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Time Travel Trio: The Egyptian Book of the Magic 1/2 PART 1 |
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Kit walked into the Goldman and Trent offices. She didn’t appreciate being called there on her day off school. During school was no problem but she’d been relaxing for the first time in months. She had finally finished the GMT training exams, which meant that they probably had her team assignment. She didn’t feel all that excited really. In fact she felt bored more than anything. She didn’t feel like dealing with other people at the moment and as much as she wanted to know where she was going to be working for at least the next year she had a feeling that she was going to be disappointed. She didn’t want to be on just any team. She wanted to be an upper level team like the black ops. Something that might provide a challenge.
She leaned over the reception table and looked around. She was always amazed at how horribly mortal and normal-looking the main lobby was. It looked like any other law firm’s reception. It had shiny marble floors with one expensive looking rug in front of the desk. On either side of the room were some poorly padded benched where people could sit and wait. It was illuminated by the light through large glass doors and windows that were the length of the wall as well as large, buzzing fluorescent lights. The desk she was leaning over right now was built high so she had to strain herself to lean on it and it was rounded so it wrapped around the whole area, blocking off the doors that led to the man part of the building.
The receptionist stared at her without saying anything and Kit pretended not to notice, which only made the poor woman all the more uncomfortable. She wished that Kit would at least look at her instead of gaze at the door behind her with that strange glint in her eyes. But she wasn’t about to bother her. No one bothered Kit. That was because almost everyone in the building knew her and therefore they knew better. They all knew enough to give Kit her space especially with the mood she was in.
Two people walked in together. Kit watching them out of the corner of her eye. It was a boy and a girl, her age. They obviously knew each other as the girl was standing extremely close to the boy, wrapping her arm around his as if to hide from those around her. She seemed horribly uncomfortable in the office. She had dark blonde hair that was pulled back into a loose pony tail so that some of it fell on her face as long bangs. She had soft green-hazel eyes and she was tan. That was a rare trait in this building full of night dwellers. She was wearing a uniform to a local school. It wasn’t Kit’s but she recognized it anyway as she’d been there multiple times for a game with her own school.
The guy she was with was wearing the same uniform and he had bright red, curly hair that made him look like a Chia Pet. He also had bright blue eyes and an inhumane number of freckles. He was tall for his age and very skinny. But he didn’t seem as out of place as his companion. He looked around and spotted Kit but he didn’t seem to notice that she was watching him, which placed him at about an average level, nothing close to her though.
She immediately turned them off as they made their way to the desk. They were clearly not experienced fighters and they seemed extraordinarily boring. They held no interest for her and she couldn’t care why they were here. So she went back to gazing mindlessly at the door, waiting for her appointment with Steve.
“We’re here to see Mr. Peterson,” said the boy and Kit suddenly started to pay him actually attention. They couldn’t be here to see Steve at the same time she was. There was no way they were on her team.
“Why?” asked the receptionist.
“We have an appointment.” That clinched it and it made her angry. She kicked the desk hard enough that she got all three of them to look at her as she turned around.
“I’m going to go see Steve,” said Kit.
“But he’s,” said the receptionist and Kit shot her an evil look, “Fine, just let me tell him that -.” But Kit was already gone. She walked into Steve Peterson’s office without knocking and sat down in front of his desk.
“I didn’t say you could come in,” said Steve. She looked him. This was the first time they had ever actually worked together. However as a head of a department she’d met him many times through Richard. They got a long fine in short bursts but this was going to be new experience. For one thing she’d never been in his office before, not even during her interviews as he tried to find a place for her. It was cleaner than she’d expected as she’d noticed a disorganized tendency within the magical community. He appeared to be one of the few who could keep his stuff clean.
He hadn’t gone to college and like most magicals hadn’t even finished high school. But he still had a great job. On paper he was the manager of something that really didn’t exist within the law firm. In reality he didn’t have even a job title, he was the man who looked after the team assignments and decided who got what mission. That basically made him one of the most important within all of Goldman and Trent. So for him a lack of a diploma hadn’t effected him at all.
Steve was twenty-seven years old and some how managed to look exactly that age. He was wearing a black jacket that was clearly worn way too often and a pair of jeans instead of slacks. He had jet black hair that was long enough that he could play with it but not so long that it ever got in the way. In fact since Kit had recently hacked of most of her hair with a knife less than a month ago while throwing a tantrum his hair was longer than hers. His eyes were a clear sign of his magic as they were an eerie bright red color not often found in nature.
“You kept me waiting,” said Kit.
“You didn’t knock.”
“I don’t like them.” He sighed. He knew that he should have expected it.
“You don’t even know them.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Are you bored of them already?”
“Maybe,” said Kit grumpily and she looked away from him. She knew exactly what he was thinking. He was thinking that she was depressed over Richard. Of course she was and maybe that was part of her reason for being so bored lately but she didn’t see why it mattered. They both knew that she could successfully any mission he might give her despite that. She never let her emotions come in the way of work.
“You’ve been bored a lot lately.” She looked back to him for the sole purpose of giving him a very well-trained glare that nearly made him shiver. Eleven year old girls shouldn’t be able to do that.
“Don’t analyze me.”
“Well, I think I might have something to alleviate that troublesome boredom.” She raised an eyebrow at him, somewhat interested.
“Huh?”
“Now that I have your attention will you at least just hear me out?”
“I make no promises.”
“The best I can ask for I guess,” said Steve and he pressed a button on his phone to call the receptionist, “Send them in.” Kit stood up out of the chair and walked into the corner farthest from the door so they could sit together. She leaned back and crossed her arms as they entered the office. They knocked first, something she never did and therefore she was puzzled as to why they did. Knocking was against all of the training they had endured. It was announcing their presence, setting them up for an attack; which was why she never did it.
“Mr. Peterson?” asked the boy as they walked in. The girl was still clutching his arm and she was so nervous that she didn’t even see Kit at first.
“Call me Steve,” said Steve and he gestured to the two open chairs, “Please, sit.”
“I’m Tyler Mitchell,” said the boy and he looked at the girl clinging to him, “And this is Elizabeth Myers.”
