Becoming: Red Nova Chronicles Book One, page 35
“Ah, you noticed that,” Grandpa Owen said with a wink. “That’s why we sent you four together to Dragon School. We needed you to start bonding straightaway so that you would find the power you need to complete your quest.”
“I mean, we’re definitely closer,” Sachie said, “but I don’t know if we’re like one…”
“Well, now everyone knows you don’t think so. Thanks for the vote of confidence, oh fearless leader,” Mateo said with a mean smirk.
Smooth, sis, real smooth.
Shut up, Sean.
“No, you’re not there yet, but we wouldn’t have expected you to be ready in such a short time,” Helena said. “In fact, we didn’t expect you to be back so soon, did we, Owen?”
“No, not at all. Most young dragons spend eight to twelve months away at their studies, and they have little to no danger to contend with. Whereas you lot not only completed your courses in under six months, you also battled the Alchemists twice in that time and lived to tell the tale! That is absurdly impressive for ones so young!”
“Not everyone survived…” Sean said.
He looked around at the others. They hadn’t told them yet. Grandpa gave him a puzzled look, but Sean wasn’t sure he could say it out loud. It was still so fresh. Isabel was already wiping tears from her eyes, and Mateo and Sachie looked as though they were retreating into their minds. Sean suddenly felt like he was back at Aditi’s house.
“What do you mean, Sean?” Helena asked.
“In Nepal… Prisha, she…” Sean couldn’t say it. The words wouldn’t form in his mouth. He swallowed hard, then tried to start again.
“She’s dead,” Sachie said. She stated it so matter-of-factly, like she was saying the sky was blue. Sean knew that wasn’t how she felt, but man, she sounded so… cold.
“What… But she wasn’t supposed to… You were never meant to… She didn’t until the seventh…” Owen couldn’t even complete a thought, he was so shocked by the news.
“Wait, she originally died in the seventh century, but we were in the fifth century BCE,” Mateo said.
“Owen, what can that mean?” Helena asked. She was now slowly massaging her temples. Sean remembered seeing his mom do that when she was particularly stressed. Was Helena stressed, too?
“The timeline has changed. History has changed. Prisha was supposed to live for another two hundred years. What could possibly have happened to push it that off course?” Owen wasn’t asking anyone in particular, but Sean knew the answer to his question. It was…
“Me. I’m what happened. It’s my fault,” Sachie said. Again, she was so calm as she said it.
“Tell me,” Owen commanded.
Sachie’s head was pounding; they’d been talking for hours now. Reliving everything that had happened in Nepal and filling in the gaps of everything that had happened while they were away had completely wiped her out. Helena and Owen just kept asking more questions, and she was tired. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed for a week. Again, she was reminded that she needed to ask her grandpa about giving them a vacation.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” Helena said.
She seemed to be sincere, and she’d even stopped to make coffee for everyone, but she remembered that Sachie preferred espresso, and so she made her one. That had been really nice, but she still felt like Helena saw her as a tool or maybe a puzzle that had to be solved. She wished she could see her as the girl she was, then maybe she could really trust her.
“It’s over now. I’m sorry I let you all down,” Sachie said.
“Let us down? No, you didn’t let anyone down,” Grandpa said. “In fact, just the opposite. I never imagined you or Sean… or any of you, would have the strength to do what you did.”
Helena started rubbing at her temples again. “We’re just concerned about how this will impact the timeline. Even small changes can have major consequences, but losing Prisha a full two hundred years early… we just don’t know what that could mean for the present.”
Grandpa stopped Helena from rubbing her temples by taking her hands. “There’s nothing we can do now. All we can do is move forward. We’ll monitor for any deviations.”
“But what if we went back?” Mateo suggested. “What if we went back and stopped it from happening? We could bring an army, and then maybe we could stop the Alchemists right then and there!”
“No, Mateo. That’s not possible,” Helena said.
“But why not?”
