Lallielle clutched the outstretched hand. “Why did you leave then, Frannie? I needed you. Aribella needed you. I thought you were dead.” Her voice shook. “I never even told Aribella that you were her aunt. I believed it to be easier since she was never going to meet you.”
Lallielle and I were going to have words soon about this protecting me for my own good thing. It was annoying.
Pulling her arm free, Francesca crossed the room and sank into a chair. She looked exhausted.
“I’ve traveled non-stop for two days to reach you, Lalli. Just give me a chance to explain.”
Taking a calming breath, Lallielle sat next to her.
“I know how angry and hurt you are. I just need you to wait for the end of my story before you berate and question me.”
I found it disturbing to try to track eyes without color, iris or pigmentation. Pure white. As I had that thought, she faced me. I decided it was safe to stare somewhere in the middle of her face.
“Aribella. I knew this would be the moment we met officially. How I wished things would be different for us all.” She tugged nervously on the long strands of free hair. “From the moment I touched you as a baby, three different paths for your future opened up to me. I’ve spent the rest of these years hoping I made the right choice, and watching the future shift and change.”
Lallielle shook her head. “I don’t understand. You told me the poem thing. You never mentioned different outcomes.”
“Always the same, little sister: impatient. Let me tell my story. That poem appears to be technically correct, but I only gave you half the information.”
Lallielle sat straighter, emotions ready to burst forth. But she held her tongue, simply glaring at her white-haired sister.
Francesca was looking at me again. “This is about the Walkers. More importantly, the original Walkers.”
Josian walked into the room. With his hearing and general sneakiness, he’d probably been listening the entire time. For some reason the man was everywhere and knew everything. He leaned against the far wall but didn’t interrupt.
“The worlds are dying. The negative energy from First World is moving into the ether of the six youngling planets. Which of course we already know. But I’ve figured out why.” She looked toward Josian. “Someone’s freeing the Seventine.”
He grew even more rigid as something passed between them.
I looked around the room. “Is this the same Seventine you mentioned earlier?”
Josian shook his head. “That’s just a theory. This is pure legend at this point, Frannie.”
She glared. “You of all people should know that everything legend has a basis in truth, has an origin and a history.”
“Don’t you tell me what I shou–”
“Two are free.”
Josian shook his head. “That’s impossible. There are none left with the knowledge to find them.”
“Someone has figured it out,” Francesca said, before turning to me. “They must be stopped. I have seen that you’re important, although you cannot do it alone.”
I didn’t know what to say.
A sigh drew Francesca’s attention. She reached over to separate Lallielle’s tightly clenched fists and hold both hands.
“I have a confession to make.”
I couldn’t be sure, but the white of her eyes looked pleading.
“When you brought Aribella to me, I didn’t see her early demise. I saw that she had to grow up on Earth. I couldn’t tell you the truth, Lalli, for you loved Aribella too much and would never have parted with her for anything less than her death.”
A single tear trailed down her cheek. “It pained my heart to hurt you, but there was so much more at stake than you even realized. It’s literally the fate of the entire universe.”
The room erupted then. Pretty much everyone started yelling at once. Except for me. I just sat there feeling bemused.
“How could you not tell me the truth, Frannie? And why did Aribella need to be on Earth? What’s this great reason you ripped our family apart?” Lallielle’s loud voice wasn’t the only one.
Josian boomed: “How do you know of the Walkers and Seventine? These are private stories. Who have you spoken with?”
“I told you, Sam. Didn’t I tell you something was happening here?” Lucy had somehow made her way downstairs to hear the last part, Samuel right behind her.
“Yes, Luce, you told me,” he replied in his typical dry manner.
She looked at me. “And let’s put a little more pressure on Abby. Save the world, Abby. Oh, no. Wait. If you’re not too busy – save the universe.”
“Aunty Frannie?” Samuel looked shocked. “I haven’t seen you since I was a child. Where have you been?”
Ignoring the loudness echoing around the room, Lallielle was now muttering in another language, something she tended to do when upset.
I leaned forward in my chair. “What else did you see?” I don’t know why I asked but at least the room quietened again as Francesca spoke.