinct chance of a crash, with that chance increasing the longer the walk lasted.

Chas wasn't in the room deciding that there was little point in sitting around and watching when he could be doing something useful, so he'd gone to do some fetching and carrying. Rinaa and Moya had vanished too, heading out to help Jay. The four had developed a system between them with three working while th others kept an eye on the MindWalkers. As soon as Kay came out Jay sent a text to Chas. Nat had also vanished in the time they were gone. "You're back to the real world see." "Yep and ye all buggered off." "Well even if you haven't seen it before watching from the outside is not terribly exciting." "So you guys decided to do something constructive instead. I'll be ready for you in a few minutes, just let me eat this first." "We're not in a rush." "Thanks for this by the way Jay." "It's nothing."

 

[MzHyde]

When she came back to the real world, she felt incredibly hungry and tired and still very much emotional. She saw Fia had stayed put, despite the others buggering off to do something else whilst they weren't entirely in the room per say. "Welcome back you lot" Fia commented, as Jay sent the text to Chas and handed Elliott the much needed food. Kay just smiled slightly and nodded at Fia's words, before getting up to go to the kitchen to grab some food herself. She really now regretted not eating more than the single apple for breakfast. Fia looked and watched Kay go to the kitchen, and the curiousity of whether or not answers were found just plagued her mind all the more. "So..did you get anything from it? She's more quiet than normal" Fia asked, whilst gesturing to Kay.

Kay could hear what was being asked but she focused solely on finding some food, deciding to make herself some toast. She didn't want to be quiet or anti social, but she was just running through everything in her head. She knew she needed to try and move on what she found out and saw, as best she could or it would eat her up. She ran her hand on her stomach, making an internal vow to never let what she saw in the dream/MindWalk come to life. With the toast being done, she put what she wanted on it and walked back to the couch, sitting down and sitting back, as she ate.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Neither Elliott nor John responded instantly to Fia's question, both looking at the other, silently begging him to go first. It was John who lost out, Elliott using a full mouth as n excuse not to talk. "Aside from the usual crock of vague shit and almost every stereotype about mysterious prophetic messages ever thought up? Nothin' really. The speaker...... figure.....whatever the correct term is..... was impossible to get any more information about what with the dreamscape boundaries preventing us from actually looking at them." "And all I got from it was what I missed in the earlier conversation outside The House. It was pretty damn weird, definitely a warning, but like everything in our lives, utterly vague with the person refusing to give more details."

"That really shouldn't surprise me after all these years, but it kinda does." Chas sighed sitting down in one of the armchairs. "It's a side effect of being the kind ofperson you are, seeing the good or least trying to see the good parts in others and events, even if you don't know them well." Jay spoke first, an off hand comments, saying exactly what John was thinking. At the look she got from the others the woman shrugged. "I did meet him before all this stuff remember? Still owe him a life debt." "I think you flying out collective asses here and putting up with us as passengers and out shit evens it out." "That was for Ell, not you guys, so no it doesn't square it out."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could see that both John and Elliott were having that unspoken arguement of who should actually speak, which made her roll her eyes. She was about to tell them to just spit it out when John finally spoke up, thanks to Elliott's mouthful of food. She the glanced at Elliott as he said his bit, confirming it was definitely a warning of some kind, but they didn't know what. The answer making her sigh, hating the fact that Kay wasn't getting a straight answer. It was after Elliott spoke and as Chas spoke up that Kay had returned and sat on the couch between Elliott and John, just like she was before and listened to the chat between Chas and Jay.

"There was one more thing but I'll tell you what it is later in private. It involves you but it also warrants a private conversation." Kay then finally said, not meaning any offence to the fact that Jay and Chas were in the room. Fia then got instantly curious and rose an eyebrow at what was said to her. "Involves me? Is this the thing that you've been keeping from me?" Fia asked, slowly putting the pieces together. "Yes, but I wanted to check I heard everything correctly first before I told you. So...don't bite my head off when I do eventually tell you" Kay replied. "And you two know what she's referring to?" Fia then asked John and Elliott.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay's delivery of the prepared lie looked flawless from John and Elliott's perspectives, told with just the right amount of emotion and stressing exactly why she kept it from Fia. The lie was simple, and fitted with the little they knew about future Kay's parenting techniques. It was also logical, no point in getting all worked up over nothing. Neither Jay nor Chas took offense that it was a private matter, Jay due to the fact that she wasn't considering herself part of the family and Chas knowing that he'd probably be able to weasel it out of John at some point. "Yep, there's very little that escapes my notice in a MindWalk y'know. It is taking place on my home turf after all." Elliott tapped the side of his head to emphasise the point, prompting a snort from John.

