Star Crossed In Time

A man with long, solid black hair stands in front of a picture of a beautiful woman in a dark room as men stand in silence behind him. "Eli... we've searched everywhere and we still haven't found her. It's been tens years maybe... Maybe we should just let it go."

Another man steps forward and says "I'll say what he's too afraid to. She's probably dead. The rumors and stories about a star sound like it was about her. They said she died. People can't come back from the dead."

Eli slowly turns around and stares at the man with a cold look before saying "I was willing to move on until I heard stories of her reappearing. I even summoned a Demon.... heh... and what happens? We're closer than we've ever been and suddenly the contract is severed. Do you know what that tells me?"

The two men look to each other before looking back to Eli, shaking their heads 'No'. Eli sneers at the two idiots before him as he says "That means she's back. I would even put money on her as being the one behind the severed contract."

Eli takes a step forward, making the two in front of him step back in fear. "She knows I'm here and she's hiding... There's no point in us hiding now. Let's make our presence known and have her come to us. If I know her at all, she won't be able to turn a blind eye to people dying because of her."

He cracks his neck and says "She'll come to me in time. We just need to make sure everything's ready for when she does. Oh, that's right. Call John here. I want to know how his research is doing." The two men quickly nod their heads as everyone turns to walk out of the room.    

One of the two men comes to a sudden stop at the door before nervously ŀɨċkɨnġ his lips and turning to say "I don't think John's research is ready... something bad could happen if we use it." Eli watches the man with cold, ice-blue eyes as his smile slowly grows. 

"John's time is up. It's time for us to move. I've waited for ten years... I'm not waiting any longer." Eli says with a cruel smile. The man slightly shudders before nodding and quickly leaving. They all came here ten years ago in search of Nova but things have changed in that time.

Eli has always been power-hungry and cruel but since he's gained powers from this world... he's gotten so much worse. He doesn't even know why the bastard is so hung up on the woman! There are tons of other pretty women here, ripe for the taking.

He "Tsks" and keeps walking before finding John. John was currently bent over working on something. The man lifts his hand and knocks on the wooden door frame. John whips his head up and then smiles "Carl! What brings you to my little workshop?"  

Carl sighs and leans against the door frame as he says "Eli wants you to go see him... has it been completed?" John's face falls a bit as he says "It's completed but... I haven't been able to test it correctly. We have no idea if it'll truly work..." 

Carl rubs the back of his neck, sighing again as he says "Hopefully you can convince him to hold off on using it." John takes his gloves off before brushing his robes off. He nervously straightens his back and walks over to find Eli.

As he walks up to the door, he takes a deep breath before lifting his hand to knock. Before his knuckles could hit the wooden door, Eli calls him from the other side. "Enter, John." John slightly shudders before walking in with a nervous smile.

Eli sits in a large chair with a smile on his face saying "I hope you have good news for me." John nervously licks his lips and strains to keep his smile in place as he says "Well.. kinda. It's completed but I haven't been able to run proper tests."

Eli's smile grows as he says "Good news indeed... good. Release it tomorrow morning." John begins to nervously sweat as he says "Eli... I... this could be dangerous. We can't release it without running the proper tests." 

Eli's smile instantly disappears as he narrows his blue eyes on John. "Release it tomorrow morning. You can think of it as 'testing', right?" John feels his heart tremble as he forces himself to nod his head saying "I... I understand." 

Eli's smile is back as he says "Good! Now go get everything ready." John grits his teeth and forces a smile as he nods and quickly leaves. He's lost his damn mind... this will surely be a disaster! John shakes his head and quickly goes back to his 'lab' to prepare.

He nervously bites his lip when he thinks about what could happen... It's not like any of them can return without Eli's permission though. He has those glass vials and refuses to tell anyone where they are. No one can go against him if they want any chance of going back.

Eli slowly stands up and silently walks back over to the painting of the woman. He reaches out and lightly touches her lips before saying "We'll meet again soon, Nova. When that does happen, you'll be begging for my forgiveness."

~~~~~

I try to turn over but I'm restricted. I instantly frown and try to push away but the thing holding me only tightens. I slowly open my eyes and see nothing but Bai Lei's bȧrė ċhėst. My mind struggles to come back online as I finally start piecing things together. 

I reach out and clamp his nose. His dark eyebrows draw together before his red eyes slowly begin to open. He finally releases me to grab my hand. I chuckle and release his nose as I say "Now you kinda know how I feel. Let go, I want to stretch." 

He gives me a lazy smile and says "You can stretch in my arms." My smile quickly disappears as I say "Let go." His lazy smile stays in place as he asks "And if I don't want to?" I give him an evil smile before reaching for his nɨppŀės. 

He quickly releases me with a laugh as he says "You're free! I've seen what you can do!" He chuckles again as I stretch under the warm blankets. "How are you feeling? Are you still tired?" I give him a large smile and say "Nope! I feel refreshed and brand new! How long was I sleeping for?" 

Bai Lei gives me a warm smile as he says "Just for a day. You didn't sleep long at all." I smile in happiness as my stomach decides to 'rumble' with demands for food. Bai Lei's smile grows as he says "Let's go get you something to eat. While I have the kitchen make you something, you can snack on all the fruits Bun has been saving for you." 

I giggle at the thought as Bai Lei's power washes over me. As I pull the sheets back, I was wearing my favorite white and silver dress. I smile at Bai Lei in gratefulness as I get up. He reaches out and grabs my hand while saying "I need to speak to you about something real quick." 

When I see his 'serious face' in place, I quickly sit down on the bed and ask "What is it?" He pulls my hand into his ŀȧp as he gently massages it. When he looks back to me, he asks "You have Mogui's mark on you... are you aware of that?" 

My face turns sour as I say "Yes, I forgot about it though." He looks back down to my hand and continues to rub it as he says "I want to remove it..." He then slowly looks back up to me as he continues to say "And place my own mark. How do you feel about that?"

I blink at him in surprise and think about it for a minute. He watches me closely as I slowly nod my head saying "I think... I think that would be a good idea. Plus, I would feel safer knowing you'd be able to find me if I were to disappear again."

His hands come to a stop as he stares at me in silence. "You're really okay with it? Okay with baring my mark?" I give him a grin and say "Of course! I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't." He pulls me against him as he wraps me in a tight hug. 

My smile grows as I quickly hug him back. How uneasy he must have felt... with all of the emotions, the pain, worry, and jealousy. I know if it was me... I would be pissed. I would be worried and I would be... I would be so very uneasy. 

He strokes my back as he says "I'm just a little worried... it's painful to the one receiving the mark. I don't like the idea of hurting you." I nod my head and 'Hmmm' before saying "It's better for you to hurt me than someone else, right?" Bai Lei's hand on my back freezes as I feel him stiffen.