“Lizzy,” said the girl. Kit was surprised that she was actually able to get the words out. They both looked at Kit but she didn’t say anything. In fact she didn’t even really look at them. She kept her eyes on Steve, trusting her peripheral vision to tract them.
“Oh, that’s Kit,” said Steve, “You can ignore her. She’s ignoring us.”
“Why?” asked Lizzy.
“She’s bored.”
“Why?” asked Lizzy again, in the exact same way.
“She gets bored easily.”
“Why?”
“Who knows? People stopped trying to understand Kit a long time ago.”
“Why?”
“You say ‘why’ a lot,” said Kit and they turned to look at her again. She hadn’t moved or even blinked. She was still staring blankly at the exact same spot.
“I thought that you said she wasn’t paying attention,” said Tyler.
“Nope,” said Steve.
“Huh?”
“I said she was ignoring us, I didn’t say that she wasn’t paying attention.”
“What?”
“Kit, pay attention!” yelled Steve and he slammed his fist onto his desk. Kit jerked and looked at him.
“Huh?”
“Five minutes, that’s all that I’m asking for.”
“Right, sorry,” said Kit and she finally looked at them, “Who are they?” They just gawked at her, Lizzy did so open-mouthed.
“Kit, this is Lizzy and Tyler.”
“Right, why are they here?”
“They are your team.”
“Only three people?” asked Kit, “Teams always have at least ten people, usually about twelve. Aren’t there more coming?”
“No, for you missions a small, tactical team will work the best.”
“Tactical?” asked Kit skeptically as she looked them over again. “Tactical” was not the word that she would use to describe them.
“They don’t look it but they’re pretty smart.”
“Great, just what I need, nerds in love.”
“Nerds!?” asked Tyler.
“In love!?” asked Lizzy. It was funny that they both took a completely different offense to her state.
“Let me guess. You probably live near each other, obviously you go to the same school. Then you both found out you had magic around the same time and you ran into each other most likely here and you’ve been together ever since,” said Kit and they stared at her, “Am I close?”
“Maybe, a little,” said Tyler. But the look they were both giving her told her that she was right on the mark. She smiled at them maliciously.
“That’s so cute.”
“Kit Thompson will you let me speak for just five little minutes,” yelled Steve and Kit flashed him a smile, “Thank you. Now a year ago we sent a small scout team on a simple reconnaissance mission to Brazil.”
“That was the Tel-Chac Temple Mission.”
“Right, how did you know that?”
“Richie was on that mention,” said Kit as she tried to remember what he had told her about it, “Some people found this temple in the middle of nowhere. It had been buried but recently it’d been exposed. We sent a team down there to recover anything magical before the archaeologists started their dig. Let’s see, they mostly recovered small stuff. A necklace, a few talismans that were more superstitious than magical, a couple of ancient texts and a box. If I remember correctly they never opened the box. Richie assumed that it was a demon container so he left it shut. Right?”
“Spot on,” said Steve and he started typing on his computer as Tyler and Lizzy stared at her, “Richard sent the box to the lab. It was not a demon container. The magical aura around it was not at all demonic; it was something else.”
“Something else?” asked Tyler. Steve pressed a button and a hologram appeared above it. It was an image of a box.
“It was unlike anything else we’d ever seen before,” said Steve and the image grew, “There were strange marking on the rim of the lid.” The image spun so that they could see it. Kit looked at the symbols and recognized it as the language of the ancient of the magicals. A language that until recently had been completely untranslatable. Since she’d helped break the code needed to decipher it she now knew the language better than most so she was able to translate it in her head. Richard always said she was very adept at learning things, especially languages. It said: “Beware those who lift the lid. You will not remain when you are.” That didn’t make any sense. It should say “where” not “when” but her translation was not wrong.
“You opened it?” asked Lizzy.
“Yes.”
“Of course you did,” said Kit, “Never mind that the ancients put a warning label on it.” Lizzy and Tyler looked her, unaware of what she meant and Steve gave her a skeptical look. Clearly he was wondering how she knew that.
“What was in it?” asked Tyler.
“Magic.”
“In a box?” asked Lizzy.
“Yes.”
“How? Why?”
“We’re still not sure.”
“What does it do?” asked Tyler.
“Kit, are you with us?” asked Steve, “Because I don’t want to have to repeat this.”
“Yeah, I’m here,” said Kit as she finally tore her eyes of the hologram, “Why does it say it ‘when’ instead of ‘where’?”
“KIT!”
“What?”
“It took our experts three months to translate that! Could you not do it in five seconds? Please!”
“Sorry.”
“So what was in the box?” asked Tyler.
“The key to time travel.” As soon as the words left his mouth and Tyler went into an uproar and Lizzy was not far behind him. It was as if they’d gone insane, they were yelling at shouting to no one in particular. They were going on and on about how time travel was impossible. And if it could happen what was the key to it doing in a box in the middle of Brazil?
However, Kit knew better. She liked moments like this, when the mystery that was her life started to fall in place and she could begin to make sense of the cryptic clues that she had. Only a couple of months ago she’d received a letter through a time rift, a kind of magic no one had seen before. It had been in her handwriting, with her blood on it. Yet she hadn’t written it, at least not yet. She had always wondered how she’d managed to send it back in time.
“It was because of this,” thought Kit, “Odd. This wasn’t where I wanted to land in the GMT ranks. Time Travel is cool and all but I have to get up higher. I get that I’m supposed to be here but it’s a waist of time. God, I don’t think either of them are about to shut up any time soon. This is so boring. I thought that they were supposed to be intelligent. Of course time travel is possible, anything is possible with magic.” They listed theories and studies that disproved time travel but every time they came up with one Kit could easily recall an opposing argument.
“It won’t work,” said Tyler.
“Of course it will,” said Kit and they turned to look at her. Apparently they had both forgotten she was there since she hadn’t joined in their shock.
“I think I’m a little bit smarter that you are in this matter.”
“You’re really not,” said Kit and she stood up straight to look at him, “Now sit down and shut up!” He looked at her and she narrowed her eyes at him. That combined with her firm voice was more than enough to get him back into his seat and Lizzy followed his example in less than a split second. There was an awkward silence as they two of them watched her, waiting to see what she was going to do next.
