Triggers: Mild
violence. Supernatural elements.
The Mission
In the hills above an airfield in Greenland. Just a step away and sideways from another Realm. A seemingly young woman and a younger relative are standing in a field of ice. The temperature is far below zero, yet neither have winter clothing on. They are far beyond needing such protection.There is a target attached to a post staked into the ice in front of them. It is untouched. There are, however, several small smoking holes in the ground between it and the women.
"This is NEVER going to work!"
"Not with that attitude! Just relax, and then get angry! Feel like you want to punch someone, really hard, and instead of throwing your fist, feel the energy build up in your arm, and throw that instead."
Beth gives a confused look.
"Oh, for the love of-"
"Beth, have you ever punched anyone?"
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"Wouldn't a punching bag be easier than time-travel to Earth?!"
"You can't get angry at a punching bag! It's more about getting into a pissed off state and then controlling and focusing that energy."
"But CrossRealm AND Downtime? When Ma finds out, we'll BOTH be grounded for a month-"
"She'll never find out."
"She ALWAYS does."
"Frieda Preserve Me, ah cannot wait for you to be of legal drinking age, so we can get you a couple of beers, maybe calm down this worrying garbage. You're the toughest O'Rourke of them all, and you're always putting on that you're the wimpiest. Ah blame your grandmother. She shoulda let you get dirty, skin a knee once in a while. Bust some shit up here and there. Now, it's up to me. As usual."
"Okay, so we're going to 'high school'. Who do I have to fight?"
"Look, there's - was- this girl - you'll figure out which one it is - who was giving me all kinds of problems in the sophmore year, making fun of mah accent, the glasses, mah nose-"
"What's wrong with your nose?"
"Ah know, right? Anyway, she was in a "bad girl" phase. Ah couldn't fight her - ah mean, ah promised not to, could've really hurt her. But it bothered me for a long time..."
"Anyway, one day, when ah wasn't there, there was this incident in the cafeteria, between this girl and someone else. Nobody really got hurt, well, not TOO bad, but this pain in my ass girl got a lesson in mouthing off. She got better afterwards. Only thing, we never figured out who she fought with. Nobody recognized the other girl."
"So, I could have been..."
"Yep. Or to put it into Chronotravel terms, you will be, and thereafter will always have been, the other girl."
Beth sighed. This was going to happen. And what the hell, this bitch had harassed Aunt Becky, when she couldn't act like the powerhouse she was. Some cowardly Underbeing. NOBODY harassed Aunt Becky if she could help it.
Beth concentrated and snapped her fingers. Her Vinterlander garb was replaced by clothing based on old pictures she had seen of Becky.
"How do these look for Earth clothes of this era?"
"Not bad, not bad at all! I mean, they're blue, not my colors, but we want to discourage any connection between you and me, anyway. Speaking of which..."
Becky placed her fingertips on Beth's ears, which suddenly appeared to be rounded, rather than the slightly pointed ones her family's magically altered genetics had given her.
"Oh, geeze, I forgot about the ears..."
"Ah know, ah did that all the time. Everyone thought ah had a "fixation" on elves, was wearing phony ears. Had to feed a bunch of lines of bullshit to counselors. Idiots."
"Anyway, you memorize the route from the map ah drew you?"
"Yep! But before I do this, where were you during all this?"
"I was laid up...with parasites."
"Ugh...you ate raw pork?!"
"Oh, I did THAT at least once a month, no problem there. No, there was this popular video game at the time where you had to fight these magical beasts that reproduced by infecting you with their spores, turned you into them."
"Ah couldn't beat the game, so I tried going inside it, played it from there. Ended up getting infected somehow. Didn't win, either. Stupid game. Anyway, it didn't do any real harm, but ah could hear the damn things screaming as they died in my head, gave me this AWFUL migraine. Had to pretend to have Mono to cover for it."
Beth shakes her head. And teleports into a shadowy corner of a high school cafeteria.
It didn't take long to find the target of her quest.
"And the poor little elf weirdo is out again! Wonder what Harry Potter character she smooched to GET MONO? I'm betting Hermione!!!"
Laughter from the assembled Mean Girls. And a rising wave of...something...in Beth.
"Hey, Becky's NOT WEIRD! She's cool! SHUT your trap about her!
The girl looked at her.