"That makes it sound like your head is a bloody football stadium Ell. It's far classier than one of those." John shook his head slightly, getting rid of the image of Elliott's head as a football pitch before looking back at Fia. "And to get to the actual point, yes, I do know what she's referring to, and yes, it's best said in private." Elliott turned to Chas "Give me a few minutes to finish this, then I'll take a look at yours." "I can wait and you're gonna need the strength, Artemis is going in too." Elliott's eyebrows raised in surprise at those words. "Why?" "I explained a bit about what I saw and it clearly struck enough of a chord with her that she wants to confirm it matches what she knows. It was her who suggested MindWalking it, not me."

 

[MzHyde]

Luckily for Kay, it was easy enough to lie about it as the emotion she felt over it all was entirely real and truthful. John may have caught out her lies before and know when she's lying, but she still knew how to lie convincingly when it truly mattered. She didn't really have any issues with Chas knowing, but she wanted Fia to hear it from her and possibly John first, without anyone around to stick their nose in or their two cents of an opinion. It was also a lot better than her future self would have handled it. Future her would have started trying to lie before just no doubt saying something stupid like 'i'll tell you when I feel you're ready to know, so stop hounding me or you're grounded'. Though her worry for her child wasn't any different to what it already is in this time.

Fia smirked and rolled her eyes at Elliott saying how he knows it all, before she beaten to the punch with any kind of comeback by John. She nodded with acceptance at John confirming he too knew what Kay was referring to and trusted that if he said it was better done in private, then it really must be. "Okay, I can wait then" Fia replied with sing, whilst Elliott told Chas to give him a few more minutes. Even her attention got piqued though when she heard Chas say that Rinaa wanted to dive in as well and see for herself what Chas dreamt. Kay found it curious that Rinaa wanted to join Chas, but she didn't pay too much attention to it, she was too busy eating the food she made for herself, even though she could now easily eat a lot more but was too lazy to get up once again. 'please let me be doing the right thing' Kay thought to herself over everything buzzing through her mind. "John you going in as well or not?" She asked curiously.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas hadn't thought much of it when Rinaa began asking questions about the dreams he'd had, Chas had been pretty sparse with the details after all. But after a few pointed, specific questions it was clear that her interest was more than just the obvious concern for Chas' welfare, she knew something. She didn't ahve Elliott's power and couldn't simply verify the memory herself and so had suggested that if Chas was amenable, he could show her a few pieces and see if they matched up with what she knew, and if they did, she promised to give answers. It was this solemn, unprompted promise that persuaded Chas to agree.

John looked at Chas "If the other two are okay with havin' me around, then I'd like to be in on this." "I'm fine with it, there's nothing in the earlier memories that you don't already know, so they can be glossed over. And I wouldn't mind getting second or third opinions on the fragments,you might pick up on something I don't. Rí seemed pretty determined to look at the fragments, so I think she'd be okay with you coming along." There was nothing personal to him in any of the fragments, except for maybe the last one, the one where he was stabbed with the sword that scarred Elliott. "I'm okay with it, if I'm right, then you'll all be demanding an explanation and if I'm wrong at least I can say I experienced the inside of a MindWalk at least once in my life." Rinaa answered, gingerly stepping through the door, minus Moya, having arrived just in time to hear the end of the conversation.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded, mostly expecting that to be his answer. Chas was his best friend after all and he had said a couple of times now that he was interested in seeing exactly what had got his mate so unnerved. She also partly wanted to know so she could decide when to tell Fia what she heard in her dream and whether to do it alone or with him. With no way of him knowing, he actually helped her make up her mind, as she decided to just get it out of the way whilst the three of them were experiencing Chas' dream fragments.

