[Brazil – Years in the Past]

Maria jumped back and scanned the area, trying to locate the source of the voice. A woman’s silhouette emerged in the ring's vista, staring at the girl for a few seconds.

“Well done, but it is far too early for you to come here, child,” said the voice, harsh and loud yet calming. It was not speaking in English or Portuguese, the languages that Maria knew, yet she found that she could understand.

“Who are you?” Maria asked, startled to hear that she was replying in the woman’s language.

“Impressive,” mused the woman. “So... you are destined to be one of them, it seems.”

“Who are you, ma'am?” Maria asked again. “I am not allowed to talk to strangers, so I can't talk to you unless I know who you are.”

The woman chuckled. “That is wise counsel. We will get to that soon. But you have asked the wrong question, dear. The question you should be asking is: Who are you?”

“That’s simple, ma'am. I’m Maria. My Daddy is William, my Mommy's name is Tonya, my Grammy is called Lynne, my GramGram's name is Tané, and I live at --”

A laugh came from the ring. “So sweet a twist in destiny. You are much, much more than you know. Come closer, dear, but do not touch the image.”

“No, ma'am. I won't. You haven’t answered my question yet.”

“That is true. You are wise to be wary. Let me ease your mind, child. In truth, we are related. To finish your sentence from before, the man mated to your – GramGram was it – that is so RICH!”

The woman paused to press a hand to her lips to stifle a chuckle before resuming her composure and continuing, “That man's name is Lynmer. I am his sister. I doubt that you could pronounce my given name, but the name given to me by Tané when she was here was ‘Isabella’.”

The woman stepped forward into view. She was tall with long hair of a color that shimmered prismatic colors as she moved. She wore glimmering robes and was stunningly gorgeous, looking almost like the elves described in the fantasy books Maria had read.

A young boy wearing black robes with bright red hair ran up behind Isabella and stood watching. Isabella waved her hand in a circle and her eyes gleamed. “Oh my! What a beauty you will be,” she said.

“Nah!” said the boy. “Too big!” he pantomimed breasts.

The woman spun, “Marcus! That was rude! You apologize this instant.”

The boy stepped forward, but stayed out of arm's reach. He bowed, “Sorry, booby girl,” he said and ran off.

“I apologize for him --”

“That's alright, I guess,” Maria said confused. “What was he talking about?”

“He's gifted at hiding his presence, especially for a Red. A talent that will make him a hero some day. I asked the portal to show me your future form. It shows the form in its natural state.” When Isabella saw that the young girl didn't understand, she stopped. “Never you mind.”

“Earlier, you said that there was a question I should ask. So: Who am I?”

“You are a treasure!” Isabella said admiringly. “So young, yet so intelligent.” She stared hard at Maria. “Can you keep a solemn promise to keep a very important secret?”

“Secret? Daddy and Grammy know all the secrets in the world.”

“Not these secrets. These secrets only you will know, and only you can know. To let anyone else know about them could lead to your death. Do you understand?”

“Then should I know? I don't want to die,” Maria asked, shaken.

“You make a good point. However, this is a singular opportunity. If you use this knowledge well, you can be prepared for an event that can forever change the course of two worlds.”

“A whole two worlds?” Maria asked.

“Yes.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye!” the young girl recited following the motions of the rhyme with her hands.

“Does that mean ‘Yes’?” Isabella asked.

“Uh huh,” Maria nodded.

Isabella chuckled. “My dear, you are one of six people who have been chosen by destiny to be an Empress. Your – what's the word... husband – has already been chosen for you, especially for you. He will be everything you could ever wish for and will be totally devoted to you. On, or around, your day of adulthood he will appear before you and --”

“There are a lot of boys here. Most of them are icky!” Maria said acting like she was vomiting. “Especially my brother, Martin. He’s two years old. He’s loud, mean, and gross – he poops in his pants. And there’s Jason at the park. He eats dirt and worms. Then he tries to kiss the girls. YUCK! He tricked Alison into eating a mud pie yesterday --”

“Do you wish to see him?” Isabella asked.

“Who?”

“The boy who will be your husband,” Isabella said.

“Is he icky?”

“I don’t know, child. I haven’t met him,” Isabella tried to explain.

“Then how will I know it is him?” Maria asked.

Isabella sighed, “Trust me, child. It will be. But you will only be able to see him for a moment. The technique is complex, and I cannot control it. The amount of time you can see him will depend on your own strength. Then it will fade and, most likely, the connection between us will break. I must emphasize, NO ONE – NOT EVEN YOUR PARENTS – can know what I have told you. And no one can know about this room. Is that clear?”

“Yes. ma'am.”

“Then goodbye, child.” She began chanting, speaking in incantations for a long time. She waved both arms in a grand circle and the image in the portal changed.

Maria was looking at two boys her age. They were bathing in a creek and were splashing and wrestling in ankle deep water but it was a soundless image. The first boy she saw had black hair and dark blue eyes.

Then the other came into view and her heart jumped. He had brown hair and piercing green eyes. He stood fully and clearly visible in the image. For a moment the boy seemed to look right at Maria, but then other boy grabbed him from behind trying to lift him. Their feet slipped on the muddy bottom and Maria watched as the two boys fell laughing into the water. The ring went dark.