“Thank you, Kit,” said Steve, trying to break the tension, “And she’s right. It is very possible. We’ve tested it.”
“Let me get this straight. You want us to travel through time?” asked Tyler.
“Yes.”
“How? Why?” asked Lizzy.
“With these,” said Steve and he lifted out a small box from a drawer. He placed it on his desk and opened it so they could see inside. In it were three objects that could only be necklaces. They were small chokers made of a thick black ribbon. In the center there was a triangular pendant made of metal. It looked like a version of the Celtic symbol triquetra. On the ends of each ribbon where metal clasps that had a magic gem in each.
“Necklaces?” asked Tyler.
“Sort of, but not exactly.”
“Then what are they if not necklaces?” asked Lizzy.
“Please, no jokes, but these are your time travel devices,” said Steve and he paused for jokes but no one said anything to his relief, “Okay then.”
“How do they work?”
“I was getting to that. It’s actually quite simple. See the pendant here is a Celtic knot, the Triquetra, and it forms a triangle with four parts: the three points plus the center. The two points that make up the base control the way you go.”
“Way we go?” asked Tyler.
“The left point is backwards in time and the right is for forward in time. Simply press them down and say the month, day and year of where you want to go. You can if you want to narrow you arrival moment all the way down to the second. Once you do that a hologram will appear to verify what you just said and if it is all correct then you press the top point and on your way you go.”
“Okay,” said Lizzy, “And then the same for the way back?”
“No. See the guys who made these for you figured you might get into some trouble every now and then so they designed it with another feature. The device stores the time of departure and it will send you right back when you press this center part.”
“Convenient,” said Kit. It was genius really. They could be on a mission for days and still come back less than a minute after they left. And since it didn’t matter when they left their missions could be scheduled easily and not have to be changed according to what the demon did.
“I thought so,” said Steve.
“Do you’ll think we’ll get into a lot of trouble?” asked Lizzy.
“Well, lets see, you have Kit so, yep, yeah, totally, lots of trouble.”
“Do you run into a lot of trouble?” asked Tyler as he looked at Kit.
“Run into, cause, same difference,” said Kit and they both looked at her.
“Okay,” said Steve, breaking another silence that had fallen in his office because of something that Kit had said, “Well, I’m not done yet. Now look at the clasps.” He lifted one of the devices out of the box to show it to them. They were silver like the pendant and were knotted elegantly in almost reminiscent style of the pendant. The design was centered around a small black jewel.
“What about them?” asked Lizzy as he placed it back where it belonged.
“You can use them to communicate with each other, just press down and talk.”
“The power source?” asked Kit.
“That’s in those pretty little gems, it’s an interesting design really. See it’s actually powered internally. It feeds of you -.”
“Gross!” exclaimed Lizzy.
“Without taking anything that you’ll notice. It has it’s own power source but it isn’t strong enough. The gem converts you power and gives it to the device.”
“It’s weak but it had the power to travel through time?” asked Tyler.
“The power source is the original box, the farther away you go the less power you’ll have. It carries enough reserve power for a one way trip in case of an emergency. They also feed off each other. They amplify the time travel magic so you can only make the longer jumps together. But if you get separated you should have enough to make it back on your own because the test show that the return trips are a lot easier.”
“So when is our first mission?” asked Kit.
“You set out tomorrow. Your destination is 3000 BCE, Giza Plateau, Egypt.” Kit looked at him and while Tyler and Liz were left gawking at the length of the trip they would be soon be embarking on, Steve gave Kit a small almost unnoticeable nod.
“That’s five-thousand years in the past!” exclaimed Tyler.
“That’s so cool!” said Kit and they both looked at her, “What?”
“He was right about you,” said Steve and they both knew who he was referring to.
“He usually was. So can I leave now?”
“Yeah, just be back at eight.”
“Will do.”
“By the way, what do you think of them?” asked Steve and Kit looked back at Tyler and Lizzy who both took on a puzzled look.
“I hate them,” said Kit simply.
“Really? I thought I chose pretty well.”
“Well for starts that one says ‘why’ far too often,” said Kit and she pointed to Lizzy, “And I swear to God if I have to hear it one more time I might just shove her face through a wall and she probably wouldn’t even fight back and if she did it wouldn’t make a difference. And he is nothing more than an egotistical want to be know it all little b*****d. And between the two of them they couldn’t even tell when someone is pretending not to pay attention. Plus to top it all of they are boring.” She then left without giving them any time to even process what had just come out of her mouth and slammed the door behind her. Lizzy and Tyler just stared open-mouthed at where she had just been standing as they tried to form words again.
“What’s her problem?” asked Tyler.
“Weren’t you listening to that slightly angry monologue she was just giving?” asked Steve, “It’s totally you.”
“Why?” asked Lizzy.
“Well in the simplest terms she hate you.”
“Why?”
“Don’t take it personally, she hates everyone.”
“Why?”
“Okay, you, might have to take it personally. You really do say ‘why’ too often.”
“Oh,” said Lizzy.
“How can she hate everyone?” asked Tyler.
“She just can, okay. It’s complicated. When Kit’s involved everything just gets complicated. Just don’t blame her for it. She can’t help that she hates everything.”
“Of course she can help it,” said Tyler, “No one else can control what she feels.”
“But evens beyond her control have shaped her heart in ways she was not ready to deal with,” said Steve, “She’s the same age as you two hour she got hurt. She doesn’t want to feel so she pushed it away and she won’t deal with it. So don’t bother her and you’ll get out of the missions alive but get in her way she’ll kill you herself. And believe me, you will need her. That’s why she’s the team leader.”
“Wait! She’s our team leader?” asked Tyler.
“Yah, that’s kind of what I meant when I said ‘she’s the team leader’.”
“But she - she is -.”
“That team leader. And for good reason.”
“And what reason would that be?” asked Tyler.
“None of your business” said Steve, “Now leave here and coming to lab number six by eight tomorrow morning.”
“Does Kit know where to go?” asked Lizzy.
