When Layla exited Amara’s house, she was startled to see a young woman sitting with her two daughters and chatting with them comfortably. It was the same stranger who had been hovering outside Nyssa’s window. She did not pull her gun on the oddly-dressed woman this time, feeling fairly confident of her identity.
“But she wouldn’t let me fly to the water!” Nyssa argued. “She treats me like a baby!”
“She is just trying to keep you from getting hurt. You really should be kinder to her.” The woman wearing lime green spoke softly, her dark hair being tossed around by the ocean breeze. “She’s just trying to be a good big sister.”
Nyssa nodded ruefully. Layla frowned at this, noting how the two interacted as though they had known each other for years. Even though she was sure that the strange woman was not a threat, Layla was grateful for Pax’s nearness. She approached cautiously, as she might have approached a butterfly on a flower if she had intended to capture it in her hands.
When she was directly beside the two girls and the older stranger, she nodded to Olive, stretching out her arms. “Sweetie, will you take your little brother into the house? We’re having lunch with Aunt Amara.”
“But he’s so heavy,” Olive complained.
“Olive. You can lift my minivan with your mind, but you can’t carry your little brother?”
“Fine.”
When Olive took Oren and had begun walking back to the house, Layla turned to the remaining two girls. “Nyssa,” she said softly. Both women turned their heads. She swallowed. “Go help your sister.”
“Okay, momma,” the five-year-old said, rising to her feet. She hesitated, twiddling her thumbs. “Sorry if I fight with Olive too much. I don’t mean to upset you.” With that, she ran toward the house, leaving her mother with the stranger.
Layla moved forward tentatively, lowering herself to sit on the grass before the young lady in the lime—chartreuse bodysuit. She studied the familiar face, noting the vibrant flecks of green in hazel eyes. The resemblance was uncanny, but Layla was startled by the pain and shyness in the woman’s expression. She somehow had expected that those eyes would always be filled with bold curiosity and joy.
“I have heard that it was possible,” Layla said softly, “to travel back in time. My husband told me the particulars; he said that it was extremely taxing and unpleasant. No one ever used the technique, and most people who attempted it gave up halfway through the process. So, as you can imagine, I am terrified to know why you have returned. But I am far more frightened not to know—so please tell me, Nyssa.”
“Mom,” the older version of Nyssa whispered. “I had forgotten what you look like. I forgot what it sounds like when you speak. When you yell at me for misbehaving. When you shoot bullets at me to test my speed. I had forgotten all about that game.”
Layla stared in shock as the twenty-something-year-old woman broke down in sobs.
“I wasn’t supposed to come and see you,” Nyssa said, as tears slipped from her eyes. She made a tough fist and wiped them away hastily. “They told me it could change everything—but everything needs to be changed. Isn’t that the point? I tried to follow the rules, but I just couldn’t stay away. I needed to see you again.”
It was hard to process what the woman was saying. It was hard to accept what she was implying, but Layla’s curiosity overpowered her reason. “What happened to me?” the mother asked, feeling her heart ache. “There’s so much metal in my body after my car accident—I thought I was indestructible.”
“Cancer. I watched you die of cancer when I was five.”
Layla felt the breath sucked out of her. Her mouth opened slightly, but her lips closed tightly again. She shook her head fervently, unable to speak. “You’re five now.”
The older Nyssa nodded.
“But…” Layla turned toward the house, the skin around her eyes wrinkling. “What will happen to you girls? Oren is so young… Where is it? What part of my body gets cancer? Tell me—I’ll have the organ removed now. Is it breast? I’ll have Pax do it. Immediately. I’ll have the tissue completely removed now and Oren can go on formula.”
Nyssa looked at her mother blankly. “No. It’s not in your body yet.”
“Then how?” Layla asked. “Is it somewhere I go—something I do?”
“It’s not just you,” Nyssa responded, swallowing. “A comet is going to hit the earth shortly, and among other changes, it will release massive amounts of radiation and new organic material. It’s essentially a bomb sent by the Asura, meant to wipe us out.” She paused. “It’s going to get Olive and Oren too. And dad, after a few years. I was raised by Auntie Pax—raised to be a fighter. It’s an extinction event.”
