“Well the cat got your tongue? I'll make pancakes this morning if you don’t dawdle.” Marisa promised.
“I'll be up in just a moment.” Kiyan stammered as the stranger walked in front of Marisa who didn't even bat an eye.
“You'd better, the ceremonies continue today and I want you to comb your hair after you take your bath and remember to wash behind your ears.” Marisa instructed as she climbed down the stairs with Kiyan's laundry.
Feeling haunted, Kiyan hurried with getting dressed and rushed down stairs. Marisa watched with concern in her eyes as Kiyan didn't even manage to slam the door. Perhaps he was even more worried about the ceremony today after the events of the last few days. He shouldn't be afraid about what the village people would think of him. Several had come and wanted to congratulate him on his good luck. A bender of all the elements, what are the odds. Marisa shrugged off her worries and turned to making breakfast.
Walking towards the lake Ray swooped down next to Kiyan and shifted into his squirrel form then scrambled onto Kiyan's shoulder. He must have felt the disturbance in Kiyan's mind then because he promptly leaped off Kiyan’s shoulder and shifted into his land form and began probing around with his sense.
“Unless he sees from your eyes, he can't see me either.” The stranger spoke again.
Letting his mind connect more broadly with Ray, Kiyan opened his eyes and focused on the stranger. Ray promptly swung at him with his trunks. The stranger avoided the strike by simply disappearing with a flash.
“I mean you no harm, in fact I am compelled to protect you.” Kiyan was getting more and more scared by the moment.
“This is going to be even more difficult that I had thought. You have to understand. I’m sorry that it had to be this way.” Kiyan felt space reeling for a moment. Things shifted back into focus in a second. His surrounding were different. Again he was in the library from the dream. Kiyan’s antagonist stood facing him.
“How?” Kiyan tried to form a question.
“You recognize this place don’t you?”
“It must be some trick.” Kiyan was more confused than ever. “It was only a dream. Why am I here?”
“Let me explain.” another voice entered Kiyan's mind. “This place represents the knowledge gathered throughout our lives.”
“But I'm just twelve I don't have any past lives.” Kiyan was unsure what he thought anymore.
“Time is an illusion young avatar. Ascended are not as immortal as you might think. We regenerate every few thousand years. It’s as close to death as we get. Most times we are merely regenerated and recover our memories and continue where we left off. This is the repository of these lifetimes. Most of our line has lived until we chose different existences. Some of our descendants such as yourself are born linked to the repository.”
“How is that even possible?” Kiyan was still not sure what this all meant.
“Young avatar, we are bound together as one yet we are separate. The time vortex connects us all. It is the one moment that links all time and space.”
“I still don’t know why I am here. What does this have to do with me?”
“Because you are the last one born in our line. You are Prometheus's son.” The stranger that had appeared to Kiyan earlier flashed into existence in front of him.
“That is what I was trying to tell you. I’m your father. The time vortex connects us both as avatars through the library of ages. When you began awakening your powers, I was able to find you.”
Kiyan felt a voice calling him, it seemed familiar yet distant. “Don't keep Kendra waiting and tell her Prometheus hasn't forgotten her” Those were the last words Kiyan heard before reality began to reshape. Looking up, Kendra's face was the first thing he saw.
“What happened to you? I couldn't even wake you.” Kendra appeared shaken.
“Prometheus said to say he hasn't forgotten you.” If the blood could drain from an ascended’s face, Kiyan was sure it did from Kendra’s.
“Impossible.” The single word was all Kendra said before disappearing.
Kiyan continued on toward the lake not sure what to think. Ray walked beside him still disturbed over the incident. There was nothing either of them or even Kendra seemed able to do about it. The idea that he was never quite alone was hard for Kiyan to get used to. Hearing the sound of footsteps behind him he turned. Prometheus looked worse than Kiyan felt.
“Forgive us for doing what we did. It was the only way for you to understand that we mean you no harm. You have a long hard road ahead of you. Our experiences will always be beside you waiting to help you. You are one of us.”
“How many... Whatever they are?” Kiyan the whole concept was still confusing.
