Now finally, explanations.....

Dredrick smiled ruefully to himself then saw Queen Astra motion for them to go to a side conference room......

As the newest family members were seated (along with trusted political guest and such), Astra turned and nodded thanks to Queen Regent Malachi for the use of her facilities for this meeting, and then began.

"I welcome you to the world of Terra Prime," she smiled, looking at the newest of analogs, "Though your presence was unexpected, it's welcome nonetheless."

The newest analogs smile, already haven been enfolded by the positive nature of analogs meeting analogs (Astra of Terra Prime frowned a bit, remembering tales of less than happy meetings with several other Terran natives and their analogs). So far, House Thessamer and D'Honaire had indeed been blessed by the gods!

Indeed, perhaps the gods had blessed them. The rest of the aristocracy, upon being told by snide mage/seers from the neighboring country who had wanted Walents back (and to hope to stir trouble in the revelation) had informed them that it had been a mere magical effect caused by some Atlantian artifact. The mages (rumored to have been in the employee of the vile Black Market Cult leader, the Crimson King) had instead been crucified for blasphemy..... for that day the skies flashed turquoise had been the day all of Aqualaria truly saw Astra and Willian as being chosen by the gods (and gods help you if you told them differently)!

(Author's Note: the Crimson King, aka Zerm the Unspeakable, had been testing the political waters back in the early days of the re-emergence of Aqaularia....trying to foment rebellion to make things harder for the heroes....and easier for him in the upcoming battle he'd seen coming It had failed miserably, but he'd been confident that he'd win anyway, but it turned out he'd lost).

Astra and Will, unaware of this, were just glad things had worked the way they had, and weren't going to tell the story any differently than what the Aqualarian public at large believed.

"Now, some of you perhaps were wondering exactly just why that RF character had brought you together," she continued, noting some nodding at that, "Well, the mages have not been able to piece everything together, but they've managed to piece together some rather interesting facts."

Sigin Vulpine rose and stepped forward, and smiled quickly over at his love, Rosepaw, and his twelve well behaved kits. Having been "hired" by Queen Astra, the small demi-fox mage was now (besides being her royal magical physician of sorts for her unborn infants) also the spokesman for the Queen when it came to certain matters.....that involved magic.

"Friends and colleagues," the small demifox said merrily, "As you know there are other worlds....universe out there where events unfolded differently than our own...."

A wry chuckle escaped from the crowd. If events in recent past hadn't proven this so, then nothing would prove it.

"Also we know that certain versions of people who are evil in this universe aren't so in others," the mage went on.

Probe and Fred the manfox nodded at that. Probe remembered being ashamed, finally, at having doubted Elrondir's character when he'd revealed himself being an analog of the vile Seeker (the cursing session that the elf had with the shattered jewel imprisoned "brother" had been almost funny....in macbre way). The elf had been most disappointed to have missed the execution. The manfox remembered his elfin brother's loud and sincere testimony on his world's version of Duke Zular on how the whiley young duke had saved the then human (and named Fred) Gilmuriel from death from poisoning.

Amazing.

"So what I have to show next will be......believable....but let me tell you I myself went over the evidence myself before I fully believed it," Sigin Vulpine finishes.

He then plays the magical recording he'd obtained from his conversation back in episode 10230.

"This is the Dragon Mage Minestus.....leader of my small but hardy Dragon Circle....a Circle made of romantics and fools....myself included for bucking the tides....for being renegades.....ah, but to the task at hand.

Hopefully circumstances turn out better than I hope and the hasty spells I've cast to protect this strange lad will protect him from whatever that mad demon has in store. I'd stay and protect the boy myself, but demands are that I and my Circle must fly all over the Tiamat cursed land of this alien world.....trying to lessen and stop the chaos this Flagg character has unleashed by it's henchmen....and that evil bastard version of myself. I and my comrades have slain my evil analog brother.....no regrets there. We, however, find that we must now fight creatures called giants.....and they are everywhere it seems.