“Okay,” Layla said, not knowing what else to say. “Well, that puts a significant shift in my priorities. I guess I should… what should I do?”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Nyssa responded slowly. “I’m beginning to realize that. I came back in time to stop it from happening…”
“Well, how did you intend to do that?” Layla asked her grown-up daughter, clearing her throat. “Surely you had a plan, darling.”
“Auntie Pax sent me back in time—she said that if I spoke to Uncle Vincent, he would find a way to prevent it from happening. But I’ve been listening to the plans that Uncle Vince and Aunt Rose are making, and everything seems so futile.”
“Gord must know,” Layla mused. “That’s why he’s been training with Vince so much in the past few days… and he didn’t tell me.”
“We decided not to tell anyone, but I wanted to tell you. I remember you always said that it was better to know.”
Layla smiled. “Thanks for coming to me, Nyssa. You’re going to grow up to be such a lovely girl. We should have faith in the men. Vince and your dad, Thorn and Ash, and Raymond. They’re all powerful devas, and if they work together, they can surely divert or destroy a comet.”
“I thought so,” Nyssa whispered, “but now that I’ve met them all, they seem so clueless! Thorn and Ash are idiots. Everyone is so concerned with their tiny problems that they can’t seem to work together and realize we’re all on the same side. The comet won’t be stopped. It’s too large, and it was created using a substance we don’t know how to break.”
“There must be something we can do,” Layla said. “Don’t give up on us…”
“I have given up, mom,” Nyssa said with a sob. “It’s hopeless.”
Layla felt a bit strange as she reached out to console her daughter—especially since the young woman was larger than she was. However, once her arms were around the girl, she could not tell the difference between five-year-old Nyssa and twenty-five-year old Nyssa. Even though she could not sense prana, she could feel that it was the same little girl she knew and loved. “Shh, darling,” Layla said. “This is a different place. Everything will happen in a different way.”
Nyssa shook her head, hugging her mother and crying into her shoulder. “No. I just realized that I didn’t travel back in time to save the world or stop the apocalypse. I came back to see you again. I’ve missed you so much, mom.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Layla said, stroking the young woman’s dark hair. She glanced toward the house and saw Pax standing outside, looking across the grass with concern.
“I don’t trust Uncle Vince and Aunt Rose,” Nyssa cried. “Just because you’re a demigod or a tech genius doesn’t mean you can control the whole universe. This thing is going to hit, no matter how hard they try to stop it.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Layla asked. She saw that Pax was walking towards her, and she knew that this would be an interesting lunch conversation.
“I could sense your prana from the house,” Pax said, amazement visible in her expression. “You’re the visitor from the future who came to warn us about the comet. Good Sakra! Nyssa? You’re taller than me!”
Nyssa smiled through her tears, pulling away from her mother to hug her mentor. “Auntie Pax! You look exactly the same.”
“Good to know. Whoa, kid, you’re huge.” Pax hugged the young woman, noticing the odd kiwi-colored jumpsuit. “Is this fire resistant?” Pax emitted a few flames from her fingertips, scorching Nyssa’s shoulder. “Wow, durable clothes! I need to get me some—in a less garish color, of course.”
“You were wearing a red one the last time I saw you,” Nyssa told her. She sighed. “I want to talk to Aunt Amara. I think we girls should make a plan, and secure a nice, comfortable bomb shelter deep underground. A place where we can take all the devas; all our friends and family.”
“What?” Pax frowned. “No way. The comet isn’t going to hit the planet. Vince is going to find a way to stop it from happening.”
“We need a solid contingency plan,” Nyssa said.
“A what?” Pax shouted. “Failure isn’t an option here. We can’t afford to waste time planning to run and hide…”
“Auntie Pax…”
The look on the young woman’s face was so dejected, her voice so demoralized compared to the energetic young girl who was only a few feet away in the house. Pax knew she would have to put aside Para’s hijinks for the time being and focus on the bigger picture. Her friends and family needed her.
Layla sighed. “Ladies—let’s discuss this over lunch.”