Yes, yes, I already published this one, shut up shut up! But it was nearly a year ago, and I’ve been thinking about this story. Many of you lovelies haven’t read it. I think it’s a good story. I think it has a novel potential. Anyways, let’s stroll down the memory lane, and travel back in time (ohohoho that was a pun! You’ll see. Read on!).
The record hiccupped, stuck in a loop. She got up to turn it off, took a sip of her champagne, then laid back on the couch and rested her head on Chronos’ bare chest. He smoked in lazy silence. Chronos never hurried. He had all the time in the world. Unlike El, who tapped her nervous fingers on his strong chest. She was always running out of time, always feeling it ticking away, sand grains grinding through the hourglass in a never ending stream.
“Chronos?”
“Mmm?” He blew another cloud of smoke into the darkness.
“Am I good enough? I fail every time, and…” she asked timidly.
“We’ve been through this countless times, El darling! You’re the best. That’s why we chose you. Don’t worry. Do your thing.”
“But they never listen…”
“Your job is to speak the truth. They have a choice, every time. That’s how it works. Trust me.”
She shook her head, then kissed his chest, and laid listening to his heartbeat counting the seconds away.
“Chronos, are we the villains?”
He gave a short chuckle.
“You don’t want to know, dear El,” Chronos handsome lips touched hers, El shut her eyes tight, because she knew the drill well.
***
El opened her eyes to the fire.
“Wake up, witch! Wake up, and face your punishment, whore!” The townsfolk yelled.
Another small wooden town. Another witch’s pyre. The ropes cut into her skin, and her mouth was tied shut. Another stake to be bound to, again and again, a never ending time loop. She had spoken the truth, and they called her a witch. That’s how it went.
El squinted to see their faces through the fire. Would she see a single pair of sympathetic eyes? She was always hopeful, right till the end. No luck this time. Only ugly faces warped by joyful rage; from kids laughing, to the chuckles of old toothless faces. The smoke bit her eyes. Flames licked her fair skin and caught her torn clothes. She knew the pain won’t be long, yet every second was unbearable before Chronos appeared among the flames, grabbed her, and both flew through the dark portal of time and space.
Yet again both lay in his apartment in the middle of 1970’s Paris. Poor Edith Piaf was still hiccupping. El got up to end the record’s agony, took a sip of champagne, and laid back on Chronos. His handsome lips blew more clouds of fragrant smoke.
“Could we stay here forever?” She asked, with her usual nervous fingers dancing on his bare chest.
Chronos laughed.
“Oh, my dear. I’d wish to keep you forever, but even I’m not almighty. I can wield time, but I’m not it’s master. No, your task is not done yet. Oh no… don’t ask me, please!”
Chronos guessed her next question, because every question she had asked him before. Yet he answered patiently every time. El gave a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. Their time was up again.
***
Cold water flowed into her mouth, and strong current dragged her onward as a heavy stone pulled her down.
“Drown the witch! Drown the witch!” The villagers chanted.
El kept her head above a tiny second longer. Maybe somebody…?
No. Not a single one…
She coughed, choked on the sweet waters, struggled for a breath. El hated drowning even more than burning. She drew her last breath before submerging, Chronos held her and both flew away, through darkness and countless fiery stars.
“Chronos, how much longer?”
“Be patient, my beautiful,” he said as he held her naked body tighter. Edith Piaf’s hiccups resounded through the room like desperate sobs. El sighed and got up to put the record away. She closed her eyes, holding Chronos’ forever-young body tighter until she felt the usual time pull. Her body warped and swirled, travelling to yet another unfortunate mission as ‘the Witch’.
Oh, no. This time a rock flew toward her head, smashing it to bloody bone shards. Stoning to death?! How archaic! The pain was unbearable, when Chronos took her away.
***
“I’m tired, Chronos! When will it end?”
He exhaled smoke with a heavy sigh.
“I wish you wouldn’t have to suffer, dear El, but you must. You were chosen because you’re strong.”
“I don’t want to be strong anymore.”
He kissed her gently. El looked into his eyes. Sea-green, the same as hers. It was the strangest colour, but those capable of wielding time were all gifted with sea-green eyes.
Chronos smiled. “I didn’t plan this,” he said.
“What?”
“You. Me. Paris. Edith.” He laughed because the record did its usual trick. Edith Piaf hiccupped melodiously, and El knew their time was almost up.
“What if we stay here a bit longer?”
“Dear El, this tiny little pocket in the time-stream cannot be changed. It’s all we have, and I’m… grateful for it.” Chronos whispered the last words with tears in his eyes.
“So am I…” El replied snuggling under his arm. One last kiss. Then she was gone, off to another lifetime of suffering…
***
The crowd cheered when the man kicked her face, knocking out a row of teeth. El’s inhuman cries haunted the market square, accompanied by laughs, cheers and slurs of the townsfolk.
