He concentrated fiercely, pushing some of his energy toward his back and felt the giant steel-like wings reforming into a sharp point at the center of his back. He meant for the wings to pierce the light and tear through it, hopefully, letting Jo and him out of this limbo. They slammed into it hard enough that he almost let go of Jo and Harry, but the impact also allowed the wings to tear through the light the way he'd intended.
The bright light encircled them; it was all around them; Grayson felt both bodies in his arms, but couldn't see them because the light was too bright. Both Jo and Harry were clinging to Grayson as well, and he gripped them harder, refusing to let go. He felt them being squeezed to the point of almost being crushed, like they were being shoved through a hole that was just to small but they were being compressed to the point where they fit. The pain was unbearable, and yet they bore it all, they could do nothing but cling to each other. He heard Harry cry out in pain and heard Jo's whisper in his ear.
"Sorry Grayson, I never meant for this to happen."
It was so quiet and the pain seeping through every quiet word Jo uttered. His Jo and Harry were in pain, and he wanted nothing more than to take it away. He wrapped himself around them as much as possible trying to protect them and take their pain. All of a sudden, the blinding light was gone, and they were falling. He could feel and see his body and theirs; Jo was solid again, and Harry was too.
They were falling fast though, but toward what? Grayson turned his head; whatever they were falling toward was green. He turned his head the other way; oh, it was a huge field, a green grassy field; he could see the ground clearly now.
Could he land properly? He tried to gauge the distance and the speed they were falling at, they were very high up. Jo had taught him how to fall and land safely while holding different objects of different sizes and dimensions, although he'd never held something as heavy and bulky as two bodies, but he had no choice. He waited for the right moment and flipped trying to get his balance properly and felt his body move the right way as he kept his eyes on the ground the whole time.
He felt his legs hit and tried to disperse the impact and let himself roll smoothly, the rest of his body following behind in one fluid motion. As he rolled he released both Harry and Jo, so they wouldn't feel any more of the impact. They rolled a little away from him and lay still as did Grayson. The pain he felt now was different from before, it wasn't his pain; it was Jo and Harry's pain.
So much pain; images and visions, voices and movement, everything flooded him mind. His body felt every impact, every blow, every sword swing, and thrust, every time the sword cut into his body, all of it. Harry's sadness and Grayson's face as Grayson told him he couldn't love Harry the way Harry loved him.
He saw from Harry's perspective; he saw Harry's Dad as a drunk driver sideswiped him when he was pulling out of the driveway. Harry could see his Dad's face as the driver slammed into him. He'd turned to look as the drunk driver when he heard the tires screeching trying to stop, his face saw the inevitable, he'd turned at the last second and smiled at his son and mouth 'I love you' then his Dad seemed to disappear. The trauma of seeing that was immense.
He felt the betrayal of Jo's husband, the loss of her kids when she first went through the portal, the centuries of experience, the centuries of injuries. He felt Jo having her babies, the life she had lead, her happiness and sadness. The ecstasy of sex, every single time she's done it, with every single partner.
He felt Harry's happiness and pleasure when Grayson had kissed him and touched him and made love to him. The sadness of having Grayson plead with him 'please don't leave me'. The guilt at knowing if he asked Grayson to make love to him, he would, because that's how Grayson was. He always put others before himself, always cherished his loved ones, always pushed himself too far and loved everyone too much.
Everything slammed into him; it all hit him at once, causing him to turn on his side and throw up. It was too much, too much! This pain was driving him crazy!
Make it stop!!!!
He'd stopped throwing up simply because there was nothing left in his stomach, not even bile. The other's had the same reaction. He'd thought he was prepared for the onslaught of emotions and everything else that Jo had told him would be coming. Grayson realized there was no way he could have ever been prepared for this.
It took about 12 minutes for it all to hit Grayson, by then Jo and Harry had gotten up and crawled over to Grayson's side, laying next to him but unwilling to touch him, so they wouldn't cause him more pain. He felt like a raw exposed nerve; he writhed on the ground, trying not to yell aloud, trying to not move, fearful that if he did he wouldn't be able to stop yelling in pain and anguish, and pleasure, ecstasy, and happiness.
UGH!!! Would this ever end? NO MORE!!!
Finally the last tidbits of information; he saw as Harry watched Phoebe kiss him on the cheek and the expression on Grayson's face of surprise and embarrassment. He knew Harry's thoughts; what Harry saw cut through him like a knife; he would never have that. Harry wished he were a girl for a moment so that Grayson could accept him. He saw as Harry ran up the stairs to get Sheila, Phoebe, Eric, and Matt because Grayson wouldn't wake up. He saw the look on Jo's face as Harry cried because he thought Grayson was not coming back, he saw as Harry stood back and everyone tried their own method of waking him up.
Phoebe hit him a few times, charging her fist with energy, Sheila tried holding his nose and mouth shut to force him to wake up and breathe, Eric threw him into a cold shower, and Matt tried kissing him but nothing worked. He saw as Harry cradled him in his lap and caressed his face and body trying to bring him back, he felt it all, every single little thing.
