Back in Time (On hiatus)

✨ Exillum ✨

Linh POV:

Linh blinked. She found herself standing in a cold, rocky clearing on a mountain, covered in mist and fog. Tam was standing beside her as always. She peered around curiously. This place looked familiar to her somehow, and as she studied the clearing, she realized with dread that she was in her Exillium uniform. Was this a nightmare? But it can't be. Tam was never with her in those awful nightmares she had been enduring for years. After all, losing him was her biggest fear. So this was reality, it seemed. But she couldn't come back here, wouldn't come back here.

"Linh," Tam started in a dangerously low voice, "Please tell me you don't see what I'm seeing, because I'm about one second away from SHREDDING GISELA TO PIECES! Whenever we see her again, that is," he seethed.

"You're not imagining it. We're really in Exilium," Linh told him.

"Well, why? We didn't do anything illegal, except harboring a criminal," Tam said, pacing back and forth. "And how did we even get here? It's not like we light leaped or teleported." Linh nodded.

"Well, it obviously has something to do with that Elysian woman," she reasoned. "Sophie wouldn't send us here, and I'm pretty sure Lady Gisela can't teleport."

Just as Tam was about to fully lose it and send his shadows out for Gisela's blood, Sophie hailed them through Linh's imparter.

"What's going on?" Tam demanded as soon as her face popped up on the tiny screen. Sophie heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"Elysian sent us back in time. Back to the exact day Fitz found me and took me to the Lost Cities." She explained.

"So, we're stuck here?" Tam's voice was strangely calm, and Linh knew that he was about five seconds away from snapping. She interjected before he could.

"Elysian probably did this for a reason. Maybe she's giving us another chance to fight the Neverseen. Who else got sent back?" she asked.

"Fitz knows, and he told Biana and Maruca what happened. I don't know about everyone else though." Linh nodded, resigned. Then suddenly, Tam spoke up again, this time sounding alarmed.

"Wait, so Elysian sent back everyone who was at that Stellarlune place with us back in time? What about Glimmer?" He panicked slightly. Sophie's eyes went wide.

"I never considered that Elysian would send her back, since she's not in the Black Swan," Sophie admitted, looking a bit put off. "Why don't you hail her and see if she answers? If she doesn't, then I'll try communicating with her telepathically, but if she does, then try to remember that there's a chance she doesn't know you yet. Don't tell her everything, just try to find out if she was sent back with us."

Linh nodded, and hung up to hail Glimmer. Soon, her face - covered by a cloak, of course - showed up on the screen.

"Don'tworryyou'rebackwiththeNeverseentowhenSophiefirstcametotheLostCitesbutwe'llgetyououtoftheresoon," Tam burst out.

When he finally caught his breath, he looked up to see Glimmer looking at him like he had three heads.

"Who are you and why are you threatening to kidnap me out of here? You do realize that I could come hunt you down now that I know your location, right?" She gave a pointed look to the background behind him. "And now I also know that the Black Swan is in Exillium. It was really foolish of you to call me. I could tell Lady Gisela and get a reward, as well as get a team to capture this 'Sophie'," She informed them.

She made as if to hang up, and Tam and Linh's eyes widened to show their growing horror.

"WAIT!" Tam cried out. "Don't tell Lady Gisela, and we'll give you a new life. Aren't you tired of hanging out with them, doing their every bidding?" He asked, trying to make it seem like didn't just spill out all of their plans to the enemy. Linh groaned, and smacked her forehead, shaking her head at Tam. How could he be so stupid, telling Rayni everything, even after Sophie had warned them about it?

Suddenly, Rayni's face broke into a huge grin. "You should see the looks on your faces," she said, laughing. "You don't have to worry about me, Tam. I can survive on my own." she huffed, and added, "The déjà vu is crazy, and I'm sure it is for you too, but don't retrieve me for a while. We've obviously gone back in time somehow, and since I know what the Neverseen are gonna do, I can try to take them down from the inside."

Tam sighed, and nodded. "Ok, but be careful. The last thing we need is the Neverseen finding out our plans and being one step ahead again. And more importantly, you know what they'll do to you if you are caught, right? I'm more worried about that," he said.

Rayni nodded, and smiled slyly. "They'll never catch me, don't worry Tammy." Then she hung up and the screen went black.