Echoes

As Annabelle descended further into her own dark past a bright light appeared at the edge of her mind.

"Alright, enough of that. You want to find your brothers, right? Also, you were the oldest child that was saved. So, the elders wanted you to find the entity that caused the death of our planet."

"What are you!"

"I'm the message the council left behind, remember your aunt saying that the oldest kid would have extra information given to them? The information for you was extra, because you were the oldest so they spent a bit of energy on it. See, if you calm down you can feel that I'm just a collection of thoughts."

"Okay, back to what is important. The elders want you to search for the cause of the magic going rampant, while finding the other survivors, and trying to stay hidden."

"Why didn't you tell me this when I first got to Earth?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, higher forms of magic were impossible to use on Earth, it was something the elders didn't account for... AH! That's right, a Cyber found you, thank gods, he has a security protocol that requires he protect any person from Pasef."

"What! I thought they were soulless, mechanized ghouls. At least that's what my friends said."

"Childish attempts at explaining something they have no knowledge about." The entity tutted in disdain.

"An ancient created them and asked that if anything should happen to Pasef they take care of any survivors. It's a miracle that one found you. Now remember what I said, find the others, and investigate the cause of the tragedy that befell our planet."

As the light faded, a man's voice drifted through. "Annabelle, I'm so sorry you have to do this. Please protect your brothers, find them, and put our family together again. Always remember how much your mother and I love you. Be safe."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she listened to the last recording of her father's voice, her heart pinching at the thought that she would never see him again.

Clutching her chest, she closed her eyes and remembered the last time she had seen her family happy.

Her brothers were playing tag in a meadow. Mother was creating daisy chains with her on a blanket. While her father sat with them, reading a book. Her aunt was going to join them, and then they would have a picnic.

Her parents had tried to hide it, but her aunt was going to introduce her new boyfriend. They believed she was head over heels in love this time.

That was the day before everything had been taken from her.

She wiped her eyes and looked towards the door.

'Guess I should find out if the humans are safe and catch up with what's happened. Hell, this is bad, I'm 51,000 years late to the party.'

She could hear them whispering, she was glad that even without powers her hearing was finally back to normal.

Earth had a dampening affect on her entire being. It was almost as if she had lived under the influence of a drug for the years she had been there.

If the elders had known that the randomized teleport would send her to Earth, they would have actually chosen a planet.

When she heard Marc telling Jazz about how they had passed her off as an Ayeri she could feel the steam drifting off her cheeks.

"Oh heck no." She muttered as she walked towards the door.

"You wrote my race down as Ayeri! Are you kidding me! I don't want to be known as the joke of the universe!"

"Chill, it's the only thing we could come up with on short notice, plus your genetic code is so similar you guys could be related."

She stared at Marc for a second before responding.

"If you must know, they're our sister race. The unwanted, red-headed stepchild, the class clown, you get the gist? We cut ties a long time ago, they want nothing to do with us, and we couldn't deal with their irresponsible, childish attitudes."

'What a mess.'

"Look at this logically, the best way for you to go around in civilization without attracting attention is to take on the identity of a race close to your own. It is wonderful that your physiology is like that of an Ayeri child. It means no one will question your origin, you'll be free to do whatever you want!" Jazz was worried that the time on Earth had messed with her brain. For a Pasefien to discard logic was insane.

"Why do we have to hide her anyway? I was destroying things because you told us to do so, but wouldn't a discovery of this magnitude make our careers?" Cass spoke to Jazz, watching the way he interacted with the younger girl.

"If the people that destroyed Pasef found out that a single child survived they would first hunt that child, and then start looking for others. It is safer for her to stay hidden." Jazz was leaning against a wall, hands in pockets as he said this.

"Are they trustworthy?" Annabelle had turned her full attention to Jazz.

"Yes, I trust them with my life."

"If a Cyber actually trusts someone that is good enough for me. And no, I have not gone insane, thank you very much Jazz." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, it sounded like you guys were planning something?"

"You can hear that we labeled you an Ayeri, but you can't hear anything else?" Cass was slightly sarcastic in her response, slightly annoyed that this girl was acting as if she and her brother were obstructions.

"Look. I'm sorry I've been rude but put yourself in my shoes. I just found out that I had a 50,000-year nap. I'm in hiding instead of searching for my brothers, whom I got separated from. And I just got a memo from 51,000 years ago. Stating that I should have started trying to find the bastard that destroyed my planet thousands of years ago."

"Humans from my era were very against anything that was not the same as them, and very loyal to their governments. Until Jazz told me he trusts you, how could I be sure that you wouldn't just ignore what he told you to do, and run to your government to tell them exactly what you had found?"

"Okay, hold up, we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Marc, and this is my sister Cass. We're humans from the 'new earth' Costa. Please believe that since Jazz said that telling anyone about you would put you in danger, we won't spill your secret to even our parents." He held his hand out for her to shake, smiling nervously.

She studied him for a second before responding. "My name is Annabelle, thank you Marc." She grasped his hand firmly before releasing it.

"Can we call you Anna?" Marc asked.

"Please just call me Annabelle, hearing someone call me Anna brings back memories that I would rather leave in the past for now." She smiled tightly, barely keeping her tears from escaping again.

"Sure, I'm sorry for being an ass." Cass held her hand out as well.

"No, I'm sorry for being childish." She took Cass's hand and shook it.

"Well you are a child." Jazz looked at Annabelle from his position near the wall.

"Shut up." She said blushing.

Looking at Jazz and Annabelle, Marc and Cass asked the same question. "So, what's next?"