She looked behind her when Rinaa stepped inside agreeing to having John in there as well, though in her opinion it should be up to Chas and Chas alone. But she wouldn't ever express that opinion. "Whilst you three are doing that then, I'll talk with Fia just outside" she decided. She figured it would be something to do to occupy her mind on the things that could be explained here and now and take her mind off the curiosity of Chas' dream. "Fine with me" Fia replied, actually happy that she wouldn't have to wait a long time before she got answers out of her mother, something that was a pleasant change. Usually when she got promised an answer she would have to wait days of weeks before she got it, and by then she'd have already rung it out of John first, but still hounded Kay for the answer out of principal.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Okay then, I'm fine with that." "Makes sense to do that, we could be a while." John was secretly delighted that he didn't have to do any of the explaining on the matter and if things fucked up it couldn't be blamed on him. Though he wouldn't voice that view to Fia or Kay, he knew it was rude and demeaning and made it seem like he didn't care about them. He did care, but like many things about John Constantine, he didn't do or show it in a typical way. "Well there's no time like now to start." Elliott declared, putting the empty plate to one side and gesturing for the three to sit in front of him. "Jay, you want in since this is turning into a pretty public viewing?" Chas asked, not having any problems with people viewing the fragemnets, some of the earlier memories yes, they were personal, but he had no problems with others viewing the fragments.

"I'll stay out of it, keep watch. Somebody has to explain why to Cliff's family and make sure nobody gets accidentally sucked in." Jay replied after considering the offer for a good minute, mentally weighing up the pros and cons. "Fair point. Thanks for doing that, even if it's not particularly exciting." "Well, I've done worse and let's leave it at that." Jay shrugged as three assembled on the couch. Chas went under first, then John and Rinaa was last, Elliott quietly whispering some advice to the teenager, knowing she'd never experienced a MindWalk before, and wanted at least this one thing in her life to be right. The three slumped back on the couch, as their mindform appeared in Elliott's mindscape. John in his punk gear, Elliott looking a more refined version of himself with the silver strip artistically drawn where his scra should be and Chas looking only slightly younger in his favourite battered leather jacket. Rinaa's form however was different, she didn't appear as the laughing seventeen year old Leah that Fia would recognise, nor did she appear decked from head to toe in armour like Jay did. Instead the figure in front of them was a thirteen-fourteen year old, hair in a long ponytail, clothes slightly ash stained, with her right arm in a cast and sling, the edges of other bandages could be seen peeping out at the edge of her faded t-shirt. Her jeans were ripped but not for style purposes.

"Well I didn't see this coming." Rinaa remarked looking down at herself, moving the arm in the cast experimentally, finding it worked perfectly. At the time it hadn't, and there'd been talk of needing pins to reconstruct her muscles, but Jay's healing powers had been enough to repair the worst of the damage. "Apparently my subconscious thinks I'm barely a teenager."

 

[MzHyde]

Both Kay and Fia nodded at John thinking it was a good idea. Kay didn't think the explaining would take the entire mindwalk but then, she couldn't say for sure on the matter. She also wasnt entirely surprised that John didn't want to be around when the explaining happened, it just wasn't his thing and Kay was learning to accept that. Fia was more used to it as she had in her time her whole life to learn that about John. That didn't she mean she could say he wasn't ever there for her, of course he was, she wouldn't be closer to him if that was the case.

As Elliott gestured for the three who were going to be doing the mindwalk to sit in front of him, Kay got up and moved to make things easier for everyone, including herself. As they all went under, Kay took a discreet deep breath before looking at Fia. "Okay kiddo...come on. Let's go out onto the porch to talk" she told her, making Fia nod and stand up. "We won't be long Jay..hopefully" Kay told her, as she headed out the door onto the front porch. She waited for Fia to follow her out and closed the door behind her, as she leaned against the wall. "Well...what was exactly said?" Fia asked, standing opposite Kay. Kay began to explain the whole conversation before coming up to the bit that involved Fia. "...The figure finished it on saying you must survive and you have the power of two to beat the darkness that will plague me." Kay finished her long explanation.

