h4Chapter 147: Chapter 147: The Storm Child/h4

    The white light faded. ra was holding two babies.

    They had been born in seconds. No pain. No blood. Just light and then life.

    "How is that possible?" Kael whispered.

    "Time babies don’t follow rules," Frost said. She was sitting up like a grown-up, even though she was only nine months old.

    The first twin was a girl. She had Kael’s green eyes and silver hair like starlight. When she opened her tiny fist, yesterday’s newspaper appeared in her palm.

    "She pulled that from the past," Darian said, amazed.

    The second twin was a boy. He had ra’s brown eyes but his hair kept changing colors. When he yawned, tomorrow’s sunrise flickered across the ceiling.

    "He’s showing us the future," Ronan breathed.

    "What do we call them?" ra asked.

    "Luna," Kael said, touching the girl’s face. "For the moon goddess who blessed us."

    "And Phoenix," ra said, looking at the boy. "For the new world that’sing."

    Suddenly, Luna started crying. Not normal baby crying. Her screams shook the house.

    The windows cracked. The floor split open. Yesterday’s rain started falling inside the room.

    "What’s wrong with her?" Kael asked, trying to hold his daughter.

    "She’s angry," Frost said. "She doesn’t like being born early."

    "Make her stop," Ronan said. The rain was getting heavier.

    "I can’t," ra said. "She won’t let me touch her."

    Every time someone reached for Luna, she screamed louder. More cracks appeared in the walls. More impossible things started happening.

    A dinosaur’s shadow walked across the broken floor. Ancient music yed from nowhere. The smell of flowers that wouldn’t bloom for another hundred years filled the air.

    "She’s pulling things from all different times," Darian said. "Past, present, future - it’s all mixing together."

    "This is dangerous," Kael said. "If she keeps this up, she’ll tear a hole in time itself."

    Phoenix started glowing. His light was gentle, not harsh like his sister’s screaming.

    He reached out his tiny hand toward Luna. When their fingers touched, everything stopped.

    The rain disappeared. The cracks healed. The dinosaur shadow faded away.

    Luna stopped screaming. She looked at her twin brother and smiled.

    "They bnce each other," Frost said. "She controls the past. He controls the future. Together, they control now."

    "That’s incredible," ra said.

    "That’s terrifying," Kael said.

    "That’s our family," Ronan said with a grin.

    Suddenly, car doors mmed outside. Lots of them.

    "They’re here," Frost said. Her voice sounded scared for the first time. "The bad men came early."

    "How many?" Darian asked.

    "Fifty soldiers. Ten scientists. Three machines that can cage time itself."

    "What kind of machines?" ra asked.

    "The kind that can trap Luna and Phoenix forever," Frost said.

    "We have to run," Kael said.

    "Where?" Ronan asked. "They have the house surrounded."

    "We go to the between ce," Frost said. "Like I told you before."

    "How?" ra asked. She was still holding the twins.

    "Luna and Phoenix have to open the door," Frost said. "But they’re too young to understand."

    "Then we teach them," Darian said.

    "There’s no time," Frost said. "The soldiers are breaking down the front door."

    Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs. Men shouted orders. Metal clinked against metal.

    "In here!" Dr. Webb’s voice echoed through the hallway. "The readings are strongest in the nursery!"

    "They found us," ra whispered.

    Kael grabbed a baseball bat. Ronan picked up amp. Darian pulled out a knife.

    "You can’t fight fifty soldiers with house supplies," Frost said.

    "Watch us try," Kael snarled.

    The nursery door exploded inward. Soldiers in ck armor poured through. They carried strange guns that hummed with electricity.

    Dr. Webb walked in behind them. His fake smile was gone. Now he looked hungry.

    "There they are," he said, pointing at the twins. "The time children. Perfect specimens."

    "You’re not taking them," ra said.

    "I’m taking all of them," Dr. Webb said. "Every supernatural child in this house."

    He pointed at Frost, ze, and Lightning. "Those three will help us understand elemental powers."

    Then he pointed at Luna and Phoenix. "And those two will help us control time itself."

    "Over our dead bodies," Ronan growled.

    "That can be arranged," Dr. Webb said. "Fire."

    The soldiers raised their weapons. But before they could shoot, Luna started crying again.

    This time was different. This time was worse.

    Her screams didn’t just shake the house. They shook time.

    The soldiers suddenly became old men. Then young boys. Then babies. Then dust. Then they were soldiers again.

    "What’s happening to them?" Dr. Webb screamed.

    "Luna’s making them live their whole lives over and over," Frost said. "In seconds."

    "Make her stop!" Dr. Webb yelled.

    "We can’t control her," ra said. "She’s too powerful."

    Phoenix started glowing brighter. He was trying to calm his sister. But Luna was too angry.

