Ari sighed. Oh... my gosh. When does Ijael ever get that worked up?? I thought he was going to take me head off. Me?? Sleep with Jarre?? Right, like that would ever happen. She groaned, anxious now, worried about him. This is insane... what could be so important... She broke off as a wave of tired-feelings came over her, that was the only way to describe the way all of a sudden that she had to lie down. Her head felt as though it weighed a ton, and she wondered briefly if she were getting sick. Checking the clock, she noted that ten minutes had come and gone, as she'd cleaned most of the living room, at least, picking everything up, though hadn't gotten around to putting it in order.
"Maybe I'll just lie down for a few minutes..." she murmured. "Jarre will be out soon, and a shower will wake me up, I know it will. Just a few minutes..." was the last thought that passed through her mind as her eyes closed.
She was in a room, and felt as though she were observing something she was supposed to see, and yet had never remembered. The sounds of babies crying filled the air, and a man hurried with them to his wife, a woman with long red hair, freckles, and a cat-like face, who sat in a rocking chair. She tenderly held the children, tears in her eyes, Keigharia surprised she could see them. The sounds of the babies' quieting wails had appeared muffled, as though not at full volume. The man took one of the children from her, holding it against his wide chest, looking for all the world as though the child he held was the most important thing to him. As large as he was, a hulking six foot easily, he cradled the child in his arms, talking to it, though he wasn't facing her directly, and she had trouble making out the words.
A small, white creature landed on the man's right shoulder, peering down at the child in his arms. A green creature of similar looks was perched on the rails of the bed, as though standing guard. Stepping closer, Keigharia felt a love for the woman she didn't know she could, as she hadn't a clue who she was. True, there was something about her, something vaguely familiar to her. And those creatures... how odd looking they are, she thought, though she hardly had time to muse over them.
The room burst with light, as a huge column of white fire filled the room. Both parents wrapped their arms around the child each held, shielding them. While it appeared to blind them, Ari had no trouble seeing that a man was stepping out of the light, though it stayed there, losing some of its vibrancy with each move of his body away from it. His back was to her, and she wondered why she was seeing this, it made no sense. She didn't have a clue who any of these people were, or why she was dreaming about this. True, she was post-cognitive, but that was about other people, whom she touched, to help understand why something was happening the way it was, not about strangers she had...
She didn't have time to finish the though as the man turned around, facing the man, exposing his face to her. "Umrinc!!" she exclaimed, though no one even noticed she was in the room. The woman started crying, shaking her head, and the tall man backed up, clutching the child he held to his test, a wave of anger seeming to appear on his face. The children, whom had only seconds before become subdued, began to wail as the man she knew as the high wizard Umrinc put up his hand to the man, a common move he used even now to keep Ari and her brother in their places when they'd angered him. The man froze, yelling to his wife to move, though he was unable to stop Umrinc as he took the child from the muscled arms that held it. Moving easily, he pushed a pressure point on the woman's shoulder, making her cry out, and momentarily loosen her grip on the twin she held.
Ari came up behind Umrinc, trying to pound him in the back, make him give the children back, and found that her hands passed through him. She'd never attempted, in all the times she'd used her gift, to touch anyone. The feeling was odd, and she didn't like it, as she watched the wizard move towards the column of light. "Why do I care what happens to them??" she asked herself aloud, still feeling drawn to the twins the man held. A thought hit her as she moved to look closer at the twins... "Blackish hair?? Not possible. That would mean..." She stepped through the light, and saw a different scene.
Two children, about four years old, giggling. At first, the situation didn't appear too odd, though on second glance, two things noticeably stood out. The children were black-haired, as did Ari and her brother, which told her what she'd dreaded realizing. She didn't even take in the second point of note as she gulped, feeling as though she'd been drenched with a bucket of cold water. "I was right... that is us," she murmured, unable to believe it, and yet knowing it was true. Everything she was seeing made sense then. However, as a crash sounded, her mind was brought back to the images in front of her. It appeared that the twins had managed to lift a huge steel table between the two of them, which was where the crash had sounded from. Looking around her for the first time, she noticed that they were in a large room, the walls bare and made of wood, the furniture plain, anything without a cushion composed of some sort of metal.
"I remember this place," she thought, turning to take in the room fully, shuddering as she remembered. "I remember being locked in here, made to stay, with no toys, until we could control our tempers... I remember when we tried to break down the door with that table, and when Ijael finally figured out how to trigger the lock with his mind... Umrinc was furious for days on end." Somehow, the laughter that accompanied that memory didn't alleviate the sadness she felt when she thought about those two... her parents, unless she was mistaken.
The room around her began to shake, something she couldn't recall happening, though she didn't doubt it, until she found herself being jolted into consciousness. "Ari!! Ari, c'mon, wake up!! Ari!!" The sound of her brother's insistent voice began to help her resurface to the world of the awakened, finding her in her room, Rojarre's hand touching her face, her brother trying to shake her into consciousness. Gasping, she awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Didn't you pay any attention to what I said?? I know I was late, but I couldn't reach you, and I panicked." Jae reached out, pulling her to him, hugging her close to help calm the flow of tears. Rojarre rubbed her back. "What happened to her??" Jae asked, looking past his sister with anger in his eyes. Rojarre winced, feeling as though he'd been slapped.
"I don't know. I took a long shower, was busy... doing things. Next thing I know, you're here, and she's talking, though I don't know to who. You came in, and you knew the rest." Keigharia pushed back, sensing a fight, knowing that Jae wouldn't be happy at any rate. Somehow, she knew she had to explain what she'd seen, and do it in a way that he wouldn't think her insane. "Raven, are you alright??" Rojarre asked, not caring right then if he were angering Jae farther by using his pet name for her. He took her hand in his, and felt rather than saw the disgusted look on Ijael's face begin to fade as it always did whenever he realized that Rojarre truly cared. Rojarre felt Keigharia's HOPE ring beneath his thumb as he rubbed the back of her hand, and glanced down at it, remembering how she'd come to have it, before looking up at her again as she began to speak.
"I couldn't help it, you weren't here, I was waiting for the shower, and all of a sudden, I felt extremely tired, and had to sit down," she explained, trying to wipe away the tears as she peered around the living room, with wasn't straight enough yet to her liking. "I had this dre... vision, I think. It was post-cognitive, only... it was about us."
Jae's Decision