“Hmm, well there are three avatars and five ascended archons in your ancestry. And they are all independent and live in many places. One of them has even been sleeping in orbit of the joined worlds” Prometheus explained. “He exists as the suns. They are his form and he watches over the refuge and heals the chosen ones.”
“So...... So is the keeper of ages....?”
“He was one of the first in our line. He is old and watches more than interceding when it comes to the affairs of the rest of us.” Prometheus spoke with a glimmer of mischief.
Before Kiyan could react he felt a rush of the familiar power and with a flick of his hand the earth erupted under Prometheus' feet and sent him flying toward the lake. “Forgive me for channeling my power through you like that young avatar but I am rather unable to respond in person at the moment. Old indeed!” Kiyan heard the voice of the keeper in his head. Before striking the water Prometheus arrested his flight and flew back to Kiyan.
“That wasn't fair keeper and you know it.” Kiyan heard Prometheus’ voice in his head but knew it was directed at the keeper, something like being in the same room as other people having a conversation.
“I already apologized, besides you know King Arthur can't just drop everything and respond to an insult.”
“I thought you liked being Merlin in that era.”
“That spot was already taken, so I must make due.”
“Don't worry you will understand in time. You might even learn to ignore the rest of us. They are all rather proud of you, like a bunch of meddling grandparents. Some even say that you will become the most powerful one of us all.” Seeing Kiyan’s bewildered expression Theo shook his head. “You will understand eventually I promise. Besides I seem to remember you are supposed to wash behind your ears.” Prometheus disappeared following the last statement.
‘This is ridiculous.” Kiyan mutter to himself. “I must be losing my mind. I'm just a kid. I'm not an ascended. I'm not even important.”
Finally arriving at the lake Kiyan slipped in and began swimming into deeper water. Closing his eyes he felt the ripples around him and Ray. Counteracting them hadn't felt this easy yesterday. Letting one ripple escape he watched it and fed energy into it as it slid across the placid lake, letting it grow and shift until it looked like a wave now more than a ripple. He could feel the contours of the lake as the wave moved in the water. Feeling a disturbance and then a counteracting force he knew he had found Jeremy. He stopped bending and let Ray get to the business at hand.
After the bath he climbed out of the water and bent the water away from him effectively drying off himself. The principle of causing the water to levitate proved slow so he bent just a little energy into the water. There was a feeling of warmth before he was dry. Feeling much better after his bath Kiyan returned home. Feeling even better after smelling breakfast, he shook off the mornings events and prepared himself for the day.
After breakfast the trip to the center only took a few minutes. Kiyan was aware of the presence of several villagers at the building. Upon entering he saw Kendra, Carlisle, Joshua and a few other people sitting in the room. Surprise set in as he saw Draxos and a water elf, or that is what he thought the other person was that was, sitting beside Draxos.
Joshua started the ceremony b
y saying that the village was fortunate to have so many young gifted people living among them. That it was the duty of the village to help these young boys grow into men that would use their gifts wisely. And above all, that Kiyan, Fred and Jeremy be welcomed into the village for who they are.
His words rang in Kiyan's ears even as he sensed the people in the room look at him with awe and unconscious fear. The fear was like a sour note in a song. It was an underlying current in the emotions of most in the room. He had the distinct sensation that if anything were to happen the undercurrent would flash to the surface.
Kiyan felt a pit form in his stomach, a bigger one than was there already. He didn't want to be feared, or looked at as something other than what he felt like, he was a twelve year old boy. Not some special person, in fact he wished that last three days hadn't happened at all.
Lost in his thoughts, Kiyan felt the presence of Prometheus and the Keeper. He watched Prometheus form near him. They were worried about something. Kiyan watched as his father reached out a hand at his shoulder with ever slowing movement. Space around Kiyan began to warp and bend as he felt a rush of energy flow throughout his body. The words Joshua was speaking became drawn out and twisted sounding like a garble. Kiyan's head felt like it would explode and was dizzyingly light at the same time. Movement stopped and the light shifted into a red color before it faded and was blackness.
