《The Society of Immortals》


 The First Immortal

    The blue painted, six panel door, appeared to have a fresh layer of paint on it. The gloss had yet to fade from the sun''s abuse of age, the brass fixtures and hinges appeared to be freshly polished; as, in fact, they were. William had been polishing them all day, stopping only after the sun had gone down. Streaks were hard to see in the light of the modern street lamps down both sides of the well lit Avenue. Fog from the bay had already creeped into the avenue, making each door and street lamp appear as amber balls of haze.


    This was the oldest property on the street, having been originally built in seventeen eighty-three. And added to the city''s historic registry in nineteen eighty-seven. William was on duty until midnight, and was not allowed to leave the foyer until his replacement relieved him three hours from now, that included using a toilet, just in case an elder, carrying a sign stopped by unannounced. Tonight marked his third year as a door guard for the Society''s Hall; as well as his eighteenth birthday.


    It was customary in the Society that one would guard the door on one''s birthday, but this was the first time he had performed the duty solo. The last two years the duty was shared with an elder, she had lost her battle with time three months ago at ninety-four years young.


    He sat in the chair the society provided, and rested the guard''s sword against his leg, reading the rules of the guard once more. Not all of the rules were written, but these would be enough to keep his mind occupied.


    A light knock at the door abruptly pulled him from his musings. Standing and taking the Hand-and-a-half longsword in his hands as he had been taught, he stood behind the door, with the sword at the ready.


    "The Blossoms of Orange Continue." He stated the phrase the elders taught him the day he turned fifteen and joined The Society of Immortals.


    "Their nectar becomes the sweetest mead." A very young sounding female voice responded.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Because he would be solo tonight, he was forced to memorize four passphrases, three of which he was instructed to allow a person into the foyer only, and call an elder. One of which, he was told: if he heard it, he was to open any door requested, assist to the best of his ability, and only call an elder if given permission; if the fourth passphrase was spoken, he was to mention it to his relief, and once off duty call every elder in the call book. This was that fourth passphrase.


    He opened the door one handed, the other hand still holding the sword at the ready as he had been taught. A girl, appearing to be in her mid to late teen years, stood there without any clothes on, using her hands to cover herself. She promptly entered the small enclosed room, and shut the blue door with the heel of her left foot, pulling the handle out of William''s hand as she did so.


    Her blue eyes seemed to have a fury behind them, a fury he felt he wanted no part of. Her black hair slung low behind her back, stopping at her posterior.


    "I need some clothes." Her voice seemed to both order William, at the same time request with reverence that he find something suitable.


    "We just recieved a donation today, something in there may fit you." He answered quickly, as he turned to leave the foyer and go deeper into the historic building. He led the nude girl to the room the donations were kept, then stood by the door, so he couldn''t see in.


    After a few minutes of clothes rustling around, she came back through the door, wearing a maroon sweatshirt, at least two sizes too big for her which had the Missouri State University logo, and bear face, on it, as well as a pajama bottom that had comic book characters down both legs, and her hair tied back in a tight bun that wouldn''t look out of place on a performing ballerina.


    "What should I call you?" She inquired.


    "I am William Eric Cooper; please call me Will."


    "I will go by..." She seemed to be deep in thought. "Ophelia."


    "Thats a pretty old name." Will said to her.


    "Really?" She asked surprised. "Well, tell me a name you think will suit me?" She said as a question.


    "You look like either a Taylor or Grace to me." Will answered.


    "Okay, are middle names still a thing?" Will nodded. "Then I''ll take both of those. Taylor Grace Trammel;" she gave a curtsey while saying the name, "pleased to make your aquantance."


    Trammel. She introduced herself as a Trammel, an immortal. William fainted.

 Confirmation With the Elders

    Each new incarnation makes me more and more appreciative of setting up this society. After Will fainted, I found a calender; its been six years since my last death. In my past life I only had to use the Society once; and that was to get documents for identifying myself.


    Will came to as I came back into the donations room. His brown hair, and frameless glasses made the young man appear quite intelligent.


    "Are you awake?" I ask him. "This must be your first time meeting one of us." I say, probing him. He simply nods. "So, I came to, in this body, about six hours ago, I waited till sundown to walk here. Can you tell me who the current government officials are?"


    "The ones you would be asked about would probably be the governor, president, and vice-president." He then gave me their names, as well as the remaining time on their current terms.


    "Shouldn''t you be calling the elders here?" I ask him, remembering the last time I had to use one of these places, nearly eighty years ago.


    "I am only allowed to call if given permission by the one who used your passphrase. There is a phone next to my post for that purpose." He checks his wrist watch, still not looking at me. "I have an hour left on my duty, the person who will be relieving me usually comes early, he should be here within the hour."


    The quick movement of him bolting back to the front door surprised me, but wouldn''t be out of place for the night watch. I walked back to the front following him. "Go ahead and start making your calls. I am going to need paperwork to live in this city again." He nods, and finally lets the sword out of his hand, letting it rest against his hip with the point on the floor. I then notice the chips in the wood floor, all varying in age, from where this was obviously a common practice.


    I sat down in the wooden folding chair, a design I had come up with five lifetimes ago, the only time I can remember waking up, and then living for fifty two years, as a man. Will was still making phone calls when a man, I would say he was in his late forties, walked into,the room from the back of the building. He looked at me, then heard what will was saying on his calls, as he hung up; then dialed another number from memory, then repeated it again.


    "I am Trevor." The new man said to me. "Since he is making those calls, I am guessing you are a Trammel?"


    "I am Taylor Grace." I affirm.


    "What year was your last time in this city?"


    "Eighteen ninety-three, the fourth of August." I answer.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "A little more specific than I was anticipating. Mind if I ask what had happened?"


    "I was ran over by the fire brigade''s carriage. It was quite painful."


    This seemed to shut the man up. Since I never fully explained how my immortality worked, I could assume that he believes that it hadn''t killed me, although it had, I woke up three days later in the body of a five year old, in Manhattan. The youngest I had awoken to since the death of, my friend, Pontius Pilot.


    Old men and women began knocking on the door, showing symbols to Trevor to be allowed in, as Will''s shift was officially over. Most of the entrants gave me a passing dismissive glance, and then walked into the meeting room upstairs.


    "Miss, I shall escort you to the Elder Sanctuary." Will said to me. He had already passed the guard''s sword off to Trevor, and motioned for me to go in front of him.


    I stopped at the door, knowing the protocol I had designed over four thousand years ago for this very purpose.


    "An Immortal requests entrance, the signs have been spoken; the elders have assembled." Will spoke at almost a shout at the closed door, while standing behind me. I felt the point of a dagger rest at the base of my skull, good, the protocols are still followed.


    "Has the neck been scarred?" An elder called out. The dagger is to cut a small incision at this phrase, I feel it break the skin after a brief hesitation. At Will''s gasp, I already know what he has seen. The rapid healing of a Trammel''s body is much faster than normal.


    "The cut has been made, there is no wound or scar." Will says ceremoniously.


    "Enter." A different voice calls out. Will opens the door, and pushes me into the room ahead of himself. "William, what is the meaning of bringing your girlfriend here, while she is wearing those clothes?" The elder obviously doesn''t believe him. Now its my turn.


    "Elder, your procedures are to continue. The guard is not to be asked questions until the identity is confirmed of the one who used the forbidden phrase."


    This rule was never to be taught to a door guard, and once they were taught this, they were no longer allowed to be a guard. Will would never be a guard again. Two women stood, each one bringing an odd shaped piece of wood in each hand. The four pieces were set on the floor in front of me, and the women took two steps back.


    Without instruction, I arranged the four pieces into one of the signs I had taught the Society of Immortals when it was in its infancy.


    "I''m done." I said, and the pieces were promptly picked up, and the women went back to their seats.


    "Young lady, how did you find yourself here?" The rude elder asked. It was a procedural question, not one of actual curiosity. The last step to confirming a Trammel.


    "The dawn of the day changes slowly through the year, until what was once light becomes twighlight, and then darkness; then back again." I sigh. "With this much you should be satisfied, right?"


    The man turned to face Will, "have you taught her these things?"


    "Elder, the first time I saw this Miss, she asked me to give her a name." He seemed angry at being questioned.


    "Elder," I began, "this man is not of sufficient age to have been taught the things he has witnessed here. Anyone who knows these things are to never serve as a guard for the Society for this very reason. Are you admitting to me that you have been teaching these things to the young, and disobeying the orders I made to keep myself safe?"


    It was at this point I realized that this incarnation was going to be a pain in the neck. I don''t think I can leave the Society alone this time.

 Taylor Graces Busy Day

    Immortality.


    It''s a goal of modern medicine. Multitudes of people feel as though they would do anything for more time in this world. I''ve seen it over and over again. From Tribal leaders, to modern Kings.


    Only two Trammels, since I became the first one, have successfully removed this curse from themselves. I had figured out how to give this ability away, and ended up giving it to sixteen others. After we figured out that we couldn''t stop the phenomenon; I never allowed myself to pass it on again, and never told them how to do it.


    It was almost a thousand years later the first one of us died for real. The following year, my only son followed suit. He was the youngest of us. In my seven thousand years of life, he was the last child I bore. This young one, William, reminds me of him. When I first saw him, I felt as though my son hadn''t actually figured out how to embrace the reaper.


    As normal people have figured out new ways to pass information between themselves, it has become more and more difficult for our kind to hide among the masses. We created The Society of Immortals as a way to assist us in getting what we needed to hide, but set it up as a secret society as to reduce the possibility of outside influences.


    We made the penalties, of anyone falsely using the Trammel surname, inside the society, quite severe. With the identifiers I used yesterday, there is no doubt left in the elders of this chapter house, that I am a Trammel. But I doubt they realize:  I am the progenerator of the Trammel family.


    My immortality, is a vessel creation type. Two of our kind are always reborn, they are born, grow old, live their lives, have children, and pass away. Within a year of their passing, they are born once more. Those two never need the services of the society, rather, they generally set up new chapters, to assist those of us who need them, in this new world.


    Most of our kind end up taking over the bodies of orphans, who have been left to die. In a few cases, they die a few times, before being able to get someplace that helps them survive. They are the ones I regret giving this ability to the most. Only one of us has, what normal people consider, true immortality. She doesn''t age, can''t get injured, and hasn''t died in the six and a half thousand years since she met me. She stays in the middle east; in countries where women are required to be covered head to toe outside the home. I couldn''t do it myself, but its how she copes with my mistake.


    My immortality is a bit different. My ability creates a body for me. Usually in a dry cave, or storm drain that stays dry. I, then, live a somewhat normal life, aging about half as fast as those around me. Eventually my body breaks down. And I feel my ability begin looking for a place to construct my next body. I usually get my affairs in order around this time, and secure a few things for my next life. I didn''t have a chance to do anything of the sort this time. I was in a train accident six years ago. This body awoke in the blower room of a derilict road tunnel nearly fifty miles away from the accident site. It took me nearly three hours, traveling only once it became night, and sneaking around, to get to the chapter house.  Few people leave clothes hanging on the line anymore, and a naked girl would immediately be taken to a hospital, or police station, and be assumed a victim of a crime.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I do not want to start my new life that way, again.