We must fly....and fly fast to block blows and strike hard and fast! I have used the last of the Altantian Cstitis item to raise this poor boy from death and undo what my evil brother has wrought on him. The spell is still working slowly to completion....and I mustn't move the slowly reforming knight....else he'll just die again. In the meantime, I've cast a few spells of mind warding to protect this prone figure.....just in case the fell demon finds and tries to use him for evil purposes. I doubt he'll find the boy....seeing that his crony had killed him in the first place....but then again the corpse's Matrix shows signs of having been altered and Anchored. I've only the smallest of knowledge of Chronomagery....but his aura shows signs of something called being time orphaned from what I can see......

Minestus' voice sighs and then continues.....

For whoever hears this let me assure you that I tried my best.....that not all dragons are evil.....that I am not like the dragon of this alien Terra I and my Circle have been sent by the Rule and Agent. I hope that through the opportunity that Tiamat seems to have given me by me and my Circle...as well as my worlds Astra (who I call friend) and my world version of this man before me (thank Tiamat that the Shoggoth was driven from him!) becoming Champions..... we can do good to undo the damage others of my kind have done....and eventually bring Dragonkind and all of the other People together in peace and harmony. If not, then let me at least be able to do some good along the way......as I go through eternity......

I've been too long and must stop an ambush my Moreau has spotted from afar while winging her way to yet another crisis.... Hopefully, I'll be able to halt it before whatever these monsters called giants can attack whatever human convey or whatever......

Wish me luck.

I hope that this message is gotten by whatever mage examines this young man.....and that the circumstances of the examination are happy ones.

I must fly. Out.

"I have trust in my mages and they assure me that what they've seen in this Fred...the magical signs conform to what this Minestus said in as far as him blocking a demonic magic and such," Anina finishes. "We have much to try to figure out....but right now I am having our newest friends put on Probe's shuttlecraft."

"So.....the demon known as RF planned enspelling me to betray my love....and my friends," Fred 10 said softly as Astra 10 held his hand to give comfort, "And so my supposed half remembered nightmares had indeed happened as I remember. I owe this dragon......much."

Murmurs and nods at that statement.

"But thankfully it didn't happen," Sigin put in, "And what makes this really interesting is that the spell residue of this good Minestus has the same....er.....physic signature that I and the other mages get from our two elfin friends here (who I'd suggest getting their hair style changes so as to not be confused with their elfin twins).

"As for their story," the demifox concluded as the two elves stood (with their adopted daughter carried up with them) and went to the head of the table.

They relay the story as they know it.....(re: 3984, 10149, 10152, 10169).

The old sage directed the child's body which housed the mind of the warrior woman to a cushion upon which she could sit. Astra of Aquilaria, enjoying the vigor only a young girl's body could provide, leapt eagerly into the cushion. Myrddin sat in a tall chair made from what appeared to be antlers bound together, and stroked his beard as he scrutinized her.

"Child," he said, "I would be lying if I said your appearance here didn't frighten me."

"Why's that?"

"Well, lass, the reason is, by all rights, I should have known you were coming. Every moment, right up until the time of my eventual death after I have been forced to flee Beacon Mountain and live in the wilds east of the province of Anfang, I have seen already. I know I am to die with the dagger of one of the madmen of the Court of Fools lodged in my chest, upon which they will heap stones upon my corpse and it shall become the site of my mockery. You, however, I do not know. You I have not seen in my visions as I spiral towards my own doom. That, I am led to believe, is an impossibility."

"That could well be," Astra said, "were it not for the fact that I believe magick is involved. I was sent here shortly after being trapped in an immense grandfather clock"

Myrddin's brow furrowed at this, his eyes showing recognition.

"Why my poor child, you've come unstuck!"

"Unstuck?"

"Yes! Unstuck! Anchorless! Adrift!"

"What on earth do you mean?"