“There’s too much risk involved, and it isn’t their time to perish,” Helena explained.
“It wasn’t Prisha’s time, either,” Sachie pointed out.
“No, it wasn’t, and that’s why we’re so concerned,” Owen said. “We dragons have always been time travelers, and the first rule is to never change anything. We cannot go back. We’ve already done too much damage. Trying to fix it will only cause more chaos.”
“It’s not fair,” Mateo shouted.
“No, it’s not,” Helena said as she went over and put her arm around him. “None of this is fair, but we must do what we can to preserve the timeline.”
Everyone was very still for a moment. The thought of going back to save Prisha did sound nice, but Sachie agreed that it was too risky. No one could guarantee their success, and with her luck, she would probably just cause another major rift in time and space. No, they had to leave it all in the past and hope for the best.
“So are we ready to get back to the prophecy and our future?” Owen asked.
Sachie had nearly forgotten that they still needed to talk about the prophecy. They had to save the world, and all she wanted to do was save her pillow. Lord, she needed sleep!
“Sachie had asked about the part of the prophecy that said we had to unite as one. How do we do that?” Isabel asked.
“Yes, that’s right,” Owen said. “This is the most difficult part for any Nexus…”
“Wait… for any Nexus?” Mateo interrupted. “There have been others that could fulfill the prophecy?”
“Yes, there have been others. Three, to be precise,” Helena said.
Sachie noticed that Helena’s face looked pinched when she said it. The memory of these others appeared to cause her pain. This was not going to be a happy story.
“Well… what happened to them?” Sean asked.
“The first were killed before they ever really got started,” Owen said. “They were the reason we decided to hide the Dragon School in the past. You see, we originally had all the students train with the elders in the present. Even when our children were hunted down, and we lost them. We would have the young dragons train with their children. It worked for a while until our first Nexus was formed.”
“So, do all dragons go to school?” Sachie asked.
“Yeah, it’s tradition,” Isabel said. “Our mom and dad went, but they were a lot younger when they attended. Val didn’t get to go, but we didn’t really know about it then. We were still young, but when we found out about it later and didn’t get to go, we thought that maybe something was wrong, but Val told us that the school had been abandoned…”
“Not exactly,” Helena said. “But we’ll get to that in a moment.”
“We used to start educating young dragons when they were twelve or thirteen, and that was how old our first Nexus was—just thirteen,” Owen said. “They were so innocent and full of hope, but the school… Well, it wasn’t hidden in time, and we had become overly confident. We finally had a water and fire dragon that met what we thought were the conditions of the prophecy, so everyone was very excited.”
“What Owen is trying to say is that we underestimated our enemy,” Helena explained. “In our excitement, we failed to protect them. The Alchemists attacked us, and many lives were lost, including one of the twins. Without both, the prophecy couldn’t be fulfilled. That’s why we made the decision to hide the school in the past. That way, the Alchemists would never know where or when our children would be.”
“That seems… smart,” Sachie said.
“Well, we thought so, at least,” Grandpa added. “But as you know, the best-laid plans…”
“Of mice and men…” Mateo finished.
“Exactly,” Grandpa said.
“What does that mean?” Isabel asked.
“Just that, after what you all went through, and the upheaval of the timeline with Prisha’s death, I wonder if we should have tried something different. Helena and I really thought you would be safe. We never imagined that you’d be in danger like you were. To be frank, I didn’t want to send you to begin with.”
“What?” Sachie said, startled. They had all said it in unison.
“Yes, Owen was against it,” Helena said. “Valentina wasn’t wrong, Isabel. Owen had dismantled the school for many years, against my wishes. He felt it was too much of a risk to send our young to the past. I was the one who convinced him to send you. It was always our intention to have each generation learn from the first of our kind, but when we decided that, we never knew that they would be hunted.”
“So you sent us against our grandfather’s wishes?” Sean asked.
