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I giggled and said, “Let’s help each other. I have the same issue.”
After ending our zipper tribulations, Mei and I returned to my bedroom to see if Athena was awake. She still slept soundly in her crib.
“I’m worried about using Athena’s superpowers and putting her life at risk,” I said, admiring my sweet daughter’s serene sleeping face.
“I share your worries, but without her powers, we wouldn’t be able to do anything. I might look brave, but my heart has been beating faster since I woke up.”
“At least you slept. I’ve been counting so many sheep I risked drowning in their wool.”
My friend hugged me and said, “It will be all right. Troy said he’d take care of the difficult parts. We only need to be there and kick her––”
“You think we can actually do that to the strongest witch ever?”
“With a good plan in place, why not? There’s a precedent. Have you not heard of David and Goliath?” Mei asked. “Can you imagine if David had a team? He wouldn’t even question his success.”
“You just have a knack for making the best out of anything,” I said.
“Hey, it usually works for the better,” said Mei as someone knocked at the door.
“Come in,” I said and welcomed Troy inside the bedroom.
“Good morning, Milady,” said Troy. “Everything is prepared for the mission. You are to depart in thirty minutes.”
At the sound of his words, I began sweating bullets. Cursed be my performance anxiety. Only Mei’s calm hand on my shoulder helped me relax a bit.
In the following minutes, Athena woke up. I changed her diaper while Mei fed her a bottle. After, I dressed her in her favorite onesie with cute bats spread all over. We kept the reminder of Daddy close to us. With one happy Athena, a fretful Mommy, and an optimistic Mei, we commenced our most dangerous mission yet.
In the study, Troy awaited us holding multiple contraptions. “Milady, this is the harness you all are going to wear. Though I usually do not recommend being tied to others, this is a special case,” Troy said.
He wrapped one part of the harness around Athena’s chest. Then Mei and I did the same for ourselves. After, Troy checked and approved the durability of the harness lock. Together we placed Athena in a baby carrier and attached her to Mei’s back.
After our first talk with Troy, we put to the test any possible scenario. We time-traveled many times with Athena, including while she slept or was awake. To our surprise, our transcendence in the time continuum did not depend on her wakeful state but on something from within her. As if her powers lay dormant till she grew up enough to be able to wield them, and only certain sounds could trigger them. Also, we realized if we used different frequencies of sounds (provided by Troy’s resourcefulness), our arrival outcome differed. If the bangs were low, we usually arrived at the location we hovered above, feet to the ground. But if the frequency was high, she simply dropped us from the time continuum’s path and let us fall into the open air. That experience had me counting my blessing quickly. Luckily, her powers reacted to frequencies within the time continuum or from the same place we commenced our journey. And due to such a feature, I have been saved by the bangs several times now. Mei always acted accordingly. With such good friends, defeating centuries-old witches didn’t seem so improbable.
Though few things made sense to me, I chose to go with the flow and let Athena’s powers guide us through the unknown wonders of controlled time traveling.
“The entire mission in the present time will last approximately five minutes. In the time continuum, it will be much longer. It is imperative that you use the gong based on the present time, even if you don’t accomplish the mission. If you stay in the time continuum longer, the risk of death increases exponentially. Not only because we give Vedoma more time to retaliate but also because you don’t have a clear path of arrival, and you can get lost. Being lost in the continuum can end badly for everyone. Thus, I will have my own gong here, and after five minutes in the present time, I will use it. But you have to be close enough to our time for it to work. You also must make sure you succeed in the mission before the allotted time. Take this watch. It is made to function even after prolonged water submersions.” Troy wrapped the watch around my wrist. He also handed Mei the low-frequency gong while I grabbed the high-frequency one. After, I shoved my silver-plated dagger into my thigh holster. “I believe now you are ready. Go get her, Milady.Que les pouvoirs du destin soient avec vous.”
I never heard Troy speaking French. “What does that mean?” I asked.
“May the powers of fate be with you,” he said.
I gave Troy an unladylike hug, to which he responded appropriately by remaining aloof. Then went next to Mei and was taken aback by the kiss she gave him. Only after he took control of his bearing once more he said, “I’m ready when you’re ready.”
After one nod from all of us, three loud bangs followed. The next moment, we were in the midst of a whirlwind. “Hello, my old friend.” I got used to the experience by now and relished it. I could not say the same about Mei. Though we took all precautions to prevent our bodies from being swayed by the wind gusts (including tying our hair in the tightest, hair-sprayed bun), her knees began trembling as she searched for something to latch on to.
“Hold my hand,” I said. “It will give you a better sense of stability.”
Mei rushed closer and grabbed my hand. A deep sigh followed. “It helps. It truly helps,” she said excitedly.
Though we seemed quite adjusted to the new environment, someone enjoyed themselves on a whole new level. Athena laughed, cooed, and babbled as if trying to express her utter delight. The girl already had a fervent taste for adventure. I would have to talk with her father about it. But first, we had to tackle the evil witch of the time continuum. I searched for the stone’s light. It didn’t take long to find it. It was in the same spot as last time. Vedoma probably didn’t move homes for the past few days or centuries. I turned toward Mei and said loudly to make my voice heard from the wind gusts, “The light is coming from that direction. We need to go there.”
Mei nodded and followed my steps. But with one glance down, she transformed into a scaredy cat and almost jumped on me.
“Don’t be scared. Though the landscape view is real, we cannot fall, as Athena’s powers protect us. It’s like one of those sturdy glass bridges.”
Once we hovered above the stone’s light, Mei banged on the gong three times. Shortly after, we found ourselves in Vedoma’s white castle. The same one I saw when I had the visions. “We must find Vedoma and provoke her to the extent of her following us into the time continuum.”
As we walked through the large hallway, I thought I heard a baby’s cry accompanied by chants, but it wasn’t coming from Athena. That was strange. What were they conjuring? As we approached closer to a massive door, Vedoma appeared in front of us. “How did you get here?” she asked, surprised but not threatened.