"Oh, look - another lame-o jumping into to protect the little geek. And she's even got the same CUTE LIL' pointy nose! And just about the same retarded accent. What fairy land did YOU come from, princess?"
Anger was awakened. And then some.
And as it turned out, even powered down Vinterlander fists were more than a match for the cartilage in a human nose.
As the rest of the students gasped, Beth brought the stunned earth girl's somewhat battered face close to her own, and whispered:
"Fairyland's a few realms over, Earthbitch. I'm a Vinterlander. And by the way, Becky says hello."
THAT FELT GOOD
Oh, Frieda, I forgot...I hope she doesn't remember that I said 'Vinterlander"
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"I...still don't want to do it all the time."
"That's good. Very good. Violence does actually solve a lot of things, but you gotta know when to stop. Some people can't. Ah still have real problems with it...hell, you've seen me..."
"Ah, Frieda-damn it, it's not about me. You're better than me. You didn't pummel her into the ground..."
"I kinda wanted to..."
"But you didn't. And now you have a reference state to start focusing on, when needed."
"And it did some good in the here and now. Young Becky will have problems with her yet to come, but not like before. A lesson was learned that way too."
"So now, it's back Uptime?
Please, before we get into even more trouble...
"Not quite yet. We've got a side mission of sorts..."
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"Aunt Becky, I don't know if this is really such a good idea...I mean, I got into a fistfight, mission accomplished, right? It just seems like we're tempting fate..."
"Relax! We're here anyway, and I want to walk down the old street once more. Take a look at the bookstore. Aunt Anabelle's gone for the moment, so we should be clear. AFTER we stop and get some ice cream!"
"Vinterland has ice cream."
"Not like this."
Angelo the grocer looked up and saw a woman and her - daughter? enter the store. The girl looked on the timid side, but the mother? older sister? entered like she owned the place. A wide smile on her face.
And they both looked a little strange. And somehow familiar.
"Good sir! Ah understand that ya'll sell ice cream cones to young people in need of refreshment! We've got one young person here, and one young at heart, and we need to celebrate a victory!"
"Miss, the only ice cream we have in stock at the moment is this special flavor we keep for the family that owns the bookstore across the street. I don't know that you'd care for it - it's *ginger* flavored, and REALLY strong-"
"Sounds perfect! The bookstore is our next stop, I'll square it with the folks there."
"I don't have many dollars left, anymore, would you take these as payment for a couple of triple-decker cones?"
The woman handed over a pair of what looked like gold coins.
The grocer had seen these coins before. They were indeed gold. But it also meant that these two were...those...kind of people.
Oh, god. These are O'Rourkes. There's MORE of them.
Beth asserts herself. She's starting to get used to it.
"She'll just have one scoop, sir. She needs to watch her intake."
She whispers to Rebecca
"I don't want you having some kind of seizure down HERE!"
After downing considerably more scoops than advisable, and then crossing the street...
"Home again, home again! God, it's good to see this old place! Late spring afternoon, ice cream, school's almost out for the summer, heaven!"
Rebecca walks up to the bookstore. The interior is dark, with a CLOSED sign in the door.
"Aunt A. should be gone for a bit, yet. Wonder if it's ethical to stea-ah mean, take some comics from my pull list? Ah mean, they are for ME, and ah can resell a bunch of 'em for a mint when we get back Uptime. The money's not actually GOING anywhere..."
Beth's thoughts are on a potentially more serious legality, and how she might try to explain to lawkeepers how she's actually an ice princess from a magical land that happens to be in the future, and the lady she was with wasn't REALLY stealing...
"Are we committing a crime, doing this?"
"Eh! It's a gray area!"
"Why are most of the areas we visit colored gray?"
"Well, it can be construed as trespassing. Neither of our names are on the lease, after all. But it's not breaking and entering..."
Rebecca opened her bag and pulled out a key
"Didn't have to magic this up. One of the things that I hung onto, for some reason. Now we know the reason."
"You - the other you is right upstairs."
"We'll be quiet. And I doubt that I - she'll hear anything over the wailing of the parasites."
"Although ah am tempted to walk upstairs and give the poor kid a magic'd up Advil. Wonder if ah could pull that off, somehow. That was really miserable-"
An ancient memory comes into clearer focus. Somebody did come to help out in those days.
Someone who would, and at the same time, would not be pleased to see them there.
Beth had never seen her aunt's slightly blueish humanform complexion go completely white before.