Fia listened to everything and tried to comprehend everything that was said to her. "Well that's vague...have you or John got any idea what it means by darkness plaguing you?" Fia asked, and Kay just shook her head, "not a damn clue. It could be anything I guess. My only theory is the whole fact of Hell wanting me and it's tied to that and before you ask, we don't have a time limit either. No idea when or where it will happen, but considering I'm safe whilst here, it has to happen at some point when we're home again." Kay said with a sigh.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Take your time." Jay replied, settling herself in a chair to watch and wait it out, pulling out her phone and texting Moya that Rinaa had gone into the MindWalk. As Rinaa's only official family memory (ar least in the eyes of Cliff's family and Moya), she'd been true to her word and been trying to suss out Moya. So far, she liked the girl due to the fact that she was a straight talker, saying what she thought and with little fluff. A balance with Rinaa who never seemed to say anything about herself or her problems.

Rinaa's form didn't just come as a surprise to her, they'd all been thinking that she'd project a version of herself that was the same age as she actually was. There was a significance to this form, and Rinaa knew what it was. It was the last time she'd worn her hair to elbow length and the first time she'd refused to let anybody in the family call her by her birth name (Jay was the only exception, but that was in private). It was a time whne she'd felt lost, hopeless and completly overwhelmed by everything in her life (which did match her current feelings). "How'd you break your arm? I'm assuming this form is based off what you were like at that age." Rinaa nodded. "You'd be right, this happened when I was thirteen, I had a particularly bad fall out of a second story window, landed on the arm and..... crack" she gestured at the cast. "Could've been worse."

Chas nodded in agreement. "So which memories do you want to check kiddo?" "The cliffside headstone and the colliding planets would be the easiest." She replied, refraining the urge from biting the loose skin on her thumbs in nervousness. Chas brought the two memories to the front of his mind, as he'd done many times before, Elliott pulling out the two of them and putting them side by side. The colliding planets was the most spectacular of the two, the orbs smashing into one another, casting off chunks of magma and rock into the vacuum of space. Rinaa walked around the colliding planets, her eyes saddening as she looked at them. The headstone image was more sedate. Elliott's eyes widened at the landscape of sheer cliffs and short grassy plants. "I know that spot! That grave is on Attil, one of the spots along the back mountain pass." Rinaa only nodded, crouching down by the stone, to read the inscription, even though she already knew it by heart. A single tear ran down the face of her physical body.

"Chas you were right" she sighed, running a hand though the tail of her ponytail, "these are my memories. Well the grave is, the colliding planets are more complicated, but I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty it is also from my timeline." "I'm gonna regret askin'" John sighed,"but what's the point of these two memories, what do they tell us?" Rinaa turned to face them, took a breath and stared them right down as she explained. "The grave is Elliott's and the colliding planets are Earth and Attil. In my timeline that's how the world ends, approximately seven years after I die from deliberate lethal injection."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to Kay's answer about not knowing when it will happen. Thinking over all the words she was told, it made sense that it would happen when they were back home....or at least, when Kay was back home. Fia knew deep down she couldn't go back to this time's home with them, because she knew just like the others that the whole six month time frame was in fact bollocks. She knew she was premature as a baby, and a supernatural premature baby was borderline chaotic. She also knew that she couldn't be around her parents when her unborn self was in fact born. She had spent so much of her time trying to save Kay from one thing or another so John didn't lose yet another person he cared about in her time, that it's just dawned on her just how much time she had spent giving Kay such a hard time.

She didn't want to lose Kay anymore than anyone else didn't. So the idea of something coming so dark that will plague her, haunted Fia. "I'm going to take a guess that this happens when me-" she gestured at Kay's bump, "turns a teenager. I mean...think about it. You were taken in my timeline when I'm this age, and now there's this damn prophecy saying that darkness is coming for you and I have to help you? It can't be a coincidence" she theorised. Kay listened to Fia's thoughts on the whole thing, and it was only now she thought back to the reason that brought her teenage daughter into her life. "There might be something there. I just don't want you in harm's way Fia, I can't lose you or John...I just can't" Kay replied. "And we can't lose you...even if he won't admit it out loud" Fia smirked, before Kay just yanked her into a hug. "was there anything else?" Fia asked, wondering why Kay was being so sentimental. "No, it was just the conversation as I thought." She convincingly lied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Had Elliott or John's physical bodies been standing up when Rinaa said what she did they would have fallen over with shock. Chas in the other hand would have managed to maintain some form of dignified posture. It was only two sentences, but the sheer volume of information there created a surge of questions. She was telling the truth, of that neither of them had any doubt. For the first time every single word that came out of her mouth was the whole truth. Elliott's eyes flicked back between the teenager and the gravestone, the one that bore his name. Narrowing his eyes, he could just about make out the inscription, or more precisely, inscriptions, each carved in a different language. One in Attili, one in English and a third in Jay's native tongue. He'd been buried on Attil. Why? There was no reason for him to be buried there, his true family and legal guardians were in Earth, as were most of his friends. So he shouldn't be on Attil.... unless.

The realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks. "Bloody Hells." He gasped, running a hand across his face. "I die on Attil?" It sounded like a question, but they all knew it was a statement. Rinaa nodded sadly. "Your death caused a diplomatic incident between Earth and Attil. After the post mortem, John used everything in his powers to try and get your body back, holding the League accountable for that the fact that it was never returned to Earth. The Attili high-up refused to let your body go off planet. So Cal had you buried on Attil instead, privately, only put core group knew the location of the grave. The attempts of trying to get the body back became public knowledge on both planets, which resulted in lasting tensions between the two civilisations, neither the Attili governments or the League were innocent in the whole thing."

There were so many questions that Rinaa's explanation brought up (which Rinaa answered with some detail) that it took a good fifteen minutes to get back on topic again. "So how does it go from this" Chas gestured at the gravestone"to this" he gestured at the colliding planets, which they now knew was the destruction of two civilisations. "In just the space of what, twenty something years?" "Twenty six if the maths is right. It's a gradual process with the key points going something like this; Elliott's death, Fia's born, Jay shows up after four years or so, with the idea to create me using Elliott's DNA in a chimera matrix, you guys all get on board with that 'project', things go sour and I grow up for quite a while off-world, there's a change of leaders on both a planets, more aggressive ones with no fear of military confrontation, there's trade wars, crackdowns on all kinds of things, contact between the planets is cut off, I get accepted for the lab internship and university courses in London. There's been talk of war for years, but nobody believed it would happen until the bombings start. It was just small ones at first, a good few missed. But once the retaliation started, we'll both sides were fucked, espescially when the Americans wanted to add nucleur to the equation. I get bitten and diagnosed, and the war gets worse, though those events are unconnected. I die, choosing to go by euthanasia, rather than wait til my organs liquify and I die in agony. Probably didn't handle that the best, everybody in the family was torn up as I chose to inform friends rather than you guys. By the time you knew it was too late. The war gets worse, whole regions being rendered uninhabitable. And then somebody had the crazy idea of moving the planswts closer to finish of the war once and for all without having to deal with making rockets fly long distances. But that goes horribly wrong, smashes the two planets together leaving an apocalyptic wasteland, those few, few people who survive and don't get burned up or ejected into space become scavengers of the wastelands. And that's the end of it really."

"Bloody.... " John found himself trailing off 'bollocks' really didn't cover everything they'd just heard. "Bloody everything." He looked at the teenager again, still projecting herself as a thirteen year old. She'd known all this the whole time, and said nothing. He was angry, of that ether was no doubt, but he also wanted to know more. Pandora's box had been opened, and it wasn't closing anytime soon. "How do you even know this? You die before the last parts." "Timeline sensitive, and one of my closest friends is a breacher, he can see glimpses of the future. Put the two of us together, give us long enough and access to a couple of ability amplifiers and you get this knowledge." "You known this whole time, yet said and done nothing?" John asked, the anger seeing into his tone."What could I even do? And in case you haven't noticed, I'm selfish enough to abandon my friends and go back in time just to see what could have been. I'm no hero, I only do grand gestures and sacrifices when they serve me and my purposes." "So what does this have to do with me?" Chas asked with a sigh, running his hands through his hair. "The book in your head contains the various timelines, including my timeline. Fia and Kay in my time experiences all of what I've just said, so therefore you know it. And as we grow closer to the divergence point, things will get..... messy in your head. Last night mightn't be the last time this happens Chas, I'm sorry to say."

