It's not like we were an important business, or a government office. We were just normal, average people, who happened to have offices in a rambling old house. We had no idea who they were. All we knew was that they had surrounded the building and had lots of guns.

As I stared out my window at the armed camp below, I heard someone enter the room behind me. The man was possibly the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. Although I had never seen him before, he acted as if he had been looking for me. He held a black tunic, a pair of black soft-leather boots, and a large walking stick of dark wood—a staff actually, but no one uses the term staff outside of fantasy novels.

He held out the three items, and said, “These will help. Just wear them.” He was so achingly beautiful that I would have done anything he asked.

The tunic sparked softly as I took it from him, and the shoes and the stick started to glow, just a little. I briefly wondered what technology could do that, but mostly I just wanted him to smile at me. He did, and then left.

The only thing I could think, as things started, was that I hoped everyone would live, that we'd all come out okay.

He was standing there, as we came out of the building. We were being directed onto a bus, but motioned me to stop and walked towards me. I took off the tunic and shoes, and handed them to him, with the walking stick. As he put them into a bag, I noticed that they were no longer glowing and sparking.

“You must come with me,” he said, and took my hand. I looked back at my friends once, and then got into the car.

We pulled up to a large building, where there were a group of people there, waiting. As we got out of the car, the beautiful man gave a sudden cry of surprise and then ran forward into the arms of a small woman with short dark hair. The rest of the group paid no attention to me so for lack of anything better to do, I followed them into the building.

When I entered the large rotunda I was struck by the magnificence of the place, and must have stood staring for a few moments, because I suddenly realized that the beautiful man and the group that came to meet him were all gone, lost in the crowd. Not knowing what else to do I started walking slowly towards the large doorway at the opposite end of the rotunda.

As I walked, I decided that the building reminded me of a courthouse. It was majestic, with marble columns and high ceilings, and wide open atriums and halls. I wandered through the building, bemused, ignored by the people I passed, simply watching the comings and goings.

“Come with me.”

The voice behind me startled me out of my reverie. It was definitely a male, dark and resonant, a rather lovely voice actually. I turned around and saw the man behind me, he was quite tall and thin, with black hair, dark, dark eyes, and very skin pale. His hair seemed neither straight nor curly, and somehow flowed about his head, down to his shoulders.

He looked me in the eye and again said, “Come with me.”

I followed him through several rooms until we came to a paper box. It looked like a normal paper box where you stick in coins and pull out a paper, until he knelt manipulated a little button that changed what seemed to be the date. I crouched down and looked over his shoulder as he turned the dial until the numbers read 09.16 and a different copy of the paper flipped to the front of the box. I was about to say something about being able to look this stuff up on-line, until the page flipped again and I saw a picture of my friends and myself, back at the house. As I stared over his shoulder at the paper box I whispered hoarsely, “That's me.”

He nodded but said nothing. The picture brought back memories of all that had happened, and I began to replay the events in my mind, remembering everything that had happened. It was all still so confused that even then I still was not precisely sure what had happened. I was still trying to sort it out when I heard the voice of the beautiful man behind me.

“Giving away our secrets already, are we?” I spun around. He was still as beautiful as before, but I wondered how I had failed to notice that in his smile there was something feral, something threatening.

“She is no longer your concern Ateos.” The pale man turned around, and I noticed that the beautiful man--Ateos--seemed taken aback by his presence. “You abandoned her, so you no longer have any hold over her.”

Ateos seemed defensive now. “But,” his tone was no longer glib, “I didn't know Ariana was still alive. That she,” he paused to glance at me, “would save her life.”

“You inability to comprehend the situation is no fault of mine or hers. You need no longer concern yourself with her. Leave us.” The authority in his tone was unmistakable. Ateos took a step backwards, spun around and then stormed off. It was only then, as I glanced back at the paper box, that I realized that page showing in the paper box was a picture of the scene I was remembering before Ateos interrupted my thoughts.

“Follow me.”

The pale man walked down another corridor and I followed, still confused. He led me down a long hallway and into a room. “Wait here.” The panic in my face must have been apparent--my confusion at all the events that made no sense to me, my fear of the threat in Ateos' voice. “I will return.” His voice was softer and somehow reassuring, and then he walked out the door.

I looked around the room, and noticed the tunic, boots, and staff lying on a table. I walked slowly towards them. The seemed so normal lying on the table, a black tunic, black soft-leather boots, and a dark wooden staff. Nothing glowed or sparked, the items just laid there looking mundane. I stood there, staring at the items on the table, for quite awhile.

“Give them to me!” I was startled yet again by a voice behind me. I spun around and saw a boy who looked like a younger, more spoiled version of Ateos. “Give them to me!” he demanded yet again, pointing to the tunic, boots and staff.

“They are not mine,” I said, “I have no right to give them to anyone.”

He stormed over to the table and grabbed the tunic, pulling it to his chest and then reached for the boots.

“Those are not yours.” The pale man stood once again in the room, and walked towards the boy. Your brother thought that while I was,” he paused, glaring at the boy, “out. That he could take control, but he was wrong.” He turned to me. “Take the shirt.”

I reached out, and as soon as I touched the shirt, took it into my hands, sparks jumped. I picked up the boots and the staff, and they again started to glow. I handed all three to the pale man, and they continued to glow while he held them.

The boy looked frightened. “But Death,” he stammered, “we thought you gone! And if you are still here, then how can she...” his voice trailed off.

“My powers, once freely given, and freely accepted, can not be taken away. Ateos was able to bestow my powers while I was,” he again paused, “indisposed. But he does not have the ability to take those powers back. So now she and I will share them.”

He looked at me, and I knew that I was to go with him. As we started out the door, he turned back to the boy. “Tell Ateos that for this, I thank him”

25 August 2003