“Yep, you heard me tell her not a minute ago.”
“You told her the time not the place.”
“Oh she knows exactly where she needs to be. Now go and have some fun. You’ve made an elite team - so go celebrate with your friends.”
“Okay,” said Tyler and they both stood up and walked out the door.
“Want to go to Magi’s?” asked Lizzy. Magi’s Café was just down the street from Goldman and Trent Offices. So pretty much everyone who worked there hung out at the café. It was enchanted so mortal passersby would only see a run down apartment complex so they would just walk past it. All kinds of people were there all the time; young and old; newbies and experienced warriors; master magi and complete novices; men and women; and creatures of all sorts. And most of the time it was impossible to tell which was which.
They walked inside. Sudden noise rushed in around them. It was a relaxed and happy sound. It was like coming home to a full house. Tyler looked around and spotted someone. It was Millie Graham, Lizzy’s best friend. At the moment she was talking to one of the older men. Technically she was listening to him. He was telling about one of the demons that he had faced and Millie was fascinated. She wasn’t the nest fighter in their age group, in fact she was a horrible klutz. She also panicked easily and was a pacifist by nature. She had just been assigned to the Red Squad and she was on her way to being a healer. Since Millie had always wanted to be. She was a smart girl and she always wanted to know more. She enjoyed nothing more than hearing stories of magic.
Millie was in one word: small. She was short and thin and together it just made her seem tiny. However she never let that stop her. She was a bright and bubbling person and easily the most optimistic one to ever set foot into Magi’s. She had long, silky black hair and large brown eyes. At the moment she was dressed in the same uniform as they were as she’d come directly from school to wait for them at the café.
Tyler signaled her over and she tore herself away from the story she was listening to. She wanted to know their assignment more than she wanted to know how the story ended. Lizzy knew that her friend was going to die when she found out. Millie had gotten her assignment a week ago and so they had been left waiting anxiously for theirs. They had grown worrisome as the squads began to slowly fill up. So of course it was a relief when they gotten the call and more so when they’d gotten it together. The only bad thing that had happened had been Kit.
“So did you get your assignment?” asked Millie as they walked over to the bar.
“Yep,” said Tyler as they took their seats, he looked at the man behind the counter and said, “Sprite, please.”
“A Pepsi for me,” said Lizzy. The man nodded. His name was Damien and he was about a year old than him. He was the classical tall, dark, handsome demon hunter. Except that he didn’t work in the field all that often. He just ran the café and bar for Magi, who was usually not sober enough to do it himself. Damien was an all around nice guy and he actually his job.
“Coming right up,” said Damien.
“So?” asked Millie as they took seats at the bar.
“You’re going to freak,” said Lizzy as Damien dropped of their drinks.
“Just tell me already.”
“The Time Travel Trio,” said Tyler.
“TIME TRAVEL!?” shouted Millie. A few people looked over at her but most of the room seemed indifferent.
“What’s this about time travel?” asked Damien.
“Ty and Liz,” said Millie.
“We got assigned to the Time Travel Trio.”
“I never heard of it, it must be new.”
“I still can’t believe you guys got assigned together,” said Millie.
“Yeah, me neither,” said Lizzy with a smile.
“Let me guess, Ty, you’re the team leader?” asked Damien. Tyler had been one of the best in their exam class so it seemed natural that he would be immediately be placed in a leadership position. They all had thought so.
“No,” said Tyler grumpily as he took a long sip from his sprite.
“Who then?” asked Millie.
“Some girl,” said Lizzy, “What was her name?” Lizzy could forget her own name on a bad enough day.
“Kit Thompson,” said Tyler and all of Magi’s went dead silent in an instant. Tyler and Lizzy stood as still as possible. It did not make any sense. Something as impossible as Time Travel did not phase them yet Kit’s name had turned the room silent. Suddenly the noise brought back out. But it was not the normal sort of noise found at Magi’s. Everyone rushed up to them and they were practically yelling. In fact it some of them were actually yelling. There were asking questions like “is she okay?”; “how is she?”; “how did she seem?”; “how did she look?”; “did she say anything?”; “what did she say?”; “do you think she was fine?”; “how do you two think she was feeling?”; “how did she sound?”; “did she tell you what happened to her?”. It was hard to make them all out, it was mostly noise and chaos as they all tried to get to Tyler and Lizzy.
“Uh?” asked Tyler as Lizzy jumped behind him. They had come upon them so fast. Millie was staring at them. The chaos spread quickly upstairs and people started rushing down to question them like the others. Damien grabbed them and pulled them behind the counter before he shoved them outside.
“Calm down everyone!” yelled Damien from inside, “We don’t want anyone to accidentally cast a spell or something.” Slowly they stopped and calmed down.
“But-,” asked a few people.
“When Kit wants us to know how she is she’ll tell us herself,” said Damien, “Now relax while I go and explain to those poor kids why every magical person in the vicinity just freaked out at the sound of their new team leader’s name.” Damien turned and went outside and he could hear Millie, Lizzy and Tyler talking. So like every good mage worth his training, he hid in the shadows and eavesdropped.
“What’s so special about Kit Thompson?” asked Tyler.
“You don’t know?” asked Millie and they looked at her, “For starters she the youngest person to pass the advanced GMT exams and one of five girls to ever do it.”
“She took the advanced exams?” asked Lizzy in disbelief, “And passed?” With the advanced exams anyone who survived passed. She’d heard horrible stories about them, people were ruined by the tests.
“And she’s the only person who has ever managed to get a perfect score on a test.”
“She got a perfect score?” asked Tyler, “On which one?”
“All of them.” Tyler and Lizzy once again found themselves shocked into silence. Damien smiled. That was Kit alright, smart to the point where it was just annoying.
“How is that possible?” asked Tyler.
“They say that she is some sort of prodigy. I thought she was some sort of story. I heard some of the master magi talking about her. Apparently she’s already been at this for seven years.”
“But that’s one year more than -,” said Lizzy but she didn’t finish her statement. No one liked talking about the six year mark; the point in the life of a magical where they most likely die. Few ever made it past six years in the field.
