Alaric’s eyes flicked down to Anna’s small hand on his arm then back to her face again, searching her expression. Checking her over. This wasn’t her physical self of course but the relief at seeing her like this, sixteen and healthy again, was undeniable. It’d been so surreal to see her future self, eight years older and worn down by grief and loss in a way that made Alaric sick to think about. There was a hollow, empty feeling deep in his chest now, knowing that he’d left that Anna behind to an unknown future. He’d always felt protective of her, responsible for her wellbeing as her guardian, but now that he knew he’d failed her once in another life he was even more determined to make things right. To prevent her from ever having to become the person she’d been forced to be there.
Now that she speaking to him it was all coming back through the haze of dreaming. The mission was finally over but the work wasn’t done. They’d been brought back to the present and back to the school. He had heard that people aside from those who’d been brought on the mission had gone missing as well but he didn’t realize yet that Anna had been one of them. He’d been brought straight to the medlabs and in the chaos of everyone returning and in his current state of exhaustion he hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with her yet. Not in person at least. But she was here now, they could talk like this instead.
Her presence within his mind was served as focal point of sorts like always, a tether to reality and the outside world, and as he began to regain awareness the dream began to calm and stabilize around them. The walls were steady and solid once more and outside the rumbling and the sounds of violence began to quiet some. Alaric couldn’t help but wonder what she might have seen in his head those months his future self had been comatose. He decided immediately that it was for the best that neither of them would ever know the answer now. Not if things continued to go to plan, at least.
”I know, I know. Outside doesn’t matter now, we have to talk,” he said, taking her by the arm to steer her away from the now closed window. He wasn’t worried about his leg, it would heal, and he wasn’t ready to go into all of the ugly details of what he’d seen just yet. Not when he remembered now what it was that he needed to do. There was nothing he needed to make right now because he was back in 2018 but there were much more pressing things that he needed to discuss with her.
”I saw you there. In the future,” he told her urgently. ”Your... older self. It’s your powers that cause it after all, the memory loss. Anna, you can’t use your power to take secrets anymore, you have to promise me that you won’t do it anymore.”