Maria felt faint and put her hand to her forehead as she panted from exhaustion. She turned and started back to leave the labyrinth. The image of the boy was etched in her mind. “I wonder what his name is?”

No one ever found out about her visit, or the subsequent visits that she made as the years went by.

Using her innate intelligence, Maria made herself useful. She was eventually, in unofficial terms, allowed membership into the organization. Her grandmother was the protective type and was adamant that Maria only perform duties that didn't require field work.

On those occasions where she was allowed into the North American facility, she would find a reason to slip away and talk to the great sage Isabella. She learned much about what was going on, and at the end of each session, she caught glimpses of her intended the same way as before. After every time, she found herself more and more taken with him. By her last visit, on her seventeenth birthday, she harbored no doubts about her destiny, and absolutely no doubts about what her plan was for when he arrived. She would leave for university in Brazil that spring, but education was not her motivation for going.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

---

A mocking comment interrupted Maria's thoughts. A group of girls had started insulting her as she passed by.

Maria made the mistake of looking their way.

“Yeah, we’re talking about you, yankee whore,” one yelled.

“Who are you screwing tonight, yankee?” another followed.

She drew herself up and picked up her pace as the women laughed at her in the distance, her ears growing hot as she felt her anxiety ramping up. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? She never dressed in flashy enough ways to warrant the kind of attention that her naturally voluptuous body garnered.

Despite her intelligence and physique, Maria had always been a loner, and learning her destiny at such an early age had enhanced that trait. Her social skills were ranked close to the bottom of the scale. She had no friends that she could enumerate outside of family, but that was fine with her. She knew that the friend who really counted was coming for her and she counted down the days.

Looking behind her, Maria noted that, as usual, she had started an unintentional mini-parade, or more accurately, a collection of rake-ish young men more interested in conquest. Luckily for her, this was a relatively conservative university, as one would expect of a campus operated by the Catholic Archdiocese. Usually, most would eventually fall away as they lost their nerve or as their quarry reached her goal before they could intercept. Occasionally though, one would have the fortitude to actually make an attempt. Such was the case now.

“Hi there, beautiful,” he started. At least he started out tastefully. That wasn't always the case.

“Hello, um, I’m actually in a hurry.” she tried to brush him off politely, her Portuguese slightly stiff. While she was quite proficient in understanding written Portuguese or Portuguese that was spoken to her, Maria’s skills in actually speaking the language were not as well developed – she still had a tendency to speak using the highly formal but awkward methods taught in textbooks.

The boy chuckled a bit at her accent. “What’s the rush? We could talk on the way, I’m headed to class myself. What classes are you taking?”

“I'm sorry, Mr....”

“David.”

“Mr. David. You seem like a nice enough fellow, however I have never seen you before now and I really am in quite a hurry. Besides that, I must inform you that I am betrothed.”

“Oh. Is your future husband with you on campus?”

“No, he is not. He probably isn't even in the country right now.”

“Well, then it’s all good. What would be the harm then if we were just to go out for a meal, and had a quick romp in the sack? We could keep it physical only, no entanglements.”

So much for keeping it classy, Maria thought to herself. “Look, I'm flattered, but no. I really must get to class. Goodbye.”

She spun around and quickly entered the closest building, the man thankfully not deciding to follow her any further.

The instructional day had been otherwise uneventful and Maria finished the last class of the day with a sigh. She decided that it would probably be a good idea to visit the chapel now and ask for forgiveness for her earlier lie. While she hadn't lied about being betrothed, the person to whom she was to be married wasn't available yet. Any time now, she estimated.

Her birthday had been a bit over a week ago. She had finally reached eighteen, but she wasn't sure that constituted the “adulthood” in Isabella's definition. She had asked many, many times. Isabella had always chided her: “The time will come when it comes, child. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up. Especially for you, adulthood lasts for so long. Enjoy your childhood while you have it.”

She surveyed the area and, seeing no lurking predators, she hurried to the chapel to prevent any potential encounters with them. Once inside, she went through her usual routines. The chapel was as dim as always, with light coming only from the ceremonial candles and the outside, filtering through the thick stained glass windows. Finding a seat in the pews, she began reciting her Hail Marys.

After what she considered an appropriate amount of time for penance, she rose and started for the doors. She was half-way back down the aisle when the chapel lit up from a lightning strike. The whole building shook from the thunderclap that was amplified by the acoustics of the hall. Stopping for a moment to allow her eyes to readjust after the flash, she heard the rain start pounding on the roof.

“That’s just great. I didn't bring an umbrella today.”

Her luck was running against her. There were no umbrellas leftover at the door, but she was able to find a plastic shopping bag to cover her book satchel with. Stepping onto the chapel's landing she saw that the rain was coming down in waves, sometimes lightly, sometimes in downpours so dense that she couldn't see more than a meter ahead.

“I would be on the opposite side of the campus from my apartment building,” she groused, watching other students scattering into instructional buildings. “Well, standing here isn't getting me home.”

