Thirty seven times. She had tried thirty seven times to escape from the Stormspire. Each and every time, Biara had reappeared in the small clearing, her clothes and hair dripping wet with sea water and with no time having passed from the very first moment she had appeared in that place.
It was unbearable torture to be stuck in a single day for all of eternity. Almost a month had passed, and yet no time had actually passed because it was always that same moment in time. Try as she might, no magic, no trick would free her from that moment, and it was beginning to weigh on Biara's mind. She had contemplated hurling herself from the Stormspire, but she strongly suspected that such an act would only result in extreme pain followed by waking up in the exact same spot she had the thirty seven times before.
She had thought long and hard about the situation, and there was only one solution, but it was utterly and unbelievably reckless. Yet she felt, in this moment, that it suited her perfectly, and so she waited amongst the tall grasses with an invisibility spell wrapped around her, her temporarily dry clothes and body hidden from plain sight.
As Biara had planned, a blonde-haired figure walked down a small path in the grasses, heading towards the Ethereals in the distance. She had seen this scene played out over a dozen times now, and knew precisely when to step onto the path and when to whisper the words that would remove the invisibility spell. As Biara did so, the figure paused, her face contorted in utter shock, a hand held to her mouth.
Biara of the present stood face to face with Biara of the past.
Past Biara managed to regain her composure finally, bringing her hand up and brushing errant strands of her cursed-blonde hair out of her face as she eyed her counterpart critically. Her tone was firm when she spoke, "You're breaking the rules."
"I know, but you also know that we wouldn't do so unless it was absolutely necessary," Biara replied.
Her past self nodded thoughtfully, studying Biara with the intelligence that they both shared. When she spoke, her voice was softer, "You give away more than you know simply by appearing before me."
Past Biara stepped forward, gently reaching out to touch Biara's fiery red locks of hair and then on to the wards on her face that glowed with the healthy light of protective spells, "You have cured this curse, and your presence tells me that I will live beyond this to see myself restored."
Biara nodded once, allowing her counter-part to examine her before replying, "This is nothing that we did not believe in your time. You didn't know of course, but you never stopped believing. Your knowledge that it will happen in time brings you no closer to finding the solution, and will only drive you onwards as if you still had that belief instead of the assurance that my presence brings."
Past Biara let her hand drop back to her side, smiling at her future self, "Well said. We always were quite brilliant I must say."
Biara laughed once, sharing a smile with her past self, "Let's not get narcissistic now, shall we? As you pointed out earlier, I came to break the rules and I did so for a purpose."
"Of course," Past Biara replied with a smirk. "I wish that you had decided to show yourself when Jazari was here. He would have adored to know that our experimentation with temporal magic was so successful. I understand why you didn't of course, but even so, it is a loss for him."
Biara sighed, looking past her double and down the trail behind her. Her voice was almost a whisper when she spoke, "I would give anything to see him again, but there is too much risk, both to time itself and to him personally. I couldn't put him in such danger."
A silence descended between the two Biaras as Past Biara nodded. After a moment, a secretive smile played across her lips and she too spoke in a whisper, "You know, this moment is the only point in time when I can truly say the things I feel, because you are the only one who will understand absolutely without judging. It's...amusing."
Biara grinned as she stared at her past self, understanding intimately what the other was implying, "He's totally amazing."
Past Biara grinned back, nodding and almost laughing, "Totally. And his mind..."
"Is delicious!" Biara smirked. "I'm not sure what makes him more attractive, his amazing intellect or the cute way he wears that hat."
"Fel, I know right?" Past Biara gushed. "And he has no idea how absolutely amazing it feels to be near his magic. It's like...how to describe it..."
"It's like cinnamon, spice, and ice cream all together," Biara said, completing her double's thoughts. "It was one of the most amazing things about him, just feeling his magic near me. I recall all of the times we worked together, fought together. You have...a lot of enjoyable moments in your future."
Past Biara grinned and nodded, "Don't worry, I will enjoy every second of them."
"I know you will! Even so, it is a shame that he can't know all of this or appreciate it. Imagine what he is missing right now? Two of me," Biara giggled.
"Well, eight if you want to count mirror images, but...." Past Biara said in a husky whisper.
Both past and present versions of Biara fell silent, lost in thought for a moment before laughing in unison with identical laughs and shaking their heads. Biara smiled at her past self and then sighed, her smile fading somewhat, "I would love to spend the rest of time speaking with myself, but I must push forward with this plan. It is a gamble, but I know it will pay off because even as we speak, I am remembering us speaking."
Past Biara nodded, fully understanding the complexities of time travel and what her future self was implying, "You intend to change the future by revealing something to me. I will not ask why, I know better than that. I will listen though and remember your words for when the time comes."
Biara grinned, knowing that her past self understood what she was about to do, "They will come for me once I speak the words I am about to say. I am expecting that. I am trapped here and the only way I can return is to take an object of power from one of them and use it to fuel my own spells to break free. I do not believe you will be in danger, because if they slay you before this time they will undo the acts that caused you to destroy that book, and it will have far greater impact on the future than what I am about to do. They will simply wish to kill me, at least that is what I hope."
Past Biara nodded, taking in her future self's words and understanding why she had come to break the rules of time travel. The bronze dragon flight would be displeased indeed and the thought made her smile, "I have every confidence in your...my...ability to deal with one of them. Your plan seems sound, so let us begin."
With a grin, Biara leaned towards her past self, her next words spoken in a quiet whisper, "One day, far from now, you will have a daughter..."
**********************************************
*Present Day, Sunfire Estate*
In the earliest hours of the morning, in a sealed off portion of Sunfire Estate's tower, a door bangs opened and two water elementals step aside as a small figure passes between them, emerging from her bedchambers that have suddenly sprung into existence in the hallway. The small figure pauses, stretching as she blinks sleep out of her eyes, the first rays of sunlight slanting through the windows in the hallway.
With a smile on her face, eight year old Astariel Dayfire, Biara's adopted daughter, walks slowly down the hallway in search of her Aunt Kyliska and some breakfast.
Throughout the spire, every Sin'dorei that had ever known of the three year old Astariel, of the young elf who had died so long ago when Dayfire Spire fell to attackers, suddenly felt an intense and sharp pain in their heads as the memories of two different timelines settle into their mind. In one set of memories, the young elf had passed during the battle.
In the other set of memories, she had been sent away long before the battle ever took place, as if her mother had known that it wouldn't be safe to be in the spire that day.
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