    Each new life, my looks are different enough that I am not recognized in photographs, or moving pictures; but close enough to be mistaken as a relative or decendant of my previous self. This body was about five foot tall, I hadnt measured it yet, hair so black that it appeared blue under the natural light of the skylight in this bathroom. My eyes and cheeks appeared European to me. My lips were full, resting under an upturned nose that made my face look like something one would see on the cover of a magazine. My irises were a vibrant cold blue, with a green ring along their outer edges.


    I put the oversized sweater, and pajama pants back on, after having today''s shower. Will''s mom is going to be taking me clothes shopping today, as well as to a doctor''s office. Even though I know I am not suceptable to most diseases; I still need to have proof of vaccination. As well as, because of my appearance, I will be required to attened compulsory education. So all of that is getting set up today.


    History is probably my hardest subject. Having lived through the events, I generally have a different feeling about what parts were important or not. Something about being an inqisitor in Spain, changes my perspective a bit. Did some of my compatriots overstep their bounds, resulting in some of the largest autrocities of the time? Absolutely. And we summarily removed the offending inquisitors as soon as those things came to light. Do I still think the things I did under the decree of the Spanish Inquisition was right? No. Most of us didn''t see ourselves any different than a modern police officer, some of us should have never been allowed a sword. Needless to say, though, is that I end up arguing with history teachers, and professors, a lot.


    An hour after my shower, Leah, Will''s mother, and I enter a shopping mall, and enter a store for women''s undergarments. I am measured, and am surprised to hear this body is a 28C. A fairly easy size of bra to find. My last body was a bit more difficult. As it was late spring, Leah used the Society''s account to also get me a one-piece swimsuit. We then went to a makeup store, where I was checked for possible skin allergies, and then color matched for powders, and foundations.


    Shoes, socks, three pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, two knee length skirts, three button down blouses, two polo shirts, a cheap pack of tank-tops, and two tee shirts were picked up from a box store between the mall and doctor''s office.


    I was then given a round of shots, and recomended to make an appointment with an OB/GYN. Because we used the classic Amnesia excuse with the doctor, she recomended it to get a baseline for any future checkups. I turned it down.


    We then went by the school where Will would be finishing his Junior year. By this point, there was only two hours left in the school day, but I still asked if I could take an aptitude test.


    As the final bell of the day rang; Will entered the room with Leah, and awaited my grade on my final aptitude test: Math. Having studied directly under Euclid, then using his method in every subsequent life, the majority of the test was easy for me.

 Elders Haste

    Its been a week since my reawakening. Ive been living with Will''s family; all of whom are members of the Society. Will''s mother entered the Elder''s Sanctuary for the first time last year, so she hasn''t been taught some of the things that took place a week ago.


    His father was the man to the left of the Presiding Elder, the rude one, who I later found out was his grandfather. And his sister is a member as well, however she attends meetings in another city as she is currently a freshman in college.


    Their guest bedroom is quite nice, and the mattress being adjustable is immediately appreciated. I really wish I had thought of this, or at least knew the person who did; but alas, being immortal, doesn''t mean that I knew everyone, or even every important figure in history.


    Tonight is to be a regular meeting of The Elders of the Society. Next week is a general meeting, but because of the way things went last week, I made it very clear to Leah that I was going tonight. Her constantly testing me when Will wasnt around is getting old, and I could tell she wasn''t doing it on her own. She was being given instructions.


    Seven in the evening came around, and the four of us headed to the meeting, Will seemed stressed out as he had no clue as to what to expect, Rob and Leah seemed anxious, but it was definitely because I refused to be left behind. The evening fog was just starting to roll in, it wouldnt reach the thickness it had the night I awoke, but tonight wouldn''t be far off.


    We went through the doors after giving our various signs; as a Trammel, I only gave the phrase about mead, it was the only way I could consistently get in.


    "State your original name." A woman asked me at the door to the meeting room, called The Elder''s Sanctuary. This was a new face, and a challenge.


    "I am Time, I am Horus, I am Janus, I am Allendale." Her face went pale. And She responded.


    "I am Time, I am Horus, I am Janus, I am Melody." She was one of the two who were born, after each death.


    "I have been given the name Taylor Grace for this lifetime. Please call me Taylor."


    "I am known as Cassie in this life." She says as she gives me a hug. I feel her push he mana into me, verifying who I am. "Do you still burden yourself because of our change?"


    "Always." I said, motioning to the door behind her, indicating its time we go in.


    "Cassie." The rude elder said only her name as we entered the room. I shut the door without touching it, and locked it. Even though he is the Presiding Elder, there is a limit to how rude someone should be to my family, even if he is Will''s grandfather.


    "I have had about enough of your insolence." I say, keeping my power cycling around my throat.


    "Girl, you are fifty years too young to try and threaten me." He replied back.


    "Joseph, you are out of place, out of touch, and have crossed a line you never knew was there." Cassie seemed mad now, "I came here to confirm the presence of a Trammel. I have confirmed the presence of The Trammel. Stand down."


    "How much money did she pay you?" Joseph spat. "These fairy tales end now."


    "Yes, they do." I answered as I pushed my ability into the world, and allowed it to manifest as light. "Only those who know my first name are part of my family. And I will not tolerate them being abused in this manner." I spoke with the authority that my time on this planet has afforded to me. "You said I was fifty years too young to threaten you; young man, you are seven millennia too young to be this rude to me, or my kin."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    It had the desired effect. I cut off the mana in the air, and everything went back to normal. "Do you still wish to callenge my existence, or should we be discussing a new Presiding Elder?" He went pale at this remark, as Presiding Elders have always served until they passed on. There is no removal process, an new one is installed only after the death of the previous one, and they have no say as to who follows them.


    Will, Rob, and Leah seemed to understand they weren''t to interfere. I began speaking again.


    "A door of blueberry, blue, with fittings of brass, shall always be guarded. The guard shall be tested, and entrusted with a longsword. Only allowing in those who have proven their identity. Their primary purpose is to protect the intrinsic truth of The Society of Immortals; that they walk among us." I look around the room. "Does anyone here, doubt that William only allowed entrance to me after assessing my identity; or are you still of mind that his instuctors put an untested guard on duty, alone? Should I punish his instructors, or everyone in this room?" I sigh, "or, have you accepted me, as Cassie has?"


    Unsurprisingly, they accepted me quite readily after that. I really wish I didn''t have to do that. They had business to discuss, Leah had to publicly announce how much money the chapter would be spending because of my doctor''s visit, as well as how much was spent on my clothes. It was approved, unanimously, to allow Leah to be reimbursed for my school supplies she bought from her own money. The public service projects were discussed, which according to the general public is all the Society really does.


    At half past nine in the evening, the meeting was closed, and everyone began filing through the door. Cassie came over to me.


    "It''s good to see you again." She whispered.


    "Thank you. It''s been what, three hundred, three hundred twenty years?"


    "That sounds about right." She smiled at me, the wrinkles on her mid-sixties aged body became more obvious with the gesture. "I am glad to have seen another in this lifetime; and even more elated that it was you. May I have your permission to contact the others, and let them know you are still with us?"


    I nod to her, and feel thirteen wisps of mana leave the room as quick as the gesture.


    "I let you change your mind three centuries ago, I figured to not give you the chance this time darling."


    "I''m still the only one you can''t contact like that, aren''t I?"


    "Yes, but being as I''m the one who met you, word can get out to everyone quickly." As she spoke, I felt tendrils of mana enter the room, and wrap around her. Voices quickly whispered they were on their way here. All thirteen of them. "Well, it looks like we will all be in the same city for the first time in four millennia." She then leaned into me, and whispered. "We''ve been looking for you mom; please let us do this."


    I know I was never her real mom, but hearing that they have been looking for me since we started the Society, my eyes began to water. I felt hands hug me from behind, when Cassie did the same from the front, l lost it. I did something that I promised myself three thousand years ago I would never do again.


    I cried like a little girl.


    After a while I looked to see who held me from behind, it was Leah. Apparently she had been watching Cassie and I whispering, and felt that I needed a hug.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "Allendale has been found. Boston, Massachusetts." The message was quick, and unexpected. Since creating the Society of Immortals, she has fallen off everyone''s maps. I guess the term now is radar, but thats still a relatively new technology.


    I took off the burka I had made, and began walking toward the US embassy. I showed the gate guard the white business card I had in my pocket. The man passed a blacklight over the card, saw the writing, and immediately opened the gate for me.


    "Ambassador Elaine." The man behind the counter stood as he greeted me.


    "I need a flight to the US. Preferably in the New England area, but anywhere in the us, I can get where I am needed from there."


    The man nodded, and began typing on his computer. "If comfort isn''t an issue, we have a C-130 taking off in two hours for Ft. Drum, with a stop over to change planes for an airliner; then a stop for fuel in Shannon, Ireland. We can hold the flight until you arrive by our helicopter."


    "That will be fine. I need clothes that won''t be out of place for my current position."


    "Understood. There is a wardrobe we keep updated for you in the blue room."


    I nod, and go toward the room indicated, take a hot shower, get dressed, grab the empty briefcase, close the handcuff on my wrist, and head to the roof.


    Allendale has been found. Wherever she is, is home. I am going home.

 The Ambassador

    "Just yourself?" The young crewman asks me.


    "Yes, this is an emergency, no time to arrange a guard for me. You are going close to where I need to go." I shout over the engine noise of the plane as I climb the cargo ramp into the aircraft.


    "Ma''am, the spare seat in the cockpit has been set aside for you. The Colonel was quite aggrivated when we told him he had to sit with his men." I nodded at what the airman was telling me. Rank afforded certain privileges, and he was being told he couldn''t use his. I noticed the bird on the chest of a man sitting along one of the walls, the look on his face told me that this is the colonel I was just told about.


    The grey pencil skirt I am wearing would make this particular flight decidedly uncomfortable if I stayed in the cargo hold with this man''s soldiers. Although there were several females present, I would only end up being able to sit in compromising locations. I walked up the narrow stairs to the cockpit, and sat in the extra seat, then placed the headphones on.


    "Welcome aboard, Ambassador." The pilot in the right seat turns to look at me. "We were asked to wait for you, I thought it would be a bit longer, we just completed our checks; are we good to close the ramp."


    "There should be no one aside from myself, your crew, and the soldiers you were told about before you were asked to wait for me."


    He nodded, turned forward, and I heard him give instructions to secure the aircraft. On my way here, I reviewed the flight plan I was given, this leg will be a four hour flight, where everyone would normally have gotten off, and waited a week at the end of this leg, then got onto a commercial airliner for the rest,of the trip. Because of my status, as well as a few things the US government figured out about me in World War II, these guys are jumping the line, and wont be getting off the tarmac.


    We landed at the stopover point twenty minutes ahead of schedule, and the pilots were instructed to keep the aircraft secured, and shut down their engines on one of the taxiways.


    "Why arent the doors opening, if the engines are off?"


    The Colonel had come up to ask.


    "It''s because I am here. You might want to be careful what other questions you ask, I am getting your men home a week earlier than anticipated, but if you ask too many questions you will spend the next month in confinement, along with all of your men, awaiting investigation outcomes."


    "Ma''am, I understand you''re an ambassador, but what authority do you have to get my soldiers home faster?"


    "The answer to that is both long, and would result in you needing to raise your clearance a few levels. Just take this as a win for yourself." I told him the truth. He nodded, seeming to understand, or rather misunderstand, my intentions.