“Chronos!” El wailed. Her clothes were torn. Before the torture began, they displayed her nude breasts to the amused public, while dirty hands groped her pale skin. She had been cut, burned, whipped in public. The next stage was beating up because the public demanded a good ol’ beatin’.
“Chronos…help…” she cried, pressing her bloody face into the cool hands of the muddy earth.
“Hang the witch! Hang the witch!” the crowd began chanting.
“Or maybe we’ll ride her first?!” The men beating her up pondered.
“No… no… please, no…” El whispered through her blood-filled mouth.
The crowd cheered approvingly. How could this be? These were not the dark ages!
Chronos had not come to save her, as he usually did! El couldn’t believe the pain and humiliation she was forced to go through. It was worse than ever. Nobody would come to her rescue.
One of the men pulled El by her mud-covered hair.
“Come ‘ere witch!” His pants were already down. He dropped her by his feet, sat on her and slapped El’s face.
“No, please…please, kill me…” she begged.
The man laughed, until a dark cloak-covered shape emerged from thin air! It wacked the man, pushed him off El, grabbed her and disappeared.
El wouldn’t stop crying hysterically even when they appeared in Chrono’s Paris apartment, with her body perfectly intact, wearing a glamorous black glittering gown. Chrono’s warm hands caressed her bare back, he held her close, whispering, “you’re safe, you’re safe…” Although Chronos’ place was all glitz and glamour, El still felt the dirt on her skin.
“Why wouldn’t you come?”
“It was a set-up. They want you dead, El. I was delayed.”
“Who…?”
“The council of Time has changed. They’re getting rid of the old Wielders, to replace them.”
“Why?”
Chronos gave a grim smile, looking into El’s eyes.
“Their new Wielders no longer tell the truth, but rather what they’re instructed to speak. A different kind of…truth.”
“But there is no other truth! Anything else is a…”
“Lie,” Chronos finished El’s sentence.
El hid in his embrace.
“I did everything they wanted. All those lifetimes I lived. Eleonore, Eliana, Elizabeth, Elyse, Ellana, Eli…I had so many names. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“That’s what I’m here for. To remind you. El you are wonderful, that’s all you need to know,” Chronos said, lifting her chin up so their eyes could meet. El smiled. She was always amazed how her mentor could switch from assertive and brooding, to light-hearted and sunny. He knew how to make El smile in the darkest of times.
“So, what now?”
“Now, my dear, we’ll sit back, relax, enjoy ourselves, and afterward you’ll have a very special mission. Your last one.”
El’s frightened eyes posed a question.
“Do you trust me?” Chronos asked with a warm smile.
“Always,” she said sternly.
They spent the two hours drinking champagne and talking, with El snuggled in Chrono’s lap. A perfect gentleman, he never demanded more than she was willing to give. And after her previous hardships, all El needed was warmth and kindness.
“What is this last mission?” She used the chance to ask before their time was up.
“Oh, you’ll see. I’ve made quick arrangements. All you have to do is be you - go in there, speak the truth unfolding before you, and…” Chronos winked, “I’ll take care of the rest.”
El kissed his smiling lips. He was perfect for her in every way; the fire their first kiss ignited had been burning through all the ages they spent apart. El’s mission as the Teller forbade her any carnal pleasures during her many lifetimes, yet it said nothing about her sleeping with her mentor.
El straddled him, as they kissed. When she undid the top buttons of his shirt, Chronos whispered,
“Our time is almost up.”
“No…” El moaned.
“Just one last mission, and I’m all yours,” his whisper tickled her ear. El bit her lip, while his lips lingered kissing her neck.
“Remember, when you see the key, take it,” she heard him whisper right before she felt the time pull warping her body through a tube of darkness.
***
This time was different. El wasn’t reborn as an infant, oh no, she stood wearing her glittery gown, her high heel shoes on. A lovely baroque mansion opened its welcoming doors when El approached it. Gravel crunched beneath her steps. The sunset glazed the windows in gold and red. El walked into the mansion timidly. She saw her own reflection in the mirror-covered hallway; a stunning brunette, fiery-red lips, her hour-glass body shimmering in the black dress.
“Go, get ‘em tiger!” She heard Chronos’ voice in her head. El gave herself a daring smile and marched on toward voices laughing down the hallway.
A group of people stared at her entering a luscious sitting room; laughter died on their lips, while the ghost of its echo still haunted the high ceiling.
Men and women young and old, all dressed to impress, golden Rolexes and diamond necklaces, white silk, and linen.
“How the hell did you get in here?!” A flawlessly dressed grey man yelled at the sight of her.
“You’re supposed to be…”
“Dead?” El asked calmly. She took a glass of champagne from their festive table.