The energy was burning now, so hot, it was coursing through his body. Kiyan knew he would burn up if it didn't stop, he had to get rid of it. Deprived of vision Kiyan’s metal senses exploded with detail. He felt the joined worlds and the suns frozen in time, looking farther he saw a tapestry of stars and nebulas carpeting space. Drawing on the energy he focused it on the stars. He felt the burning abate but a wave of energy threatened to drown him before he could channel it away. Kiyan’s only sensation was of intense fire before he saw the flashes of light. The knowing of every detail of a thousand stars began to fade.
Waking with a start, memory failing him for a moment, Kiyan sat up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. It was barely morning yet his room was illuminated. It took a moment to realize he was the light source. His skin had a golden glow. Then memory of it all returned, the feeling of burning and being at the ceremony. He must have been out all day and the next night. The villagers must fear him now, catching fire in front of them, he hoped no one got hurt. Kiyan felt Kendra near shielding him somehow, and sending calm emotions. Having her near was comforting, at least she wasn't scared of him. Laying back down he let the day dawn before getting up.
On Kiyan's way through the kitchen Marisa startled him. “Nice to see you up early, Kiyan, hurry up and take your bath, I'll have pancakes with berries when you get back. You have a big day ahead of you.” Kiyan wondered at that. Nothing was mentioned of whatever had happened at the ceremony yesterday. Kiyan paused and was about to ask Marisa about the events when he thought better of it.
Surprised that it all seemed familiar and so normal after what must have happened, Kiyan gave Marisa a hug and ran out the door nearly letting it slam. Deciding he wanted some solitude to think he took the scenic way to the lake. Running towards the lake he was soon at the water with Ray getting scrubbed down. Strange, he thought, surely Prometheus would pop up and inform him of some new aspect of his life. Deciding to practice a little waterbending while he was at the water he took up the bending form Kendra had taught him. Remembering the other morning he opened his mind and he connected with the water and soon could feel the entire lake in his head. He was able to use the water as a medium that extended his senses. Creating a ripple around him he could feel it took considerably less effort than yesterday, almost effortless. He held his ripple in one spot and let it grow into a wall of water, wrapping it around himself he let it lift him above the ground. Atop his pillar of water he opened his eyes and saw Jeremy with his mouth hanging open standing on the shore with Ray. Letting down his mental shields, he was assaulted with waves of surprise from both of them.
Losing control of the water Kiyan fell with it in a tumble. Ray acting nearly instantly reached out and dragged him out of the roiled water. Kiyan was confused, why were they so surprised? They both knew he was a bender, so seeing him bend should have only seemed natural. Seeing the shocked expression on Jeremy's face where he sat when the water drained off Kiyan's eyes was even more confusing.
“What's wrong, Jeremy?”
“You...... You, you're a waterbender!” Jeremy finally stammered. “How, you haven't even started the testing ceremony.”
Something was different. A brief contact with Ray conveyed the same information. Jeremy acted like the knowledge that Kiyan could waterbend, let alone bend the other elements, was totally new. Kendra would know, Prometheus or the Keeper would know best though. Closing his eyes he called for them but got no answer. Looking into his mind he found the memory of the construct where he had spoken with Prometheus. In a flash he found himself there. Calling for Prometheus there was another flash and his father appeared.
“Something is wrong, Prometheus, Jeremy can't remember that I can bend. Something happened but no one seems to remember it.”
Prometheus appeared to concentrate for a second before responding. “There has been a slight shift in the timeline but you caused it when you water bent. You shouldn't be able to bend until later today at the ceremony. You also shouldn't be able come her, or even know about this place. Young avatar may we have your memories so we can understand this incursion.” Kiyan opened his mind and let the council see the events of the last few days. Prometheus stepped back when he got to the memory of the ceremony.
“What did you do? No, no that's not possible, none of us have ever moved in our own time stream.” Prometheus seemed shocked at what he saw.
“You are three days in your own past. To move in your own timeline isn't possible since the amount of energy created would burn you up.” Prometheus was confused.