    The airliner was towed alongside our plane, and a covered walkway was made between the two planes. Once that was done, the soldiers were told to leave their gear, and walk through the walkway to the other plane. I put myself in their midst, pointedly between a female Captain, and a female specialist.


    "Stewardess, these two are with me." I said pointing at the two of them.


    "Understood, ma''am. Would you three follow me." She turned to the Steward, "I''ll escort the VIP, and return." The man nodded, and continued to direct people toward different seats.


    The two strangers and I were escorted forward, and we''re directed to an enclosed room. "This is the Stewardess'' cabin, we have already been told to give you access to this room. Don''t worry about inconveniencing us, there are four of these total, and this one is for your exclusive use on this flight."


    "Thank you. Would you mind bringing us some soft drinks once we are in the air?"


    "I will do so personally, Ma''am.".


    Once the stewardess left the room, I faced the two women with me. "I must apologize for pulling you with me, but I find long flights like this boring without conversation partners. Due to my position, I can''t give you a name to refer to me by, so please just refer to me as ''Ambassador''."


    "Ma''am, I am Captain Erica Messing." The light skinned, dark haired woman said to me, she then looked over to the young specialist and elbowed her.


    "Ah! I am Specalist Samantha Reed." The green eyed blonde stated nervously, seeming to realize the situation was well over her head.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "Go ahead and take off the armor, you arent going to need it from here on."


    They comply, and set the heavy Kevlar equipment under two of the seats in the small room. Reed goes to open the window, and Captain Messing stops her.


    "What?"


    "Specalist, you are still inexperienced, so I''ll come out and tell you. There is a lot of unusual things about this flight, and you are most likely in the room with the reason why. It''s not recomended to open the windows."


    "That''s correct. You two will be ordered to attend a seperate debriefing when we get to Fort Drum, and both of you will go through a few security investigations because you have met me."


    Miss Reed looks at me, "So the covered walkway was because of you?"


    "Yes, as was stopping on the tarmac, as well as the immediate takeoff, instead of you staying here for a few days." I sit down in one of the seats. "An emergency came up, and I have to go stateside. I have been in deep-cover for so long that there are only a few people who know my actual purpose." I look the two in the eyes and continue. "You two may be asked to accompany me further on what I am doing, without being allowed leave. It will be stated in a way to make you feel as though you are being ordered; and it will come from a man you are trained to obey. I want you both to seriously think about it, and remember that you can not be ordered to follow me. And if the request is made, and you truly wish to do it: demand both a promotion, and clearance to know what you are getting into."


    "Why would we be asked to follow you?" Messing asked.


    "When you see who does the asking, you will understand. If I were you, Specalist, I would ask for a Warrant officer rank, to protect yourself in the future." Reed nodded as I finished what I had to say. "So, enough of the serious talk. I havent had a decent conversation in years...." I led the conversation away from the serious topic, and we spent the rest of theflight enjoying ourselves. As we landed in Ft. Drum, the Stewardess came to get us.


    "The pilot recieved instructions that you, and those with you are to be let off the plane as soon as the car arrives, you two are to leave your gear here, and go with the Ambassador. Your belongings will be collected by the MPs once we stop." I nod, as I expected this.


    We get led to the stairs, and are let off the plane, with the door closing back behind us. I let the two of them into the limousine first, as I already know who is in the car. I sit down, and look at the two of them, both pale-faced. I then turn to face the third person in the car, as Bertha begins to move.


    "Mr. President, thanks for your assistance in my return."


    "Ambassador, thanks for the Intel you have been sending us. I am guessing you are needing some of your accrued leave time?"


    "Yes, this is a bit of a personal issue."


    "I am guessing these two know the real you?"


    "No, sir. I am unaware of wether or not they have been vetted, so they only know my codename."


    "We''ve already vetted them, they are now yours."


    "I told them it was their choice."


    "Ma''am," Specalist Reed interrupted. "I accept whatever position I am needed in, but as you also stated, my current rank does''t protect me if I am questioned."


    "What about your leave time, you''ve earned it." Captain Messing asks her.


    "I feel as though this is more important, also, what am I going to do with a month of redeployment leave? I was a ward of the state, I have nowhere to go to."


    "Well, when you put it like that, I''m in too, but I agree, we''re getting into something pretty deep if we are getting a personal briefing from the President."


    "That settles it. Ambassador, can you wait until nine hundred tomorrow to leave the area? I''d like to have your guards in appropriate uniforms."


    "They are going to need three full dress uniforms for daily use."


    "Done. As for you two, from this moment on, you are CW5''s. Its the most I can do without briefing Congress. Also, as of this moment, your clearences are raised to Alpha one. Anything you hear around Ambassador, including her real name, you may not divulge to anyone, not even me. There is no challenge or password that can ever be used to over ride this. Understood?"


    "Yes Sir!" They both spoke quickly.


    "Since that is out of the way, our founder has been found." I told the President. "I am going to go meet with them. It''s been around three hundred years since the last time they were seen by one of us."


    "Can I expect any hostility from this?" He asks obviously concerned.


    "No. Think of this as all of us going home for a holiday. This person has some deep regrets, all of us do, but theirs runs very deep. Despite all that has happened, we still love and respect them as a parent."


    "Ambassador, I know that you have been around a lot longer than some believe, is this meeting something that is that rare?"


    I leaned forward in my seat. "Around two thousand years ago, a figure in history was born, holidays and calanders were rearranged to celebrate this person. Our last meeting was two thousand years before that."


    "Ma''am, are you saying you''re immortal?" Messing asked me.


    "Yes, I am six thousand three hundred fourty-two years young. And I am the youngest in the family of Trammels. A surname that should never leave your mouths."


    "Ma''am," Reed started "The Blossoms of Orange Continue."


    "Their Nectar becomes the Sweetest Mead." I respond out of habit. "Wait, when did you join the society?"


    She pulls he dog tags out of her uniform, and shows me a worn out Elder''s emblem. "I am not a member, my grandmother was, she passed away when I was ten. I wasnt taught anything aside from those two phrases, and that name."


    "Mr. President, I will need to ask that you never repeat that."


    "I know what is at stake, I have also seen the video of you laughing in 1949."


    "Why did you have to remind me of that?"


    "What happened in 1949?" Messing asked.


    "I was an army nurse, at Pearl Harbor. I was found out, and sentanced to death by firing squad. It took them a while to get around to it, but they filmed it, when they ran out of ammunition, I started laughing at them. The film was buried, only being shown to the current president when I needed to breif them on something. Eisenhour was fun." Although the last few didn''t believe what they saw. Their loss.

 Gifted

    The incessant buzzing of the fluorescent lights was easy to ignore. Even Tesla knew that people would eventually tune out the droning buzz. Looking like a freshman in high school made the few students in the hall look on in apt curiosity. A few girls in cheer leading outfits were obvious with their ''not impressed'' jealousy. Their class-skipping jock boyfriends had other thoughts on their minds, but were also staring.


    The more things change, the more they stay the same. These are the people who have reached their societal peak. They will never improve beyond this point. But when you are here, living it, it feels as quite the opposite. That the plastics, and the Jocks will go on, never face any hardship, and have red carpets laid out for them into perpetuity. Oh how their world crashes down around them in a few short months.


    I take my hair down, and pick up my brush, giving my scalp a short reprieve from the tight bun I have kept my hair in for my past three lifetimes. Perhaps the ballet style doesn''t suit lithe girls like myself anymore. The cheer leaders all wore folded ponytails, so I gave a few quick brush strokes, and deftly put my hair into the, much easier to mimic, style.


    This got a few of them to scoff, and slap their boyfriends. They should just be glad that that type of guy is so far beneath me that they don''t have a dodo''s chance in a fight. The guidance councelor''s door open, and Leah comes out. All of my paperwork lists me as her niece, so my surname in this life will be Cooper as well.


    "Miss Cooper, can you come in please." The man says somewhat quietly. One of The cheerleaders sees Leah, and seems to recognize her. The door closes behind me, and the man guestures for me to sit down.


    "I have to be honest at this point. I dont think our school is the right fit for Taylor." He says as he sits down. "Other than history, she got nearly perfect marks for the state''s graduation exams. Her mathematical aptitude is in the 97th percentile of the county, and her understanding of Euclidean mathematics is astounding."


    "So what seems to be the problem?" Leah asks the question I had.


    "If she took the ACTs and SATs right now, she could easily enroll in one of the Ivy Leauge schools this fall, her poorest subject, history, can be overlooked with how high even those scores are." He sighed. "If she was a dance, or cheer, student we could probably hide her in elective courses next year, and get her a full ride to almost any university in the states before her sweet sixteen."


    All of my paperwork says that I turned fourteen the day I awoke. So two years from now being in university, sounds nice. But I did that method in my last life. And there were a lot of social things I missed because of that.


    "Sir, what about those Dance classes?" I ask. "I am also familiar with a few instruments, so I should be able to play in your school''s orchestra."


    "Well, that would require a tryout for which instrument you wanted to play. And Our dance program is fiercely competitive. I think we can arrange for tryouts today. Do you think you could fall back on Choir if that doesn''t work out?"


    "Can we talk about that if it happens?" Leah asks. He nods, then picks up his phone and calls a couple of teachers, then motions for us to leave ahead of him.


    "Our first step is the band room, they have a program coming up, so I think you will be hard pressed to get in, so I figured we would try this one first." I nod at his reasoning.


    Once in the room, disonant chords slowly die off as the students see me come in. Only one girl, paying more attention to her sheet music than the others, played an entire measure before stopping.


    "You must be Taylor," the short man behind the podium said. "I am Mr. Holland. Which insturment would you like to try out with?"


    "A Violin." I said plainly, to which several students laughed.


    "She can try with mine." The girl who I noticed on my way in stood and handed me her beautifully crafted instrument.


    "Are you sure? These things are a bit temperamental." I asked her. To which she nodded. I checked the tune, and noticed her E string was slightly flat, and quickly fixed it. "What piece are you playing?"Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Paganinni''s Caprice 17." Mr. Holland announced.


    "Ah, that would explain the violin section''s expressions when I came in." I adjusted my hands, and tightened the bow by a sixteenth of a turn, then began playing with my eyes closed. This piece was quite famous around the time this insturment was invented, and the caprices challenged even the best artisans of the violin, apparently, writing a piece of music considered impossible to play, for a specific instrument will get you noticed; especially when you play it during an intermission without permission of the conductor. I, sadly, missed that event, but I heard about it for years.


    As I pulled the bow down for the last few notes, I opened my eyes and noticed everyone following along in their sheet music. I put the insturment at rest in front of me, and looked toward the teacher. His eyes wide, I barely heard him whisper ''splended'' under his breath. I handed the insturment back to the girl.


    "Your E-key is a little loose, a luthier probably should check it, it started going flat too soon."


    "You noticed that?" She asked.


    "Yeah, whoever made that did a superb job. You should get your next one from the same luthier. Who made it, I''d like to request one."


    "My great-grandfather carved this for me. He passed away last year." My eyes went wide.


    "You brought something like that here; and you let a complete stranger touch it? Girl, that instrument should be in a temperature and humidity controlled shadowbox. I havent heard one that beautiful since the last time I played a Strattavari." I wish I had been kidding, her instrument was beautiful.