"That clock you mentioned was once the plaything of the Hecatonhire, the hundred-headed giants. They are now exiled from the lands of men, but they dabbled in the arts of Chronomancy. You are now without an anchor, for such is the purpose of the clock. It strips one of the chains that bind them to their own time. After doing this, one may learn the fell art of Chronomancy, as only the Anchorless can truly practice it. However, as you could not be trained after it set you Adrift, you're merely moving through time aimlessly. I have to give you a new Anchor, or you may well shift again, and again, and again, eventually dissipating to nothing."

"What do I have to do to get an anchor?"

"Well, child, were this another time, it might have been simpler. For instance, were you yet to be born, or already dead, I could simply tie you right now. However, your childhood self exists here. This makes things more complicated. You see, I need to make you a different person. I need to pull aspects of you from other timelines, make you diverge enough to become stable, and then I need to give you a new true name..."

First, Astra has some questions she would like answered.

Astra wanted the concept of other timelines to be explained to her. When Myrddin had finished, she asked: "So what would happen to the other 'me' that you take aspects from?" "As far as I can tell, she would be unaware of anything happening and would not be harmed in any way." "Good. I wouldn't want to cause any harm to the other 'me'. And I'll be restored to adulthood?" "Yes. One of the aspects that I'll take from the other you is her body at its current age." "And whose memories will I have? Hers, my own, or both sets of memories?"

You will have two complete sets of memories, both hers and your own."

"You see, you would be both your 'sister' and yourself. To be honest, I'm not sure if your personalities would merge fully, though all the scrolls and tomes seem to indicate that. You would certainly have the memories of both. It's a very dodgy process, though. I can't control which of the alternate timelines I pull from, really. I'll have to go with the first one I can firmly grasp, as your time before shifting again may be quite limited. We won't have time to pick and choose, nor will we be able to have a second try at this. I have to pull a divergent enough analog to make you separate from your past self, and then name you in very short order, else we risk you being undone."

It sounded risky to Astra, as though she'd like to think her alternate selves were much like her, there were no guarantees. Indeed, from what the old sage said, he would have to pull from timelines that were wildly different from her own. She wasn't sure if she could deal with that. Still, the alternative was worse than death, it was a drifting dispersion throughout the time stream. She decided that was a more frightening possibility than merging with aspects of any of her "sisters". She let Myrddin begin the ceremony...

Myrddin pulls aspects of Astra from a timeline in which she was transformed into an elf by a strange shaman, and.......oops!

Princess Astra of Aqualaria felt a strange tingling as the ceremony continued. She should have felt memories pouring into her head, memories that she had never had before in her life, and yet they felt completely natural to her. She should have remembered this:

She remembered being freed by Lord Frederigo D'Honaire, going to Doctor Vincent's tower, and being sent to a strange place by a miscast spell, just as she had in her own reality. But, in the other reality, instead of walking into the grandfather clock, she had walked through a demon-ornamented archway into a strange passage which lead to an underground river. And that had made all the difference.

She dove in, knowing that it would lead to freedom and, her strength finally gone, she'd washed up upon a beach and found Frederigo, evidently marooned her. She smiled a faint smile as she passed into unconsciousness.

Later, she awakens and both she and Fred head away from the water, into the woods in a vain hope that they will be able to find some shelter and signs of civlization.

Instead, they find an elven path that leads deeper and deeper into what turns out to be the fell Forest of Xythryx, home of strange magics, monstrous spiders and other less desirable creatures, and often a place of no return and tragedy. Fred accidentally walked head on into a nearly invisible giant web, and Astra had gotten ensnared also as she tried to get Fred's sword to drive off the maker of the web.

She SHOULD HAVE remembered this alien memory.

She should have remembered Fred desperately activating a magical ear-ring that summoned the wizard (shaman to some of his friends) Pronklezilch.

