a little to and fro. “No, these things would exist without time’s influence; only their persistence and overwhelming prevalence can be blamed on time. What time does, in collusion with human behavior, is make them stronger, harder to fight; it amplifies them. And because it is time, it never tires of the fight. That is why we came into being.”
“Time Traitors,” Odell murmured, and then more loudly, “Just what exactly do you do?”
“We live very long, for one. And we possess abilities and technologies that can create things such as this intersection and the TIFs. We monitor the timeline and try to stop the worst of it, but we grow few and often we fail.”
“Like when I created the Temporatus and redirected the timeline.”
“Yes,” Ambrosius nodded in agreement. “That was the first instance of time using our own tools, in this case the TIFs, against us. But it had a fortuitous outcome.”
Odell looked at him puzzled and then said with dawning understanding, “The prophecy…”
“A Time Traitor had not been born for several centuries,” Ambrosius explained. “We had evolved separately from humans over millennia. At first we were strong and our allies, like your Martin Luther King, Jr., were many. But our numbers have dwindled, as have our allies. The desire for money, power, fame, seems to have invaded every community, every household, and every individual. One can fight these forces here and there, but when it becomes the overriding desire and passion of so many…” He shook his head in a strangely affecting gesture of helplessness. Odell watched him in silence.
Finally, Ambrosius sighed deeply and cleared his throat. “It was Ivy who had the vision. She was the last to have been born, the youngest of the Liberi . She saw a baby, a girl, who would be stronger than all of us combined, a child who could flow effortlessly between dimensions, who could see into many timelines, one who could begin to control the very nature of time.”
Odell hadn’t known he was holding his breath until he blew it out on one word, “Odette.”
“Yes.” Ambrosius nodded in agreement. “Your sister.”
“Does she know this?”
Odell caught a flicker of some strong emotion in the depths of Ambrosius’s eyes. “Partially, yes,” he admitted.
“We knew Odette would be born,” he explained, “but not when or where. We searched the timeline, but found no trace of her. Your mother selected a time and place, seemingly at random. She met a man, Arthur Bradley, and you were born, but your sister died. It was a devastating blow.”
Odell remembered it as if it were some ancient history written about someone else. He also remembered his mother, so cold, so unloving.
“Then you, unwittingly of course, and with the assistance of some nefarious characters, brought forth an alternate history, changing the timeline. It was one where Ivy had left me only a short time before meeting the rather unpleasant alternate incarnation of Arthur Bradley.”
“My father, again.”
“Yes.”
“But why? Why was she so bitter, even after Odette had been born?”
“To insert herself randomly into the prime timeline, Ivy had to exist in several different shadow dimensions at the same time. This is very difficult to do and extremely taxing. We can all do it to some extent, but Ivy was the most gifted. She, however, was never entirely whole in any one of them. And her fate in most, if not all, was… tragic.”
Odell was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sadness. “I guess that explains a lot.” He stood, grasping hard at the headboard. “It is a terrible thing to ask of someone.”
“No one asked it of her; she offered.” Ambrosius turned to face Odell, his eyes veiled, his mouth set in a grim line. “Ivy understood the risks and the costs, but we had no choice.
“She knew that to bring forth this child, she would have to die; a part of the prophecy she held back from me until it was too late.” His face
“Time Traitors,” Odell murmured, and then more loudly, “Just what exactly do you do?”
“We live very long, for one. And we possess abilities and technologies that can create things such as this intersection and the TIFs. We monitor the timeline and try to stop the worst of it, but we grow few and often we fail.”
“Like when I created the Temporatus and redirected the timeline.”
“Yes,” Ambrosius nodded in agreement. “That was the first instance of time using our own tools, in this case the TIFs, against us. But it had a fortuitous outcome.”
Odell looked at him puzzled and then said with dawning understanding, “The prophecy…”
“A Time Traitor had not been born for several centuries,” Ambrosius explained. “We had evolved separately from humans over millennia. At first we were strong and our allies, like your Martin Luther King, Jr., were many. But our numbers have dwindled, as have our allies. The desire for money, power, fame, seems to have invaded every community, every household, and every individual. One can fight these forces here and there, but when it becomes the overriding desire and passion of so many…” He shook his head in a strangely affecting gesture of helplessness. Odell watched him in silence.
Finally, Ambrosius sighed deeply and cleared his throat. “It was Ivy who had the vision. She was the last to have been born, the youngest of the Liberi . She saw a baby, a girl, who would be stronger than all of us combined, a child who could flow effortlessly between dimensions, who could see into many timelines, one who could begin to control the very nature of time.”
Odell hadn’t known he was holding his breath until he blew it out on one word, “Odette.”
“Yes.” Ambrosius nodded in agreement. “Your sister.”
“Does she know this?”
Odell caught a flicker of some strong emotion in the depths of Ambrosius’s eyes. “Partially, yes,” he admitted.
“We knew Odette would be born,” he explained, “but not when or where. We searched the timeline, but found no trace of her. Your mother selected a time and place, seemingly at random. She met a man, Arthur Bradley, and you were born, but your sister died. It was a devastating blow.”
Odell remembered it as if it were some ancient history written about someone else. He also remembered his mother, so cold, so unloving.
“Then you, unwittingly of course, and with the assistance of some nefarious characters, brought forth an alternate history, changing the timeline. It was one where Ivy had left me only a short time before meeting the rather unpleasant alternate incarnation of Arthur Bradley.”
“My father, again.”
“Yes.”
“But why? Why was she so bitter, even after Odette had been born?”
“To insert herself randomly into the prime timeline, Ivy had to exist in several different shadow dimensions at the same time. This is very difficult to do and extremely taxing. We can all do it to some extent, but Ivy was the most gifted. She, however, was never entirely whole in any one of them. And her fate in most, if not all, was… tragic.”
Odell was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sadness. “I guess that explains a lot.” He stood, grasping hard at the headboard. “It is a terrible thing to ask of someone.”
“No one asked it of her; she offered.” Ambrosius turned to face Odell, his eyes veiled, his mouth set in a grim line. “Ivy understood the risks and the costs, but we had no choice.
“She knew that to bring forth this child, she would have to die; a part of the prophecy she held back from me until it was too late.” His face
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