    "You''ve been allowed to play a Strattavari?" Mr. Holland asks.


    "Yes, although it''s been a while; I was able to play it during a showing of Beethoven''s 5th." The significance of that insturment was lost on us at the time, but I still remember the feel of that instrument, and how it voiced the entire room.


    "Young lady, if you sign up for any of my classes, you will be first chair."


    "I thank you, however I have other tryouts scheduled today, would you mind if I get back to you?"


    "By all means, what other tryouts do you have?"


    "Show Choir, Dance, and Cheer." The counselor announces.


    "Quite the gambit, well, Welcome to Boston." Mr. Holland says to me, "And Marcy, put your insturment away, and use one of the school''s loaners, I agree that that heirloom is too precious to be used here. Practice with it at home, or use it for our program, but please no more in class." She nodded, and put the instrument away.


    Choir and Dance ended up the same way, but Cheer was a bit out there, and since it was a student vote to decide wether or not you made it: Jealousy won out, and I was even told pretty much that by the girl who sat in the captain''s chair as i changed out of the spare uniform. For once I am glad I ''failed''.


    Leah had this surprised look on her face during dance, as it only took me watching one dancer perform, and I was able to perform the piece as she did. And Show Choir is so easy when, at one point, these songs were the only entertainment in the state.


    Of course in those days, just going to a theater was dangerous. Of course, we didn''t realize at the time that oil line fittings inside the walls could potentially result in the theater being burnt down. But it was fun singing those songs again.


    As I was leaving the locker room from the Cheer tryouts, Will came up to me.


    "How''d it go?" He seemed really anxious


    "As I expected; even got the customary ''stay away from my boyfriend'' speech from the girl who was sitting behind the captain''s sign."


    "Yeah, I wasn''t sure how you''d handle that."


    "Miss Cooper," the Councelor called out, "it''s time we discussed your schedule; are you ready for this?"


    "Sure. But can I get at least one class with my cousin here?"


    "I might be able to arrange that. Mr. Cooper, would that be alright with you?"


    "Its fine, there is only a month and a half until finals, it might be good for her if she could vent to me once in a while."


    The school intercom sounded, and requested a student to come to the office, followed shortly by the class bell, whereby the halls became exceptionally crowded.


    "Shall we go to your office?" I ask, the Councelor nods, and begins to push his way through the throng, while I walked along in his wake, one of the few problems with a lithe body, is situations like this, where others are less apt to move out of the way.


    The rest of the day was deciding what classes I would need to take, and which ones my aptitude scores pushed me out of. Apparently living for seven thousand years, and having a fourteen year old body, makes people think of me as a prodigious genius. I had to take a foreign language, so I took French, another walk in the park for me; but there are modern idioms and metaphores that didn''t exist when I lived there.


    And the class I had with Will: Current Events. Apparently the class is required to watch an evening news program once a week, choose a story, research it further, as well as find an article on the same story, but an opposing view, then class time was a discussion of what they learned, with five to six students presenting a new event each week.


    After the next class bell, I was lead to each of the classrooms that I would have classes, and introduced to the instructors. When I heard how much violins were these days, I immediately decided on taking Show Choir. I was not about to pay over two weeks of a full time job''s wages for a student violin, nor was I going to ask someone to do it for me, to include the Society.

 Movement

    "Ma''am, we have been given diplomatic transport." Reed says to me as she finishes straightening her blazer. The small commuter flight to Boston Harbor was nice, but being met by diplomatic limousines, all flag bearing, is a bit awkward to me. I have spent most of my time, in the past few decades hiding the fact that I am affiliated with any government groups; and now the President has basically made me a domestic ambassador.


    "The meet up should be in a few hours. Cassie said she would be here." I tell my two cohorts.


    "Does your family have a way to contact each other?" Reed asks as she turns to face me, to which I nod.


    "We are all able to contact Cassie, think of her as our communications officer. The only one she cant get ahold of, is the one we call Mother. As far as we know, she has only awoke as a man once, for the rest of her lives, she has been our matriarch." I look over both of their uniforms, my hands much more free since I left the empty brief case with the president. The violet cord on their uniforms, created for this specific duty, rests over their right shoulders, the silver ferrule on the end making it stand out all the more against the Army dress uniforms they are wearing.


    "Ma''am, there is an older woman approaching the plane." I hear from the overhead speakers. I nod, and open the stairs on the plane myself. If she is an assassin, I want to be the one hit.


    When the woman smiles, I know it is Melody; in this life Cassie. But we must abide by our traditions. She begins.


    "I am Time, I am Horus, I am Janus, I am Melody."


    "I am Time, I am Horus, I am Janus, I am Noelle."


    She beams at me. "Its good to see you Sister. I am called Cassie in this life."


    "The same for me. I was found out; so I only have a codename and am burried under so many redacted reports that our White House friend saddled me with these two." Cassie can tell I am joking, and am actually enjoying what I am currently doing. "My codename is Ambassador." We hug each other, passing Mana back and forth to verify who we are. "These are Master Chiefs Erica Messing, and Samantha Reed. Consider them my handlers."


    "Alright, can we be open around them?"


    "Their direct order from the President was to never divulge anything about what is going on, not even to him, unless I give direct permission; we can also consider Reed as a Scociety Innitiate. She has been taught the name, and Forbidden Phrase."


    Cassie nods at me, then faces the two. "If you are with her, then you know how rare this is for us. If you have any ulterior motives, I need to know now. If you meet Mother with anything in your heart aside from assisting us, well let''s just say I wouldn''t want to be you."


    "Ma''am. I have only an inkling of what is happening, although I was ordered to follow and assist Ambassador, I am still a Signal Warrant Officer, and will abide by my orders."


    "Whose Orders?" Cassie asks Chief MessingStolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Ambassador''s." She says without hesitation.


    "What name is Mother using this time?" I asked.


    "Taylor Grace Cooper." Cassie motions in front of herself, and I feel the information course through me, what she looks like, where she is staying, the high school the Society enrolled her in, even her showing at the Elder''s Sanctuary a four days ago.


    "How many others are here?" I ask.


    "You''re the last. Everyone else was already stateside."


    "Ma''am, we''re a bit exposed here; if we dont move soon, reporters will be here. It''s not often a diplomatic plane lands in this airport." Reed reminds me.


    I nod, and motion Cassie into the car. "Where to?" I ask Cassie once we are in the car.


    She gives the driver directions, and we end up at the high school.


    "Ambassador, go inside, leave a message at the office for ''Taylor Cooper'' to come out front once classes have ended for the day." Cassie tells me. Messing puts her hand on my forearm to stop me.


    "This part is my job. We can''t let Cell phone cameras catch you here." She says. I agree, and let her go into the school. She comes out shortly, with a not so happy looking face. "Reed, hand me that paper." She says, holding her hand out flat. Reed takes a paper from the red folder on her lap, and hands it to Messing. It has only a few lines of text on it.


    ''Master Chief Warrant Officer Erica Messing, and Master Chief Warrant Officer Samantha Reed are under my direct authority. Any lawful request given by either shall be considered a request of my office.'' It then goes on in legal speak, and is finally signed by Mr. President. The next time she leaves the building, she is almost skipping.


    "School is out in fifteen minutes, she will be instructed to wait at the door for me." She says, handing back the very dangerous document.


    "I''m surprised that worked. I thought they would think its a fake." Reed Confides.


    "They probably did, but there was so much to process at once that probably didn''t cross their mind until after the message was sent. An unusual military uniform, wants to talk to a new student, and the military person might have ties to the President." Messing instructs Reed.


    ''Overwhelm the opposition with information'' good tactic. I think to myself. I hear the bell ring, and watch as students pour out of the front doors. After a few minutes, I see her. "Reed, I want you to get her.'' I say, I then point out the window, at the girl wearing the knee length skirt, and blue polo shirt. "Thats her there, by the door." She nods, and passes off the red folder, then goes to Taylor.


    Once she is in the car, we go through our meeting ritual, and then confirm each other, as the car begins to move.


    "I thought you were still in the middle east, keeping low."


    "Well kind of, I have been a CIA operative since I survived a firing squad in 1949." I smile at her. Her demeanor immediately falls, and only regret can be seen on her face.


    "I am sorry you had to go through that." Without her expression changing, she moves on, making obvious her intentions. "So, who are these two?"


    We have a nice small talk, and eventually come to our destination, a blue six panel door, with brass fittings. The car stops, and I put on a hat, with a dark veil, and get out after everyone else.


    "I''m guessing everyone else is already here?" At Cassie''s nod, Taylor''s mood becomes more somber, prompting Messing to ask a question.


    "She seems ashamed of meeting everyone?"


    "Yeah, like I said before, she has a lot of regrets. She is the reason, I can''t die, she is the reason that those of us who can, consistently come back, or reincarnate. She is the First Immortal." I look a Messing once we''re inside the building. "There is also very old prophecy that one of us will betray her, and in her anger, she will destroy the very core of this planet. She avoids meeting us because of it."


    "How old is the prophecy?" Reed asks


    "Five thousand, two hundred, seven years; three months, two weeks, four days, and nineteen hours; according to the current solar calender." Taylor answers. "It was given by my last son, as he died in her arms." She pointed at me.

 Origin of the Trammel

    Reed seemed to want to say something, but at her next question; the somber mood, just created, dissipated.


    "So, Um; why are you trusting the two of us with this?" She asks innocently. "I mean, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn''t want anyone to know."


    "Let''s answer that once we are all in the Elder''s Sanctuary." Cassie replies. We all file into the room and Taylor sits down in the Presiding Elder''s chair.


    "I am Allendale." She states plainly. "From this moment, the Council of Elders is open. If any of you have impure intentions, leave now." The threat in her voice was plain to us. "Samantha, and Erica. Please step to the center of the room." The two did as ordered. "I am willing to have your questions answered; however we need assurances as well. We have contracts and agreements in place, we need your unequivocal declaration that you will not knowingly or willingly violate these agreements."


    Cassie steps to Taylor''s left, after she finishes speaking. "Ladies of the United States. Your response at this time may be to exit the room, if you either decline, or feel you may be unable to comply. However, if you affirm, that you will perform this single task to the best of your ability, please respond with ''I do so promise''."


    "I do so promise." Left both of their mouths simultaneously.


    "Noelle, these are your guests in this Council; stand behind them." Taylor continued, once I had followed her instruction. "This is your last chance ladies, after this, you will be bound by your words. If you have any ulterior motives in being here; you will not live to see the sun set." I could tell they believed her, and nodded. Neither moved, aside from standing at Parade Rest.


    "Whose guests are these?" Cassie began the formal proceedings.


    "Samantha, and Erica, are guests of Noelle Trammel." I answered.


    "Do you accept responsibility?"


    "I accept the Bond." I answered. Cassie dropped her formal tone, and spoke to the two.


    "She is accepting you two into our Council. She will be punished the same as you for breaking our rules." Cassie resumes her formal stance, as they nod. "Allendale, the guests have agreed to the bond."


    Taylor nods, and Cassie sends an almost imperceptible tendril of mana linking the three of us.


    "It is done." She says. To which Taylor nods; then stands.


    "The verification will commence." As soon as she spoke, I felt a wall of raw mana slam into me. I know my guests did too, as they seemed to stagger. Blue auras appeared around them both, followed by myself, then Cassie, then slowly, around the rest of us assembled.