“And they say that she didn’t meet any other magicals until after she’d been fighting for four years.”
“Wait, that would mean she started using magic when she was four. Is she from a magical family?”
“Not according to what the masters said. And they say she has more power than most of them too.”
“WHAT?”
“Do you have any idea how lucky you are? You get to be on the same team as the Great Kit Thompson! How did that happen? They all said that she was going to end up in the Black Ops right out of the exams.”
“If that’s all true how did she end up on our team?” asked Lizzy.
“Well that’s easy,” said Damien and he stepped out so they could see him.
“Damien?” asked Lizzy.
“Why is she on my team?” asked Tyler.
“One - it’s her team, not yours,” said Damien, “They’ve never had a Time Travel Trio before so of course they’re going to want their best operative ever to lead it. Two - she can speak and read basically every language in both the mortal and magical worlds. Three - she’s pretty damn smart, as you can see from her exam results, and that means she’s a lot smarter than you are. Four - she’s as tough as nails and as good a fighter as they come. Five - she’s the only person to ever successfully travel through time.”
“She’s traveled through time?”
“Not yet, exactly. She sent back a note though.”
“How?” asked Tyler.
“No one knows. They thought it was a fake at first but it was in her handwriting, with her blood on it. And part of her hand still attached.”
“EW!” exclaimed Millie and Lizzy in unison.
“What did it say?” asked Tyler.
“I don’t know. It was classified - top secret like every other mission she’s had.”
“She’s already had missions?”
“Before the exam, even during it.”
“Seriously?”
“You’ll see what I mean.”
“Is that why everyone freaked out?” asked Millie
“Not exactly.”
“Then why?” asked Lizzy.
“They love her is all.”
“They love her?”
“Yes. Everyone loves Kit.”
“Let me get this straight she hates everyone but everyone loves her?”
“Pretty much,” said Damien, “Kit’s like that. It’s hard to explain but that’s just how things are around her.”
“Why?” asked Lizzy.
“Trust me, you’ll see what I mean soon enough. Now go get some sleep. You’ll need to be well rested for tomorrow.” They nodded and left. It was annoying that everyone kept telling them what to do. But they walked home anyway. Besides, Kit had been right, they lived next door to each other. So Tyler walked Lizzy to her door and kissed her goodnight.
·········
Kit paced ground the lab impatiently.
“They’re late,” said Kit.
“You’re twenty-minutes early,” said Steve.
“So?”
“What’d you do, sleep here?”
“Maybe.”
“Go home!”
“What’s the point? They don’t even notice when I’m gone.”
“Are your parents bothering you?”
“Maybe.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fine.”
“Do you want to run over premission briefing report or what?”
“Just give me the folder.” He handed her a manila folder. She sat down and she started reading it. He watched her, utterly fascinated. She read incredibly fast, it was amazing really. She could scan a page for five seconds and then be able to perfectly reproduce it next week.
“So?” asked Steve when she closed it and looked up at him.
“Tell me more about the artifact.”
“Not until the others get here.”
“Are they still late?”
“You are still early!”
“Whatever, how much longer?”
“About ten minutes.”
“Never mind they just got here.”
“I’m not going to ask how you know that,” said Steve.
“That’s probably a good idea,” said Kit with her knowing-smile. They walked into the lab and looked at Kit and Steve who had clearly been waiting a while.
“Are we late?” asked Lizzy.
“No,” said Steve, “Kit is just freakishly early.”
“Are you excited?” asked Lizzy.
“Not really,” said Kit maliciously.
“Is she always like this?” asked Tyler.
“Well,” said Steve, “She’s -.”
“Standing right here, listening to everything that you say,” said Kit.
“Exactly. Now, all of you follow me and I’ll tell you everything you need to know about your mission.”
“Yeah,” said Kit sarcastically, “I believe that.”
“Thanks Kit,” said Steve.
“What? You expect me to trust that after -.”
“KIT!”
“What?”
“What did I say about that?”
“One mistake does not determine the something or another.”
“‘The something or another’?”
“I don’t know, I might have zoned out a bit.”
“What?” asked Steve.
“Well at the time, it looked like you were going to be talking for a long while and it seemed pretty boring.”
“Kit!” yelled Steve.
“Are you seriously yelling at me over something I did months ago.”
“Whatever, Kit,” said Steve. It always amazed him that she could get adults to act like such children whenever it suited her.
“So what exactly is our mission?” asked Tyler after a while.
“Not yet,” said Steve.
“But -,” protested Lizzy.
“You have to get changed first.”
“Changed?” asked Tyler.
“Nothing from this time can go back with you. Nothing! Understood?”
“Sure,” said Lizzy. Steve shoved Tyler into a room before dragging Lizzy and Kit into another. They were makeshift locker rooms. Taped on the door were simple instructions: “Strip, shower and change.” They pealed off the clothes that they’d put on less than an hour ago and stepped into a decontamination shower. Just before it came on Lizzy heard Kit tell her to close her eyes and she barely had enough time to follow her command. The spray came on automatically and drenched them in moments. It smelled horrible, like always and Lizzy screamed a little, she’d never been in one before. She heard Kit chuckle slightly and she felt horribly embarrassed. That wasn’t exactly the impression that she’d wanted to make.
After they were drenched the dryers came on, invoking another girlish squeal out of Lizzy. It was a little demeaning but it over in a matter of seconds. She stood there for a while as Kit got out, shocked into stillness. It was when the sounds of Kit dressing reached her ears that she was able to step out. In front of her was a set of strange looking clothing on rack with her code name on it: Green Fairy. She looked over and saw Kit’s code name and stared at it: Black Dragon. She’d never met anyone with black-coded identification before.
She pulled them off and examined them. She’d never seen anything like it before. She couldn’t even identify the material it was made of out. She watched Kit slip it on like a dress and followed her lead. It was itchy and uncomfortable. After she had fiddled with it for a while she watched Kit pull the second piece down, which was more like a hooded robe. She slide it on and examined herself in the mirror. Lizzy returned herself to struggling into the unfamiliar apparel. She grunted as she accidentally stepped on something as she tried to adjust it and nearly toppled over. Kit reached over to catch her.