 

[MzHyde]

After a few minutes of holding her child, Kay eventually let go of Fia. She stroked her daughter's hair, looking at her and smiling. "Mum you alright?" Fia asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly, "yeah..yeah I'm fine, I think I just need to rest up, the Mindwalk took it out of me due to not eating properly before hand. That's all kiddo." Kay told her back, filtering the lie through truth to make it convincing. "Let's get you inside then, get you sat down and rested. I'll make you a tea." Fia suggested, clearly concerned about her mother. Kay nodded and walked back inside with her, guiding her to the armchair that was free and making Kay sit down.

Both of them looked over at the seemingly sleeping quartet, seeing they were very much still in the Mind Walk, before Fia walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Kay rested her head against her hand as Fia saw to her. She was just glad that Fia was believing the crap coming out of her mouth. She tried to stay awake as best she could whilst Fia made her a drink, before coming back and giving it to her. "Thanks kiddo" Kay commented, taking the mug and sipping it. Glancing at John and the others, she wondered what was being found out in there and how they all were.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Having all this information put out was a shock to all three. They'd always known Rinaa was keeping things from them and that things in her timeline weren't great. But none of them saw an interplanetary war coming, it seemed so unbelievable, like something out of a sci-fi movie or TV show. But Rinaa quashed any assumptions she might be lying by bringing up the necessary memories, her own memories of the bombings that London experienced. While she'd been alive they were fair moderate, but after she left to go time travelling thing entered into a downwards spiral. The future events were brutal and bloody, matching the wasteland scenes Chas had seen.

John had questions, focusing particularly on how Rinaa found this all out, why she found it out, why she hadn't said anything to the rest of the group and wondering if she could keep something this big a secret, then what else was she keeping from them. Chas was more focused on his role in the whole thing. Knowing that he'd been seeing various timelines in his dreams didn't make things easier. When he had the rest of his fragments brought up Rinaa could easily identify those from her timeline, which were only a small fraction of what he'd seen. It proved his theory correct, but it also meant the future could be changed. If Chas didn't have definite knowledge of what was going to happen, then there was still hope. It was Rinaa who pushed that view, which seemed counter intuitive as she'd grown up in one of the timeline, which was just as real to her as Fia's timeline was to Fia. Elliott was the most affected by the whole thing. It gave an insight into just how much was at risk by him being on Attil and just how badly things had become when he died. Jay had vanished for four whole years after he died and Elliott knew without Rinaa saying it that she'd relapsed into her old habits. Rinaa's life was so vastly different than what he'd wish for any child, it was heartbreaking. The reason she gave for not trying to fix the timeline didn't help matters either.

It would be well over an hour before they emerged from the MindWalk, all three falling back into the couch, and Elliott flopping himself into an armchair. John ran a hand through his hair, Elliott closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to try and centre himself while Chas looked dazed and Rinaa immediately began to chew at the loose skin and hang nails on her hands.

 

[MzHyde]

In the hour that the four of them were in the MindWalk, Kay had managed to drink her tea and fall asleep in the armchair. She felt I credibly anti social sleeping in a house where she was a guest, but no one else was around other than Jay, and she was just so emotionally drained that sleep took over. Fia had walked back to The House at one point and grabbed her book before returning and sitting on the beanbag next to Kay and read. When the four came round, the teenager looked up from her book. "Welcome back" she greeted.

Fia put her bookmark in the page where she left it and closed the book, putting it on her lap. She saw how they all looked, and summarised in her head that it was even more draining than Kay's dream discoveries were. She would have asked if they got the answers they seeked, but decided against it. Instead she decided to ask something else entirely, "everything alright?" Even though she figured that not everything probably was alright. Kay was still very much asleep when they returned to reality.

 

[_gallifrog_]

During the time they were in the MindWalk, Jay had only gotten up once, and that was to grab a book from one of the nearby shelves. The rest of the time, she spent reading, sitting sideways in the ram chair, her legs draped over the armrest. Every once in a while she'd look up and glance at the MindWalkers before returning to her book. Although it may have looked like she was completly oblivious to anything else that was going on around her, that wasn't the case. Her mind was very much in 'keeping watch' mode. The fact that Rinaa was staying in the MindWalk as long as she was signified that she knew something and that Chas' dreams were in some way linked to her daughter. The few tears that had escaped Rinaa's eyes hadn't gone unnoticed by Jay either.