    Taylor then sat back in her chair. "Thanks for coming to greet me, everyone." She smiled, an honest happy smile replaced the apprehension that had been there. "Cassie, are they strong enough to accept the knowledge of our agreements?"


    "They are, but it would need to come from the strongest of us. If I or Noelle did it, they would probably die."


    "So just barely." She smirks, then walks to the three of us. "It is time to let you know what you agreed to. This will be mildly uncomfortable; but is the easiest way to let you know." She said as she rested her hands at the temples of each woman. I knew what was going on, but I couldn''t sense it at all.


    Both girls were being given the knowledge of every contract we had active with current governments, what they could use us for, what they couldn''t, and the consequences of violation.


    "Erica, do you understand the answer to your question earlier?" It was a question to see if it was pushed properly.


    "Yes, by the state hiding your existence to the public, and allowing you free travel, you agree to not make yourselves, or your abilities public, and if the trust is violated from their side; you will remove yourselves from their lands, to not return until the entire governmental system has been dismantled. If the this trust is violated from the Trammel side, the offending party will be removed." She cocked her head "the way it feels, it means you have a way to kill an immortal?"


    "I do." Taylor answers. "I am the only one the method wont work on. And no, its not possible for you to do it, and I won''t give it to another in this room. Giyas was the last one I gave it to. He used it on himself within the hour of me doing so."


    It was the first time I had heard this, in all these years She never told me. However, Cassie looked as though she had known. Allendale had trusted my husband, her son, with this, and he used it on himself, to die in my arms.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "How did you give us the knowledge of all these contracts?" Samantha asks.


    "Arcane Arts." Cassie answers as Taylor sat back in her chair. "Arts that have been lost to the world for some five, to six thousand years." She spreads her power into the room, and images of all of the older ones appear, all wearing our ancient tribal gear.


    "We were all originally Shaman, or mages who studied under Gundar Trammel; Allendale''s grandfather. And when he passed on, our studies continued under Allendale." The image changed and Gundar''s visage disappeared, and the outfits changed. "A few years passed, and Allendale had figured out how to manipulate the Aether, to force a body to be created, and a soul to move to that body. As a side effect; Allendale gained this form of immortality. The rest of us found out when a competing tribe stabbed her in the heart; she died, and two days later, she appears nude, at her own funeral pyre."


    The image changes Once more, with a young Allendale, standing where an old woman once stood. Giyas and myself arent in the group yet. "She then attempts to teach the rest of us her method, but something goes awry with the Aether streams at the same time, and the rest of us gain varying methods. Most gain the ability to take over bodies where the host soul has given up. And two of us gain what is now refered as ''true reincarnation''." The image shifts several times, and eventually a new figure is added.


    "Dorian, came to our Tribe, wanting to learn how we had become so strong. And we taught him. He learned my reincarnation method. However, he began fighting all of our neighboring tribes. Even after several deaths, he still continued to fight, for no other reason to prove his strength." The image changes, without him in it again. "After seven generations of him forcing our Tribe into war; Allendale made sure he would never be reborn again. By this time she had married, and had bore several children, but none wished to learn the Arcane ways, until her son Giyas."


    With Giyas in the picture, I knew it was getting close to my entrance. "Giyas quickly learned the Arcane ways, and Allendale assessed his personality, using a more crude version of the spell she used on the room earlier, then taught him the spell we learned to continue our lives. By this point our Tribe, because of Dorian''s conquests, had become just over four hundred souls, and it was getting harder to find food to feed all of us. We split our Tribe," the outfits changed again, "by this point we began calling the two tribes a Clan. An acknowledgement that although we were no longer together, we were still the same Tribe. As a show of good faith; Giyas was married to Noelle; we thought nothing of it at the time, because they were already amicable. It was shortly after this, though, that Giyas was challenged for the right to marry her, and bind our tribes."


    The image now had me, with a slightly different tribal garb. "It was also around this time that Giyas awoke his ability of prophecy, and cast a spell on Noelle, that is how she gained her ''true Imortality''. There were seven attempts to kill her by her cousins over the next two generations, and she had learned our Arcane method by the time her direct relatives had all passed away."


    Everyone in the image shifted, except Allendale and myself, everyone was unrecognizable. Our outfits went from light leather to heavy furs, and Giyas'' visage disappeared. "And then, Giyas asked Allendale to learn the spell she had used on Dorian. Thinking his prophetic ability was telling him that he would need it, she complied. Within the hour, he called out his wife of four hundred years, cast the spell upon himself in front of her, and delivered his last prophecy as his soul shattered."


    The outfits channged to woven fabrics, "the world was changing, and we knew that others would seek to learn what we had kept secret; our clansmen no longer recognized us as family, as it had been a long time since the tribes had split. We created a secret society. We called it The Society of Immortals. At this point, we gave each other the names we would use as our ''first'' name from then on, and decided on the surname of Trammel, as we were binding ourselves together." The images of people then walk toward each of us in the room, the people who they represent. Cassie then sits down to the left of Taylor.


    Taylor then stands. "Do you have any other questions?"


    Messing raises her hand, as though she is in school. Taylor smiles at her, and nods.


    "When you say Arcane Arts, you are really talking about magic right? How is it that it''s a lost art if it''s real?"


    "When we were less than a century old," Byron, one of the men on the other side of the room began to answer, "shamen had real power. However they refused to teach their craft. Gundar was our tribe''s shaman. He didn''t want his grand-daughter to follow in his footsteps, but, taught her anyway, because none of the boys, who would be her husband, wanted to learn, and a tribal fight had taken his son, his heir. In tribal fights, the shaman was always the first one killed, Gundar was a long lived shaman. When he got older, some of the fathers told their sons and daughters to learn his ways, and we did. But we we''re no match for Allendale, who had been learning since she could grunt."


    "You said you gave each other your first names, when you created the Society, so how does Gundar, Dorian, and Giyas, have names?" Reed asks, her head leaning to the side slightly.


    "They were the first we gave names to. Before then, we didnt need names, we verified who each other were by passing mana through their body, and feeling how it resonated. We still do it to each other, as our appearances, and current names, change." Taylor answered. "Now, I think question and answer time is up for now. Because of the bond, between you three, you two will age significantly slower than your contemporaries. I apologize for not telling you sooner. As far as how much slower, I am not sure." Taylor sat back down in the chair. "On to the next order of buisness: Byron, since you have spoke, please go next."


    For the rest of the day, we spoke about what we had been doing since the last time we had seen Allendale. Who had been where, when certain events, that have been recorded, took place, what governments we helped, which ones we helped collapse, how the current governments treat us; things of that nature.


    When we were done, we had the driver take Taylor back to the house she was staying at, and calmed down the hystarical Leah. It''s been so long since I''ve had parents, I forgot about this. Well, the night ended well, and I got my first delicious meal in thirty years. It was worth it.

 Messing Around

    Noelle''s assistants seem to be doing well after their crash course on our history the other day. Its now been just over a month since I met William. Being in school once more is a bit nerve wracking, and I have fallen into a pattern, and even managed to find myself in the choir clique. And, until yesterday, I hadn''t even looked at any other activities for this school, that changed when the councelor found me at lunch. The practical begging for me to run for sophmore representative to the student council, followed by the pressure to attend a math competition; well, lets just say i caved.


    William began my campaigning, after asking me a few questions, and telling me what a representative''s responsibilities were, the free class period due to meetings was a bonus, and because my aptitude scores were as high as they were, made even Leah and Rob want me to do it.


    But today, I probably did the nerdiest thing possible in high school: competing in a math competition. A competition where we are given problems, that are considered way above our grade levels, and asked to solve them. Of the twelve schools there, I was one of four girls, and each school brought six people. I was, surprisingly, the only freshman.


    I asked about competition rules, since some of these Scholastic competitions have rules about the minimum time at a school before you''re allowed to compete under that school''s name, I was summarily handed a copy; and an idea struck me.


    My school''s team were required to wear black slacks, with girls being required to wear a skirt. Well, thats nothing new to me, but I definitely wore yellow thigh-high socks, with black shorts under the skirt. I was not going to be the victim of peeping. The knee length pleated skirt was actually a good fit, the vibrant yellow button down blouse wasn''t my color, but I personally offset it with a charcoal black undershirt, and left the top two buttons unbuttoned. I convinced all the boys to wear their Windsor ties loose, and unbutton their top two buttons as well.


    The teacher didn''t like this, and wanted us to ''straighten up'' once we got here, but I argued that if the other schools thought we weren''t taking this seriously, they would either get mad, and make mistakes because their mind wasn''t on the competition; or would take their time because they think we aren''t a threat. Also, since we all are wearing our outfits the same way, we are still uniform, and we can''t be docked by the judges for it. When he relented, I became the boys new hero.


    The first round was a paper test, in which everyone was put into the same room, however two schools recieved the same test version. The schools were told who else in the room had the same version as them, and then we were given thirty minutes to complete as much of it as possible.


    It was a breeze. We had The whole thing done in five minutes, and sat there whispering about different ways mistakes could''ve been made, until the end of the timer. Apparently the teacher had told them what ''the new girl''s'' aptitude scores were, because when I said ''let me do it,'' there was no question. It was just handed to me. We were the only school to get a perfect score on the paper test.


    The second round was an oral answer round, where we were asked a theory question, and expected to answer the proctor. Each school was asked a question, and if the person answered correctly, they stayed standing. At the end of round two, we were still in first place, with four members standing.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    The final round was what they called a buzzer round. Two schools were placed head to head; one student at a time, and whoever could answer first, hit the buzzer, then had to answer the question, fully, within 12 seconds of being acknowledged. If the question was answered wrong, or not fully, that student was asked to leave the stage. The boys wanted me to be the last one to go; I could tell they wanted to show off.


    Well, they all went out; we would loose if I had answered anything wrong. Just before I answered, what would have been our last question, one of the opposing teams students blew up about our uniforms, and how we were making a mockery of the competition. I guess the judge didn''t think it an appropriate time for them to be yelling, or as the judge said ''grandstanding''; as we were handed a default win as their unsportsmanlike conduct disqualified them. I looked over at the teacher, and he grinned. He knew this strategy had just worked in our favor; but it wouldn''t work again.


    At the award ceremony the judge gave a speech, and we could tell it had been amended because of us. I mean, who else could the line, ''what you wear has nothing to do with your capability,'' have been about?


    On the bus ride back, the teacher asked me if the boy''s outburst was actually my plan from the beginning, and I answered honestly.


    "If this school considered this normal, there was bound to be a school which would get jealous of how relaxed we would appear, and one of the students would undoubtedly overhear their coach comment about it, and take affront to it. Boys at this age are predictable." I just omitted ''and impressionable.'' From what I would have normally said.


    I then explained how this wouldn''t work again, and at the next competition, we should take it to the other extreme, and everyone go as dapper as they could. When one of the juniors asked why, I explained that at the next competition, most of the schools will have a similar dress to what we had done; so by going the other extreme, we would unbalance them again; as they would be relaxed, and we would be impeccably dressed. Making them feel as though we are making fun of them again.


    The teacher chuckled, and asked what I would wear if the boys were dressed ''to the nines.'' I think I motivated the boys when I answered.