“Are you okay?” asked Kit as she helped her up.
“I’m fine,” said Lizzy indignantly and she knew she that she sounded like a kid.
“Look,” said Kit, with surprising patience, “It’s just a tunic, it fits on like this.” She gave Lizzy’s clothing a sharp tug just below her shoulder blade before reaching around her midsection.
“What are you doing?”
“Relax.” She tied a rope around her like a belt and when she backed away it fit perfectly. All Lizzy had to do was slip on the robe.
“Thanks.” She had realized it until Kit had grabbed her around the middle but she was unbelievably nervous about the mission. She wished that she knew exactly what was going on but Goldman and Trent had a bad habit of trying to keep everything a secret from everyone, even their agents. She’d learned by now that even when she thought she knew everything that was going she in truth knew very little. She was preoccupied with her nerves that she didn’t notice that Kit was looking at her and had heaved a surprising deep sigh for someone so small.
“Don’t - worry about it, okay,” said Kit. It occurred to Lizzy that she was trying to supportive or kind. But it was like Kit had only ever seen someone doing it in a movie, hadn’t understood it fully, only vaguely recalled it and was trying to reproduce it. It come off awkward and uneasy, which grew all the worse when she patted Lizzy on the back.
“Shall we go then?” asked Lizzy. At the moment she just wanted to be somewhere other than trapped in a small space with her new team leader right after an awkward moment had just occurred and refused to dissipate.
“Yeah.” The rise in pitch in Kit’s voice seemed to mimic Lizzy’s sentiments. They walked back out into the hallway and Lizzy burst out laughing. Kit was barely able to contain herself. Tyler had been waiting for them and he was not happy. It was kind of obvious why. He was wearing something that basically resembled a skirt.
“Where are my pants?” asked Tyler. Kit looked him over as Lizzy blushed. Tyler was at the moment wearing could only be described as wrap just thick enough to cover what needed to be covered. And that was it, nothing more not even pants and a shirt. He had very significant tan lines.
“Um,” said Kit, “Why didn’t you put on your robe?”
“What robe?” asked Tyler. Kit ducked inside his changing room and pulled out a robe that matched the ones she and Lizzy were wearing.
“This one.”
“That’s a robe?”
“Let me guess you also could not figure out how to dress yourself?” Tyler glared at her as she put it on him. It was even more demeaning that it had been for Lizzy.
“Are you done?” asked Steve as he returned into the hallway and they nodded, “Good now I can get down to briefing you.”
“You not going to the premission report in a hallway are you?” asked Tyler.
“No,” said Steve after a pause where he looked at Tyler, whose face had yet to return to it’s normal shade, “Follow me back into the lab.” They did as they were told. The lab was pretty small and mostly empty. They each no one but they said nothing. Labs were always used as there weren’t any to spare and generally very cluttered. A clean one like this could only mean one thing: it’s occupant must have recently died and it hadn’t been taken over by its next one just yet.
“So I really do think that it is about time you fill us in,” said Lizzy.
“Well Kit’s already read the mission file,” said Steve and Tyler gave her a look, “Here’s the deal. You both know of the Egyptian Book of the Dead?”
“Yeah,” said Tyler, “It has the incantations the Egyptians used for their burials.”
“Correct. But do you know of the Egyptian Book of the Living?” Tyler just stared at him blankly because he clearly didn’t have any idea what he was talking about.
“I’ve heard of it,” said Lizzy, “Isis used it to raise Osiris from the dead.”
“Correct again. But have you heard of the Egyptian Book of the Magicals?” asked Steve and they both gave him mindless stares, “Well at least Kit knows.”
“No far she read the file!” said Tyler.
“It wasn’t in the file,” said Kit, “I just knew it.”
“Oh then what’s the Egyptian Book of the Magicals?”
“According to the same legend that Lizzy just referenced Isis had to learn the art of magic before she could use the Book of the Living to resurrect her husband Osiris. Some say that she learned it from a book she stole from Ra that held the Key to Magic. They call it the Book of the Magicals. It is also said that it was written in a special code so that only someone who had the Book of the Dead and the Book of Living could decipher it and learn what it held. And supposed it was enchanted so that no one could copy it. But apparently Ra got angry when Isis stole it from him so to prevent anyone else from learning what it held and so he destroyed it.” They looked at her. She rattled all of this information off like she had it memorized.
“Okay,” said Tyler, “What does that have to do with our mission?”
“That is your mission,” said Steve.
“I don’t understand,” said Lizzy.
“Well,” said Steve, “You-.”
“They want us to retrieve the secrets that the Book holds. That’s our mission.”
“In simplest terms yes. But there are a few exact rules for this mission.”
“Like what?” asked Tyler.
“We can’t change history,” said Kit.
“That’s the crux of it alright. You can’t leave any impact on history.”
“Okay,” said Lizzy. She didn’t really understood what that meant but she also knew that the chances of her understanding it anytime soon were so slim there was no point in wasting time by asking.
“Oh, crap,” said Steve, “I left the devices in my office. Kit can you go get them?” Kit looked at him skeptically. It wasn’t like him to slip up like that which meant that for some reason he’d done it on purpose. He probably wanted to give Tyler and Lizzy a briefing on her. She sighed, she supposed that it had to be done. As incompetent as thought two seemed to her they most likely act even worse on a mission if they didn’t know enough about her to trust her. But she knew Steve well enough to exactly how afraid of her he was and thus she knew that he would tell them only what she would permit. So she felt very little need to listen in but she would later regret that because even the Great Kit Thompson can be surprised now and again.
“Fine,” said Kit and she took the time to shoot Steve an angry look before she left. As soon as he was sure that she couldn’t hear him Steve turned back to them.
“Now, about Kit -,” said Steve.
“Is she always like this?” asked Tyler.
“Lately she has been yeah.”
“Why?” asked Lizzy.
“It’s too complicated to go into right now. I need to give you an extra briefing on her and I need to do it while she’s not here so I only have a limited amount of time.”
“Damien already gave us the ‘she’s a total genius and everyone loves’ her spiel,” said Tyler, “If that is what you’re getting at.”
