Changes

   "It's done."

  I feel the tears clear up as I try to sleep. The voice is Amethyst's. I know what she did.

  It is the closure of a part of life. Something I always thought would happen, but never wanted it to. It felt weird to say what I needed to say, or realize what I needed to realize. But after a long enough time, it needed to happen. 

  "Still riding the emotions?" Amethyst asks as she sits on my bed. Earlier, it was Archangel Jillian trying her best to comfort me. Now the Time Walker might try. Maybe. I'm not sure, and at this point, I don't care. Everything has finally changed enough. The warning signs of change were there. 

  In my mind, I turn over the whole conversations. Hours of circles, trying to get the facts straight and get the emotions calmed. I just wanted peace, but instead I was forced to contend with a darkness that I once embraced. It ended with as much of a bang as it began, and the whispers were as deafening as before. 

  "What about Hani?" Renegade asks as she enters the room. I have my eyes closed, but I can still see her burning rage through my eyelids.

  "At least clean your sword before you come in here. Crazed Dominion." Amethyst sighs, "Honestly, he has been harmless enough. He isn't fully attached to ... well, that one, anymore so it should be fine to leave him be. After all, he isn't going to be much of a bother."

  "What makes you so sure about that?" I hear a familiar voice grate against my ears. I curl further into a ball as I hear Amethyst and Renegade brandish weapons. "Oh, relax. I'm not coming here to hurt. I know better than that."

  "Then get out. You are not welcomed here." Renegade growls. 

  "Oh, take a rest. You think I am the monster born of that one." I get super confused. I was sure Hani was. I remember the day he was created. 

  "You better explain yourself then. None of us have time for your antics." Amethyst warns him. 

  I hear him laugh and realize it before the others do. "Do you think I would allow someone that close to my Beloved so soon?" The voice shifts, just as I imagine the appearance does as well. 

  Amethyst laughs, "I should have known, yet you kept yourself marvelously well-hidden. Bravo, Samuel Abraham." 

  "Stupid Guardians." Renegade whispers as she cleans her blade and sheaths it. 

  I hear Samuel pass them and come close to me. "I will always protect her in any way possible. It is what I was tasked to do after all. Even with no physical form just yet." He leans over me and strokes my hair. "Are you feeling any better, Ani?" I nod a little. "Good. I came as soon as I could."

  "But what about the others?" Renegade asks. "I was only able to dispatch the one little bastard that has been messing with me. There were-"

  "The others have been dealt with." Samuel interrupts. "After all, there is more than one Guardian. I just happen to be the primary one." 

  I hear Renegade give a huff of satisfaction. Amethyst has gone off to sit in my Papasan chair and check to make sure everything is alright in alternate realities. She usually does whenever Samuel is here. "Is this why you came to visit me earlier this year?" I sigh happily to have the good company.

  "More or less, yeah. Either I was going to step in and make things messy, or I was going to step in and help with the clean-up. I guess it turned out to be the latter. Which is fine by me." Samuel laughs. "Besides, Ulric and Azarius needed to blow off some steam themselves, so having an excuse to do something a little more violent was a nice relief."

  "Oh," I hesitate at the thought of a Spymaster and a spiritual Ambassador working together to do something, "That's -comforting. I guess? I'm not sure."

  "Don't worry, nothing was destroyed that shouldn't have been." Samuel chuckles. "But get some rest. You have work in the morning, and you need to get some energy for that and the weekend ahead."

  "It's going to be a doozy, that's for sure." Amethyst comments from the chair. 

  I have no idea what that means, but I snuggle further into my blankets and pillows. They are right. I haven't been sleeping well for the last few months. The sleep comes quicker than usual and I find myself pulled into the world of dreams and fragmented memories.