Then There Was New York

by Kristina Garlick

Emery: “I can zoom around the whole planet to see if I can find a house fit for royals.”

  Riley: “Something tells me that the portal wouldn’t have opened too far away from Grier’s palace and it is a palace that we are looking for. He showed me images from both inside and out with any form of background removed. Grier said he wanted the first time I saw his home world to be in person.”

  Emery: “So you are saying you know what this place looks like? Describe it to me and I can zoom around until I find it.”

  Riley: “The large palace is located on the water and the back side overlooks expansive gardens, Grier told me. I never saw the gardens but they are supposedly breathtaking. The palace design reminds me of French architecture and is basically something out of dream with lots of spiral towers—oh! The roof is bright blue and the exterior is snowy white. Gold trim is prevalent and—”

  Emery: “Remind me again why you had any hesitation about coming here? A freaking prince and a palace.”

  Riley: “Shut up.”

  Emery winked before taking off running.

  Sona: “How long do you think it will take her to find the—”

  Emery: “Found it.”

  Riley: “I think that answers your question.”

  Emery: “About a mile south. It also looks like some kind of event is going to take place in the gardens, which are magnificent, by the way.”

  Riley: “The wedding.”

  Emery: “Probably.”

  Riley: “We need to get there like yesterday. How many soldiers?”

  Emery: “A good number surrounding the property on all sides. It looked like they were of two divisions since they were wearing different clothing.”

  Riley: “Xelum and Reirg soldiers would make the most sense. I have a feeling my future self had the portal show up in my house, on this particular day, so that we can stop the wedding.”

  Emery: “We already know that my speed works. I think you both should test out your powers.”

  I turned blue before putting a time energy field around us. Sona transformed into a cloud and back into a person. She then began to shoot her lightning and water at a nearby small tree, which ended up falling over due to her assault. It was at that point that I opened up a portal to ten minutes earlier and told Sona to not fire her attack. After returning to the present, the tree was still there, so that meant my abilities were on point. We were now ready to break up a wedding.

  Riley: “Emery, take Sona, and then me, just outside the soldiers’ view.”

  6:04 p.m. (Earth Time)

  Emery: “We have been observing the soldiers for about fifteen minutes. Should we attack?”

  Sona: “Why don’t we try talking to someone before fighting our way in?”

  Emery and I stared at Sona.

  Sona: “Or maybe we can just kick some ass.”

  Riley: “That’s the spirit. Everyone got their uniforms on correctly?”

  Emery: “Are we going in ready to charge?”

  Riley: “Yep.”

  Emery: “Fuck yeah.”

  Riley: “Watch your mouth and remember, avoid killing at all costs. Once you spill blood, something within you changes. Trust me. This is something I know.”

  Emery: “But—”

  Riley: “Emery, please.”

  Emery: “All right, I agree.”

  Sona: “Mr. Blaso is the only man I want dead and I have a feeling he is, so I have no problem following that request.”

  Riley: “Good. When we find Kalana and her douche-bag brother, the goal is to put the wrist shackles on them. I have two sets on me, and I know you both have yours, but make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

  Sona: “Most definitely not.”

  Emery: “Okay, great. Then on the count of three, two—”

  Whoosh! Emery sped past Sona and me to start the battle. We couldn’t see her run but she was obviously knocking over soldiers. Not wanting Emery to have all the fun, I transformed into my blue form and charged. Emery began throwing lightning at the feet of the soldiers, which caused them to jump out of the way. It took us less than five minutes to knock out the guards, who, in their defense, had no powers, only some fun toys.

  Sona: “Now what?”

  I turned back into my human form and tried to fix my hair as best I could. There was no way I looked anything but wild. However, I did not have the time to get gussied up, so how I looked would have to do.

  Emery: “Taking Riley to the gardens. Be back in a few for you, Sona.”

  Emery grabbed me and sped me to where Grier stood, which was at a makeshift altar. He was beyond confused, and so was Kalana. I didn’t even say anything to either of them but instead turned and punched the queen, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea as this was supposed to be her wedding … well, second wedding.

  Riley: “That is for dumping my body in the woods, thinking you killed me.”

  Gasps and shock erupted through crowd. There were obviously some royals who were there as they began to activate their powers. Grier motioned for them to stop and thrust me behind him. Then he said something in his native language which seemed to calm them down.

  Grier: “Riley, what happened?”

  Riley: “Kalana’s brother poisoned me. The two of them thought it was a good idea to dump my corpse in the field as that would only piss me off. Then Jax wrote a letter pretending I took off.”

  Kalana: “Grier, I can explain. He made me do it!”

  Once again, Grier said something in his language. Two guards grabbed Kalana and it looked like she wanted to use her powers, so I took out the shackles and signaled for Emery. Within the blink of an eye, Kalana was shackled and her powers were heavily reduced, if not completely gone for the time being.

  Now, this should have been the point where Jax wisely fled the scene after witnessing his sister’s capture, but instead he tried to creep up on me from behind. I caught his arm, which I twisted so he dropped the blade. Then I transformed into my time energy form as I flipped him over onto his back. As I had him pinned down, I slapped the shackles on his wrist. When I saw the fanny pack of poison, I ripped it off him and threw it several feet away.