    "If you approve of my idea; I will wear a formal, floor length, gown of yellow, trimmed in black lace, and black shoulder-length gloves, white polished shoes, with black tights, and black accessories. I will put my hair up in a beehive, and use Bobby pins with yellow cut glass to make my hair sparkle. But I would need the boys to dress just as over the top."


    "Can you come up with all of that in three weeks? Finals are shortly after our next meet."


    My mind immediately moved to Noelle''s assistants, and decided I could use them.


    "If I can''t, I can get pretty close."


    "You heard it boys. The next competition, you''ll be ''escorting a proper lady.''" I could tell he was poking fun at the whole situation. "So, think of it like getting ready for prom. Only without the tux rental. And I want fresh haircuts, and everyone carying a black comb in their breast pocket."


    All the boys were grinning. This was going to be fun.


    When I told Noelle my plan, she immediately set out procuring things for me. Remembering some formal styles from the past, and making a dress that was both over the top, and easy to sit in a desk. She took it all in stride. They even made the Bobby pins with little yellow princess cut glass pieces attached to pieces of scrap black lace, then to the three hundred Bobby pins they picked up. Reed convinced me to wear a corset under the dress, and I agreed, if she could find one I could wear, and the dress needed to be designed for it.


    Noelle got into it a bit more than I expected, getting permission to use ''Ambassador''s Limosine'' to take the six students, and the teacher to the competition. The caveat was that one of her assistants, as well as herself had to also be in the car; to which the three of them grinned.


    I am not sure I want to know; I''m going to bed.

 Calculations

    I stood there looking at the yellow and black dress with wonder. Wearing the corset and a petticoat, I was ready to put on the dress, the buttons in the back would need to be affixed by someone else. My hair was pulled up but, wasn''t finished, as I needed the dress on first. Messing and Reed held the hand sewn luxury above me, as I stepped under it. The fabric felt nice against my skin as my arms passed through the short sleeves, and it smoothly fell over me, the stitching was so tight, it made even modern machine stitching look crude.


    I adjusted the bodice as Messing and Reed corrected the fabric over the petticoat. Noelle came up behind, and fixed the buttons as I started in on the accessories, I wouldn''t be able to do much once I got my gloves on.


    Once the dress was done, Noelle put my hair up. The beehive style hadn''t been popular since before either Erica or Samantha had been born, so Noelle did most of the work, while I handed her the pins the two had made. Using bits of scrap lace under the cut glass was a wonderful idea; and making the gloves cover only my ring and pinky fingers will end up making writing easier. The extra lace around the wrist, and shoulder cuffs, in order to hide the buttons, were nice touches I hadn''t thought of.


    The three then pushed me out of the room, and told the driver to take me to school, then come back and get them. We wouldn''t be leaving school until third period because of how close it was to us, but because of the amount of preparation needed in this look, I needed to get ready this early.


    Upon arrival, the ''what is she thinking'' stairs; and repetitive ''boyfriend smacks'' ensued. Well, the boys on the math team were getting similar looks from the guys, with a few guys performing the ''she''s mine'' over the shoulder arm sling while looking toward the very dapper dressed boys. As a group, we looked like a group of friends going stag to the spring formal.


    "Good to see you boys ready."


    "Um, Taylor." The only blond haired boy started. "Was that a Bentley Limosine we just saw you step out of?"


    "I''m not sure. It belongs to a famil. Member; it will be our ride today." I grin. "Since she will be with us, things will be slightly different, but don''t act surprised." I grinned.


    "Freshie, we learned our lesson a couple of weeks ago. What part are we playing today?"


    "Entitled diplomatic escorts." I answer. "Make sure you only refer to her as Ambassador. Well, it will make more sense when she comes to get us."


    For some reason, i feel like these boys will be stupid-surprised in a couple hours.


    When time finally came for us to depart, we walked out the front doors of the building. The car was already there, with Master Chief Messing in her full dress uniform, holding the door handle on the car.


    "Taylor, get in." She said as she opened the door. "I need to say a couple of things to the boys before they get in." I assume it has to do with Noelle''s ''official'' duties, or seating arrangements, so I get in, and slide around the long seat of the twelve passenger car. Since she shut the door behind me, I cant hear what she is saying, but Master Chief Reed, and Noelle are sitting all the way forward, so I just get close to them.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The door opens back up, just as Boston''s finest show up, and the boys file into the car, cheesy grins decorating their faces. At least until they see Noelle. Master Chief Messing shut the door, then sat up front.


    "Gentlemen," she starts once the door closes, "Master Chief Messing told you the plan?" To which the boys nod. "Good. This is Master Chief Reed. Don''t let her young looks fool you, she does her job well. For the time being refer to me only as Ambassador."


    "Taylor said that this morning." The boy closest to me answered as the car began to move. "May I ask where you''re an ambassador?"


    "For the time being, I am here in Boston. That May change, but not until after the summer at least."


    "Taylor made it sound like having an Ambassador in the family wasn''t a big deal, so, I was wondering, who is the most powerful person, in your family?" One of the boys next to the back doors,asked."


    "Master Chief Reed," Noelle had an official tone in her voice, "answer the boys question, without violating your clearance."


    "The most important asset of the Ambassador''s family is Taylor Grace Cooper. Current resident of Boston, Massachusetts, and is a freshman in high school. She participates in competitions for the National Mathmatics Scociety, as well as Show Choir." She thought for a a few seconds, "much more I can''t say, other than to say that the request for this stunt you are participating in, has approval to be treated as an official diplomatic event."


    "I didn''t know you got permission for this." I answer.


    "Once we told Mr. President what you wanted to do, he gave us the green light, as well as a detachment of secret service. You are that important to us, Taylor Grace."


    "Um, that''s deffinately an Army dress uniform, but I don''t recognize the rank you are wearing." My neighbor states.


    "Master Chief Messing, and I, are both Master Chief Warrant Officers. That means we are specialists in our fields. She is more administrative than I am, but we are both Aids to the Ambassador."


    "Why would a freshman in high school have a prank approved by a president?"


    "Not ''a President''," Noelle said, "THE President. As in President of the United States. And as to the answer to that, these two Master Chiefs aren''t allowed to answer, I won''t answer, and Taylor probably sticks out at school enough that it would be pointless for her to answer." She sighs, and changes the subject immediately after, talking to me about her time in the middle east, and some of the ''good ones'' she had met during her time there.


    Once we arrived to where we were going, the boys practically flew out of the car, and we recieved the looks, and attitudes, that this plan would afford any high schoolers. And sure enough, most of the schools had relaxed their dress codes considerably since our last meet. However, they all arrived on school busses, that we''re parked to the side of the building. We arrived in a flagged limousine, and parked in the no parking zone directly in front of the building, the police escort left two motorcycle cops, one on each end of the car, the rest left for other duties. The boys stood in a line, acting just as formal as I had witnessed from Duke servants during Queen Victoria''s reign.


    Reed and Noelle told me they wanted out first so I let them by me, then when I stood from the car, I took the arm of the first gentleman next to the door, and the door was shut behind me.


    School was still in session here, they had right at fourth five minutes left, but we walked in anyway, and were directed to the cafeteria. The other girls in the competition came over, and asked beauty questions, and finally asked where I had found this dress. When I told them the two women in Army uniforms had gotten it for me, I couldn''t honestly tell them, they looked quite sad.

 Finals

    Our ostentatious display worked beautifully. And again, we came in first place. With the points earned by the rest of the school up until the two meets I was a part of it; we were a few points shy of participating in the state-wide competition taking place over the summer; so thats done for the school year.


    Show Choir''s spring performance was Friday night, so thats over, I was told by several outgoing Seniors that I should have gotten at least one solo in the performance, but I was glad to be a part of the ensemble, rather than having to be down stage.


    So the only major event left for the year is finals. While everyone else in my classes were stressing over the various tests that would decide many final grades, I relaxed in most of my classes, reading the text books, and in many cases chuckling about how far off the mark they were.


    I think the one I found most intriguing was the Applied Chemestry book, which is just this era''s version of alchemy. Well, the goal is a bit different, but its still a money sink for hiding profits, and prividing a way to discourage economic stagnation.


    In the end, nothing too out of the norm of educational life happened. I did have a few guys ask me out, to which I declined; their motives we''re too obvious, and I had no interest in exploring this body, in that way, just yet.


    "Pencils out, books away." First period began. The cool, salty, fog of a Boston late spring morning still hung in the air, but by the end of the hour, the astringency will be greatly reduced. An easy Modern History test began, I will never understand this Era''s obsession with specificity of dates, general time frames should be more than enough as to when things occoured. Knowing that the Colonies united under the articles of confederation, and about eight years later, the Constitution of the United States of America, should be enough for most students at this educational level, but thats not what these educators want. They want all sorts of dates, I mean, if this continues, in another decade or two, history teachers of this degree would be asking for the time as well, and expect it to be given to the whole minute. Its ridiculous.


    The next class was warm enough that I could leave my jacket in my locker, I then walked into the Choir room, where I was told that it would be a study hall time period.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The class after that was Pre-Calculus, where all of my classmates were juniors or seniors. The final supposedly covered everything they had discussed throughout the year, and in thirty minutes, I had completed the hour long final.


    My next class was the class with Will. The final was questions over the various events that had happened over the past year, most of which were discussed in class.


    I then had my lunch, and buckled back into the books, with the English final next. The English test was mostly multiple choice questions of ''which of the following words are spelled correctly?'' With an essay question at the end that was quite fun for me: ''In complete sentences, explain the proper usage of a comma, and a colon. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling will be counted.''


    My sixth hour was the technology class, where we normally discussed how current computers functioned, and sometimes wrote code. The final for the class was actually a bit difficult, and tested, not only our programming ability, but our typing speed. We were required to write a code for the main mode of the game Simon Says for a specific version Arduino. We were given the inputs, and outputs as ''pins'' and then had to write a program to get it to work as best we could in the time allotted. We were even told that we werent expected to be able to complete the project, but would be graded according to what was turned in on our Sketchbook files. Honestly, I''m not sure how well I did on that one.


    My last class of the day was French. So absolutely no problems there. It was my fastest final, and the teacher was surprised at how fast I turned it in, asking if I had even read the test.


    Since I was done at this point, the teacher asked me to leave the room, so as to not disturb the others; handing me a white plastic card the school used for temporary hall passes.


    The day ended, with us having a half day tomorrow, and the teachers are expected to have all of our grades finalized. Unlike a normal half day, we are to spend less time in each class, so the teachers can give us our grades, as well as able to briefly explain any concerns we may have. The school''s rules were pretty strict about skipping the last day of term, especially since the evening would be commencement for the seniors. Any student skipping, would receive only 60% of their grade, unless a medical exception had been submitted. No other attendance exceptions would be made. Seniors skipping would have their placement in the class order adjusted accordingly, which in the cases of students going to certain universities; it could make them inelegable.


    Nobody skipped that day.

 Presidential Dilemma

    "We need to meet."


    At those words, I knew this would be a difficult conversation. It would be one thing if I could control the flow of events as I once did in Europe, but I know that I have no ammunition for this.


    "Why do you want to meet him?" I ask Taylor. "He is just the current political figurehead."


    She had entered my hotel suite this morning with almost no introduction, demanding to meet my employer.


    "Noelle, the two of us need to meet." The level of intimidation I felt in that statement was more than anyone should feel from one who appeared to be in her early to middle teen years.