"Oh shit, just remembered something. Let's just calmly back out of here, and once we're clear, I'll send us back Uptime."
As they crept back towards the front door, they were startled by an old voice from the back of the store, near the steps that led upstairs.
"Rebecca Grace, just WHAT do you think you're doing?"
Frieda was standing behind them, arms crossed. She was wearing the old mundane clothes she affected when visiting Ohio, but there was no denying what she was.
"Uh, ah'm afraid you must be mistaken, ma'am. Ah don't know any 'Rebecca' - just a couple of thieves who thought better of it. We'll be right outta your hair -"
Frieda shook her head
"I should have anticipated you doing this walk at some point, and warned you against it. But I never thought that even you would attempt such a thing."
"This WAS for good reason, correct, Granddaughter? Much is risked when such things are attempted."
Beth was startled when Becky attempted no further dissambling. She intead clasped her hands before her, bowed her head slightly, and spoke quietly:
"Yes, Ma'am, at least ah think so. This youngling needed instruction in Powercasting. She's a Gentlesoul, and needed to learn how to manifest anger under controlled conditions. Ah remembered a mystery from these years, and thought bringing her here would both teach her, and tie a knot."
Frieda half smiled and shook her head.
"So, this visit to the store was a side quest, then?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Rebecca, I am utterly delighted to see that you have made it long enough in life to earn at least simulated gray hair. It is an utter relief. But that relief has to be a short-lived one. I cannot go through what remains of my life, knowing with certainty that you endure. I might slacken my teachings, and then you might not. I'll have to blank out some memory after you've left, to rebalance things."
"Ah'm sorry, Grandma. It's...been a long time. Lotta things have happened. Ah really miss this place. And you..."
Frieda then turned towards Beth. Who gulped.
"Be calm, child. I'm merely recognizing someone new. Would you perhaps be a great-granddaughter of mine?"
"Err, no ma'am, I'm Aun-I mean Becky's nie-I mean, friend..."
Oh, god I've tried to fool the First BelFana. I knew this was a bad idea...
Frieda smiled.
"Well, at least one of you has sense to try to try to keep the futurepaths unknown. I suppose some lessons are being learned."
"And I can see well enough that you are one of Amy's people, and thus, one of mine as well. It's good to meet you, Granddaughter."
Frieda paused and considered for a moment.
"Bethany, am I right?"
"Yeah - how?!"
"Memory. Magic. One of those things."
Rebecca and Beth exchange a glance.
What did THAT mean?
"And now, you two need to go back Uptime. I sense more family approaching, with problems aplenty, and not unconnected to your little sojourn. Your youngerself may appear at any time. And I have no idea how to explain you to any of them."
"Grandma, there's a lot ah need to tell you, but can't...ah..."
"BeGee, we WILL meet again, and at a place where and when you can tell me everything. I look forward to it. But for now, we must part ways. I love you both."
As the Ohio of the past began to shimmer, two women who were from both Cincinatti and Beyond engaged in a little mutual teasing.
"SOMEONE got in trouble with their GRANDMA..."
"Well, SOMEONE ELSE broke their teenage GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S NOSE in a high school cafeteria fight!!"
"What??! I was responsible for the way her-"
Beth gets an idea, grabs a pad of paper from the counter and hastily scrawls a note
"Grandma Frieda, this doesn't say anything about the future, just please make sure Aunt Annabelle reads-"
And then they were gone.
Frieda crosses the room, and picks up the note from where it fell.
And smiles.
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Downtime. Cincinnatti.
Annabelle slumped down in the recliner. It had been a longer day than most. One niece still laid up with a make believe but still somehow real infection. The other with a set broken nose from fighting with some skinny kid that nobody had ever seen before.
She got up and crossed the room to put a blanket over Frieda, herself sleeping. Dealing with BeGee's illness and starting to heal Amy's nose had taken a lot out of her. Annabelle had insisted she spend the night.
Such a tough old lady. How am I going to handle these two when she...isn't here?
She bent down at kissed Frieda on the forehead. And noticed a note on the coffee table.
She picked it up and read:
Dear Aunt A.
Sorry for all the trouble today
Love you
-B
Annabelle smiled. And wondered:
When did BeGee's handwriting get so neat?
The Belfana: A BeGee the Elf
Adventure
Copyright © 2026 by Christopher M. Reed
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Copyright © 2026 by Christopher M. Reed
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.