  Jax: “How dare you, you vile scum from Earth!”

  Riley: “Grier, would it be okay if I end his life?”

  Grier: “Can you do that? He is of Vonnela blood.”

  Jax: “Grier!”

  Grier: “Prince Grier, to you.”

  Jax: “It was our father’s idea.”

  Grier: “Soldiers, seize former King Pax!”

  A man, who appeared to be in his forties but was probably over a thousand, was grabbed and brought forth to stand in front of Grier. Then Grier and Pax conversed for several minutes in another tongue. I don’t think it was the Reirg language they were speaking, so maybe Xelum?

  Grier: “Riley, a deal has been struck.”

  Riley: “And that is?”

  Grier: “We release Queen Kalana and she immediately goes back to her planet. If she or any of her soldiers’ step foot again on this planet without proper consent, they will be sent to the mines or far worse. Former King Pax has agreed to end his life, for he cannot bear the shame that has been brought on his family due to his greed. However, he begs us to spare his son’s life, so that is what we will do for now. Jax will be stripped of his title and sent to the mines to work for a minimum of one hundred and eighty-nine Flory cycles.”

  Jax: “No, I do not agree to these terms!”

  Grier: “You may choose to end your life.”

  An uncomfortable pregnant silence filled the air.

  Jax: “Send me to the mines, I dare you, but know this: I will someday have my revenge.”

  Riley: “It’s good to know that you will be thinking about me every day, but I will barely ever give you a passing thought after you leave my sight.”

  Jax: “Next time I kill you, bitch, you will stay dead.”

  Grier whispered something into Jax’s ear before kneeing him in the family j
ewels. As Jax recoiled, I could see the rage on his face but at the same time, he didn’t look so fierce. I had faced far greater threats than this poor excuse of a man.

  Grier: “You will not disrespect the future queen.”

  Riley: “It’s okay, Grier. He should probably know that, with a mere touch, I have the ability to erase anyone I so choose from time, Vonnela blood or not.”

  I wasn’t sure if I could actually follow through with my threat, but Jax didn’t know that, nor did his sister. So, as Grier had told me, Jax was sent to the mines and Pax went to die. Kalana went home with Louve, who was actually sitting in the audience. I think they were both relived that Kalana’s family was no longer pulling her strings. I knew I should have been angrier, but I wasn’t because Kalana was just an unfortunate pawn.

  After my big entrance, I was properly introduced to Grier’s family. They were more accepting of me than I could ever have imagined. Grier’s siblings and parents treated me as though I belonged. It was beyond sweet that King Regin and Queen Sofia referred to Emery and Sona as their future grandchildren. In time, Emery and Sona did become their grandkids as Grier and I adopted them six months later, after we were married. It might have been silly, due to their age, but we had become a family.

  Oh, speaking of the wedding, several of my hero friends from Earth came to the event. It was a three-week ride on a spaceship, or should I say a luxury hotel that could travel faster than light, so no one minded the journey. Plus, I was there with everyone, keeping them company, as I had to travel to Earth so I could tell everyone of the wedding plus get my stuff, which some of it, I had grown mighty attached to over the years. There was the picture that Jordan had drawn of me and some photos I might have taken from my brother’s house without him knowing. Also, there were tons of newspaper clippings from my heroing days and my comic collection. Maybe I was too sentimental, but I had a castle to help store my memories.

  Shortly after the wedding, Grier and I became king and queen. I like to think that over the years, we made Reirg even better for its people. The process of tattooing the soldiers was outlawed, but I also stored the ink as someday, I knew I would have to deliver a container of the vile substance to Broderick. Everything had to happen a specific way or the future that I loved would never be.

  Emery eventually got her race against Rowe. It was a tie, which neither were happy about. On the second go around, Emery won, and when there was a third rematch, Rowe took first place. The two of them were like fire and ice, it seemed, always competing with one another. They were a true story of opposites attract, which came on, full steam, on Emery’s twenty-fifth birthday when it was discovered that she was Rowe’s mate. I guess the whole Vonnela mate thing doesn’t kick in until both are at least twenty-five. Rowe was actually one hundred and three, so it was good that their relationship waited. Emery would see many years, being paired with a Vonnela descendant.

  Sona found her mate during her thirtieth year with a king of a nearby desert planet. I almost wonder if my future self knew that these girls were meant to fall in love with Vonnela men? I really hope she didn’t orchestrate their unhappiness. No, I don’t think so … but I can’t say I wasn’t happy when Sona took the Nital, for it not only increased her life but her abilities, which meant the food shortage would be no more. The planet no longer had to import rather pricy food as the people could grow their own. It was kind of cool watching Sona turn into a cloud, float up into the sky, and trigger a rainstorm.

  As for my earthly friends, many grew old and eventually died. The only consolation was that, because of children, grandchildren, and so forth, Earth would never be unprotected; there would always be heroes. I was just glad that the three-week travel time was cut down to two so that I could spend more time with my aging friends. Eventually, the teleporters from Reirg to Earth started working so that meant I could come and go as I please or vice versa. I was also very happy that Mac and Arcadia spent some months with me before they died, coincidentally on the same day, only a couple hours apart … a true love story.

