CAPE HOOLERTHUND; THE HANDS OF TIME

Another you . . . My you

Night fell and Mia had been locked up in one of the holding cells; sitting quietly to herself in the corner with her arms wrapped around her body whilst trying not to panic about what was going to become of her. The night was quiet and there was a bright full moon in the dark sky; she could see its blue light come in through the small barred window that looked out into the ocean.

The cell was small; and its walls were rough and cold; she needed a blanket, a small fire would do too but she had none, all she had to keep her warm was her dress and it wasn't doing a very good job, what a long night it was going to be?

Just then the main gate to the holding cells was unlocked and swung open and a moment later someone walked into Mia's sight; the sight of him immediately causing her heart to do that thing it always did when she laid her eyes upon her lover. It wasn't her lover but it was a perfect replica of him and that was more than close enough. And the way he looked with the moonlight falling upon him and shining in his crystal blue eyes, her soul had no other choice but to fall to its knees. In his eyes was exactly what she saw in Peter's eyes which was all of her dreams come true, her home sweet home and she wished so bad that she could just get up and have him hold her in his arms because in his arms was where she felt the most safe; it was in his arms that she was assured that no matter what was going on everything was going to be o.k. and she needed some of that in that moment because her fate was to be hung and she was the most scared she had ever been in her entire life. Being transported to another time was one thing but dying there via being hung was something else and it had Mia shaken. Galagus brought her back to do something and nowhere did he mention anything about her dying; if he had she probably would have said no, so what was going on? It was rough enough that the possible destruction of the earth was lying on her and now this, she felt like just closing her eyes and wishing herself literally anywhere else. Capt. Jules's boldness was still with her but it wasn't enough to keep her from trembling, because at the end of the day she was still just Mia and what Mia wanted in that moment was something she couldn't have. She wanted to not be afraid anymore and the warm embrace of her lover's arms was powerful enough to take that fear away but that wasn't going to happen because again that wasn't her lover before her, it was Mathew, the admiral's son. He looked more like Peter than Peter did and her heart beat for him in the exact same way it did for him but it wasn't him.

Silence swept for a moment as he just stood there looking at her and she just sat there looking at him; getting further lost in the absolute wonder that were his eyes.

"Who are you and why can't I bring myself to stop thinking about you?" Mathew asked; standing upright with his hands behind his back.

She slowly rose to her feet. "My name is Mia," she answered; the sound of her voice sending the sweetest shiver down her spine, worse off when he looked at her soft lips and remembered the feel of them against his. A kiss that was so close to being his death.

"Why do I feel this way for you Mia?" he asked, somewhat breathless like the way he was feeling brought him a kind of pain; one that was weaking him before her beauty by the second.

"Because our hearts know each other."

"I feel like I've seen you before," he said; with his eyes beginning to water. "I feel like I know you."

"You do. Not this you but . . . Another you . . . My you." Mia's eyes began to water as well as inside her heart began to cry out to his; having him right there and not being able to hold him or kiss him, she had never known torture until that moment.

"Another me." Mathew took a step forward. "What do you mean another me?"

"From another time . . . From the time I come from."

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"I'm from the future," she said. "I was brought back to this time by the time keeper because there is something I must do."

"And there's a me in the time you come from?"

"Yes. His name is Peter and you are a spitting image of him." Mia took a step forward as her eyes watered on. His too.

"And who is this Peter to you?" Mathew asked.

"He is my fiancé. I was supposed to be getting married to him tomorrow but instead the admiral is going to have me hung."

He took another step forward; still with his hands behind his back. "He told me you're a pirate . . . Is it true?"

"My full name is Mia Dalhamavaughn," she said and he threw his head a little back. Like his father he knew that name very well.

"Dalhamavaughn as in Capt. Julien Dalhamavaughn?"

"Yes."

"Goodness." The emotion in his face drained. "You are a pirate," he said; like it was the worst possible thing that could ever be. It actually just might have been because knowing his father and his history with the pirates that sailed the waters not too long ago, he knew of the deep hatred he had for them and so if he said he was going to have her hung that was exactly what he was going to do; a fate that immediately had his heart shattered. Admiral Krenan hated pirates with every beating of his heart and he was going to keep killing them until the very last one.

"That doesn't make me a bad person." Mia took another step forward. "I may be the descendant of a pirate but I'm a good person. And from what I've gathered so far, so was he. I didn't come here to hurt anyone, I just came here to do what the time keeper summoned me to do."

"And what is it the time keeper summoned you here to do?" he asked and Mia paused for a moment; wondering to herself if she should tell him the truth or not. Her mind told her no but her heart kept telling her yes; yelling it even as though from the top of a mountain. Mathew was the son of the man who had sentenced her to death by hanging, surely he couldn't be trusted but it wasn't just Mathew who was standing in front of her, it was Peter and Peter was the keeper of her love; there was no way she could keep anything from him and so she decided to tell him. 

Mia told Mathew everything. From her wedding to exactly what the time keeper told her and tasked her to do, even the extremely sensitive bit about the kolossimous scrolls; slowly moving closer to him as she did with him looking at her the entire time like he had never been more allured by anything in his entire life. Looking deeply into her eyes and seeing in them exactly what she saw in his; everything his heart could ever want.

"I can't be hang tomorrow. You have to do something," she said; now standing by the bars, with Mathew still standing where he was before, not wanting to move closer to her lest her beauty render him completely powerless. "If I die then those scrolls will still be out there and as long as they're out there the world will never truly be safe. If they fall into the wrong hands the kolossimous will be awakened and the earth will be destroyed. I have to get to Capt. Zedarh's island, find those scrolls and burn them. Please. This is not just about me. It's about all of us. If those scrolls are found and the kolossimous is awakened . . . All of humanity will be lost. Please."

Mathew paused thinking. She was obviously telling the truth. Not only could he hear it in the way she spoke but he could see it in her eyes as well; the way they were reaching out, he just wanted to lean forward and grab them. There was so much in them; like a book with a thousand pages just dying to be read. She had told him why he was feeling the way he was about her but it was still a lot for him to take in because what he was feeling was just too strong. It was too real and the more he stood there looking at her the more real those feelings became. Who was this woman who had absolutely stolen his heart?