    The walls started melting. Not from heat. From time moving too fast.

    "She’s going to destroy everything," Kael said.

    "Not everything," Frost said. "Just the things that threaten her family."

    "Including us?" Darian asked.

    "Maybe," Frost said.

    Dr. Webb pulled out a silver device. It looked like a gun but hummed like a tuning fork.

    "This will neutralize her powers," he said.

    "Don’t you dare," ra snarled.

    Dr. Webb pointed the device at Luna. "One shot and she’ll be normal. Just a regr baby."

    "She’s not regr," Kael said. "She’s special."

    "She’s dangerous," Dr. Webb said. "Look around you. She’s tearing reality apart."

    "Because you’re threatening her," Ronan said.

    "I’m trying to save her," Dr. Webb said.

    "You’re trying to cage her," ra said.

    Dr. Webb’s finger moved toward the trigger. "Sometimes cages are safer than freedom."

    Luna’s crying got louder. The soldiers were aging and getting younger so fast they looked like blurs.

    Phoenix reached for his sister again. But this time, Luna pushed his hand away.

    "She doesn’t want to be calmed down," Frost said. "She wants to fight."

    "She’s nine minutes old," Kael said. "She doesn’t understand fighting."

    "She understands protecting," Frost said. "And she understands family."

    Dr. Webb pulled the trigger. A silver beam shot toward Luna.

    But it never reached her. Phoenix appeared between them, taking the beam himself.

    The little boy’s glow went out. He fell silent. His eyes closed.

    Luna’s screaming stopped. She looked at her brother, not moving, not glowing.

    Then she did something no baby should be able to do.

    She spoke. Not in baby words. In real words.

    "You hurt my brother," Luna said. Her voice was tiny but terrible.

    "Babies can’t talk," Dr. Webb said, backing away.

    "Time babies can do anything," Luna said.

    She lifted her small hand. Dr. Webb suddenly became very, very old. His hair turned white. His skin wrinkled. His back bent.

    "Stop," he wheezed. "I’m dying."

    "Good," Luna said.

    "Luna, no," ra said. "That’s not who we are."

    Luna looked at her mother. For a second, she was just a confused baby again.

    "But he hurt Phoenix," she said in her tiny voice.

    "I know," ra said. "But killing him won’t help Phoenix."

    "What will help?" Luna asked.

    "Love," ra said. "Family. Hope."

    Luna looked at her still brother. She crawled over to him, even though babies can’t crawl yet.

    She put her hand on Phoenix’s chest. Light began to glow again.

    "Wake up," she whispered. "I need you."

    Phoenix’s eyes opened. He smiled at his sister.

    "Better?" Luna asked.

    "Better," Phoenix said. His first word.

    Dr. Webb, still old and bent, stumbled toward the door. His soldiers, confused and dizzy from rapid aging, followed him.

    "This isn’t over," he wheezed.

    "Yes, it is," Frost said. Her eyes went white one more time. "I can see your future, old man. You don’t have much left."

    Dr. Webb ran. His soldiers ran after him.

    "Are they gone?" ra asked.

    "For now," Frost said. "But they’ll be back with stronger weapons."

    "Then we need to be ready," Kael said.

    "No," Luna said, standing up like she was five years old instead of ten minutes old. "We need to leave."

    "Leave for where?" Ronan asked.

    "The ce where time doesn’t matter," Luna said. "The ce where we can grow up safe."

    "And where is that?" Darian asked.

    Phoenix stood up too. Together, the twins held hands and pointed at the wall.

    A door appeared. But not a normal door. This door was made of light and shadow and tomorrow’s dreams.

    "The between ce," Frost breathed.

    "Want to see it?" Luna asked, grinning like the dangerous child she already was.

    Before anyone could answer, she grabbed Phoenix’s hand and jumped through the impossible door.

    "Luna! Phoenix!" ra screamed.

    But they were gone. And the door was closing.

    "We have to follow them," Kael said.

    "What if we can’t get back?" Ronan asked.

    "What if we can’t get to them?" Darian said.

    The door was almost closed now. Just a sliver of strange light remained.

    Frost crawled to the edge and looked through.

    "What do you see?" ra asked.

    "Everything," Frost whispered. "I see everything that was and everything that will be."

    "Are Luna and Phoenix safe?" ra asked.

    "They’re safe," Frost said. "But they’re not alone."

    "Who’s with them?" Kael asked.

    "Someone who’s been waiting for them," Frost said. "Someone who knows what they really are."

    "What are they really?" ra asked.

    Frost looked back at them. Her baby face looked ancient and sad.

    "They’re not just time babies," she said. "They’re the

    ones who decide if time keeps going at all."

    The door mmed shut.

    And somewhere, in the ce between seconds, Luna started crying again.