A recent conversation with Lysire left Unna desiring to try cake. Since Lysire had never gotten the chance to try cake either, Unna saw this as the perfect opportunity to show gratitude to her new friend. Unna went to the market and picked a basic white frosted cake and took it back to the library, where she knew Lysire would most likely be.
As Unna walked in to the Library the first sensation that she felt was cold. Not just any kind of cold but a kind of bitter cold that bit in to the flesh and burned the lungs as she drew in breath. Around her the ruined remains of the building that once was the academic building of the academy. Beyond the shattered walls was a world laid to ruin. The atmosphere was so thick with low hanging clouds that the sun light could barely slip through. What little light that could slip through was further obscured by dust so thick that it could be seen by the naked eye.
Just about every building had been laid flat as if they were fleeing some massive force. Beyond the flattened buildings there was a massive space of nothing. At the center nothing rose the edges of a great earthen ring. The ring now stood where the Kings Palace once stood. To the east there was another large ring of burned and jagged Earth that had been forced upward towards the sky.
Soft snow fell around Unna and atop of the box which contained her gift for Lysire. Snow so fine and soft that Unna was almost fooled. That was until she touched it. Despite the cold, it's touch told Unna the truth. This was no snow. It was ash! All that remained of this city and it's people now slowly drifted down on to her in the form of ash.
"it has happened before. It will happen again" the strange emotionless female voice said behind Unna.
"WHY?" Unna shouted in her mind, directing her thoughts to the voice, attempting to communicate through telepathy (roll 15, plus 11 modifier, total 26). This all happened in an instant, as she turned around to the source of the voice coming from behind her. She held the box containing the cake carefully. She was starting to get used to this happening, with the unsolicited visions and the cold voice. She wasn't going to allow it to scare her into ruining the cake she got for Lysire. She knew it would be over soon, but she wanted to hold onto this vision long enough to hopefully see a clue.
Unna noticed that she had two types of visions: the ones she intentionally had, and the ones that came to her unprovoked. She had started to believe earlier that day that the voice was the source of these unsolicited visions.
Unna turned to face a woman in a red cloak. She was a bit startled, because she wasn't expecting to actually see anyone! As shocked as she was, she held onto the box containing the cake. She wasn't going to let it go. She stepped closer to the cloaked figure and then saw who it was. Amanda Seyfried? No! It was Lysire, but older.
Unna did not open her mouth. She didn't want to appear to be talking to herself in the real world, just in case anybody was there to see. "What is going on here?" She thought, wondering if the voice could read her thoughts.
"She is confused" said the older version of Lysire.
A new voice drew Unna's attention to a table where a younger version of Lysire set. "Maybe we have scared her. Should we leave her be." This girl was dressed in a fine gown fit a princess.
"No, we need her to understand" said a third version of Lysire said from a nearby broken section of wall. This version was what Unna was more used to seeing. "She wants to know answers of us. We should answer her."
The older version walked forward, "she speaks through her mind. She doesn't understand we speak to her. Does she fear what she sees?"
Unna looked around to see the three versions of Lysire. The future and past forms were a bit startling, but Unna couldn't help but smile a little at the present form of Lysire.
"Confused? Definitely," she communicated through her mind in response to The Ghost of Lysire's Future. "This is all so new to me.
"Yes, this is startling," Unna silently beckonede to The Ghost of Lysire's Past, "but please do not leave me be."
Unna smiled to the third Lysire, the Ghost of Lysire's Present, was it? "You know me well, already, friend. I do want to understand. I do not know where to begin asking questions, so I will ask what is this I am experiencing?"
"I speak through my mind, because my physical body is still in the library and I do not want to call more attention to myself than I already am holding this cake. I don't want anyone to know why is happening right now. Yes, I am a little afraid, but the one who said I want answers is correct. I am willing to face this fear to understand"
If Unna learned one thing in class, which she most certainly learned more than, she learned that she was the only one seeing these visions and everyone else could see her behavior as she had them. This is why Unna was keeping her mouth closed and opting to communicate silently. It was more for the fear that whoever was around would think she was hallucinating or, even worse, talking to imaginary friends. Now that would make her look like a loser in this school. If she was ever to have anyone listen to her about the fiery future that was unfolding before her, she would need to at least appear sane!
All this time, Unna held onto the cake. She was not going to allow harm to come to the cake. It even had a special inscription, "Happy New Friends!" With cute little outlines of their faces all surrounded in frosting flowers.
"She doesn't recognize where she is" said the present version of Lysire. She moved from the wall and stepped out in to the rubble of the city. "A place she should know well."
The younger version of Lysire looked confused, "how could she expect to know us. We haven't met her before."
"We have met her many times. She is the cause of our death," the older version of Lysire said softly.
The present version sighed heavily, "we are not who she thinks we are. We have not met her, we are friends and she is the one who will cause our death." She kneeled down and picked up a hand full of dirt and ash. "Why does she seem to hold on to such things while we need her to understand."
"Am I in the future of the academy?" Unna asked. "Is this the future after the war and explosions?"
"How am I the cause of your deaths?" Unna began to hold back tears. "Please, tell me. How can I save you? I do not want to ever be the cause of your death. How do I stop it?"
"What do you need for me to understand?" Unna begged as she watched the present version of Lysire pick up the dirt and ashes. "Please! Just tell me!"
The younger version of Lysire slid off the broken table and moved over to Unna, "it's strange how she is so fearful of something yet to come. We don't know her yet, yet she fears our death."
"Her kind doesn't understand that all things must pass on" the older version of Lysire slid. Then added, "even we had to pass from her world to ours."
"Some have moved on freely in their time," the present version said. "Others, like us, we taken before our time. But she has become blind to what is before her. She thinks this future. She doesn't understand she doesn't live in the future."
The younger version reached out and touched Unna's face so softly. "She doesn't see her homeworld as it is. We feel sadness for her."
"Of course I fear your death," Unna urged, looking at the youngest Lysire. "Perhaps we haven't met, but I am fond of a girl named Lysire who looks like you. If I can stop your death, then I will."
"I know that people must pass on," Unna's eyes widened and focused on the oldest Lysire. "But if I caused you to pass on in my future, then maybe I can stop it. Please tell me wha happened to you, if you can."
"I don't want for you to be taken before your time!" Unna silently said to the present Lysire. "How do I keep you from being taken before it is your time? What is before me?"
Unna breathed heavily as the young Lysire touched her face. "What does this have to do with my home world? What happened to you?"
The younger Lysire sighed heavily, "fear grips her now. Maybe we should show her what is to come."
"No!" Cried the older version, "we know such things are forbidden. She must not know what must happen. Only what could be."
The present version of Lysire returned to the group, "she already learned more then we expected of her. She must learn to look and see that it has happened before."
The younger version carefully guided Unna's face till she was looking at her, "it will happen again. She must see the death we feel. The suffering we feel. She must know what we are showing her."