She drew in a breath and then stepped out into the rain. The rain was a warm shower when she started out, but became a cold storm as she walked. She was about half across campus when the storm hit with its full fury. She ran to a nearby maintenance shed to try to get out of the downpour only to find that the building was a restricted access area and it had no place to escape the rain. She looked around and saw that she was in an area of the campus that was set aside as green space. There were no other buildings in her immediate vicinity.

The storm was growing in intensity and she was starting to become worried. Despite being mid-afternoon, the daylight was failing under the heavy cloud cover and she was a fair way from her apartment. She had already gotten soaked just getting under the meager shelter.

Her day had gone horribly thus far and she was glad that she had the rest of the day off. Maria sneered at the world in general. Looking at her watch, she saw that the rain had gotten into the face and it was fogging up.

“Great!” she raged as she whipped her arm in an effort to clear the glass. “I can't believe that it is already 5 PM! Where did my day go?”

Maria's stomach growled and she opened her satchel to find that she had neglected to bring her lunch. In a huff, she dropped to the ground only to sit in a puddle of dark mud that had collected from the runoff. As she felt the puddle drench her clothes through to her underwear, she put her forehead into her knees. “Can this day get any worse?” she asked miserably, feeling persecuted by the world.

“I thought I could handle being away from home for at least this long!” she whined. “It’s like I don’t even belong here.” She moaned bitterly, staring at her fogged over watch.

Suddenly the image popped into her head again, a red haired boy wearing a black robe: “Booby girl!” She stood up defiantly, “I am going to punch him in his nose! When I get over there, I’m going to track him down and I’m going to bloody his nose!” she said, punching a phantom red headed boy. Maria snatched a deep red passion fruit from the branch of a nearby vine. She envisioned a particular boy's visage on the fruit's red surface, then plunging her long, sharp thumbnails through the rind, she violently ripped the fruit open. She took a moment to retrieve her satchel, and then viciously bit into the fruit, swallowing the piece whole for effect, rind and all. Ignoring the cold rain she started walking toward her apartment, munching on the flesh of the delicious fruit.

The downpours had turned ice cold, and she felt panic starting to rise. She spotted a break in the rain ahead and hurried toward it. As she moved, lightning struck nearby and the thunder knocked her to the ground. When she got up, the break in the rain passed over her, providing some relief as the lighter rain was warm and not as persistent. She continued toward her apartment and ran into the coldest rain yet, with small hailstones bouncing around her. As her apartment building came into view, the storm intensified, adding larger hail to the mix. Trying to calm herself, Maria started talking to herself, "Almost home. You can do it, Maria. It's just a little bit farther." She ran the final 50 meters to reach the entrance to her complex.

With a bit more effort, she was finally successful in opening her door and she entered her apartment. She stepped onto the tiled entryway dripping. She flipped on the lights and saw the mess that was her apartment. There were books everywhere. Papers were strewn wherever they fell. The only areas of the floor that were clear that she could see were the area where she was currently standing, the area around the desk where she did her work, and the bed.

She dropped her satchel and keys onto the floor and proceeded to strip off her icy clothes, letting them fall onto the floor. She walked into the bathroom and sat for a few minutes, allowing her body to warm up from the heat of the apartment. Without realizing it, she drifted off to sleep.

Maria woke with a start and noticed that she was still in the bathroom. “Fell asleep on the pot again, did you?” she chided herself.

She twisted to reach for the toilet paper and felt a horrible pain shoot down her spine. The pain was bad enough that she uttered a few curses before she could stop herself.

“That hurt! I must have wrenched my back somehow in that fall earlier,” she said to herself.

She stretched experimentally and feeling no more pain, she rose from the toilet. She reached a semi-standing position before her legs refused to move anymore and she fell to the floor, flopping around like a fish out of water.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Come on legs, wake up!” she cried as she frantically tried to massage the feeling back into her legs.

Once she could again feel her feet, Maria crawled across the floor, over books and papers, still naked, to her bed. She grumbled and wormed onto the mattress, and went to sleep.

A clock in the apartment somewhere beeped a report that midnight had arrived. A pale green point of dim light slowly appeared under the skin of Maria's back. It expanded until it was in the shape of an iridescent dragon. It buried its teeth into her spine at the base of her skull. Maria twitched in her sleep, trying to scratch at the sensation. The dragon continued to grow until it matched itself with Maria's body. Its talons buried themselves into each of her shoulders, and its hind-claw talons dug into the sides of her hips. The tail encircled itself around her lower hips. The dragon's body had now symmetrically matched itself to Maria's. The dragon spread its wings and wrapped them around the front of her body, covering her whole front in their protective embrace, the upper wing-tip talons covering her throat to her chin. Maria looked to be completely encased in a glowing dragon tattoo. The glow became brighter until the light from it completely filled her apartment. It flared into a final green flash, leaving only a small emerald dragon tattoo on her tailbone.

Maria groaned and rolled onto her side. She scratched at the new mark on her tailbone while muttering unintelligibly in her sleep.

The intruders in her room froze. The two of them smiled at each other and readied their cameras. Two bright white flashes of light disrupted the darkness, and the shadowy figures fled from the room.