Kiyan remembered the burning and how he connected with the stars and channeled the fire into them. Prometheus must have seen it because he laughed. Images of stars exploding in simultaneous flashes of light surrounded them.
“That explains some. More than a dozen stars went supernova at the same time this morning. I will help repair the damage but what you do or how you change the timeline in the next three days is ultimately up to you. Be careful, the changes can have wide reaching consequences.”
Opening his eyes again Kiyan saw Prometheus holding his hands over Jeremy's head. Jeremy wasn't struggling but when he opened his eyes they were glowing blue. Kiyan felt Jeremy’s memories being altered. A moment later Jeremy relaxed. Prometheus faded from view and Jeremy's eyes stopped glowing.
“Are you ready for the testing today? Do you think you have any gifts?” Kiyan wasn't prepared for Jeremy to act so totally normal. “Do you want to go to the academy?” The barrage of questions was almost identical to what Jeremy had asked earlier before everything had happened. Kiyan decided to play along with it and answered much the same as he had before.
The rest of the morning happened just like it had the last time until he got to the Center. Kiyan decided that this time he would not make the same mistakes that he had last time. For one Kiyan now knew that not everyone was able to sense emotions or speak with their mind.
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Carlisle watched Kiyan enter and began observing him. Unlike last week when he tried to define Kiyan in his mind, today defining Kiyan was nearly effortless. Easier than normal, almost like he wanted to be seen. A subterfuge of that level was something that took years to perfect yet Kiyan was only twelve years old. Carlisle discarded that idea as ridiculous and attributed Kiyan’s open mind to his nervousness. More questions were brought up than were answered. Perhaps a trip to the academy was in order. Hopefully the trials would likely answer some of his questions.
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Fred waited for his turn at the bending test, he didn't care if he had any gift but it would be nice if he did. Watchi
ng Jeremy take the test, he wasn't surprised when Jeremy was able to move the water.
Carlisle felt strange as he watched Jeremy approach the water. Something almost like a memory stirred in his mind, sort of a deja vu feeling.
Kiyan watched as Jeremy bent the water in the cup, with the bender's help he was even able to lift a drop into the air. Something was different this time, last time he hadn't been able to make more than a ripple. Kiyan wondered what had caused the aberration from the original timeline. Prometheus thought that it might have had something to do with the memory manipulation from earlier. Jeremy had been exposed to a significant amount of energy that might have inadvertently activated his bending abilities prematurely. Already the future was changing.
It was already different so why not change it a little more. Reaching out to Kendra, Kiyan let her know that Fred was an earth bender but that she was the only person in the area that could help him. The wave of surprise that returned from her must have been comical to Prometheus because of the laughter that sounded in Kiyan's head for a moment. Kendra glanced up and looked into Kiyan's face before nodding slightly, standing up and approaching Fred.
Everyone was somewhat surprised when the ascended prepared to assist Fred with the earth bending test. They were even more surprised when the rock shattered at his touch. Kiyan was sure no one was more surprised than Fred at that point. Kendra tuned to Kiyan with a question on her face. He knew that he would have to explain later.
Kiyan could feel Carlisle probing harder than before at his mind. It took all his strength and even Prometheus lending a hand to maintain his facade of normalcy in the front of the attack. Carlisle stopped as quickly as he had started and when Kiyan looked in his direction, Carlisle was no longer an area of calm but was emanating discordant emotions of confusion and surprise. Kiyan then realized that his defense had in fact been what told Carlisle the truth.
It was Kiyan’s turn now to try bending. Determined not to lose control like last time he let Kendra guide him but resisted the urge to bend the flames. The rock was tantalizing with its quiet energy. Kiyan refrained from disturbing the calm earth energy. The air trial, he wasn't sure how to affect so he didn't even make an attempt, however the water was something that he knew about. Feeling his energy connect with the cup of water in a way he could only guess was with Kendra's help. He had to work to keep it from spontaneously leaping from the cup and bending to his thoughts. Letting the surface ripple and shift he lifted a few drops into the air then tried to disconnect. Letting go was harder than he expected. Finally able to sever the connection, the water froze and Kiyan stepped back.