  As for Kalana, she was allowed on Reirg again after a lengthy apology letter. She and Grier were friends again, but not close as they once were as too much had transpired to fix their damaged relationship. Meanwhile, Jax managed to escape the mines after forty years of hard labor. He even managed to get hold of some ancient Vonnela weapon that Jax claimed would kill Grier and me. Unfortunately for Jax, I ended his life before he could see what that weapon could do. I don’t feel bad at all as it was his own fault, sneaking into a pregnant woman’s bed chamber.

  Yes, I got pregnant and eventually gave birth to twin boys. Reagan Mackson and Austin Hudson. Austin was Arcadia’s maiden name and Mackson was, well, Mac. Eventually, Grier and I would go on to have two more children, another boy followed by a little girl. We grew as a family rather quickly considering how long it took for my beloved and I too have found one another. There was also Grier’s rather large and extended family, which family in general is a weird concept to me. I know I probably don’t deserve half of what I got, but I am thankful.

  The day eventually came when I knew it was time to steal the Nital from the past, which sounds easier in theory. Grier and I would go back, but he would actually be doing the thieving because who would expect the prince, well, king, to steal from himself? Then we would have to go back to present day, so I could use the teleporter to take me and my son, Reagan, to Earth. Reagan, like Kalana, had the ability of invisibility, but that was where their likeness stopped as he could also create illusions.

  Once on Earth, I opened a door to a parallel timeline, much like I had when I was forced to do Broderick’s dirty work; however, this world was different as it already existed due to the changes I had made in the past. Time is and always will be about balance. Interestingly enough, this timeline only existed until the moment where I stopped Broderick’s parents from meeting at which point it was just me, standing in blackness.

  So Reagan and I were in this world, but it was actually he who snuck the ink into Broderick’s bedroom, along with the video which was recorded in the past on Reirg. Next, Reagan and I found a much younger Riley; at that point, he created a bit of an entrance for me so I could give her the Nital to inject. Sounds confusing, right? However, before the old me could ask too many questions, Reagan got me out of there. Having a son with invisibility abilities really does come in handy.

  Reagan and I decided to spend some time on present-day Earth after completing our mission. He wanted to learn more about where his mother had come from and, with him only having been to Earth once before, I thought the trip was well deserved. Not knowing where to begin, I decided to show Reagan everything and explained how much the world had changed since I was a little girl.

  We spent a total of two weeks exploring Earth, which was easy to do now that teleporters were prevalent in the world. Earthlings had, in the past fifty years, begun regularly exploring other worlds and living amongst the different societies and cultures from space. People knew about aliens since monsters and other creatures kept popping up. Heroes had to either kill, capture, or send them home. Phantoms and Ghost came to be because of such attacks.

  It was only when Reirg ships started coming to Earth regularly that the distrust of aliens began to fade. Now, humans and Reirg had a great relationship. Earth had also made some other great allies so the planet had even better protection against possible foes.

  Riley: “So this is the last stop before we head home as I am sure Dad, Brother, and Sister miss us.”

  Reagan: “The Eiffel Tower, right?”

  Riley: “Yes, and it holds a special place in my heart. A once-dear friend and I shared a moment here a long time ago.”

  Reagan: “It’s beautiful. I hope to bring my mate here someday when I find her.”

  Riley: “I hope that you do, or maybe even find a special place of your own to take her to.”

  Reagan: “Mom, there is one other place I’d like to see before we leave Earth.”

>   Riley: “What place would that be?”

  Reagan: “I want to see the city that you saved.”

  Riley: “There were a lot of cities.”

  Reagan: “You know which one I am talking about.”

  Riley: “Okay, on the condition that you listen to your old mother tell the story again for the thousandth time.”

  Reagan: “Mom, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Riley: “In that case, where to begin? Ah yes, there were many unforgettable places that I saved over the years but then there was New York … New York. It was kind of funny that a game of cards led me to be a hero. Had Mac not been shot or Alyssa not been captured, then things might have been different. While I had to give up many people that I loved, I do not regret it as I stopped a madman. Eventually, I would go on to find my true mate, have four wonderful children, and got the home that I always wanted.”

  Reagan: “You forgot to mention that I am your favorite.”

  Riley: “Nah, either Austin, Hunter, or Lily are.”

  Reagan: “You wound me, Mother.”

  With a bit of overdramatic flair, Reagan clutched his chest and dropped to the ground. I couldn’t help but laugh, which I really shouldn’t do as it only egged him on. The truth was I loved all my children equally and Reagan knew that.

  Riley: “Get up off the dirty ground and go start the teleporter.”

  Reagan bowed and headed over to the teleporter. After a few seconds, Reagan fired it up, but then he just stood there. It looked as though he was lost in deep thought, like something was truly bothering him.

  Reagan: “There is one thing you are forgetting.”

  Riley: “And that would be?”

  Reagan: “To see if we can get tickets to see the Statue of Liberty.”