He saw as Jo stood by watching Grayson fight and watching him move. He felt her pride as she watched him; as he faced off with her children and easily evaded them. She admired him, loved him, and cherished him; she would always love him; always try to protect him as she did her children. The last bit he felt was the ecstasy that he had just experienced, the bliss that both of them felt with every move that Grayson made; he felt their movements and caresses, and the orgasms they felt. At the very end, he heard his Father's voice; it was a memory that had popped up, he didn't remember this at all.
'Son, I want you to sit down; I need to show you and tell you something.'
His Dad came around his huge desk grabbing a book as he came; he sat it down on the beautiful antique wooden desk and faced Grayson. He looked so young! His Dad sat down next to him and opened the book showing him a family tree on the front of it, their family tree, but it had a different last name; Witzfield was the last name.
'Grayson do you know what this is?' he asked.
Kenneth Phillips was a big man, huge in fact; he stood at 6'7" tall and had a massive build with a big bone structure, and lean, tight, compact muscles. He moved very agilely and gracefully like a cat; he moved as if he was trained to fight, Grayson realized.
Grayson had gotten most of his looks from his Mother but his eyes and mouth, the shape, size and color, were all from his Father. Grayson felt as his Father's hand cupped his small shoulder.
'Yes daddy, this is our family tree right?' Grayson answered, his little feet dangling and swinging back and forth.
'You are correct. Just so you know, this book contains everything you will ever need to know about what I am going to tell you, and what I am going to tell you is a secret, so you can't tell anyone about it ok?' Grayson nodded his head at his Father.
'There is something special about us. Our family has the ability to travel through time by opening a portal and jumping through it into another time. There is a group of people who control this and watch when the time portals are opened. Only our family and one other with the last name of Wilcox have this ability as far as we know; there used to be others but they have either gone into hiding or been killed off. As far as I know, we are the stronger of the two families left. We two families can control the portal with ease and direct it as we please; the group I spoke
of cannot do this unless they use a device that allows them to control it and move about as they see fit. However, because of our abilities to control the portal we are both desired and feared, and because of this we were persecuted and almost completely killed off. We have survived by keeping ourselves hidden and changing out names every lifetime or so. Do you understand so far son?' Kenneth asked.
'Yes daddy, we can travel through time because we can create a portal in time and jump into the other time. Another family can do it, and some people like us because we can do this and others hate us. Isn't that just like Jo daddy? Have they killed many of our family daddy? Can't we go to the time when they were killed and save them? Can I go back and save Jo?' Grayson asked his face sad.
'Yes it is just like Jo and unfortunately if we did that we might get caught and they would do the same thing to us; but I must tell you something else. When you open the time portal, and rest assured you will open it, it happens to all of us, you have to be careful because you can end up anywhere. You must be prepared for anything, and there will be changes. Your body will change, you will either age where you are the strongest or lose years, reverting to when you are strongest both physically and mentally. However, you will never age again; you will also heal a hundred times faster than normal because your body will always revert to your strongest point. You will, unless killed in a very specific way, live endlessly. Our bodies are made for this though, so you will survive through the pain because we are meant to.
If for whatever the reason, someone who is not from our family and does not have one of the time portal devices were to get sucked into the portal with you, there is only one salvation for them. Your blood; you must give that person your blood or the blood of a natural time portal user. However, you must do this within ten minutes of coming through the portal, no more than that or that person will die immediately.
Listen well son this is the most important part. If you do this, you must understand, our blood is stronger than a normal human's blood, and though exchanging our blood is customary when binding ourselves in marriage with one of our own, in humans it will also take over their body replacing their own blood. If this person is important to you then you must be careful; if you give them too much blood then they will also die. A small amount of blood will do, like a cut on your hand and their hand to allow your blood to go in; a touch is all that is required. Their transition will not be as smooth as yours is, their bodies are not made for this change, but your blood will protect them.
I tell you this because I had to do this, your Mother is the person I had to pull through a portal, she is like you and I now. She will not age, but she cannot open a portal like us, she doesn't have the level of control we do and if she tried there is a possibility of her dying. Son, my grandfather was the one to tell me of our special abilities. He told me that I must pass on this message to all my children and they to theirs, and so on. This is the message,
"We are Sentinels of Gaia and the gods themselves, blessed by KiGa, the Mother and creator of the entire universe. We have their blood running through our veins. We are the protectors of time; we are entrusted with its protection and are obliged to officiate its use. We are the regulators, and the last judgment; we are justice personified. Our judgment is finite and immutable and as such, we have to be fair and open-minded. Never forget we are given these abilities to protect above all else."
Well son, I know you are small and you will likely forget this, but when you need it, this memory will come to you, when it does, be prepared for the fight to come. Study as much as you can, learn all that you possibly can, because you will need it all. A fighting style is in this book that belongs only to the Sentinels, that only the Sentinels can use, someone who has the Sentinels blood in them, like your Mother can also use it, but we are the only ones. Learn it, practice it, and never stop using it; it will save your life.