As they came out of it, looking a mix of shell shocked and exhausted Jay closed her book, placing it to one side in a controlled elegant movement, before tossing a large bar of chocolate at Elliott and a second one to Rinaa, figuring that her hyper metabolism would need topping up by now. "You look like you need it" was all she said by means of explanation but Elliott could see the tiny hint of worry in her eyes. In that regard Jay was like John, neither outwardly showing their exact emotional state, except through tiny clues. Chas was the first to answer Fia's question. "Pretty sure we're all shaken up. Though we did get answers..." "though not quite in the way we imagined." was the unspoken part of that sentence, blatantly obvious to all in the room. "Feel like I've gone through a mental mangle, but I'll be okay." John answered, though his tone betrayed the fact that he was nowhere near done thinking about everything. "Given that I've done over two hours straight, wiped out tried is the overwhelming emotion." Rinaa's answer was a direct and simple"No."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia looked at Chas as he was the first to speak and nodded, getting the unspoken part of his answer. She then looked across at John as he was next to speak and nodded once more before then looking at Elliott and finally Rinaa. With all the answers given it was obvious that Chas' dream really was as bad as it felt to him, Rinaa clearly having giving context to what he saw and none of them liking it. It seemed it was a bad and worrying news kind of morning. "Seems like it's nothing but concerning information today" she commented.

She then turned to John, "Kay has been pretty much asleep for about 40minutes now, but she told me what you guys saw...or more like heard." She explained, her tone showing that they had a long chat about it as best they could, whilst gesturing to Kay's sleeping form in the arm chair. She remained on the beanbag chair, lifting her legs up and crossing them, whilst keeping the book perfectly in her lap. "So what is going to happen now?" She finally asked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That does seem to be the way things are goin' yeah." John sighed, kicking his feet up onto the table, gestured for Elliott to pass him a bit of chocolate (which he did). He nodded at Fia's explanation about Kay being asleep and figured it was a combination of not eating enough at breakfast, the intensity of the MindWalk's effect both on the physical body and emotionally. It was a good thing to let her sleep, she probably needed it, and judging by how relaxed she looked, she wasn't being plagued by any strange dreams. Fragmented sleep was something he could deal with on a regular basis, and he knew Kay probabaly could- under normal circumstances, but being pregnant always meant extra strain.

"Not the foggiest what's gonna happen next, in terms of my wierd dreams and what we learned, it fits the earlier hypothesis that I'm seeing all the possible futures thanks to the knowledge of the book and the closer we get to the divergence point, the more likely it is that I'll see some more. My plans have only extended as far as getting something to drink and meeting Dan's two identical brothers who are arriving later today." Chas was curious to see the triplets in action as according to both Cal and Cliff it had to be seen to be believed. "Obviously there's more to be understood, and I'll help out with whatever needs doing in the afternoon." "I really don't feel like trying to figure out how to change a bloody timeline, or where to begin even." John sighed. "Well my plan is to go out there and help the others with the sea launches and distract myself from thoughts of how I wanted to use my death to get the last laugh and last word in the mess that is my life."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was indeed relaxed in her sleep for a change. The sheer exhaustion having just completely taken over her, making her sleep just a relaxed empty one. If she wasn't pregnant, she would have been awake still after eating and just got on with life, something she was very much used to.

Fia listened to what Chas said about what the plan was to do next. She felt sorry for Chas being the one that had to burdened with all those dreams thanks to the divergence point. "You really do get one of the short straws every time Chas" she said in a sympathetic tone. She couldn't blame any of them not wanting to try and figure it all out at this moment in time, or at all in John's case. She just nodded at Rinaa's reply about what she was going to do. "Fair enough, don't blame you." She simply said to her. She glanced back at Kay and then down at her lap, trying to figure out what she might do. She was torn between more reading or playing her beloved instrument. "I might just do a couple of recordings I think or something along those lines." she said, finally making a decision. She knew there was one piece that she was still figuring out a part to and she figured she might get lucky with figuring it out.