    Three hundred years ago, living even until her age was amazing, with such high mortality rates. The industrial revolution didn''t help those rates either. Often times the machines themselves would take the lives of their operators, who were often in the same age group as her appearance.


    "I''ll send a message. But please accept his decision on whether or not you can meet."


    "You have known me a long time. Simple things like his wants don''t matter."


    If I didn''t know any better I would swear up and down that she was a prophetess, as she left the Suite. Erica walked out of the bathroom in only her under clothes and asked what Taylor had wanted. When I answered her, she hurriedly got dressed, blow dried, and fixed her hair, then asked if she should start making the phone calls for Mr. President and Matriarch Allendale Trammel to meet.


    As far as I knew, she preferred to leave the political side of things to Melody when she could, and Orion when she couldn''t. Doyle was third, but Cassie and Sierra, as they were currently named, were the best ones to leave this stuff to.


    By lunch time, I was given approval to fly to D.C. with Taylor, William, and Leah Cooper. To meet the ''first family.''


    However, I found out that there would be a formal dinner the day of the meeting, in one one week. Messing and Reed began scouring dress shops to find something for Leah and Taylor to look presentable at a state dinner. When I reminded the two of Taylor''s yellow dress, they focused on looking for something for Leah. I used William''s spring formal tux measurements to get a suit for him, and paid a stupid amount of money to have it done in only a couple of days. Well, it''s not like income hasn''t been stacking up for me over the years, so I had it. I still had a vault here stateside that contained Spanish gold coins; so if things got bad, I could fall back on that. But this didn''t warrant getting in to that.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    When I asked the cooper family to dinner that night; it was a bit tense until I told Taylor that who she wanted to speak to had agreed, however I stipulated that to keep up appearances, that Will and Leah would go with her. Mr. Cooper asked why he wasn''t needed, although he had no idea who she would be meeting, and I simply lied, saying it wasn''t a big enough deal for him to miss work.


    Erica gave me an odd look when I said that, but seemed to realize what I was doing. It was a good meal after that. I still don''t know what she wants with that man.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "Sir, we have a phone call from Ambassador." I heared the burly man''s whisper in my ear. I looked at him oddly. My schedule was normally planned down to the minute, so it would be difficult to have a conversation with her. I looked at him with a look of what she would have wanted, I guess my intentions were relayed, as he immediately continued loud enough that only I would hear. "The one she was looking for has requested a meeting. Should I give permission for Tuesday?" I nodded, and went back to my meeting with the Cabinet. Tuesday was a state dinner to welcome the current British prime minister and France''s Ambassador to the United States.


    As the day wore on, I recived a change in schedule, and was escorted to a tram under the Whitehouse, and took it to an odd place that I hadn''t stopped at before. We all got off, and my detail opened the door, had me walk in, but refused to follow. Once the door was closed, lights came on, and an old style reel to reel began playing an audio message. The voice was Ambassador''s.


    "Look, you can beat me, you can cut me, you can drown me, you can even starve me. You will never kill me. You have held me captive here since I survived at Pearl Harbor. You want something useful out of me? Fine. Here it goes: only one being walking this earth has the power to kill one of my kind. Only one. Put me in front of a firing squad, and when I survive, I''ll work for your puny President until your government dissolves, or until five years after I find the one I am looking for. Use me for any clandestine operation for any country other than Brittan, England, Germany, France or Spain. We have a deal with Finland as well, but they have come pretty close to violating it in the past couple of years."


    I thought about the recording for a moment, and for the first time noticed the odd length of no sound in the tape. Not even a pop or crackle that is so common with this type of recording; and then it began again, but a voice I didnt know.


    "You will not speak any more. You are dangerously close to revealing too much to the mortals." The older woman''s voice stated.


    Ambassador''s voice quickly answered. "I understand, Sister." It was at this point the reel to reel stopped. Why had I never listened all the way to the end of this tape before? And who had she spoken to. I thought about asking my detail to look into it, but the odd length of quiet on the tape makes me think there is substantial tampering, and that it had been done long ago.

 Homecoming

    Leah sat on her bed.  She had, like her daughter, joined the Scociety of Immortals at the age of fifteen.  The tales that were taught to her during her initiation, and was required to be able to recite verbatim, from memory, every year had seemed so fantastic only eight weeks ago.


    A midnight call from her son, claiming a Trammel had arrived, and a confirmation of elders was to occur, forced her to wake up her husband.  Although now considered an elder herself, she knew there were many things the older members still hid from her.


    She arrived to find a young girl sitting on a wooden chair in the lobby, and William still making phone calls to other elders.  She remembered the striking natural beauty of the girl; even though she looked as though she had been roused from bed herself.


    The aura around the girl when she entered the Elder Sanctuary was one that demanded respect, and it was obvious she expected it.  At the end of the meeting, she approached the girl.


    "Where are you planning on sleeping the rest of the night?" I found myself asking.


    "I was planning on sleeping here.  Its one of the reasons we set up The Scociety."


    "There is no way to bathe here.  Why don''t you come to our house?  My daughter is away at college, so her room is free; and you can get clean, as well as relax, instead of constantly being awoke by the door guard."  At my seeming instance she nodded, and seemed to lend herself to us.


    "Mom, are you seriously okay with this?"  William asked me.  I was usually the one to push guests off toward others.


    "So this is your mom?"  The girl calling herself Taylor smiled, "I can see why you were so respectful when I entered the building nude.  The last time I did that, the guard had an issue keeping his eyes where they belong.  I was also treated as a crime victim.  I am glad you did neither of those."


    This was the first time I had heard she had entered the building nude.


    "Do you have proper underwear?" I asked quickly, in a whisper I felt only she could hear.


    "No, I have things I would need in a Vault in Pennsylvania.  But I would need to get there.  Assuming the Philadelphia chapter hasn''t turned the building over to a historical restoration group."


    "Dear, we need to make a stop on the way home; with you two staying in the car."  I remember that night clearly.  I made sure she had two sports bras, and two packs of boyshort underwear.  After making the purchase, we went to the restrooms at the front of the store, and I had her put them on, before going back out to the car.


    These two months have flown by, and now it is the school''s vacation.  As I sit here, wondering to myself how this beautiful girl came into our lives, and my heart, I listen to her trying to hide her crying.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The hurt and pain I can do nothing about, centuries of decisions, and loss I will never know or understand; events she lived through, and I could only imagine; tragedies that could lead to the pain I hear from her.


    The ring tone on my phone rings.  I pick it up as I hear Taylor stiffle her cry in the other room, it''s Sierra, my daughter.  We still haven''t told her about Taylor.


    "Good morning, Honey."


    "What have You done with my mother?"  She pops off, I can tell she suspects something is up, I have only ever called her ''honey'' when I need to tell her news she will probably not like. "I''m on the bus, I''ll be home in like half an hour tops, so spill it."


    "Sierra, we have a long-term house guest, so you will need to share your room while you''re home.  I cant explain more until you get here."


    "Is it Willie''s girlfriend?" I can tell she is being cheeky, but still probing for information.


    "No, she is a distant cousin, who has been through some things, and needs to stay with us for a while."


    "Anything I need a weapon for?"  She asked, her tone becoming cold.


    "No, you''ll understand when you talk with her."  I answer as Taylor opens the door to my bedroom.  "I think the two of you will get along fine." I say, and I hang up without saying goodbye.


    "The girl from the family photos, I assume?"  Taylor asks, trying to hide the puffy red eyes as remnants of sleep.


    "Come here." I say to her, using my mom-tone.  And she walks over to me. I grab her into an embrace as soon as I am able.  "Do me a favor, and quit hiding your tears.  Let them out.  This is no time or place to hold all that pain in." I say to her.


    "You heard me?" She asks, on the verge of obeying.


    "Taylor, I know I am much too young and inexperienced to say this to you, but, think of me as your caring Aunt, if you need to cry, please stop trying to hide it from me.


    As I talk, she begins to relax.  She is still going strong when Sierra comes in the front door.  I call out to her, and she comes into my room, and sees me holding the crying Taylor.


    "Taylor, this is your cousin Sierra.  Sierra, as I said on the phone:  she has been through some things, but will be staying here."


    Sierra seems to excuse me not meeting her at the door at the sight of this teen girl bawling in my arms.  Just like earlier, she stifled her tears quickly, and faces Sierra.


    "Good morning, Sierra."  She says to my daughter, while wiping her eyes.  "I need to get ready.  Erica said they need me for something today, to get ready for the meeting next week." She went back into her business tone. "Should my plan change to include Sierra?"  She looks between the two of us.


    "Yes, I think it would do your cousin good to see you working."  At my response she nods and leaves the room, I then hear her in the other room getting ready.


    "She cant be over fourteen, what ''work'' is she doing?"  Sierra asks me.


    "Officially, she is a mathmatics prodigy doing work for the state department."  Sierra''s jaw dropped.  "Unoffically, she is a Trammel."


    Sierra sits on the floor at those words.


    "Erica, and Samantha officially work for an Ambassador, but they are liasons for her.  Anything beyond that, you''ll need the trust of the people in question."


    "What was she crying about when I came in?" Sierra asked in a daze.


    "Sierra, I can''t fathom what someone, who has that much time behind her, would have been through.  She lived through unrecorded history, the building, and fall of Rome, and Egypt.  She lived through the conquest of the huns, the black plague, the pandemic flu.  All of that loss, I couldn''t imagine not being able to cry about it.  The fact that she has been somewhat normal the past two months is a miracle in itself."


    "Two months?" Crap, she picked up on that, and now her hobby is,going to show.  "There has been a beautiful girl in this house, in my room, for two months, and you never told me?"  She finally stood back up, and crossed her arms.  "It''s time for a discussion; Mother."  Yep, she is mad we hid it from her.

 Samanthas hobby

    "Mom, where are we going?" Sierra asked for the third time today. Leah still hadn''t told her, and she knew she wouldn''t get the answer out of me; especially after the last two days of her trying to doll me up. Samantha ended up being her life-sized doll when she dropped by in civilian clothes.


    Shortly after the question was asked, Erica drove the 10 passenger Bently onto the tarmac of the airport where Noelle''s plane was kept.


    "Really, Mom. This is getting weird; where are we going?" She asked aprehensive about the answer.


    "Sierra;" I began, "no one here is telling you. You will just have to find out as we travel. Just enjoy the trip, without worrying about the destination. At least you aren''t being asked if you have your passport, so that should be reducing possibilities enough already."


    She seemed to ponder my answer for a few minutes before looking out the window until we stopped next to the plane we would be taking.


    The door opens, and we file out of the car, and walk toward the plane; Will helps Erica and Samantha get the few small bags of luggage, and carries them to the plane where a man directs him to put them on the ground so he can load them the way he wants them. Its at this point I realize he is either the pilot or 2nd seat.


    We get on board, and a steward asks us if we wanted some water before takeoff. Sierra was the only one to request any.


    "Ambassador, both engines had their perscribed maintinance completed, a service memo was found for the flap bellcranks, and the mechanics brought us into compliance. There was an issue found with the air brake deployment mechanism, this was repaired as well."


    "Were the brakes and tires checked as I had asked?" Noelle responded to the Steward''s statement.