One more thing; this is my own personal advice my dear son. If you must share your blood with someone, make sure it is someone that you love and will always want to be with you, for you will be bound to them for eternity. They will be yours, you will be theirs, your life and theirs will be one. Oh and I know you love Harry, and that Harry is your best friend, but when the time comes if he feels the same way about you, that he does now and you reciprocate those feelings, there is a page in this book that allows you to make a family together. We Sentinels are not like normal humans; because there are so few Sentinels and because of how the gods made us, we need a pure and true love to create life, and sometimes you have no control over who you love. Our bodies can change and allow for life to be born from females and males. If you are lucky and are able to find one of the other Sentinels, you may be able to create life, since we are the same, but life without love is a dangerous combination with regard to a Sentinel. Well, that's all; I love you son, I hope to fight alongside you when the time comes.'
Grayson opened his eyes, only one thought on his mind. HARRY!!! Harry needed his blood or he would die! How long had he been lying there, five, maybe ten minutes? Was there still time? He had no idea how much time had transcribed, and he didn't have time to dwell on it either, he only had time to act.
He sat up fast, yelling Harry's name.
"HARRY!!!!"
Harry looked at him surprised as did Jo.
"What's wrong Gray?" both Jo and Harry asked him worried. Grayson sighed in relief; Harry was still alive, but for how long?
"I need something sharp, help me find something sharp; I need to give Harry my blood! NOW!!!"
Jo's face turned white; Harry didn't understand what was going on, but he began to look around for something sharp. There was nothing but grass, everywhere grass, not even a rock on the ground, just soft dirt. Grayson was getting desperate and Jo seemed to be moving around in a daze; neither Harry nor Jo found anything either.
Grayson grabbed Harry by the wrist and sat him down.
"I'm sorry about this Harry, but it's the only way; it's going to hurt like a Mother fucker ok?" Harry's face looked completely lost and startled.
Grayson bit his own hand as hard as he could, breaking through the skin and heard Harry gasp.
"What are you doing?!" Harry demanded bewildered, anger seeping into his voice; Jo simply looked at him, an expression of acquiescence on her face.
"I'm sorry but I have to Harry, there's no other way."
Grayson looked at Jo, she might have to hold Harry down; Jo moved closer ready to react if necessary. She knew what was going on, from her memories he'd seen, he knew she knew. Grayson grabbed Harry's hand and lowered his head, expecting Harry to pull it away or at least fight him, but he did neither, instead he held his hand flat and relaxed in Grayson's hand. Grayson looked up for a second at Harry's face; there was only acceptance there. Harry's other hand came up and petted his head.
"I trust you, if there is no other way, I will deal with the pain," Harry said calmly.
Grayson didn't waste any time, bringing Harry's hand to his mouth he bit down hard enough to break the skin and draw blood; Harry never cried out and never said a word. Although Grayson saw the pain clear on Harry's face as he clamped his mouth shut. Grayson took his cupped hand and pressed his open wound to Harry's, feeling an odd sensation, as if he was being sucked into Harry somehow. He felt a heart beat in his hand and pulled his hand away. His Father has said a little was enough; too much would also kill Harry. Harry sighed and fell back, his body thrashing and convulsing, a second later Grayson felt pain everywhere and the same thing happened to him.
Jo pulled both of their naked bodies over to her, laying their heads on her lap and sat there petting them; she was the only one semi clothed. Jo remembered the pain, they'd all gone through this change, her children and Matt included. The change only took about 15 minutes, but Jo remembered it was so painful, the worst pain she had ever felt, although she guessed that Grayson had felt much worse when they first arrived in the grassy field.
Jo felt Grayson filing out in spots, his biceps g
rew thicker the muscle wrapping around his bone tightly and his shoulders grew wider. His chest was thicker and wider, his sternum and ribs harder and thicker; he was getting taller as well. At this rate, he'd be taller than Harry, maybe taller than Matt; his legs grew more muscle which wound tightly around his legs. His stomach already had an eight pack, but the muscle grew tighter, more solid and hard as a rock. Grayson's groin also grew, Jo thought that was probably one thing he didn't need getting bigger. He was already hefty there as it was, she felt bad for Harry.
She could see their muscles moving under their skins, their bones were stretching and lengthening, Harry's chest got a little wider, his rib bones thicker, his legs a little more muscular, his arms filled in a bit, and his abdominal muscles also grew an eight pack. He didn't seem to be growing taller though. She felt the muscles in their backs getting thicker, tighter, and harder, their buttocks also got more firm and tighter.
The wounds on their hands began to heal and close. Grayson's hair grew stronger, thicker and a little longer, and the red streaks, which ran through it, got brighter, shining and shimmering. The blonde grew lighter and more golden; his eyelashes grew a longer and thicker. His mouth a little more rosy, Grayson really was gorgeous and stunning.
Harry's hair already a light brown also grew longer, stronger and thicker, the natural golden streaks through his hair grew more prominent, his hair lightening to blonde almost white. The contrast the golden streaks made with the almost white hair made Harry look almost like an angel. His lips, which were already full, formed a perfect heart shape and grew almost red, making her want to kiss them. His face was delicate when she studied it, scrutinizing everything, his delicate eyebrows, the line of his jaw, his almond-shaped eyes, his long eyelashes, his slightly upturned nose. Even the shape of his face, also formed a pretty heart shape, making him even more beautiful.
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