“Actually that has little to do with what I am going to tell you. But it’s good that you already know. However even after Damien’s talk you really have no idea of what Kit means to this world. How special she is.”
“I don’t understand,” said Lizzy.
“You really don’t understand. Look, Kit isn’t like other girls. I mean anyone can tell that right away when they meet her. I can’t exactly tell you what it is about her that causes people to react this way to her. It’s something that you have to experience yourself. I’ve read your files and studied them a lot closer than you two might be comfortable with. I did that for Kit.
“I had to choose her team. I’ve never had so much trouble with an assignment before. To choose people to work with Kit, it was pretty hard. But I made a decision and I chose you two and I chose it for reason. You’re not exactly cut out for missions like the ones you’re going to go on, at least not like Kit is. So they are going to be a lot harder for you than they are for her. But then again most things come really easy for Kit. I chose you because of what I think you can bring out in Kit and what Kit can bring out inside of you. You’ll figure out what I mean soon enough.
“But one thing you both have to understand is that Kit is important. Yeah, every person is important in their own way but not like Kit. Kit is important in the Grand Design. Everything that happens to her has to do with that. People react to that because they can sense that in her even she doesn’t know that it’s there. And she doesn’t know it.
“Who could know that they are meant to do something so incredible and not loose themselves in? So she doesn’t know and thus she can still go on and someday actually do whatever it is that she’s meant to. It’s a tricky situation so it is okay if you don’t know how to handle it sometimes. And judging by the look on your faces all this talk has managed to do is confuse you. But that’s okay too. It’s hard to explain Kit and so I just wanted to warn you. Before you know it you’ll be wrapped up in her life and you just might not want to get out. But you have to remember to not loose yourselves in trying to figure out all of her mysteries and secrets. Because no one knows everything there is to know about Kit Thompson, not even her.”
For a few long minutes they sat there in silence. In truth neither Tyler not Lizzy had the faintest idea of what Steve was talking about. They just sat there and tried to think about what he had said but for the most part it all passed over their heads. But what they did catch hit them hard. They knew that he was right about one thing right off the bat. She was important. They might not know the reason but it was there nonetheless. Everything about her seemed to scream it. It was in the way she walked, the words she spoke and how she said them. It was in the way she held herself and in every one of her tiny mannerisms. And most of all it was in her eyes. Those horrible and enchanting brown eyes. Their cool calmness, sharpness and the way she used them to observe every minute detail of her surroundings. How could she possibly have all of those attributes and not be meant to do something extraordinary?
The silence didn’t break until Kit came back in the room with the box. When she was greeting by an awkward silence she knew that her hunch had been correct. They had been talking about her and judging by Tyler and Lizzy’s confused faces Steve had done most of the talking. And that didn’t make her happy. She’d run but still Steve had been left with enough time to do some damage to her. She studied their faces and knew that they hadn’t understood what they’d been told. But Steve had chosen them for a reason so most likely they would be able to figure it out.
“Okay,” said Kit, “I got the box.” She turned and handed it to Steve with an odd smile on her face.
“You did something to my office didn’t you?” asked Steve as he took it.
“Maybe,” said Kit, her smile growing. She hoped onto a counter in the lab. It was directly behind where Tyler and Lizzy had subconsciously sat down on stool while Steve had been talking to them.
“Okay,” said Steve, “Now you know what your mission is and I’ve already explained to you how the devices work. And you all dressed and ready to go. Any questions?” Lizzy almost raised her hand but before it even got past her should she could feel a strong glare from Kit on the back of her neck which made her put it right back her side. She then seemed to have lost the ability to swallow in a normal manner.
“Does that mean we’re leaving?” asked Tyler.
“Yep. So stand up and put these on.” He opened the box and they each took a necklace and put it on. Kit was surprised at how light it was. It weighed nothing at all but still held immense power; power that no one had ever seen before. And it was wrapped up for her in this nice neat little package. It was so peculiar and she wished she knew more about how it worked.
“Okay,” said Kit and they lines up together facing Steve. They didn’t really have to but they felt better, like they were organized. It was the only comfort they really had. The mission that they were going on had no precedent. It was an odd feeling to know that even after this time with magic on Earth and people studying it there was still some new kind of magic. And that they were probably going to be writing the book on this kind. It made her think of the one of the most famous magicals. Marco Alchemia, the man the practice of alchemy was named after. It was hard to imagine him feeling the same way she did now. Anxious and unsure, facing something they didn’t really have a name for yet. To be powerful and having to learn how to use their power as they went.
“Now, your devices are linked to Kit’s so once she chooses the destination moment you’ll follow her. Good luck.” He was worried about them. Kit could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. It wasn’t exactly the confidence booster that she needed. She tried not to take a deep breath. She knew if she did that while it would calm her it would only agitate the nerves of her two teammates. She took no measures to still herself and instead pushed on and placed a finger on her neck in the utmost of fake confidence. There was a soft beep that told her it was ready to be programmed.
“Abydos, Egypt, April 17, 3000 BCE, five pm,” said Kit and everything she said appeared, hovering in front of them in large blue lettering. She heard movement behind her and knew that Tyler and Lizzy had joined hands. She read it over quickly and pressed her device hard.
It was nothing like she’d expected. What she had expected was to suddenly be in ancient Egypt. That was not what had happened. It felt like her body was being ripped to pieces, wanting to stay where it was but at the same time being forced back through time. Her neck felt like it was on fire from the device, which seemed to not only heat up but to constrict so that she couldn’t breath. She couldn’t see anything or feel any of her surroundings. Her head pounded fiercely telling her how unnatural these actions were. She felt as if there were thousands of bright lights being shown right through her skull. The pain was horrible. Her insides felt like they were going through a blender while also being electrocuted. It also lasted a lot longer than she had thought, which made the whole ordeal all that much worse.