    "Yes, ma''am. We found the service memo during our routine checks, the brakes and tires are well within their expected lifespan. The nosegear landing lights were replaced as they were getting close to hours, but the rest of the craft is well within its service life; especially considering she was phased only two months ago, shortly after your initial arrival."


    "Thank you for your report." She says dismissively.


    The Steward goes,back to what he was doing. And Sierra again strikes up a conversation.


    "I only understood part of that. What did he mean by ''phase''?"If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Aircraft have some very specific maintenance requirements, much like your family car does; however, unlike a car, if any part, of certain componets, are on the aircraft for too many operational hours, the airframe can not legally fly. In general, we refer to maintaining these groups of componets as phases. This aircraft has three phases. I''ll use an analogy here, because its not quite right, just bear with me." Reed seemed to really like aircraft. "Think of Phase 1 like a tune-up and an oil change on your car. Its basically periodic maintenance, but a lot more expensive. Phase2 is like the two year maintinance that is supposed to be done on most cars; checking and replacing rotating parts, critical components that can result in the failure of the aircraft to stay aloft, wiring connections, that sort of thing; as well as all of the Phase 1 work. Phase 3; well think,of Phase 3 as a major overhaul meant to keep the plane in working condition. Its a lot more detailed, and checks as much as possible, as well as having all the work od phases 1 &2 as well. Although the fuselage is checked for stresses during every phase; phase 3 takes it a bit further and checks every rivet for stress fracturing."


    "So which phase was two months ago?" I ask.


    "Phase 1." She answered promptly. "However the two engines have different hours on them, so during the phase, their maintinace schedules were brought in line with the rest of the aircraft."


    "Why do the engines have differing hours?" Sierra asked.


    "Three years ago, the number 2 engine, the one on the right wing, dropped a bearing during a pan American flight, it had to be replaced, so that one is newer. Up until this plane was assigned to Ambassador, there wasn''t enough alloted time between needed flights to get that engine''s maintinace adjusted to be in line with the rest of the aircraft. Although, both engines are scheduled to be replaced later this year during its phase 3, so doing it this late is just a convinence thing for us."


    "Reed, I know you enjoy planes, but I think you''re starting to overwhelm them. Perhaps dial back your tech-speak a bit?" Noelle says to her.


    "Sorry." Samantha says as the APU spools to life. The loud wine, and vibrations, seem to bring the once static metal bird to life.


    "Sam, don''t fret on it too long." I said to her; her eyes going wide all of a sudden. "What?"


    "Taylor, thats the first time you haven''t called me formally. Its always ''Reed'', ''Master Chief'', ''Samantha'', or a combination."


    "She is right," Erica interjected. "You usually call everyone formally, so that was kind of surprising, I had thought you didn''t like us."


    I lean forward in my seat, placing my elbows on my knees, and my chin on the back of my interlaced fingers. I felt the plane begin to move under me as I replied.


    "If I didn''t like you, all of you, I would disappear. Its not that hard for me to do. I''m the only one Cassie can''t locate, so its easy for me. Living as many lifrtimes as we have; we know the importance of having trustworthy people around us. There are things I still have to keep you all at arms length from, but I don''t hate you."


    As I finish, I see Leah and Sierra beginning to tear up. I pointedly ignore them as our taxi onto the runway competes, and the engines accelerate. When I felt the brakes release I wondered how that first flight at Kitty Hawk must have felt. Another event I wasn''t at; but I heard Melody was there.

 Accomodation

    We hadn''t even been able to get to cruising altitude, when I felt the aircraft shift, and begin decending. Sierra must have noticed too, because she started glancing out the window with more frequency.


    "Ambassador, the pilot is requesting to know if this is an official diplomatic flight, or if this is an unofficial one." The plane''s Steward asks.


    "Its an official flight, but it is not urgent, please request the pilot to not try and jump the queue, using me as an excuse." At her resopnse the steward followed her eyes to Sierra, who was still obviously trying to figure out where we were.


    After a prompt nod, he went back to the cockpit, then announced over the speakers that we would be in a holding pattern for a,while. It was an hour later when the wheels touched down again. By this time, Sierra had figured out we were landing in Washington D.C.


    The doors opened, and Erica told Samantha to hold us away from the doors for a,moment. I heard her talking to someone, then saw samantha put her hand on the pistol she had sitting on a specially designed shelf next to the door.


    "Sierra, stand behind me." I said as I grabbed her arm, and pulled her back. It was obvious the Coopers didn''t know what was going on, but Leah figured it was serious when she followed my eyes and saw the young Master Chief holding a nine millimeter pistol in both hands by the open door.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    A few tense seconds later, the pistol was put back in the spot it had been before, and two men in suits boarded.


    "Ladies, and Sir, we appologize for starling you. Accomodations have been made for all of you. Will the gentleman need seperate accommodation?"


    "That would be appreciated." I answered. He was asking if Will would stay in a room with one of the many women onboard. Well, He feels like my son; but it would be rather awkward for him to share a room with me.


    The man nodded, then stepped back, as to let us off ahead of him. I looked at Sierra, "listen very closely." Her eyes seemed to enlarge slightly. "You are to stand slightly ahead of me, to my right. I need to look like I am an aide to you. But here is the hard part. You can not step ahead of her." I said pointing to Noelle. "She wont get hurt, If I do; I''ll come back, but you cant do either. So we need to protect you." She nodded to what was said, and I gave her a hug, relieved that she needed no more explanation.


    At no point did I think there was any real danger, but I wanted her to know we would keep her safe, because we didn''t need it.


    An hour after landing at the airport, we were finally checked into a hotel, in very nice rooms, and we''re taking a break, when Leah recomended going to the pool until dinner time.


    I would finally get to wear a swimsuit in this lifetime. I grabbed it out of my bag before she finished talking, and was bounding into the restroom to change.


    The day was good, and the stress of traveling fell off along with the water from the indoor pool. The hotel staff were too obviously a secret service detail, but I don''t think the Coopers realized they were.

 Meeting

    The rest was welcome on this short trip.  Samantha and I had shared a room, so the two of us were getting ready for the official meeting that would be taking place in the early evening.  The channel the television was on kept,showing images of the president meeting with foreign dignitaries this morning.


    After fixing her hair into a beehive so her uniform hat would fit nicely, she helped braid my hair and pin it in a flat spiral on the back of my head.  The yellow Bobby pins with the black lace were used, and accentuated the dark colored hair really well.  It also made getting the undergarments, and the dress over me, much easier than it had been previously.


    "Taylor, I know I probably won''t get an answer, but why the sudden need to talk with the President?"  Sam asked as I straightened her neck tabs.


    "Since the Ambassador''s return from the middle east, he, and his staff, have been looking into her old records.  He has tripped some of the magic safeguards I had put into place to try and reduce some of the greediness that comes with knowing an immortal is within your grasp." I look her in the eyes as her neck tab was now correct.  "I came to remind him of our treaty, forcefully if nessiccary."  I grabbed the white clutch purse off the bed that matched my shoes.  "Don''t worry, I won''t kill him."  I smiled at her.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The look on her face told me that I wasn''t believed.


    We walked to the hotel lobby, where we met the rest of our entourage.  We looked quite the party, all formal, and dolled up.  My clutch had some light makeup in it for touchups, as well as a single hygiene pad, just in case, so it would not be leaving my hands tonight, as the timing is getting pretty close for me needing it.


    "Are we all ready?" Noelle asked.  It was obvious Sierra had still not been told where we were going, and her reactions were just as ammusing as the building trepidation on Will and Leah''s faces as we got closer to our purpose.


    As nods began, Erica began scanning outside the doors, without moving her feet.


    "Erica," I start; and she faces me, "Secret Service has had us under surveillance since we got off the plane, I think we should leave that in their capable hands."  I pointed to a bus boy who was obviously too old, and much too large; any hotel would not have had this body type doing that work; he would have made a perfect footman, but not a bus boy.

 Of Mice and Men

    The formal portion of meeting the dignataries and the President went smoothly. Sierra was in high, but nervous, spirits through the whole meeting. Will was a bit more subdued, as he had had a significantly longer time to get used to the idea of meeting one of the most influential people of the country. Leah just looked like she would faint at any time.


    "I understand this meeting was requested by you?" The president finally asked, after the meet and greet. "It will have to be after the press period; would you mind standing in as an aide?"


    "I do mind. I will wait in your secretary''s office. They need to be privy to our conversation as well."


    The men nodded, and they stepped outside the doors for the obligitory photo shoot. I was escorted to the secretary''s office, and waited. Although, obviously busy, she managed to find time to ask about my clothes, as well as commenting on how someone so young has impeccable manners. Well, she hadn''t made me mad yet, so I found no reason to not be civil. I did take note, that although she was curious, she never once inquired about how one with such a young appearance was scheduled to meet the President while he was entertaining foreign guests.


    After about an hour of her asking every question, except the one she wanted to, and myself skirting that topic with my replies, I was led into the oval office with Noelle. Sam and Erica were required to wait outside.


    "So, gentleman, this is an opperative of ours," he said introducing Noelle. "In the reports I get, I only see her callsign as ''Ambassador'' so please refer to her as such."


    "You felt it safe enough with us to tell us her callsign?" The man with a heavy French accent asked.


    "Sir, the President has never seen a document with my real name on it. Take it as a show of good faith that I have not been active in your regions since you have taken your respective positions."The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "I will take that advice; now who is this young thing? I was told we would be meeting with a mathmatics prodigy." He said, motioning to Taylor.


    "I am the person you are to meet with. For now, I am Taylor. In actuality, I am here to discuss the Treaty of T¨ªr Na N¨®g." The two visiting diplomats went pale at the mention of this treaty, and Taylor faced the President. "Sir, I may be residing on this countries soil right now, but bear in mind that attempting to leverage my kin, or to learn certain secrets, will not result in a fruitful enterprise." Taylor faced the two men, "the violations havent occoured yet; this is the final warning to this individual, as per the Treaty of T¨ªr Na N¨®g. Please do your best to explain what this means to the young President here."


    "Miss," the Frenchman stops Taylor as she turned to leave; "You said ''final warning'' as listed in the terms of the Treaty of T¨ªr Na N¨®g. If that is the case, you are the matriarch?"


    "I am." She answered curiously.


    "I will endeavor for the Trammels." He said in French.


    "As we endevor for the Dauphan." She replied, also in french." I know the reply is dated, however I have not visited your land to make changes. I wish your people well; once again, please speak to this man, I really don''t want to enact the first punishment phase." She finished while speaking French; she then switched to English, "I have a tour scheduled for the public portions of the Capitol building this afternoon; I believe it has been arranged for us to meet again this evening for dinner." She then let herself back out through the secretary''s office, quickly followed by Noelle.


    "Is what he doing going to enact the measures of T¨ªr Na N¨®g? I didn''t think mortals had the ability to...."


    "Ambassador! We are in public." Taylor chastised. "He has started to look for it. You know what that means. If he opens the doors, then one of us has to kill him. We agreed mellinia ago that you would be the last of our kind. If he figures out how to access T¨ªr Na N¨®g on his own, we could end up seeing a war that only I have the ability to stop. We have had a few close calls over the past few centuries, but none have gotten as close as that man."


    "I understand, Mother." She answered.


    Samantha, and Erica, who had heard our conversation seemed to have decided to stay mute. After all, its not every day one sees a girl with the appearance of a sixteen year old, make dignitaries pale with a single sentence.