“Sean, you have to understand that we haven’t had a Nexus present itself to us in almost three hundred years. You four have been our first hope in so long… I felt that you had to train with the best,” Helena pleaded.
Sachie looked to her grandpa. Had he really not wanted them to go? If he’d refused her, how different would they be now? She could have avoided all that pain, but would she be stronger or weaker for it?
“Please don’t blame Helena. Ultimately, I agreed that you should all be afforded the chance to learn from the best. Was there risk involved in that decision? Yes. Do I regret it? No. Not after hearing everything you went through, and more importantly, seeing you as you are now, you’re stronger than either of us could have ever hoped.”
Owen was now smiling at them with pride, but Sachie wasn’t sure how she felt about that. They’d gone through hell, so she decided to play devil’s advocate.
“What happened to the second Nexus?” she asked.
Owen coughed, and Helena’s grip on his hand tightened. Nice, Sachie thought. She’d finally hit a nerve.
“Well… uh… Yes, we keep coming to this, but never finishing. You four have to become one. That is what is in the prophecy,” Owen said, looking at each of them.
“Go on,” Sachie said.
“When Anatu foretold this, we established what is known as the Trials,” Owen said.
“The Trials?” Sachie didn’t like the sound of this.
“Yes, the Trials are a series of challenges a Nexus must pass in order to begin their quest of unlocking the Earth’s chakras,” Helena explained. “These trials are meant to seal the unification of the four, and test their strength to ensure they are ready for what is to come.”
“So, you’re saying we have to be tested before we can even begin?” Sachie asked.
“Oh, I remember Mom and Dad telling us stories about this,” Isabel said.
“Is it safe?” Sean asked.
Sachie’s cheeks burned. Hadn’t they been through enough? They’d already fought the Alchemists twice, and now they had to go through additional challenges before they could even begin their quest? So much for a vacation… But Sean had a point. These Trials didn’t sound safe, and they hadn’t told them what happened to the second Nexus.
“So, what happened to the second Nexus?” Sachie asked. “Did they make it to the Trials?”
“Yes, they did,” Owen said.
“Did they survive?”
“Unfortunately, they did not.”
“What the hell, Grandpa?” Sachie and Sean said in unison.
Sachie looked over at her brother. At least they were on the same page.
“Please don’t do that. There were extenuating circumstances,” Grandpa pleaded.
“Elaborate,” Sachie said.
“All you need to know is that there was a traitor in our camp during the last Trials. He sabotaged one of the challenges, and both of the twins were lost,” Helena said simply.
“You had a traitor?” Mateo asked. “You mean another dragon sabotaged the event? To what end?”
Sachie already appreciated Mateo’s quick wit, but right now she wanted to give him a big hug. That kid was spot-on, and he wasn’t afraid to ask the hard questions.
“Traitor isn’t exactly it, but yes, another dragon was involved, and it won’t happen again. You all will be perfectly safe,” Helena said, trying to reassure them.
“Wait a hot minute! You’re saying another dragon messed with this event, and now you want us to participate? Like it’s no big deal?” Sachie was fuming. “No, no, no… We’ve already proven more than we should’ve ever had to! I’m not putting anyone here in danger just to prove to you we’re worthy. We are worthy, Helena! You can forget it!”
“Sachie, you will not speak to me or Helena in that tone, do you understand?” Owen was now in full shadow-dragon mode, but for whatever reason, he no longer scared her like he once had. She knew she couldn’t push anymore, but she was surprised at the difference.
“I apologize,” Sachie said. “I mean no disrespect, but Grandpa, what are we to make of this? I need to understand… We need to understand. I think we’ve earned that.”
Sachie watched as Owen took several deep breaths. She could see that he was trying to calm himself. Good, she thought. She was right there with him. She looked over to Helena; her eyes were glowing, but this wasn’t a pleasant glow. It was a don’t mess with me type of glow. Well, at least they were all fired up, figuratively speaking.