It ended just abruptly and before Kit could even process that they had arrived at their destination they were all sent flying just by getting there. She landed hard, her back smashing against a stone wall. Then she fell down to the floor in shock. She sat for a second making sure that she hadn’t broken anything before she looked up to find Tyler and Lizzy, who were both in small crumbled messes. She forced herself onto her feet and nearly fell back over. The room around her wasn’t exactly in complete focus yet and she was dizzy enough to be overwhelmed by the sensation that everything was moving.
When she steadied herself she looked around again, finally able to pick up the details of her environment. They were in some kind of empty room, covered in brown dirt and sand. It was made of stone, which was an odd light brown color. There was a doorway off to her right and it was the only way in or out. It let in a small amount of light that illuminated the room she was standing in. She heard Tyler and Lizzy groan and try to move. They failed at first and she stood back and watched them struggle. When they finally made it to their feet they had to lean on the wall. Lizzy the toppled over and vomited on the floor. Kit walked to the door slowly.
“We’re fine, by the way,” said Tyler angrily as he helped Lizzy up.
“Yeah, but I don’t think we’re alone,” said Kit as she peered outside. She could commotion and she tried to think of how to get out of there without being seen. The less impact they had the better. But it was a lot brighter outside than she had expected. It should have been a lot closer to sunset but she’d worry about it later. Right now she had to focus on the task at hand. Since they were not allowed to bring anything back with them she didn’t have an weapons, which meant she had to rely solely on spells to defend herself. That presented the problem of magical being more noticeable that a knife fight.
“What?” asked Lizzy as she tried to focus on what was going on.
“Shh!” hissed Kit as she slammed them both against the wall beside the doorway before she jumped to other side and pressed herself flatly against it, “Someone is coming.” She looked around again for a weapon but found nothing. What could be the purpose of this completely empty room? It was a puzzle and therefore she wanted to solve it. Despite the desperation of her situation she had trouble not thinking about it. It was interesting the way that the most random of instincts of the magical side of her would kick in at such inconvenient times.
A man stuck his head in and a thousand spells jumped inside Kit’s head. Her fingertips danced with the expectation of the magic she was about to cast. He heart jumped in anticipation. The thrill of almost getting caught and having to fight her way out without revealing magic. It was sick how much she lived for it. That was why she went on missions. Few might be a match for her mind but physically despite all the training she received there was a limit to what she could achieve as a scrawny adolescent girl. And there was where she was able to have fun in the challenge.
But the man didn’t do anything. He just pulled his head right back out and said something to someone else who was outside. He hadn’t seen them. Tyler and Lizzy let out the breaths that they’d been holding but Kit was left with a body seemed to only be able to pump even more adrenaline into her system. She held back what would have surely been a twisted smile and gave Tyler and Lizzy a hand sign. It was a little shake of her index and middle fingers. It was the universal gesture that meant: “Follow my lead.”
She waited until the man and whoever he had been talking to left then she bolted out of the door at top speed. She ducked between identical stone buildings as she noticed all of the people who might have seen them. Tyler and Lizzy struggled just to keep her in sight. She moved swiftly and seemed to resist the pull of gravity with ease. It meant nothing for her to escape through the streets and become nothing more than a fleeting shadow shooting across the ground. No one even saw her. That was the way Kit ran. No one caught her out of the corner of their eye unless she wanted them to. No one heard her footsteps or the rustle of her robes as the wind ripped through them. It made her really hard to follow as Tyler and Lizzy found out the hard way.
She stopped when she reached an alley way that was empty and pretty far from the rest of civilization. They needed privacy to plan their next move. Well for Kit to plan their next move. She knew her mission but it was relatively vague and left a lot up to her. Tyler and Lizzy caught up with her a couple of minutes after she’d stopped. They bent over and panted heavily, trying to force as much as oxygen into their lungs as they could. Tyler glared at her as she stood calmly in front of them. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t criticize them for not being able to keep up with her. She simply waited patiently for them to recover. But the fact that she wasn’t tired, sweaty or out of breath after the run was enough to make them both embarrassed.
“What now?” asked Tyler.
“We have to find the book. Actually we have to find all three books.” She tried to say it with a laugh but with Kit laughing was not something that came naturally. The effect was that it made them even more nervous.
“And we do that how?” asked Lizzy.
“Yeah, that’s the thing.”
“WHAT?” yelled both Tyler and Lizzy together.
“Is something wrong?”
“Do you not know where the books are?” asked Tyler.
“Of course I don’t know where they are.”
“WHAT?” They yelled again.
“Come on, I’m good but I’m not that good. The books were lost almost five thousand years ago. How could I possibly know their location?” She had a point. When she said it like that it was quite obvious that when they’d assumed that she had known where they were foolish.
“How do you plan to find them?” asked Lizzy.
“Currently we are in an Ancient Egyptian city called Abydos.”
“So?” asked Tyler.
“It won’t be built until around 1200 BCE but one day the Temple of Osiris will be constructed here.”
“Why?” asked Lizzy.
“Oh remember the legend you mentioned. According to some experts believe that the reason the Temple of Osiris was built here was because the legend happened here. Isis learned magic here and so I believe the books are here too.”
“If they aren’t?” asked Tyler, his panic showing in his voice.
“I’ll find them don’t worry. I can find anything.”
“Anything?” asked Lizzy skeptically.
“There is a reason I was put on this mission.”
“And that reason is?” asked Tyler, “I ask because no one seems to want to tell us.”
“This mission, well, it’s almost like it was designed for me or someone like me, with my talents. Or like I was designed for these missions.”
“What?” asked Tyler.
“It’s kind of complicated.”
“Are you smiling?” asked Lizzy.
“I’d better start looking for it,” said Kit. Of course she was smiling. She was designed for this mission. She had a knack for languages. Who else in the field would be able to figure out a dead language and communicate with the people in order to find the books? Who else would be able to translate the glyphs in the three books? And she had a talent for puzzles and codes. Who else could figure out the secrets cipher needed to decode the Egyptian Book of the Magicals? She also had a photographic memory. Who else had the ability to retain all of it secrets and get it to the future? Plus she was a top level fighter. Who else would be able to handle anything this mission might produce? Really, truly she had been training so hard for a mission such as this.
 Zegwarian310 · Sun Dec 30, 2007 @ 01:08am · 2 Comments |
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