She should remember tricking the indifferent wizard into helping them against the approaching monster spider. She should remember the wizard turning them into elves (she and Fred) and leaving them to their own fates, still deep within the Woods. She should remember basically everything that is told in episode 7366!. Should remember meeting strange people and eventual friends. Should remember meeting an odd person who travels in a blue box that's larger inside than out AND travels through time/space and between several universes. She should remember becoming immortal due to her and several others becoming Champions to beings called Rules and Agents.

These memories should be coming from her twin from the other time stream, but due to the special nature of a Champion, such information is not forthcoming! On the conscious level, that is. Some parts do get through.

Most doesn't due to the fact that the Agents and Rules take care of their own. They do not allow tampering with their Champion's personal Timeline in anyway, shape, or form. In doing this, they protect the very integrity of their Champions lives and existence from those who otherwise could reach back into time, somehow, and erase what is a most vexing obstacle. This protection is wide and broad, and even prevents what COULD, if used for other......less benign and more malign.....means to majorly screw with their Champions (how, exactly, is a tale for latter, if ever).

Instead in memories, Astra is puzzled in the extreme when the arcane phrase of ACCESS DENIED!! flashes through her mind as her body tingles and changes.

She changes. Her child frame blurs and shifts, losing the form of childish youth and taking on the curves of majority.....of womanhood. She does not grow much in size, for the elves of present day do not grow over four feet in height. She does lose a bit of mass as her musculature turns from human to elfin, becoming stronger than what her small stature suggests, but much lighter. Her hips widen and she finds herself filling out her silk chamise in a manner that has become routine since the onset of puberty. Her hair shitfs and changes, grows. But that is only true for the hair on her head (elves don't have any body or facial hair of note). Her hair takes on the tufted, but beautiful form, that her analog has chosen. She finds that her ears wiggle and then grow in size.....then become extremely pointed. She revels in the immensity of the new sounds, smells, and sight her vastly increased sense bring her....much in excess of anyting she's known before as a mere human. She'll find that her reflex have increased dramatically. Shell find that she needs not sleep, only rest to regain stamina (sleep is for humans). She'll find she's unaging (death only from unnatural causes). She finds her outfit shifts from the silk chemise she came in with have changed into the well fitting outfit of green and brown leather jerkin, pants, and boots. She'll find her ears have been pierced and she's wearing golden hooped ear-rings. She'll find she's equipped with the equipment that her counterpart is presently carrrying over in what some would call a Whoniverse.

Presently, she staggers right now as the transformation reaches in and begins to change her mind from human to elfin. The transformation doesn't change her fundamental nature. Astra is still Astra, but it's an Astra who's an elf with a few human quirks....but will react and act like the elfin lass she now is.

The transformation reaches what some call the "heart." It is not the organ that pumps life giving blood. Rather, it reaches into the part of the mind that feels love. Her human "heart" changes from human to the fey thing that all elves have.....and the fey, wild thing reaches out (like it's twin inside the one who had been called Astra in another universe before a "shaman" had transformed her).....and suddenly screams in horror as it finds that it's other part.....the animus to it's anima......the other part that is found in this world version of Fred......isn't where it thinks it should be!

Astra's heart had mirrored her other sister's heart, and had reached out to find Fred's heart and soul......

Problem is, that Fred is back uptime....and is in a bit of a pickle. The cry of Astra's elfin heart begins to reach out, magically and psychically, to find it's other part....

"Fred...." Astra whispers softly, weakly, as she falls to her knees.

Myrddin, meanwhile, knows very well that something is amiss, and is fighting desperately to stop what he thinks is imminent disaster for Astra. Why isn't his spell working? He'd said it was a dodgy process, but it seemed to have been working....until just a few seconds ago!

A flash of light and a tremendous tug is the last thing that both the now elfin Astra and the seer feel as an alerted Rule responds to a frantic alarm caused by what appeared to have been tampering.....

1. Meanwhile, the elfin heart of Astra is still reaching out throughout time (piggybacking on the very process that Myridden had been trying to use in his search of a timeline to use) and reaches forward.....and finds Fred.