After several minutes, Helena—and not Grandpa—began to speak. “Did any of our children tell you about the Dragon Wars?”
“Yes, Longwei taught us about them,” Isabel said quietly.
“Yes, of course. He was always our best historian,” Helena said. “So you know that our people were split for a time, and that split hadn’t healed, not when the second Nexus were in their Trials.”
Helena began to pace the room. She couldn’t seem to keep herself still, and she was fidgeting with her necklace. She looked over to Grandpa Owen, asking him with her eyes to continue.
Owen cleared his throat. “There were some who still believed that we dragons should enslave and rule over humans, and they were desperate to do anything to undermine us, including forming an alliance with the Alchemists.”
Sachie couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. There were dragons that chose to align and work with the Alchemists? How was that even possible? The Alchemists killed dragons for their power. What would possess them to help them?
“Why?” Sean asked.
“It is unfathomable, I know,” Grandpa Owen continued, “but this was not an easy alliance for either party. From what intel we could gather, neither side trusted each other. In fact, they hated each other, but both sides, the dragons and the Alchemists, saw Helena and me as enemies, and therefore our entire lines were also enemies, so…”
“It’s the whole the enemy of my enemy is my friend thing?” Sachie shook her head as she said the words. They must have been really desperate to partner with Keket… or full of hate. Sachie couldn’t imagine anything that would make her sink to that level.
“Precisely, and so, dragons we thought were our friends sabotaged one of the events, and in doing so, both twins were lost.”
“That’s terrible,” Isabel said.
“Yes, it was devastating, and I suppose that was the ultimate goal, to strip away any hope we had for the future,” Helena said.
“So what about the third Nexus?” Mateo asked.
“Yes, well, you see, after what had happened to the first two, I wanted to keep them in our current time to protect them,” Owen said. “Which should’ve worked…”
“Yes, except that you tried to control everything,” Helena snapped.
“No, I was keeping them safe,” Owen countered.
“Well, you succeeded. Are you happy with the outcome?” Helena asked.
Sachie watched as her grandfather fumed. Obviously, he and Helena didn’t see eye to eye on this, and neither of them had gotten over it.
“For heaven’s sake, Helena, they didn’t all die, so yes! I was happy with that outcome,” Owen roared.
The room went completely silent. Everyone tried to look anywhere but at the two of them—everyone except Sachie. She wasn’t going to let up until she knew what had really happened.
“So the last four lived?” she asked.
“No, one was lost during one of the test, and Helena seems to think this was a failure on my part.”
“Oh, stop this nonsense! You’re being ridiculous,” she said. “Of course I wanted to keep them safe. That’s not in question here, but because of your over cautiousness they were unable to complete the Trials, so therefore they were unable to fulfill the prophecy. If they had been trained by the nest, then maybe we wouldn’t be doing this again.”
“We did have our best teaching them,” Owen said.
“Well, our best wasn’t good enough, was it?” Helena said. Sachie could see she still held a grudge over this.
“So, what happened to them?” Isabel asked.
“It was the fire twin that we lost at the Trials,” Owen explained. “As for the rest, one chose to live his life out as a human. Another was killed in battle some years later, and the last you’ve met.”
“Really? Who is it?” Sachie asked.
“Cassius,” Sean said.
“That’s correct. Cassius is the last of his Nexus.” Owen smiled at Sean.
“That means he lost his twin.” Sachie looked at her brother and felt fresh tears fill her eyes. She tried to imagine what it would’ve been like to be at these Trials. The kids in the Nexus had been three or four years younger than they were now, and they were all tested. These tests must be pretty tough if people could be killed during them, and to have children that young die was awful. It was straight-up soul-crushing.
Sachie let her mind wander as she continued to picture the scene. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she almost missed the steady ripples forming in her cup. They were faint, but consistent. Thud… thud… thud… She looked around at the others, but no one seemed to notice. They were all still talking.