“Are you celebrating the new world order without the old Tellers and Time Wielders?” El said what she saw unfold before her. Such was her gift. She was a Teller. Truth unfolded before her eyes; her job was to let the truth be told out loud. She was able to travel through time like Chronos, but unlike her, he was a Wielder, moving through time and space at will.
“How the hell did you get here?!” The mam repeated.
“You’re kind of a dimwit for a Wielder, aren’t you?” El smirked and took a sip. She walked around the room with her high heels clicking in the silence.
“Or maybe you were absolutely certain your plan will work?”
She stood close by the man. El knew the effect she had on men. Especially weak ones. The slaves of their desire. She pressed her breasts against his chest just slightly. The man stood stunned. His eyes darting from her cleavage to her red lips.
El saw his mind unfold before her.
“Get away from me you, dirty witch!” He grunted.
“I bet you’d like a taste of my dirt, wouldn’t you?” She whispered in his ear and slipped her hand into the pocket of his pants, only to pull out a tiny little key.
“Hey, you give that back! Get her!” He screamed. El rushed to the hallway. All the people present ran toward her; their faces mangled by anger. A dark-cloaked clump emerged from thin air between El and the crowd.
“Chronos!” They yelled.
“Surprise!” He said with a cool grin, “yes, I couldn’t get in here before, but we still operate by the old rules, no matter what new ‘truths’ you preach. My apprentice got the key to let in anyone she wants. And I’m allowed to follow her wherever she goes, as her mentor.”
“You should’ve been dead! Both of you!” The grey man bellowed. Chronos pulled out a gun.
“Yeah, magic is good, but there’s nothing like a good ol’ pistol!” Chronos shot at a chandelier above the council, the ginormous glass monster fell down, millions of crystal shards filled the room, shimmering in the light of the setting sun. Chronos grabbed El by the hand, both ran out the mansion.
“The key, my dear? Oh no, you do the honour.”
El locked the door, they heard a gruesome chorus of terrified yells coming from inside the mansion.
“Shall we?” Chronos offered El his arm, and both walked away.
“And what about them?” She asked.
Chronos smirked, glancing back idly.
“Forget those losers. It’ll take them a couple of years to figure their way out this portal, but we have better things to do.” He kissed El softly.
“Paris?”
“Not quite. I have something special for you.” Chronos embraced her, El felt the pull of the time stream, and they re-appeared standing in a snow-covered street.
It was the hour of dusk; the streetlights opened their warm-glowing eyes. Large snowflakes covered the world in white softness. Chronos wrapped El’s bare shoulders in his cloak.
“Where are we?”
“This is your time, El. The one where the time Council pulled you from. Look there!” Chronos pointed at the nearby house. The warm-lit windows revealed a tender sight; a young family decorating the Christmas tree.
“But that’s…”
“Yes, it’s you El. The life you should’ve had. Well, not quite…” Chronos smiled shyly, “I made some adjustments.”
El looked at the young woman in the window. She smiled when her husband held her close. The laughter of their two little girls filled the room.
“That’s your husband. A doctor. You met on a dark and stormy night, I made sure it was very romantic. He has an excellent sense of humour, he’s smart and funny, a perfect gentleman, and he’s good in bed. Don’t… ask how I know.” Chronos laughed.
“Oh, and you have a good career as a manager in a travelling agency, so you get to travel, I know you love it, and…”
“Why did you bring me here?” El interrupted him.
“It’s yours. You can have this life. The life you deserve. All you have to do is enter the house and lock it from inside with this key.” Chronos opened his palm. A tiny golden key inlaid with diamonds sparkled in the streetlights.
“So, it’ll mean…”
“You’ll close the portal. You’ll just become her without any memories of your Teller missions or me,” though Chronos smiled when he said it, El saw tears in his eyes.
She darted her eyes from the key to the smiling woman in the window.
“El this is a chance most Tellers could only dream of. A good life without suffering. Please, go.”
El took the key hesitantly. She walked toward the house, looking back at Chronos again and again. Was it the snow melting on his face, or were those tears? He waved at El just before she entered the house. Chronos heard the door slamming shut. He covered his teary face with his palms. Suddenly the door popped open, El ran toward him, her footsteps parting the snow. She fell into his arms, kissing Chronos a hundred times.
“But… but… your perfect life! The house, the career!” He murmured through the kisses.
“El, you won’t have a normal life with me. I’ll be a fugitive; the council will hunt me forever! El… you’d have an easy life here!”
El smiled and threw the little golden key away.
“I don’t want an easy life. I want you.”
Chronos laughed, raising her up into his arms.
“Paris?” He asked.
“Paris!” El nodded eagerly.
Thank you for reading!
Absolutely excellent world building, a time-travelling romance... it doesn't get better than this.
I love this story! Thank you for sharing!