27 A journey to the past

The stroll at the park was a form of relief and removing the stress for the Lee's.

The whole family was there, except for Josh. Aaron took note of his absence, and he thought he knew where he was. For certain, he was with Jan and Fr. Robert. But Evan and Yuri were with them. They played ballgames with Suzy, baby Michael and the maids, who looked like they have forgotten the bad experience for a while. Jackson and Zoraida were with them, and the pets also seemed to have enjoyed and forgotten what they have gone through.

They all sweated out and when they all went home were very tired.

Aaron and Isabella were happy with another day's achievement. Those little things that they accomplished for their family counted.

That night, as Aaron and she lay on their bed, she was visited by a dream.

She hurriedly walked down from the bedroom with her night gown on, went out of the house, and drove to their old house, the mansion.

Upon reaching the place, she went out of her car, looked at the huge house that the family left, stared at its beauty, at its grandiose on a bright day full of sunshine. The sunlight touched the evergreen trees that stood in front of the house making the house looked more majestic and alive. She was taken back to a fairy tale where there was a king and a queen who lived inside, and they had beautiful children, people and friends who lived in harmony and peacefully co-existed.

Then, she walked inside towards the living room, she made little more steps, and she was at the hall—there, where parties were held.

Isabella walked and walked around the house, slowly, reminiscing. She never regretted moving to a smaller house in exchange for something bigger, and that's her family, and the peace that came with such decision.

Then, Isabella walked outside, to the lake. The palindrome portal appeared before her eyes, enchanting, enticing her to come inside. She stepped in, and off, Isabella time-travelled back to the past.

She found herself standing alone in front of Tatin.

"You never slept," she whispered.

"Never," he said.

Isabella came closer, looked at Tatin and embraced him, his head on her shoulder. He moved, rolled his head on her shoulder because he wanted to feel her.

"A long time…"

Then, he got her hands, and invited her to dance.

She danced. They danced.

Then, the door of the hall opened suddenly.

It was Jezebel. Her face was furious. Bella was with her.

They weren't aware, but following them were the six friends of Tatin and Isabella.

Following the six were Josh, Jan, and Fr. Robert.

Suddenly, they found themselves all in one place—all in one timeline—that had the banquet hall.

Bella moved fast. She thrust her stick at Isabella.

Josh screamed: "Mom!"

Tatin was faster to block Bella's move. He looked at his rod which seemed to obey him as it flew like an arrow towards his right hand; raised it in a horizontal motion to block Bella's attack.

Jezebel followed suit. She pointed her stick at Isabella. Tatin blocked again. While they fought, the six rangers threw fire balls at the witches. The fire balls confused the witches and they withdrew from the scene. They raised their sticks and disappeared.

But Tatin would not allow them to run away from him this time. He waved his hand and the two witches found themselves in front of Tatin and the six fire-bringers. Josh, Jan, and Fr. Robert were awe-stricken.

Bella raised her stick again to disappear, but she couldn't. Jezebel did the same, but she, too, couldn't.

"What you just did was frustrated murder. If I bring your case to the elders of the wolf-dom you'll be sentenced to die. Now, you will promise to stop from here, let go of Isabella and her family who's now in the future, or you will find yourself in a position where you wouldn't want to be."

The hags looked at each other—they had a wicked grin.

They pointed their sticks together against Tatin and Isabella. Tatin and Isabella stood still this time. The fire-bringers emitted fireballs against the two ugly witches.

From the sky, people around that town were wondering at the fireworks.

Then, Bella thrust her stick towards the wall. Jezebel did the same. The walls shook as if there'd be an earthquake. The jolting was slow, there was swaying, then the earth under them moved until all the places were moving and the shaking was becoming stronger and stronger. Fire was eating up the whole place.

Tatin grabbed Isabella's hand. Josh, Jan, Fr. Robert, and the fire-bringers ran away from the banquet hall.

xxxxxx

When everything was calm, Isabella asked the three: "How did you get here?"

"The palindrome portal. We saw you. We had you followed—what is this place?" Josh was overwhelmed with wonder. "Who are these people?" He was asking about Tatin, Apollo II, Lobo, Matthias, Hugh, Andrea, and Julius.

Tatin smiled. He wanted to satisfy Josh's curiosity. "You are in the past, hundreds of years from where you are now." The three musketeers looked at each other.